The drive to Moscow and meeting a Jayhawker

After the Reindeer I kept driving south next stop Finland!!! On the way it started to rain, the first time in 2 weeks. I pushed on until it became a torrential downpour!!! I pulled over to gas up and eat some food at a little restaurant. Turns out that the waitress was originally from Russia so we had a lot to talk about.

Some of the things I saw

Elk

Drying Fish

I eventually headed down the road in a slight rain. The speed limit in Finland was rather high 120kmh. I was going down a little 2 lane road and saw the rest area off to the left of the road. Then I saw a van coming the other direction turn on his blinkers to turn right into the rest area….. The next thing I know a car pulls out of the rest area right in front of me!!!! She hadn’t seen me and still didn’t see me. I couldn’t get into the other lane because the van saw what was about to happen and froze. There was no shoulder to the road and then about a 4 foot deep ditch!!! I got over towards the ditch as far as I could go while trying to stop! The lady still hasn’t seen me and now my front tire is even with her rear tire and she is trying to get over more to give the van more room!!! I had no choice I moved over a bit more. The rest is a blur! The rear tire started to slide around and down into the ditch and I was getting sideways! I remember looking into her passenger window when she finally noticed me. Somehow I ended up back on the road with both tires still on the ground! I have no idea how I didn’t wreck she pulled over and was crying and apologized… I was in a state of shock looked at her and just said “no harm keep going Ohhh wait let me go first then keep going!”

I drove on the rest of the day uneventfully and made it to a nice campground!

The next day was the Fourth of July. The day was full of welllll driving!!! I drove most of the day and found a campground near the border with Russia.

I set up my tent next to this older couple with a beautiful restored 66 Volvo. I showered and when I came back to my tent this 80 year old man was waiting for me. He says “I looked at your plate and wanted to say Happy Fourth of July! Its been a while since we’ve seen a Jayhawker around here.” I looked at him funnily and said Jay Hawker huh you must of spent some time in the Mid West. He chuckled and said “ya you could say that I was born and raised there!” We got to talking more and come to find out he played Softball with my Grandfather back in the 50’s after the War!

Its nights like this that make a whole trip. It was just the icing on the cake to spend the Fourth of July on a beach in Finland talking to another Kansan comparing stories from my child hood!

The next day I got up and got through the border and to St. Petersburg where I stopped at the local biker club. The previous year I helped a guy out who was broke down on the road. He belonged to the club and asked me to stop by. I had no time then but this time I was in. Oh man all the members showed up and each had a baseball bat attached to the bike or a 12 inch knife on their hip!!!! I didn’t take any pictures due to the fact I was scared shitless most of the time. Everyone ended up to be cool and I enjoyed it but was glad to get a hotel and get out of there!

The drive back to Moscow was dull.

That was my trip. Sorry the ending is a bit dull but I had spent to much time enjoying the rest of the trip and had to get to getting to be back to work! So the last about 5 days were mostly just riding. I took a bunch of videos I hope to go through this winter when I have more time I will let you guys know when I get something put together.

Road to Nordkapp!

I decided after Trondheim I was going for broke all the way to Nordkapp!!! It was adding a lot of miles to the trip in a now shortened time frame but what the hell. The deciding factor was that night I set down and went over my expenses to that point and saw how expensive Norway really was, super expensive. I decided you will most likely never be here again in this position you better go for it. 

Where I stayed for the night

The Road north was beautiful. I passed the Polar circle and there was a Soviet monument to WWII there. I asked around and come to find out the road I was on was called Blood Road. During the War Nazis took mostly Soviet and Yugoslavian prisoners north and forced them to well build the road. They were underfed and kept in poor conditions and many died.

I pushed on past the Polar circle then I started to see Elk everywhere. I slowed down and tried to get photos, which were mostly failures, but anyways I needed gas and sooon!! I hadnt seen really anything other than a few houses for the last 80 miles or so and was starting to worry a bit. Then what I thought was a sign from heaven a gas station right at about 100 miles.

I pull in and there are about 30 Harleys there from Albania... It was a pay at the pump thing and of course they werent smart enough to figure it out. Everyone one of them had to prick around with their cards and the machine for way longer than needed. At this point its getting late and I have been riding for the last 12 hours I want gas so I can find some place to park. Well an HOUR later it was my turn I was sitting on my bike just trying to keep from going Apeshit on someone!

So I went on and decided to hit Nordkapp that night it was about 7pm and Nordkapp was about 2 hours more. The road there was amazing twisting along the sea the last 100 miles!!!

The bugs I collected for the day

I get there and well theres nothing there but a big parking lot full of campers and a restaurant lol. It was a beautiful site though. So after an hour of walking around I headed back down the road towards a litle meadow I saw on the way to camp.

