Heading down to Morocco

Hi Everyone--

It has been a long, long time since I posted to this blog. I have been at home in Illinois all winter except for a trip up to Wyoming to see family there. Now it is April and I am on my way down to Morocco. This is something I had planned to do last summer, but I got to Europe too late in the season and decided that Morocco would be too hot when I got there, I decided to go to Norway instead. This year, though, since it is early April it certainly does not seem like it will be too hot at all in Morocco-- at least it is not too hot so far traveling down through Western Europe.

I started my trip this summer in Heidelberg where I keep my VStrom motorcycle. My bike was all ready for me when I get there. I had a lot of work done on it during the winter while I was in Illinois: new spark plugs and coolant and tires and other things.

From Heidelberg, I rode west on a German autobahn, going up through Cologne and over to Holland. My destination for that first night was to see my daughter, Jessica, and my son-in-law, Renaud, at their house in Enschede, Holland, where Renaud is working on his PhD. It was a long, cold trip getting to their house from Heidelberg, and I was so happy to get to Jessica's and Renaud's house for a nice long visit.

Here is a picture of their house on Easter Sunday. They had a big party for some of their friends. It was marvelous, and, even better, it was sunny and warm.

Easter Sunday was one of the few warm and sunny days I was to enjoy for the next couple of weeks. I left the next day and started down though Belgium and France, heading toward Spain. The ride was day after long day of misty cold rain coupled with very high winds. I was so glad each night when I could stop. There was absolutely nothing to write about, and thus no pictures to show.

And so, I got to Spain. The parts of Spain I have been passing through so far have been a little boring (and very cold), but today the weather turned off nice and sunny and warm. I stopped in a tiny Spanish village and wandered around, taking pictures.

I really like these little villages. There are tiny medieval streets to walk, and shops selling local things: honey and hats and so forth. What do you think of these shoes?

I don't know if they sell many shoes like these, but there are lots of other items to buy. The people in the town sampled me with nuts to try. The nuts were really good.

It is early in the season so there were not many tourists around. I could walk these streets for hours taking pictures. I wish I had a really good camera with me.

Spain seems to have plenty of mountains. I guess they are everywhere. I am told Spain is the most mountainous country in Europe -- not that it has huge mountains like Switzerland, but that it has a lot of mountains.  My route coming south today took me on a beautiful mountain road.

I am hoping there will be many more roads like this as I continue to ride south.

I do like mountain roads.

I am told that in the past children seldom left their valleys to marry. There must have been a lot of inbreeding back then. Now, though, the towns have grown and Spain is very modern. It is also quite inexpensive. I have been eating for far less than it costs in the rest of Europe.  Speaking of eating -- it is 9:30 at night now, so it is time to go get an evening meal. Walking around at night is really, really pretty.

So, adios for now. I will try to post an update again in a few days.

Ron

South Australia and the Outback

It has been harder and harder to find internet as Jessica and I drove through the state called South Australia and on up into the "Outback".  There is a huge difference between the coast line of south Australia and the dry interior. Along the coast, the waves have eroded out beautiful sea caves, arches and stacks.

South Australia is a marvelous area for motorcycle riders. I have seen hundreds out on the highway. I am a little jealous that I passed up riding David's BMW K75 on this trip, but the rain and all the gear we have with us would have made it difficult.

The towns are very motorcycle friendly, and I have seen all makes and models, including my beloved Suzuki VStrom.

This is a marvelous opportunity for a biologists like me to see the Australian wildlife up close and personal. Jessica is proving herself very adept at spotting creatures, including these wild koalas up in the trees along a mountain road.

And many varieties of kangaroo: red, grey, white, black, swamp, tree --- They come in all different sizes and colors, and this time of the year many of them have their baby "Joeys" filling mama's pouch almost to bursting. Time to get out and be on your own youngster!

A fence or a steep cliff does not bother an adult kangaroo. They jump right over high fences in a single bound -- Look, it's superkangaroo! Talking about super animals, check out these giant emus. At six foot tall and able to run as fast as a horse, a fence is not much of an obstacle to them either.

We started seeing the emus as we left the coast and headed up into the grassy interior. There were a lot of them. It is the daddy emu who takes care of the babies in the flock. I think he must have his hands full when there are 6 or 7 chicks, but they do seem well behaved.

Jessica, my tour guide, has us going to far and out-of-the-way places. One of these places was to look at aboriginal art work. The site was far off the highway, and, arriving just before dark, we decided to camp. We were the only ones in the area, It was eerie and quiet. Not long after it was fully dark we started hearing strange noises all around us. Our flashlights showed us that we were surrounded by cute Australian Opossums.

Not at all shy, the opossums wanted into our picnic basket in the worst way. You could walk right up to them while they tried to eat our food.

The aboriginal art we came to see was not very impressive, but I think it was not meant to be. Instead, it told stories about men and women, and it counted the young people who had come to the ceremony to be initiated into adulthood.

In many cases, the aboriginal people did their ceremonies up narrow canyons.

Sometimes there were waterfalls and streams in the canyons.

Often, in our drives through the Outback, the road was very bad, and sometimes it would go through streams.

But more often than not the roads in the Outback were hot and dry.

There are a lot of feral goats back in them thar hills. Large and robust, they seem to thrive on the scanty grass and thorny shrubs.

There are also many, many lizards. Many I don't recognize, but I do know these small skinks. There are some just about like this one living in my woodpile at home in Illinois.

We have to be careful driving in the outback. The towns are  tiny and few and far between, and it would be very easy to run out of gas before you got to the next filling station.

Mostly, the roads we have been traveling have been paved. We normally stay at the town's hotel, often sleeping up over the noisy bar where Road Train drivers and local people meet and celebrate long into the night. Last night, for example, our hotel did not have potable water and the lights were powered by a generator. They laughed when we asked if they had internet. Still, the people have been friendly and outgoing and altogether great representatives of this marvelous country. Our trip is almost over. We will be back in Brisbane in a day or so, and we fly home a couple of days later. It has been a great little vacation, one I am glad I got to enjoy with my daughter.ex

Next spring, I ride my motorcycle again, going to Portugal, Morocco and Spain. Jessica might go along and ride double on my VStrom. I hope you will come join me in April.

Ron