THOUGHTS ON MEXICO.

Well we have made it through 6 days in Mexico and are beginning day 7. So far it has been amazing here. I've come to realize that the media back in the states probably over hypes what is taking place here. While I know bad stuff is happening, I'm not so sure it is as bad as they are making it out to be. Not once have we ever felt in danger or even a little bit uneasy. I think a big reason for this is that we have a very big God who is in control of everything and I know he is watching out for us and I also know there are so many of you praying for us as well and I thank you for that, please continue to do so.

Riding here in Mexico is so much fun. We've done a lot of highway riding which isn't any different than back home, but once you get into the towns it is completely different. The first thing that you notice about riding through small Mexican towns is the "topes" or speed bumps. It is a wonder they don't use these things more often in the states, because they definitely make you slow down. Most of them aren't too bad, but a few of them I've bottomed out on. Minus the speed bumps, riding through the towns is very fascinating to me. It allows you to get a good glimpse of the culture, even if it is for a passing moment. We get a lot of stares from people and little children pointing at us and some shouts of I don't know what. Yesterday I'm pretty sure a couple of little boys were just messing with me as I was riding through their town. I saw them and I waved at them, but didn't realize that there was a speed bump right there, so as I was waving I nailed the speed bump and I'm sure the boys laughed hysterically. Another fun thing about riding here in Mexico is being able to pass wherever and whenever you can. I'm not sure if it is actually legal or not, but we do it and it is a blast.
We've passed through so many towns from big to small and have seen so many different faces and all of it has added up to a fantastic ride through Mexico thus far.We are currently in Playa Azul and are going to be going down to the beach shortly and relaxing and maybe through some frisbee or get pummeled by the waves. We aren't really sure where we are going to be riding to tonight, but I'm sure wherever it is it will be an awesome ride and God will be guiding us the whole way. So until next time, Adios!

p.s. I was trying to post a video of Laban talking about how I stole his cover last night in the freezing cold hotel room, but it wasn't uploading so maybe I'll try again later. And for the record the cover was just laying on the floor in the middle of the night and he wasn't using it, so I didn't really steal it.



-- Dwayne

Riding for a cause

We are now riding for a cause. The mission that Chad worked with for two years in Costa Rica, VidaNet, was wondering if we would want to do this. So we are teaming up with VidaNet to raise $2500 to provide, Ronald Chacon, a Mennonite church pastor/overseer in Upala, Costa Rica with a motorcycle that will help him be fruitful in his work with 4 churches in the Upala area. VidaNet is careful with it's giving to these sort of projects and ensures that your money will go directly to the purchase of the motorcycle and that the project is a worthy cause.

We love this idea. So if only 100 of our followers could send in $25 this week we could raise the $2500 and buy this gentleman a motorcycle in a couple of weeks when we're down there. So if you would like to be a part of this please send a check payable to "VidaNet" with a note of motorcylce fundraiser to:

VidaNet
5 White St.
Akron, PA, 17501
United States of America

If you're on facebook, search for the cause "Costa Rica Motorcycle fundraiser"

Thanks for your support!

Entering Mexico and Beyond

So we made it over 500 miles into mexico and there is nothing to report as far as danger. Thus I am going to back up and touch up on some things that I skimmed over as we prepared for crossing the border.


So backing up to Thursday the 7th of October. We left Phoenix planning to cross into Mexico the next morning. I still wasn’t sure if I wanted to commit two more months and a large portion of my savings into this trip. I was feeling very indecisive and didn’t have a clear direction or goal for the next part of the trip. And for anyone who knows me very well you will know that I dislike not having a clear direction or a goal of sorts. But I figured I had one more day to figure something out.



Chad had ordered a new shifter lever for his cycle that was supposed to come into Tucson. Well they said it would probably be in on Friday instead of Thursday so we figured we would camp one more night in the states.