I pull in about 10pm set up my tent and thought well theres a chance a cop will stop and tell you to move but its been a long long day. About 5:30 in the morning I hear footsteps.... I wait in my tent but nothing just someone mulling around I look out my tent and bam in front of me are about 4 elk munching on grass.... At first I was like this is cool then I thought, their huge and your in a tent they can stomp you anytime they want...... Then one of them started rubbing his antlers on the tent I was about shitting myself! finally they went away about 30 minutes later. I went back to sleep and woke up 3 hours later and thought well maybe its a dream.... then beside my kick stand a big pile of crap well its not a dream its not a dream!

Atlantic Coast Road and Trondenheim, Norway

So When I left you last I was heading towards to the Atlantic coast road. I wasnt really sure how I would get there so I just started taking some smaller back roads. Ohhh man I was not disappointed!

I started headed towards a town called Ostra. I stumbled across probably the most beautiful scenery I have seen as to yet. I found a glacier! What a sight that was! After that I started driving a bit more and came across this small 2 lane road that was utterly amazing. It was like something out of a movie I couldn't imagine a place could be that beautiful.

I met a guy from Norway on a KTM 990 waiting for the fairy. Talked to him a bit. He told me he thought the Atlantic Coast Road was a bit disappointing but I had to go and check it out. So after the ferry I made it to Ostra I got a spot to camp.

I think I was the entertainment for the whole camp. There must of been about 50 camper RV's there and me on a motorcycle in a tent. They had a washer since it had been about 2 weeks I was all over that. Did a load of clothes and then had to hang them over the motorcycle and well pretty much anywhere I could. I definitely red necked it up a bit for the old folgies in the campers.

The next day I went to the Atlantic Coast road and had to agree with the Norwegian guy. The journey there was definitely better than the destination but worth it all the while. After that I headed to Trondheim to try to find someone to sell me some more insurance before mine runs out.

So after the Atlantic Coast road I found myself in Trondheim, Norway. A lovely town. I was there on a mission though to find someone who would sell me more insurance for the motorcycle. My previous insurance was going to run out in about a week. Since I got delayed that week with work I have been worrying about this. 

So first I find someplace to park pay the stupid parking meter and walk to the tourist info place. They give me 4 places to try! The first place is close by so I walked there and am told no way! 

So I know my time on the parking meter is about up so I get the bike and move it to a Motorcycle only parking spot. As I am taking my helmet off a city truck pulls up and begins removing the sign saying I can park here. I say really seriously man he confirms that I had better move uhhhh. So I go a block down and find another motorcycle parking and stop there. I hit up the other 3 companies and all are a no go.

I walk back to the bike and notice the rear tire looks low... Sure as hell its flat! I find the hunk of metal in it and pull it out. It looked like the corner of a piece of sheet metal. Took 3 patches to fill the hole and I start airing it up. This took about 1 1/2 hours and while this was going on about 6 other guys on bikes parked beside me came out and not a damn one stopped to ask if things were good.

So I decide screw it I am going to be back in Russia in one week! I will use my extra week of vacation to go somewhere else! Now the hard part I have to decide if I want to go north to Nordkapp and add about 1000 miles to the trip of just start heading for Finland now...... Well the next 3 days were spent riding about 600 miles a day!!!!

Cattle Crossing!!!!!

So I got off with the WHOLE boat waving good bye to me like I was getting ready to walk to my death or something. Everyone was so morose and down, I was excited. There was an old broke down boat on the dock and a little crappy road leading up the mountainside. I started up the road it was a little rough but nothing to bad then I came to the top!!! IT WAS GORGEOUS!!! A beautifully paved road with Nobody on it!!!! for 20 miles it was like Heaven!!!

But I also learned a important lesson here to. Or I should say a important lesson that was reinforced here. the word in Norweigen "Ferist" is what in Kansas we call Cattle Crossings. Dont know why because they are put in the road so the Cattle cant cross. The consist of about 4 to 6 foot wide the whole length of the road and are just steel pipes so the cows, or in this case sheep, cant cross out of their fenced in areas. I was coming around a corner and saw the sign and of course I had no idea what it means until bam I see the bars and say ohhhhhh god. At this point its to late I am laid over in a corner and cant get stood up in time. SO the front tire hits first and starts to slide the handle bars drop and I have filled my pants by this point. Just as the front tire makes it across and grabs pavement the rear tire hits and starts to slid ohhh ****! somehow I make it across and the rear tire grabs pavement and I stand up park the bike and lay down for a minute!!! Luckily the crossing for sheep isnt as wide as the ones i am used to for cattle any wider and i believe I would of been screwed. So now you know if your ever in Norway FERIST means slow your ass down!

