Santa Barbara, Strudel and Hwy 1

Training for my upcoming ride from Bulgaria to Portugal has begun in earnest. 

First weekend trip: 750 miles in 3 days...some of those relatively terrifying. Near Santa Barbara is a Dutch colony called Solvang where a bakery makes the best apple strudel but be warned they won't sell you a single piece, you have to buy the whole darned thing. 

So I went along with the program and ate half of one all by myself.

Then John took me to the same dirt roads we did a year ago when it was much colder. We turned a corner and found a mother deer and two babies running ahead of us out of sheer terror. Wished I had video of it...

Decided to park my butt and enjoy the view of the valley below and watch the swarm of dragonflies.

John coming around a corner fast as usual. 

Had to stop off at Michael Jackson's Neverland for a photo.

Lots of red tailed hawks this year...just gorgeous.

Great view from the top of a mountain. 

I'm about to do a section of dirt along the ridge that had me gripping the handlebars in fright....didn't really enjoy the view after this photo.

John and Judy allowed me to stay with them for a couple nights and I met the family dog Dexter who loves to nap. Course he's also talented at waking guests up at 7am. He can also turn on lights....they put peanut butter on the switches to train him to do that.

The bathroom I shared with 3 young smelly boys....

Didn't know John could play guitar, quite well too!

Saturday night we went to Ben's house for some BBQ pork tenderloin. A couple of my favorite words "BBQ" and "pork"....and a killer view of Santa Barbara from his backyard.

Meet Lola...why are puppies so darned cute?

The brood. Ben in front, then Billy one of their sons and his friend then Judy and John next to me.

Rode Hwy 1 along the coast all the way home so I passed in front of Hearst Castle. If you zoom into this photo you can see it in the background way up on the mountain.

I did take one good spill, bent a footpeg and busted one clean off, no passengers for a while. Included in that exciting moment I got a bonus gift of a lovely grapefruit sized bruise that is even more colorful now. 

This next weekend its going to be a 500 mile ride over 2 days going to Northern Nevada.

Ankara and a Good Muslim

Asphaltmueller from ADV invited us to stay with him in Ankara. 

Amy Luna a friend of mine recommended the Museum of Anatolian Civilizations. 

So when Ozge offered his place, well his place was too crowded with his full family, he then dropped us off at  Ilteris house (left front) who promptly took us to a great area and a good lunch with cocktails!

Finally got a decent drink here, mojito.

This place is known for the chicken.

As we crested a rather high hill to see the city below, he proudly announced, 'Welcome to Ankara! The ugliest city in Turkey!"

Compensation, great Turkish ice cream. Pistachio and Chocolate.

Found a Kryolan store and had to stop for a photo. I got my make up here for my Avatar Halloween costume last year. 

Cute area for street shopping.

Damn those Turkish pastries!

My room.

So another thing that makes Ilteris a good Muslim was the promptly opened a bottle of French wine.

And when the Mosque next door (literally) broadcast the prayer over the loudspeaker from the minaret, he would blast any classic rock at 50 decibels. 

Apartment building hell.

Oh then if that couldn't top the last quirk, he BBQ Bacon! Paul you need to hook up with this guy if you ever go to Turkey.

Enjoyed a wonderful backyard BBQ.

Excellent homemade food!

The 3 stooges

The next morning a drive around the old city and the citadel on top of the highest point in the city. 

Then a covert operation to get to this lake owned by the university.

Some cool bars that night.

Ozge doesn't fool around with  his beer glass size.

I had an excellent time in Turkey once again and finishing off the trip with this wonderful hospitality made it perfect. I will leave my new friends with something I found on the menu of a restaurant recently...

"Mailale Amor"

Which translates to : For the Love of Pork!

Next stop Istanbul

Riding Pillion

Manish and I had a moment about riding pillion.

As most of you know, I ride in full gear 99.99% of the time. It's all or nothing to coin a good friend's phrase. We camped at this dump that I compared to the backwater area's of Alabama where 1st cousins' marry and it was about 1 Km from town. I put a helmet on and then the debate started about wearing gloves, and boots, and jacket....imagine this is after a long day of riding, my favorite dress dropped in the mud during my outdoor shower, i'm hungry, it was the perfect storm which turned into no gear, no bike and a miserable walk to town in the sun and heat.

So we lightened the mood the next day with this funny photo and didn't argue about pillion for a short distance again.

Carla Punch, this photo is for you! (my personal trainer) I got this nasty bruise fighting with a gas pump.

Arrive Cappadocia and had fun in these small doorways.

Found my favorite restaurant, Old Cappadocia where Luke took me last year.

Finger sized stuffed grape leaves just like my father loves.

As if Cappadocia wasn't hot enough already!

The hard to beat Manti!

Funny Bug and VW Bus combo (people ignore no parking signs)

Andy our host in the area was flying this very balloon which passed right over our camp in the morning.

Goreme Valley

Ventilation hole or way to get rid of unwanted guests?

Underground cities, not for the claustrophobic or those with a sensitive nose, the 3 day old sweat smell was positively revolting. Only video if anyone really wants to see how scary this place is.

Clever red arrows to show you the way out, a real Disneyland maze.

Andy rode us around the area for some great on and off road tracks.

Andy's beloved Africa Twin.

Went to their favorite dinner place for guess what! Manti!

Next stop Ankara, the most ugly city in Turkey!