Some beetle that was on chads legwhile camping




Nate Dwayne and Chad all left there chairs behind. laban and I are still glad for ours

 We headed to some national forest that was north east of Tucson on Mt Lemmon. I was leading at this point and I lead the crew onto a very nicely graded gravel road that gradually turned slightly rocky. It was dark at this point and after my last major off roading in Death Valley I wanted to find a camp site before the road got bad. I came around a corner and my lights hit a small trail heading up onto a bluff. I figured I would give it a whorl and without stopping I headed up. Bad idea. It was dark and I didn’t know what I had just gotten myself into. The “trail” quickly got steep, washed out and rocky. The trail was to narrow too turn around on and too steep to stop on, so that left me but one option, keep going. I figured I would ride my way to the top and turn around and come back down, hoping that no one else had tried to follow me. Well right off the bat I picked the wrong side of the trail and there was no getting to the other side. Next thing I know my front tire slid off the side of a rock the size one of my side boxes and sent me crashing into a ditch with a rock imbedded into the bank that was bigger then in ice chest. Well my bike stopped dead in its tracks and I went over the handle bars landing on the rock as well. This really frustrated me as my drop total was already starting to get out of control and another drop after I had decided that I wasn’t going to do anything dumb for awhile. Chad came running up the hill and helped me stand my bike up. I saw oil on the ground and knew it wasn’t good. With a few choice words and a quick inspection my fears were confirmed, busted valve cover. Now for those who don’t know what a valve cover is, the valve covers basic job is to keep dirt and debris out of the motor and oil in it. So to break or crack one is not a very good thing. With some good team effort we got her turned around and back down the hill and did a closer inspection. It seemed that it wasn’t leaking too awful so I stuffed a napkin over the crack. It took every ounce of motivation to get back on and ride again, but we headed out to find a real camp spot. This time I followed in the rear. We found a semi level spot (with no trees) that we pulled our bikes into and laid out our sleeping bags for one last sleep on American dirt. During the early hours of the morning we had many many trucks go by. Apparently they were going to hunting something.



In the morning we continued up and over Mt Lemmon. Our road that we followed got steep and rocky but it didn’t get loose which was a very good thing. It was defiantly the worst road that we had done with the group as a whole. The only road worse was Coyote Canyon in Death Valley and that was just Nate and I. We didn’t stop for pictures or videos as we wanted to get up and over this without tipping.

we stopped becuase labans spare tire almost bounced off

pics while riding, and note that i only pulled out my camera when the road was nice because i didn't feel comertable riding with on hand over most of the stuff on the road:

We had some close calls. Laban was leading us up over the mountail and was doing a very good job of picking lines. (for those non riders a “line” is referred to is basically the route over, around, or through an obstacle that you pick and try and hold to it) well at one point the rocks got rather large and somewhat loose and the line Laban took looked rather, umm, bouncy. So I tried to take a different line to the right side of the road only to fail miserably at hitting my point of entry and ended up hitting some large rocks and almost tipping onto my already leaking valve cover, I continued to swerve and bee bop my way over the worst part of the road while telling myself “falling is really not an option so keep it on the tires kevin”. Chad also had a close one at this same spot. Somehow his foot got bashed by a rock and got ripped off his peg, but somehow he managed to keep it sunny side up while riding on one foot for a bit. With some more steep and difficult terrain I am proud to say that we got ourselves and our bikes safely to the top without a single tip over.


i did infact use this rock to "work on" my motorcyle



We hit paved roads at the top and continued about 40 miles into Tucson to get chads part and see about getting me a new valve cover. Well the bmw dealer didn’t stock the part I needed and I was going to have to ride 2 ½ hours back to Phoenix to get the part, then do the repairs and turn around and ride 2 ½ hours bad to Tucson and then on to Nogales. I didn’t have it in me, and didn’t know if the part would fix all my problems, so I was sinking into a pit of despair. While talking to a fellow traveler and GS rider a sales man came up and asked where we were headed, I quickly filled him in out what was about to take place, he said “don’t leave without seeing me” he made some calls and came back saying that they had a used valve cover for half price, sign me up! So I feel very certain that the salesman (Iron Horse BMW in Tucson, go there) saved the trip for me. We ate, I got my bike fixed and then rolled into a best western hotel only 5 miles from the border.

