Rawlins Wyoming. Day 75. We were in the second perfectly rectangular state of the nation, with the one we’d just left (Colorado) being the other one. Because their borders are actually based on longitude and latitude lines, they of course aren’t rectangles, damn you curvature of the earth. We’d heard about a pair of shoes … More Lower48Mate Part 9

Mobridge, South Dakota. We love North and South Dakota because their state initials are ND and SD. None of that is MI Mississippi, Michigan, Missouri, or Minnesota? nonsense. Day 66, and iPhone recovery euphoria still left a faint glow on the shiny forehead. Righto, let’s use that luck and tackle the Mo Bridge over the … More Lower48Mate Part 8

Out of Punxsutawney on Day 59, having done Gobblers Knob and learned all about the Groundhog. But first a mechanical crisis, a bolt had come out of the front of my bike, with noticeable wobbling of something that shouldn’t wobble. A bit like virtually every part of one’s post-middle-age body, but unfortunately none of those … More Lower48Mate Part 7

Salem. The Puritans decided that Jeru’ was a bit artsy so went with ‘salem. Over time, it was capitalised and the shortening apostrophe was dropped, and through the next 399 years it prepped itself for our arrival, this time at the end of a day rather than the start of a new one. We lobbed … More Lower48Mate Part 6

There was a reason for stopping in Boone, North Carolina on Days 37 to 40. Yes there was an appetite for Appalachian awesomeness. But the reason was 7/4, or everywhere besides the USA 4/7. This year the 4th of July fell on a Friday so we were very nervous about travelling on what we expected … More Lower48Mate Part 5

Everyone has a destiny. But I had gone one better, and had a Destinee. Norleans Moto Julia’s Destinee said they had a tire for me. Mid-morning, roll up, and we’ll get you sorted. A bit of Garminising, the GPS wanted to go over Lake Pontchartrain. The longest over-water bridge in the world, which is direct, … More Lower48Mate Part 4

Dodge City Kansas. Day 16. We were taking the TV show Gunsmoke advice, which was to “get out of Dodge”. We got out of Dodge. Kansas is famous for lots of reasons, but the corner in the road is not one of them. There are almost none. The Karoo 4 rear tyre was starting to … More Lower48Mate Part 3

Flagstaff AZ. By now we are solidly into the routine of motorcycle travel – up, breakfast, pack, check the room 18 times, get on the road, realise the GPS is going somewhere other than where we want to go, stop, check Google Maps and Gaia off-line maps, provide guidance to the GPS, and repeat with … More Lower48Mate Part 2

According to the gospel of shipping, in the beginning of March 2025, there was a ship, the Ever Unicorn. We tracked its progress from Brisbane through pirate-infested waters to Busan in South Korea. Picturing Busan was easy; we’d watched Pirates of the Caribbean: At Worlds End, so knew our motorcycles were cursed and pirate blood … More Lower48Mate Part 1

A birthday. A need to go somewhere we’d never been before. Talk of Broome, which was easily scotched given the late February/early March timing and the likelihood of +40°C days and rampant mange on the beach camels, but no obvious options appeared. Then we were watching the telly one Sunday afternoon, and the report was … More Norfolkin’ Way