Monthly Archives: July 2012

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National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest 2012


The 24th annual National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest has just wrapped up, and judges will soon be selecting the winners — but voting for the Viewer’s Choice award is open until Friday, July 20, at 9 a.m. National Geographic was kind enough to allow me to share some of these amazing entries with you here, gathered from four categories: Travel Portraits, Outdoor Scenes, Sense of Place, and Spontaneous Moments. [40 photos]

Lava Kiss: My husband and I, along with a tour guide and a group of friends, hiked up to what was formerly the Royal Gardens subdivision above Kalapana, Hawaii, where the last standing house was just recently taken over by the active lava flow. While waiting for the rain to pass, we started taking back-lit portraits of each other in front of the lava flow after I set up my camera on the tripod. For the last photo, my husband spontaneously dipped me in a kiss. It was a truly once-in-a-lifetime moment! (© Dallas Nagata White/National Geographic Traveler Photo Contest) Continue reading →
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KLIM ADVENTURE part V


All pics are clickables!  ;-)

Before heading up the Oregon coast we rode to the Northern tip of California.  Part of the Redwood Forest.  We literally stopped at the visitors station to pee and look around and then went right up the coast, Rt 101. We have done this route many times before in a Jeep and on our bikes.  To be honest we never really get enough of the coast and we never see it the same time of year. 

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KLIM Adventure part IV


July 9th – July 20th 2012

***Worthy to note:  We had a discussion with Edward from KLIM about how one time he was riding his KTM in triple digits and he swears his gas began to boil and his bike would stall.  On this trip when were in triple digits Leslie’s bike began to stall.  We thought maybe it was the ethanol used in Idaho gas but Cheryl’s bike only stalled once.  My bike seemed to have issues in the HOT heat.  My theory now is the oil.  When we went cross-country in 2010 we changed our oil to 20W50 because of the heat wave that the east was experiencing.  I think we should have done that for this trip.  WHY?

20W50 motor oil is suitable for warmer climates, where the higher temperature causes the oil to thin. It is also useful for vehicles subject to hot temperatures and for those used for high-stress activities such as hauling or pulling trailers.

So, in the end I think for some reason my bike ran hotter than Cheryl’s causing me to stall like crazy after riding for hours.  I could get the bike to restart most times and other times just pulled over and let the bike cool down.  Anyway, interesting to note because we usually run 10W40 semi like most but another good lesson learned for the future.***
 

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KLIM LATITUDE – Second Opinion (w/Modified Collar)


A couple of months ago we sent our jackets back to KLIM USA to have the collars shortened on our Latitude jackets.  This is a mod that anyone can get presently as there have been quite a few complaints about the stiffness and height.  After this trip Cheryl has decided to return to her Traverse suit and has asked me to put her suit up for sale.  I am still up in the air about it. 

We have worn this suit for over 6500 KM now.

  • Nov 2012 UPDATE:  We both SOLD our Latitudes.  In the end, nice looking suit but the stiffness of the Cordura was over kill for us.  We are both back to wearing our Traverse and I have to admit the fit of the Traverse pants especially WINS!

Old collar

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Extreme adventure test – part two


We took the BMW R1200GS, Yamaha XT1200Z Super Tenere, Triumph Tiger Explorer 1200 and KTM 990 Adventure on an off-road adventure and to really test their abilities, we enlisted Stan Watt, who finished 34th in this year’s Dakar Rally.

View part one here:

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KLIM Adventure Rally (July 6th – July 20th 2012) part II


Part I CLICK HERE

This years summer trip was way shorter than last years epic ride with Triumph Canada, 2 Triumph Tiger XC bikes to Alaska.  Not 44 days long but only 11.  Why?  Leslie started a new job in January and was not able to get a large amount of time off this summer.  As a matter of fact every day Leslie used for this break from work was banked OT not vacation time because she is not able to take “vacation” until her probation is over.  BTW, should have been over July 16th.

KLIM Trip

In any case, every ride no matter how long or short can turn out to be an adventure and this was no different.  This trip we contended with temperatures ranging from 12 C (53 F) to 42 C (107.6 F).  The beginning of this trip we saw triple digits. Continue reading →

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WELCOME # 182 Cote D’Ivoire Population: 21,504,162
 Background
Close ties to France since independence in 1960, the development of cocoa production for export, and foreign investment made Cote d’Ivoire one of the most prosperous of the West African states, but did not protect it from political turmoil. In December 1999, a military coup – the first ever in Cote d’Ivoire’s history – overthrew the government. Junta leader Robert GUEI blatantly rigged elections held in late 2000 and declared himself the winner. Popular protest forced him to step aside and brought Laurent GBAGBO into power. Ivorian dissidents and disaffected members of the military launched a failed coup attempt in September 2002. Rebel forces claimed the northern half of the country, and in January 2003 were granted ministerial positions in a unity government under the auspices of the Linas-Marcoussis Peace Accord. President GBAGBO and rebel forces resumed implementation of the peace accord in December 2003 after a three-month stalemate, but issues that sparked the civil war, such as land reform and grounds for citizenship, remained unresolved. In March 2007 President GBAGBO and former New Force rebel leader Guillaume SORO signed the Ouagadougou Political Agreement. As a result of the agreement, SORO joined GBAGBO’s government as Prime Minister and the two agreed to reunite the country by dismantling the zone of confidence separating North from South, integrate rebel forces into the national armed forces, and hold elections. Disarmament, demobilization, and reintegration of rebel forces have been problematic as rebels seek to enter the armed forces. Citizen identification and voter registration pose election difficulties, and balloting planned for November 2009 was postponed to 2010. On 28 November 2010, Alassane Dramane OUATTARA won the presidential election, defeating then President Laurent GBAGBO. GBAGBO refused to hand over power, resulting in a 6-month stand-off. In April 2011, after widespread fighting, GBAGBO was formally forced from office by OUATTARA supporters with the support of UN and French forces. Several thousand UN troops and several hundred French remain in Cote d’Ivoire to support the transition process. Continue reading →