the leaky valve cover

Saturday morning we left bright and early at 8:45am due to some persistent fuel leaks on my cycle that had been plaguing me from the start of the trip. I awoke with a strange peace about continuing, and a very strong sense of being loved and missed by everyone back home.


this wasn't even an option at this point



The crossing was really not a big deal. Everything went smoothly; we didn’t get stopped by any checkpoints or police. We got a hotel about 200 miles into Mexico. The driving took a bit more attention then most places in the states but we didn’t have any close calls to speak of. The next morning we awoke and headed out by 8 ish. We headed to Ahome, to Gustaves (nates sister-in-law’s parents house). We arrived at around 5 with out any incidents.



Gustaves feed us and gave use a soft bed with AC for the night. This morning we helped them rip some vines down so they could add onto a security wall. Then they took us to the beach where we played Frisbee, swam in the ocean, got sunburn, and hunted for a snake that Nate found.

the snake

We came back, I took a shower and then laid on my bed and took a nap. While everyone let me sleep and didn’t wake me up for lunch or to tell me they were leaving. I jolted awake almost 4 hours later and found no one in the house or out side! Figuring I had missed food and wasn’t sure what to do I thought about going back to bed when just then I heard a key in the door, there they were! Back from I don’t know what. Anyways there was food saved for me and it all worked out just fine, except that its 11pm and I’m wide awake and we are going to try and be ready to leave by 7:30am tomorrow. So it worked out well for all of you at home because now you have a rather lengthy update to keep you going for a few days.






In completely unrelated news I have developed a very large knot in both my neck and upper back. One of the first things on my list of “to do list” for when I get back is to get a massage from Johanna!






Sunburned and stiff.

the flight of the Phoenix

Chad trying to work on his bike in the rain

My poor steed

the rain. nough said

We stayed at Smokey and Donna Smoker, relatives of Chad and Dwayne. They were kind enough to put us up for two nights. Smokey also let us use his shop and tools and make a real mess of his nice work space. It was very nice to have a roof over our head to keep the sun off and also the rain and hail that followed after the sun. it was the first rain they had in over two months and they got over an inch while we were there. After leaving Smokeys we headed back to Siena and Andrews for the evening. But before we got there we hands down the most intense rain and hail. This was not little hail either some chunks were as big as a golf ball! I’m not even kidding, this was not a good time to chose to wear my shorts and no gloves. My legs were red all over and my hand still has a lump on it from where one of those ice golf balls landed square on my wrist. i would just like to thank the Smokers and Siena and Andrew for putting us up and feeding us SO well,. It was a real blessing to have some time off from riding.

While we had some delays yesterday with parts and working on bikes we finally made it to Nogales. We are now sitting just miles from the mexico border. Laban is singing in the show, nate is all dressed ready to go and Dwayne is putting on his socks and getting all his papers sorted, and chad is looking at the map on last time while I up date the blog and make some final calls. We go knowing that we are loved and cared about, and that there are a whole storm of prayers going before and after us. We love everyone and we will probably post again in a few days once we are clear of the border.

till another day.           loved

The Grand Vegizona

After our run in with Death Valley and recouping at a hotel in Pahrump NV Nate and I met up with Chad, Dwayne, and Laban in Vegas for a large buffet. So we then blew all our money on the slot machines. Nah really the buffet just set us back about $10. We headed south out of down town Vegas and found a hotel not to far away. Some of the guys went back into town to see the town all lit up while I stayed and updated the blog and went swimming. We hung out at the hotel, chad put a new rear tire on and we swam again.

In the afternoon Nate headed to Phoenix to catch a flight to BC for his cousins wedding and the rest of us headed for the grand canyon, camping about 13 miles south of the park entrance. By this evening everyones drop totals where at: Nate leading us with 17 drops, Chad at 12 followed closely by me (Kevin) with 11, with Dwayne and Laban bringing up the rear at about 8 apiece. 

