RTW

[strimstrum]

Not much to report today so I thought I would just be lazy and post my today's blog entry which can be found here


Day 49 Friday 20th May 2011

Another day of shame I’m afraid. We mistakenly thought today was Saturday so we had a lie in until about 10.30. Outside the day was bright, warm and sunny and only the gentle hum of the nearby busy Interstate 5 gave us the clue that it was in fact a weekday. We needed to burn off some fuel as last night we received an email from the shippers saying that when we put the bikes in the container they must be “on fumes” ie almost empty and we have to disconnect the battery. We had run almost 125 miles out of the tank already so we didn’t plan on going too far as the trip to the container packing depot in Seattle was 27 miles away from our motel.

We opted for a short trip back to the BMW shop to get some oil sump crush washers for when we do our own oil changes in Russia and then we headed to our favourite shop, Walmart, 6 miles away to get some toiletries to go in the container and some more peppered beef jerky which we have become quite partial to. Against our better judgement we also bought a big bottle of wine (which still remains unopened in the fridge) thinking that it may go well with the crackers and cheese already in the larder. For some unexplicable reason I got mixed up leaving the store and headed west instead of south from the Walmart store and it wasn’t until the scenery changed dramatically that I realised that we hadn’t arrived on this particular road. A u-turn and some 7 or 8 miles detoured later we were back on track.

I stopped off at the motel lobby for my daily liaison with Danielle the receptionist to get tomorrow’s wifi cards and that gave me the opportunity to avoid helping Mark bring in the shopping. We delved into the bowl of fruit (as seen splendiforously displayed in a picture on one of my earlier blog posts) and each had a huge plateful of pineapple, melon, strawberries, orange segments and apple – it was magnificently juicy and just right as we sat in the afternoon sun scoffing like pigs at a trough.



We repaired to the room where I read out some e-mails to Mark. Yuri in Vladivostok doesn’t mind being paid in US dollars or roubles for his custom clearing services in Russia. Bob Erion & James Pedersen of Radiant Logistics (our USA shippers) are concerned about hazardous goods in our container – more specifically batteries in our torches, Loctite threadlocking stuff and the syringe needles and my prescription drugs etc in our first aid kits – come on ! We will have to sort this out over the next day or so.

Other than that, just another lazy day at the office.

[Bushman_uk]

[video][/video]

[strimstrum]

Bikes all loaded up with our kit plus new Tourances fitted and carrying spare TKC's for Mongolia. We left the bikes at the SEAPAC container warehouse this morning ready for them to clear customs and get put in the sealed container. We are now marooned without bikes until we meet them again in Vladivostok around 20th June. Until then we are just tourists again B)

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Loaded and ready to Roll

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Disconnecting the battery

[Alun]

The excitement builds. Go tomorrow lads, the break is too long for your fans. I need to read/view the next episode.

[strimstrum]

We got really bored today and took a seven mile round trip walk to the Emerald Queen Casino in Tacoma - put $100 worth of chips on the roulette table and ten minutes later walked out of the casino with $225 - that's a profit of $125 for 10 minutes. Add that to trhe $300 profit we made during 10 minutes at the roulette table in Las Vegas and that's $425 profit for 20 minutes. That's paid for a tyre change at least !

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Saw this motel on the walk back - glad we didn't stay there. Showers are a bit dodgy.

And just to reinforce the fact that if the sirens go off we only have 7 minutes to escape the lava flow from Mount Rainier (bearing in mind we don't have our bikes to ride anymore and I don't run that fast)......

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[Louisdut]

[video][/video]

Great part 1 thanks both for taking the time to post great videos & pictures

TKC's for Mongolia. Vladivostok around 20th June.

Bring on part 2 :woohoo:

Louis

Ps I hate you both :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

[Bushman_uk]

Not sure what to say about this !!! ( downtown Seattle )

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[Jim Lovell]

Is the lady behind the lamp post to embarrased to show her face or just walking gingerly :laugh: :laugh: :laugh:

[strimstrum]

We finally made it to Vladivostok after a gruelling 2 days of travel on some interesting airline - Air China to Bejing and then Vladivostok AIr to - guess where - Vladivostok. Everyone has been very nice and helpful and our hotel is functional and has a great view across the bay when the fog lifts. 10 days to wait now before the bikes get here from Seattle.

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Us at Capilano, Vancouver

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Me and me other half the day before she flew back to Uk from Canada

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We flew over Magadan (and Vladivostok) on our way to Bejing to catch the plane back to Vladivostok

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Us - knackered at Vladivostok airport waiting for the bus

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Sunset view from our Vladivostok hotel window

[T.REX63]

Congratulations guys :woohoo: This is exciting, I'm taking notes B). Which hotel in Vlad did you check into? Do they have secure bike parking (for when the bikes arrive)?