I made it through all that and to the next Ferry!!! 

Next time I will talk about the trip to the Atlantic Coast Road and Trondheim!

Lysobotyn Norway and Kjerad Rock

The next day the weather was rather great! So I was off to Lysebotn and to see Kjerag Rock! These 2 things were what tipped me in the direction of Norway before them it was a tie between Norway and Romania.

So I started off again about 9:30 in the morning it was only about a hundred miles to my destination so I was in no hurry. Cruising through the valleys it was warm sunny and beautiful. Then I got to a point where I had to go up out of the valleys and onto the plateau.... Hot **** was it cold up there and windy. I drove on a beautiful road through wellllll nothing for about 2 hours and never saw another car or anything other than sheep and snow YES SNOW so mad...

So I made it to the beginning of the trail to Kjerag Rock. I saw pictures of this rock and knew, at least thought I knew, I had to go there. SO I read the little info there about it and was like ya ok 12 KM round trip that's not bad.... Ohhh they didn't tell you you go through 3 valleys and mud. When I started there were two hot Swedish girls behind me so I was like ok ok I will set a good pace then about 1/2 a km later I was like oh god I am gonna die this sucks sooo bad. So they passed me and then I was able to get in a steady pace and somehow staggered the 6 km to make it to this damned rock. The 2 Swedish girls were there and I talked to them a bit. Got my picture taken on the rock and headed back. This time they were in front of me but they kept looking back at me. I liked to pretend they were checking me out, in reality I think they were checking to make sure I didnt die. I stumbled and crawled the 6km back to my bike!!!

Made it to the bike and there happened to be some Russian bikers parked beside me. So I started to talk with them, after I explained I was not a spy that I knew Russian because I work in Moscow now. So after talking with them it was time to head down the Road to Lysebotn!!!

So Lysebotn!!!! Yes I road the road down then up then down again all 27 hairpen turns of it!!!! I even got Video but that will come later when after I get back to Moscow and have time to check it all out.

After I got to the bottom and the town, of like 10 buildings 7 of which are for tourists. I went to the local lady running the camp ground and paid for a place to set up my tent. She pointed me to a pasture and said anywhere in there. I ordered a hamburger and said ok thanks... Ohhh what a beautiful spot it was!!! In the middle of the pasture were some rocks so I said ok I pick there!!! Set up my tent while listening to the water fall behind me and smelling my hamburger cooking.

So after eating I went back to my tent dog tired from the hike and ready to sleep. When I hear something look up and here is a guy coming down in a parachute... He lands not far from me and starts yelling at me. Hes American but doesn't realize I am at first and talks to me like I cant understand. I go along with it and speak broken Russian to him until he gets rather rude and started calling my names . Then I told him to "Shut your F***ing mouth I don't want to hear anymore. If you don't like where I camped take it up with the lady who owns the joint she pointed me this way." He stood there for a minute dumbfounded I knew English then his friend came up to join him. So I told them both " Look there is 2 more pastures there, sky dive over there and land with the damn sheep I couldn't care less just let me be." Ohh that was it I called BASE Jumpers Skydivers and all hell broke lose. Needless to say it ended with them walking away and me sleeping where I was and getting a free coke out of the deal!!!

The Next day I got on a ferry out of Lysebotn. Everyone on the boat was going to the end of the ferry line or to another tourist stop. I had looked at a map and saw what looked like a "ok" road 2 stops up and told the captain I wanted off there... 

The rock up there where I was yesterday

He said your you crazy why there is nothing there but 2 houses! I told him ya I am a bit crazy but the map shows a road there do you know if it exists. We talked for a bit he agreed to let me off expecting to see me getting back on the next time he returned. I meet some guys from Sweden, 3 Harleys and a Yamaha. There were cool we talked and I tried to convince them to get off at the stop with me but NOOO WAYYY MAN. So we all watched the scenery and waited for my stop.

Oslo and Heavy Water at Telemark, Norway

From the last place I left you in Sweden I traveled to Oslo, Norway. I stayred there for 2 nights. I mainly wanted to see 3 museums. The Fram Polar Ship Museun, its a ship that went all over the Arctic and Antarctic since I was in Antarctica for a year I was interested. 

The next Kon Tiki Museum 

and finally the Viking Ship museum. I guess if you were a cool viking you werent buried at sea. They dug a hole in the ground and drug your boat up into it and buried there!

As soon as I was done seeing the museums I went to the center of town to locate a shop to buy a camping mat, since I didn't have one. While I was there it proceeded to rain profusely!!! I mean it was like someone was just standing above the city dumping a big damned bucket of water. I haven't seen that much rain in a long time. Though I was disappointed there was no thunder and lighting, man I miss those Midwest storms!