We drove across Hover Dam

So in the morning we decided that we would all do our own thing for the day. We set a time and location to meet at towards the end of the day. I can’t tell you what everyone else did but I road around a bit stopping at some of the over looks. I gave a few people heart attacks while sitting on the edge of the canyon swinging my legs about, and doing a little exploring/climbing to get on top of a rock sticking out into the canyon. 

While in The Grand Canyon National Park I got rained on. The first rain I had seen for a very very long time. It was probably the most fun I have head riding in the rain up until this point. It was incredibly refreshing to feel the rain soaking into my riding jacket. It didn’t rain long or hard enough to get me wet the whole way through and I was headed out of the park anyway. As I was riding out of the park I kept seeing these little dirt roads headed off the side of the road towards a the canyon. Obviously I took one and was rewarded we a secluded view of the little Colorado River canyon. I did a small photo shoot there then continued onto our meeting place.

Dwaynes latest drop

Laban still eating his 5 lbs of potatoes

It was pretty late till we found a “campsite” this was my least favorite campsite so far. Nothing could really be down about it its just the way things worked out. But I wanted to sleep in my hammock and water wouldn’t have been bad either. But it was a very dry campsite with cacti everywhere and no trees that were suitable for my hammock. So I rolled my ground mat out on the ground watch 2 episodes of Seinfeld and called it a night. About 2:30am I awoke to the sound of howling coyotes just over the hump. And howl they did. I didn’t mind too much till they stopped then all I could think was that they were sneaking up the small valley right beside us. I would fall asleep only to wake up an hour later to hear them start up and go at it again. This happened till the sun came up.

look a sink! i can wash my hands

We headed on into Phoenix and stayed with some of Dwaynes friends Sienna and Andrew who were kind enough to put us up for the night.

Excerpts from Chad's journal....

Death Valley



I actually enjoyed Death valley although it was quite hot it was beautiful. I loved the surrounding mountains, the Sierra Nevadas. It would be a lot of fun some day to put knobbies on the bike and do some exploring especially to see all the old mines and the history that is there...some day maybe. Dwayne and I did get to see one of the mines though.



After getting out of Death Valley, Dwayne Laban and I camped outside of Las Vegas...



The next day we headed into Las Vegas...



Las Vegas was quite interesting. We met up with Nate and Kevin and we all went to a large buffet at one of the casinos for dinner. Then we got a hotel for the night, only the second hotel that I've stayed in so far on this trip. The next day Nate headed to Phoenix to fly to wedding for the weekend and Dwayne, Laban, Kevin and I headed towards the Grand Canyon. We crossed over the Hoover Dam, rode on a section of route 66, and then camped a few miles outside of the south entrance to the Grand Canyon.

The next day we went into the Grand Canyon National Park. We decided that day that we would split up and each do their own thing and then meet up afterwards. I decided to go for a 12 mile hike down into the canyon. It was amazing









I loved the Grand Canyon, so much to explore, and like many of the other places that we've been to so far it would be awesome to spend more time there some day. Side note: during these couple of days we crossed paths a couple of times with a young man named Jay who was from BC and was riding a old 250 honda cruiser from BC to LA to Chicago with his stuff strapped on the back seat and his backpack in his lap. crazy kid. anyways, from the Grand Canyon we camped outside of Sedona south of Flagstaff.

We're now in Phoenix, relaxing, working on our bikes, waiting for parts, and preparing to head into Mexico. The last two nights we stayed at my mom's cousin's place. Thank you Smokey and Donna for taking us in, for your hospitality and for the use of your shop, it was a huge blessing. We're now at Dwayne's friend's place, Sienna and Andrew. Although we've been camping most of the way let me just say that the people that we've met, that have housed us and fed us, shown us tremendous hospitality, really have been a huge part of this trip. Times of fellowship, encouragment, and refreshment. Thank you all again very much for blessing us and being part of our trip.

Chad