Rock'n Horse 2.0

It's Back! The fantastic ride from last year is coming around again. I thought I would include an open invitation to all reading this to the second annual Rock'n Horse ride. This is a trail ride and camping trip for those who missed it last year. This year the date has been moved out and the section of the Iron Horse trail will be a little different. If anyone out there would like to go and wants more information, please e-mail me.

This year also has a new emblem. I hope you enjoy it.

When: Saturday October 2nd to Sunday October 3rd.
Where: The route will be on the Iron horse trail from Hyak to Lake Easton.
What: Bring a bike, mountain style preferred. Also, camping gear would be good. Plus clothing for the climate. (Remember, it just might rain.) Anything else you want, like trail snacks, bring that too. I will provide both dinner and firewood.
Who: You, if you are reading this. Or anyone else you want to invite along.

-Dravs

My Trip - By the Numbers

I thought I would wrap up my trip with a review of the numbers. I hope to combine some of the bigger numbers, but also some of the funny stuff as well. I hope you enjoy it. Also, please ask me if you want the numbers on anything else...

Total Distance: 18,459 kilometers/ 11,470 miles
Days on the Road: 353
Countries Visited: 31 (Iceland, England, France, Belgium, The Netherlands, Germany, Austria, Italy, Vatican City, Monaco, Spain, Morocco, Mauritania, Senegal, The Gambia, Guinea-Bissau, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Mali, Burkina Faso, Benin, Togo, Ghana, Ethiopia, Uganda, Rwanda, Congo, Burundi, Tanzania, Kenya, Qatar)
Major Crashes: 3 (days 120, 215 & 308)
Watches Busted: 2 (days 120 & 308)
Hit by Cars: 2 times (days 59 & 166)
Uses of Cipro: 3
Tires Used: 4
Most Water in a Day: 8 Liters (day 190)
Longest Day: 119 miles (192 kilometers) - Hastings to Gosport (day 39)
Toughest Day: Keflavik to Hveragerði (day 1)

-Dravis

Doha to Seattle - Day 353

Date: August 6th, 2010
Distance: Flying Home!
Country: U.S.A.
Song of the Day: Silver Jet - The Tragically Hip

I woke up a really early this morning. (Only 2 hours of sleep.) I just wanted to see a bit more of the city. Like nearby Dubai, Doha has build some really neat stuff in the last five years. (Though not the tallest building in the world.) So I wanted to get a look at that. Of course that was in the new part of the city, and I was stuck in the old part. I could walk down to the bay and look across the Indian Ocean at it. That was nice. (Sadly because of dust or humidity in the air, the pictures do appear a bit blurry.)

Then it was back on another plane. I had a 13 hour flight to D.C. Actually I can't complain much. The flight was great. I didn't get any sleep though. That was a bummer.

Once in Dulles I got all checked through customs and immigrations. The people at customs sent me the wrong way though. I ended up out in the terminal with all my baggage (including my bike) and had to check in again. I ended up missing my connecting flight. For a guy on 2 hours of sleep and almost 20 hours of flying, that was quite frustrating. Eventually, after 30 minutes of being ingored by the airline (United) they booked me on the next flight.

Even more frustrating was the fact that I wasn't able to contact anyone to let them know I missed the flight. I had a phone, but the SIM card was for Tanzania. That wasn't going to work. Dulles does have free wi-fi throughout the airport. But that system was down. I finally had to resort to using a payphone. (Yep, those still exist.) That worked. Sometimes you have to give it to those old technologies.

I did make the next flight, so I didn't have to camp out in the airport overnight. That still meant I would make it back too late for the party my friends were going to throw for me. I even slept almost all the way. Didn't wake up until we were about to land.

Instead my parents and younger brother met me at the airport. It was great to see them. It was nice to be home.

-Dravis

Dar es Salaam to Doha - Day 352

Date: August 5th, 2010
Distance: Flying Home!
Country: Qatar
Song of the Day: Take Me Home - Phil Collins

Left Africa today. Got on a flight that took me to the Middle East, so technically Asia. I am feeling a little bit ambivalent about it. I am very happy to be going home. I have missed my family and friends a great deal. At the same time I have very much enjoyed the trip through the "Dark Continent". The strange places I have seen. The weird situations I have gotten into. The wonderful people I have met. The sense of ultimate freedom. It makes me a little sad.

I got to Doha after dark, but it was still amazingly hot and humid. Frankly, I wasn't used to it. For being on the equator, East Africa is generally much cooler. The Middle East, no so much. The temperature here had me sweating. Not that it helped much as it was so humid. Did I mention that it was after dark?

The airline did put me up in a (thankfully air conditioned) hotel over night. That included a buffet dinner which I ate a huge amount of.

After dinner I went up to my room and got on the internet. I had sent a few people on Couch Surfing an e-mail asking for cool things to do. I may have mentioned it before, but when I go to a place, I really want to see it. Sure, I only had 13 hours in Doha, but I still wanted to see as much of it as I could. No one had responded though, so I thought I might go to bed. Just then I got an e-mail reply from a guy named Tom. He just got back from Oman Jordan, but wanted to hang out. How cool is that?

So Tom and a girl he worked with picked me up. (Of course I immediately forgot her name. I have a bad habit of forgetting the names of attractive young women. I don't know why. I can't imagine that trait is genetically selected for...) The three of us headed out to the old souk. If you remember from Morocco, that is the market. It was nothing like the markets in Morocco though. It was surprisingly clean. It still did have a bit of the winding alley ways. These were generally pretty wide, well paved and lit. Most of them were lined with cafes and high end craft shops.

We stopped at a cafe and got a seat up on the roof. I had a cold coke while Tom could somehow stand to drink warm tea in the heat. They did have air conditioning on the roof, but that seemed a bit silly. How are you going to cool the outside? I guess it might make something locally cooler. Anyway, we had a good time. I guess my companions both work for Qatar airlines. The company has apparently expanded quite a bit in the last ten years. It was a fun night and a good way to see at least some of the city. I didn't get back to the hotel until after 2:00 AM.

-Dravis