So I waited out the rain went back to camp to leave he next day and head south! Just outside of Oslo I stopped to get gas and discovered perhaps the greatest food man ever invented..... A hot dog wrapped in bacon on a bun with potato salad and onion on top ohhh man I am pretty sure they slip some crack in there to because its sooo addictive!!!

So I headed south it was raining off an on all day so not to exciting. Then I finally started getting into some interesting country side. With roads at the bottom of valleys curving left right up and down around lakes and streams!!!! Ohh god it was the most beautiful thing I have seen to this point.

Then I stopped to get gas and the guy running the place at this little town started talking to me about a factory up the street I should stop at.... So I did and it was amazing! Built as a power plant before WWII it was one of the few places in the world that could produce heavy water, for nuclear stuff. The Nazis captured Norway and were taking the heavy water to Germany. So the Allied's had this big elaborate plan to infiltrate the factory and plant bombs. It was one heck of a story. Telemark I believe was the name of the place.

So I traveled on and on and on in and out of rain until I found a good camp ground and decided to stop for the night. Found a place that had little cabins about 10 X 10 for rent for 40$ a night so I holed up there and tried to dry some of my stuff out!

Next stop Lysebotn!!

Ferry to Sweden and Stockholm

Made it to Oslo!!! I decided to just get to Oslo and Norway and see what I came to see all along!!!

The boat ride

The boat ride from Tallinn to Stockholm was good and long and expensive.... Those dogs got me for 30 Euro for a cheapo Buffett...... Ohhh I was mad. Put up a sign half in English saying 11 Euro Buffet after You get a plate they inform you its only 11 Euro for Breakfast....... oh man So I ate ALOT.

Stockholm was busy and not much I wanted to see just the boat Vasa. So I saw it the same day I got off the Ferry and looked at the weather and decided to keep going down the road.

They make this boat and it sunk on its maiden voyage in 1628. they recently raised it and turned it into a musem

I made it about half way across Sweden towards Oslo and found a campsite. The GPS sometimes is a godsend and sometimes well needless to say it can suck. So I took some dirt roads in Sweden and ohh man they were awesome I mean better than the paved roads in Russia!!!!!

I tried the cooking Warrior style again, this time with this pizza pocket type of thing, and SUCCESS!!!! I also stopped at this roadside cafe and had something and man it tasted sooooo good. 

Sweden was cool, maybe i will swing back through on the north end. I ended up camping at this campground and this Mercedes was pulling a trailer

Been in Oslo one day now Camping in a little place just outside town. Norway is cool so far but dreadfully expensive!!!!! a gallon of gas is around 8 to 9 dollars..... and beers worse ohhhh!

The first Kilometer is the hardest.

They say the first kilometer/mile is the hardest.... They sure as hell didn't mention how difficult the next few thousand would be!!!

I am starting a trip around from Moscow to Norway and back. I was supposed to start last Saturday butttttttt due to some political issues at my job I couldnt leave until this Saturday the 16 of June.

The last weekend was not lost though I was able to pick up 2 new motorcycles to add to me now stable of 3!!! A 1949 Izh-350 and a 1955 Izh-49. They are Russian bikes that are renowned as being crap but they were cheap I tend to be bored and welll the rest is history

So I started on the morning of the 16th it was a strange day for weather. The sun baking me one minute then clouds and rain the next. It would alternate like this all day and it ended up being a 13 hour day. 

I decided to do some cooking on the road. My family used to do something like this when I was a child. I never tried it on a bike before so a hamburger patty potatoes and Onion went into some foil and on the motor

It ended up being a failure, I pulled it off early because I figured trying to cross a border with some Aluminum foil thing attached to the bike was asking for trouble. But you can guarantee this will be tried again in the future, though maybe with just hotdogs or something.

So it took me 3 hours to cross the border into Latvia!!!! 

Latvia is a wonderful country but I was in a hurry to make it to Tallinn. So one night camping in this guys back yard, yes he said it was ok, and I was off on Sunday!

Made it to Tallinn after a long 275 miles. Rain and a hellashious cross wind were my enemy all day....

But Tallinn is amazing! At the moment I am sitting at an outdoor beer garden enjoying a half liter. My boat ticket to Stockholm is for Wednesday!!!! I will keep you all updated as I go.

I just added a few pictures more will come. I havent took as many as I should of due to craptacular weather and me not wanting to stop but from Tallinn on I plan to slow down and enjoy the sights and sounds more!

Since I had some time I walked around Tallinn. It has to be one of my favorite cities in Europe

I also had time to make it to a museum. They have taken traditional buildings from around Estonia and relocated them here for all to see.