Met some great new friends in LA this weekend, Greg and Brian. Greg found me on a yahoo group for gay motorcycle riders, before Christmas last year, and we picked up talking again recently. Greg and I went for a joy ride in Malibu/Santa Monicas on Saturday. He rides a Honda VFR800, I had my F650. Our route to PCH took us on Sunset Blvd through Beverly Hills, Bel Air, Brentwood - I noticed everywhere I looked, I saw signs advertising Star Maps. Greg saw three Aston Martin DB9s. From PCH, we rode up Malibu Canyon to Mulholland. The curves were perfect for me, except in one short area where they get really tight and slow, I don't like taking curves in first gear, the gear is too jerky and throttle is too difficult to modulate. Second was too sputtery.



I like riding with Greg because he takes frequent breaks to rest or eat - it makes the ride easier. We capped off our ride at Paradise Cove off PCH, where we ate burgers on the outdoor patio in the sand. When we got back to the bikes, mine had trouble starting - the battery was really low. Greg got it going for me (some dude pushed him on my bike, then he shifted into 2nd and the engine turned over). It was able to start again and again, so I thought I was good. Well, I wasn't exactly. I got within two miles from home and the bike started sputtering, wouldn't rev. I was able to pull over safely in a parking lot. I tried the method Greg used earlier to get my bike started, but with my little legs, I couldn't push my bike quickly enough, and I just wound up exhausting myself. Luckily, my roommate helped out by driving me back and forth, and I put the battery from the scooter into the BMW and was able to get my bike home just fine.

I believe at a minimum that my battery has given up the ghost. I need to check the alternator as well. At my last service, the mechanic told me that the battery was empty of water, and that it was in bad shape and wouldn't last much longer. Could this mean that a working alternator cannot charge the battery? I hope so. I'm just glad that this happened close to home, because it could have happened when I was 50 miles away.

Thanks for a great weekend, Greg! Looking forward to riding with you again soon. I hope your neighbor Rich gets the F650 GS - will our epic ride to Peru become reality?

So I had some business in Washington, D.C. A few hours of meetings, had to put on a shirt and tie. Don't really like getting dressed up, it's uncomfortable to me. I look hot, though j/k



This particular week that I was visiting D.C., the cherry blossoms around the Tidal Basin were at their peak. In fact, over the weekend was the Cherry Blossom Festival, which I missed because I went to visit an old friend, but more on that later. I got some killer photos of some monuments framed in blossoms.



I met a new friend, Chris, while I was out one night. He suggested I visit the National Cathedral. The drive there was gorgeous, through foresty residential areas with very nice colonials. The cathedral sits on the highest point in D.C. so the view from the tower is pretty nice.



In the evening, I went out to do some night photography. This is one of my favorite things to do, use available light and a tripod.



I had the day off on Friday, so I visited the Hirschhorn Museum, the Smithsonian's museum for international modern and contemporary art. I particularly enjoy the exhibits with light.



I also checked out the National Aquarium, and it sucked. It's the worst aquarium I've ever been to. It was small, and the exhibits were nothing special. Most of the tanks had murky water and dirty glass. Ick. I expect better from this place.

After my museums, it was time to drive to Bristol. It was a long 6 hour drive through the Blue Ridge Mountains, but I really wanted to see my old friend, Jeff. About 15 miles from Bristol, I got pulled over for speeding - 80 in a 65. Washington County cops last year were given monetary incentive to write more tickets, and after that, they wrote ten times more tickets than the year before. Damn, this was my first ticket since I got one when I was 16 while delivering pizzas.

We went hiking in Mendota, up in the hills by the lookout tower. We did this same hike last time, so I thought I'd show a photo from 3 years ago, and a new photo from this year. It was really nice to hang out with Jeff again.





I like to climb. I am like a monkey. - I got up there just fine, but I got stuck coming down.




After leaving Bristol, I had time to kill before I got back to the airport in D.C. There were some interesting sites along the way. First, there was Natural Bridge. George Washington allegedly carved his initials into the bridge, and Thomas Jefferson bought the bridge for $2.40 in 1774.



The other highlight was the Luray Caverns. Their literature says it's the largest cavern on the East coast. The first photo is a lake reflecting what's above it (how trippy, because the water is perfectly still!). The second gives you a sense of scale. The place is simply amazing. The tour lasts more than an hour, and you walk a mile and a half underground, all the while marveling about the stalactites and stalagmites. At one point (last photo) we were brought into a large amphitheater where the music from an organ emanates from the crystal stalactites hanging from the ceiling. Different crystals are struck with a hammer to produce different notes. I can't believe a place like this exists. It was an awesome ending to a memorable trip.

Just finished replacing all the damaged parts on my scooter. It surely took long enough for the parts to get here from Italy, or Atlanta, or wherever they came from. I mean, four entire months to receive ordered parts? I don't know about buying another Piaggio product in the future if the support after you buy the thing is so poor.

Well anyways, to those who never gave me any credit for being handy or able to do anything mechanical (you know who you are), maybe this'll be SOME proof that I can hold my own when I feel like it. I didn't even have any hardware left over when I was done I know that I SHOULD do more things by myself with my vehicles, and maybe I will now. I had a good time with it over the three evenings it took to fix.

It sure feels good to ride a new-looking scooter again, instead of a scratched-up, broken one.

I forgot to write about it at the time, but the weekend of February 23rd I visited some friends in San Diego. Bobby had an Oscars party which was, of course, fabulous! I met some new friends there. Maybe the highlight of the weekend was when Mike took me to Mexico, something I've wanted to do for a loooong time. So we didn't simply do Tijuana. Instead, we drove a little ways to Tecate, another border town about 40 minutes from San Diego. It's where they make Tecate beer. We walked around the neighborhood, and we noticed for some reason Tecate has a lot of shoe stores. There's even an odd Payless Shoe Source right outside on the US side of the border... why shoes?

Everything was very inexpensive there. Mike got a haircut for $4, we both ate a pretty good meal with drinks for $8 total, and later we sipped shots of premium tequila for $2. I'm looking forward to getting back to Mexico soon. Mike knows of a nice resort with hot springs and massages.

Nope, Mike never smiles for photos.