OUCH!

This is the first and sadly, last update on my motorcycle trip.`Hi Friends,
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This is the first and sadly, last update on my motorcycle trip. It stated beautifully, as I had a perfect first 350 miles. Beginning from beautiful Half Moon Bay, through traffiky San Francisco, across the Golden Gate, and up highway 101. Along this stunning route I zoomed, smoothly passing through grandiose redwoods and sleepy little towns, going further and further north until making a right in Arcata onto CA299 east where I found a little, cute camping site at Camp Kunta in Willow Creek. Set up the tent, took a wonderful shower, and after taking a handful of ibuprofan, settled into a warm, comfy cocoon.

Woke up, packed up, and my wonderful V-Star 1100 would not start! The same thing that happened last month and was fixed (!!??) was broken again. AAARGH! What to do? A kind camper helped push it up a hill, and it started, mercifully, on the way down by 'popping' the clutch, but it would not start again unless I was on a hill, so I could not let it stall. Choices: Go back to Eureka and pay over mucho dinero. to get it fixed, again, correctly, while waiting there in a seedy motel for more than a week, or retrace my yesterday without stopping except for gas, always keeping the engine on and idling fast to prevent stalling. I chose #2, so with almost no water or food, retraced my beautiful track, trying to see the beauty in it in this direction, and safely arrived back in Half Moon Bay at 4:30 whereupon I cried and cursed, and was comforted by Kris who aptly stated that, “Everything happens for a reason, and we don't know what the reason is.” Amen....

Now what? I worked to make this trip happen for eight months and it was my THIRD try to get to
Glacier National Park. No doubt here is a large grizzly bear there that won't get to eat me, and to aid his disappointment, I'd tell him the same thing that was told to me: Everything happens for a reason, and we don't know what the reason is. Eat berries for now, Marty may get there, he just doesn't know when.
Love to all,
Marty