9/19/05 This morning we helped Thomas winterize the house and get everything locked up before we headed out. With our goodbyes said and promises to meet up in less than two weeks in small town on the Atlantic Coast of Morocco Anna and I headed out. The plan was to swing by the Fed Ex office pick up two packages, one from my friend Dan who sent me 3 months of Malarone (which at $5 a pill and you have to take one a day, well the price quickly adds up) and the other package from my dad who sent me a whole bunch of stuff including a new camera that I bought. I was a little paranoid that camera I have would break in Africa. Well as it turned out only one of the packages was there, so Anna and I headed off to Antibes to find a campsite for the evening. Before we left Thomas loaded us up on some meat and other goods, so for dinner we cooked up a huge bowl of pasta that we could barely finish. To tell the truth I dont think the fed Anna much because she ate twice what I did. Today’s Specs Weather: 75F Rainy Distance: 15 miles Bar Sur Loup France to Antibes France 9/20/05 This morning I woke up with hopes of the package arriving but was informed it would be in first thing tomorrow morning for sure. So after stopping at the grocery store for some bacon and eggs for breakfast I headed back to the campsite. The rest of the day was spent sightseeing and touring the cote de azur, we saw some incredible yachts off the coast of Antibes and Cannes (I particularly liked the one with the helicopter on the back). After sightseeing we had another delicious dinner of pasta though this time we mixed it up with sausage instead of ground beef. Today’s Specs Weather: 75F Sunny/Cloudy Distance: Antibes France     9/21/05 This morning we picked up the package from Fed-Ex. I was quite happy that it arrived. My new camera is very cool (it is the Sony DSC-200) much smaller than my Cannon A-95. Though my Dad forgot the soap box, you wouldnt believe how hard it is to find a soap box in Europe, so I guess the soap stays in the ziploc bag all soggy (the simple problems of my life these days). I decided to mail my old riding jacket and some of my clothes home, fed-ex wanted almost $200 but the French Poste only wanted $30 (hhhmmmm hope it arrives). Once this was all sorted we packed up camp and got on the road. We mainly road the Autoroute but skipping the toll booths (it does set off a neat little buzzer when you dont pay but it would have added up to almost $75 to get across France). We found a neat little village to camp at and after a dinner of, you guessed it, pasta, we called it a night. Today’s Specs Weather: 75F Sunny/Cloudy Distance: 220 miles Antibes France to some small town. 9/22/05 This morning we spent going through our stuff once again trying to eliminate all the things we think we can do without. So after a good hour we widdled the pile down a little more. So after a quick trip to the French Poste (so Anna could mail some stuff home) and a quick breakfast of bread and salami (I do love the french diet) we were on the road again. We made somewhat slow time to Perpignan where I had left the tires from riding through the Pyrenees Mts. After picking up the tires we made decent time to Spain . Anna suggested we try to find a field to camp in instead of a campsite. I tell you she is rugged. Unfortunately I pushed on too long and it quickly got dark on us, and looking for a good campsite in the dark sucks. But after a looking around for an extra 45 minutes we found a nice orchard to poach a campsite. Today’s Specs Weather: 75F Sunny/Cloudy Distance: 150 miles small town in France to Orchard in Spain   9/23/05 After packing up our stuff in the orchard we got on the road and headed South. I was a little bummed to drive by Barcelona, it is such a great city I could have easily spent a couple days there but the goal is Africa so I waved as we went by. The main plan for today was to make it to Valencia to hopefully buy tires and get the Karoos that I was carrying mounted. As we pulled into Valencia I quickly asked a scooter driver if he could point me in the direction of a tire store, he smiled and said follow him. As we scooted our way down a couple streets we ended up in front of a tire store. So as I waved by to my little scooter buddy I realized that the store was closed for another hour due to siesta. So we figured we had an hour to kill so as we pulled out we also noticed the BMW motorcycle shop across the street (they would definitely have my tires). So after an hour of sightseeing we headed back to the BMW dealership and I was quickly welcomed by the most friendly group of people who were most interested in the trip to Africa. After 30 minutes of discussing Africa and looking at maps they finally showed me a stack of Continental Twindurro. I said I would take 2 rears and one front, all for the low price of , WHAT ALMOST 600 EUROS!!!!!!!, well sometimes you have to take it like a man (this could be the Karma for skipping all the toll booths across the last 3 countries). I guess I was paying extra for the BMW bag the receipt came in. Unfortunately (or maybe fortunately at their prices) they were to busy to mount my Karoos, so I set off to find a shop to mount them. The first shop took one look at the bike and was instantly too busy as well. So to Annas protest, we pulled up across the street on the sidewalk of the next shop where I began to dismantle the bike. She could not believe her eyes as I sat there with the bike on my boxes and both tires off. I walked across the street carrying the tires. After a couple minutes of negotiation and convincing the guy he wasn't too busy he agreed to change my tires. You wouldn't believe that it can actually be a challenge to get someone to change your tires, but it actually is. So after the bike was put back together and 3 spare tires strapped to the back we headed south. Anna again suggested we camp outside but that she needed a shower ( I definitely wasn't going to argue that point) fortunately allot of the roadside gas stations have showers, so after showering up we again for a nice orchard and called it a night. Anna is a pretty good passenger, she enjoys camping on the cheap and her bladder is twice the size of mine. Hmm almost the perfect women small hands and a large bladder. Today’s Specs Weather: 85F Sunny with clouds Distance: 300 miles Orchard in Norther Spain to Orchard south of Valencia   9/24/05 Today was a fairly uneventful ride to Almeria where we are going catch the Ferry to Morocco (actually Mellila a small Spanish enclave on the coast of Morocco). Southern Spain isnt to exciting, the scenery largely resembling parts of Texas and Arizona. Once in Almeria we purchased the ticket for the ferry (it was only $100 for the two of us and the motorcycle, over $100 cheaper than what I saw on the internet so good thing I waited). The excitement is definately building up, I literally have butterflies in my stomach with anticipation of being in Africa tomorrow morning. The ferry leaves at 11:00 PM and arrives at 5:00 AM. Today’s Specs Weather: 85F Sunny Distance: 300 miles Orchard south of Valencia to Almeria