Viva Las Vegas

 

Guns n Roses , Las Vegas, Nov 2012

 

Its not eveyday one gets invited to Las Vegas, so it was a pleasant surprise to be asked to fly there from Dallas to train a new gang of stonecoat applicators. Not only another first, but staying in the

Hard Rock Hotel and Casino was another good reason to pack my suitcase yet again.

DFW to Las Vegas is just over 1000 miles and a little over 2 hours on a plane. With a 'problem' before we took off, the delay was explained as the Coffee machine leaking. Hard to believe but an extra hour added after we had boarded is always a pain.

Vegas is a sprawling place in the middle of nowhere and the red rock mountains are quite stunning as you fly in. I missed the Grand Canyon fly over as the guy in the window seat was asleep and the blind was down.

Next day, a quick guide around the offices of CLM and we were underway. Classroom stuff and a quick run through the who, what, where.

After a run through and practise wall day two and three were practical and re-finishing the exterior of the building.

 

The red stone of Nevada was the plan.

 

Later that night, I managed to blag a ticket for Guns and Roses in the hotel. Not a bad end to my Vegas visit.

 

 Front row.... not bad !!!

 

 

By Friday I was back in Addison TX, and spent the last few days relaxing before flying back to the UK.

Saturday saw me attending the Progressive Motorcycle Show in Dallas. A small affair with a good turn out of manufacturers. Some lovely customs and vendors to talk to.

A few hours to myself, and a nice break from 'work',

16 hrs on the go, I arrived back just as Mrs R2M was going out to work.

 

The Motorcycle Live at the NEC Birmingham starts today, So maybe another show by the end of next week.

Take one Honda Goldwing, and start again.

 

The guy working next to me is wearing two T-shirts and a hoody, plus gloves and a baseball hat. Its about 89F in a cul-de-sac of 10ft high brick walls and the cloudless and windless sky and high sun is giving me a trouser sauna. Even with a single T-shirt and shorts, I am suffering, lifting and shifting and working along side the locals.The two Mexicans and a Texan thing its cool today. They can not believe that I am too hot. Summer temperatures here in Fort Worth reach 120f and I am going to Vegas on Sunday, and thats in the desert. Sunday comes and the two hour flight receives an extra hour wait as the planes coffee machine has sprung a leak. Yes, only in America , but even with the water turned off, the coffee gone and the loo's not flushing, it took 62 minutes to get us off the ground. The passenger were strangly calm and accepting of this delay. Viva Las Vegas. I miss the Grand Canyon fly over as the window seat is occupied by a magician on his way to a gig. He is asleep, the blind is down and the mumbled PA announcement by the pilot was lost in a mix of static and his southern drawl. The 30 stone black DJ on my left added to my own 'bulk' hinders a comfortable trip, but arriving over Vegas I am surprised at the vastness of this yellow earthern landscape dotted with buildings for mile after mile. A giant blue lake below looks like the Adriatic coastline and as we land once again the calm on the plane surprised me as the passengers allowed all those in front of them to get up and leave in order.(No matter how long it takes). Entering the surreal world of Marbella on speed, the bright sun hasn't managed to heat the dry air above tolerable. Texas time was reduced by an hour as 'daylight saving time' came into action last night, take off plus either one or three hours for the trip west and its either lunchtime or breakfast, I still don't know. Travel back in time , yes we can ! The Hard Rock hotel and casino is just another glittering icon to the dollar, and the 'strip' can wait until its dark. Meanwhile the splendour of the vast air conditioned room allows me some rest bite from the noise of the street and the continual row of planes that pass just in front of my 7th floor window, bringing some more dollars from all over the world. Despite the supposed reduction in the economy the airport is mad busy and even in the arrivals lounge the ever lasting stream of slot machines that spread into every nook and cranny let you know you have arrived. Vulgar or great, false or fantastic, it doesn't matter, Vegas is cool as custom cars and bikes wander by. Its Sunday so I guess its 'go for a ride' day and the international feel is a change from the All American macho attitude of Dallas. I could be in Marbella, it could be Blackpool, but for the sun. I am here to work, and the next five days it will be just another city, another hotel room without a decent cup of tea and eight blokes more to train, take some stick about my accent and send out into the world of Stonecoat.com Guns and Roses are on down stairs on Wednesday.... now there's a thing, I dare not evenlook at the price of tickets, and anyway Slash is missing form the line up. My host is in the reception bar which has 18ft wide TV's showing 3 football games at once, 200 slots, food and most important BEER, so as you would expect from a Brit abroad....... I'moff

Back in the USA Its the end of October and as the clocks go back an hour in the UK and the temperature drops to a few degrees above ice cold, I am back in the USA. Texas to be exact. Not riding this time just here to evaluate a new job position-oportunity. The temperatures here hav e been between cool (double T shirt with my shorts), to 85F which is pretty hot for October. Addison is a flat and newish conurbation of single story shops and outlets, appartment blocks and a small airport that has a fine collection of privately owned Leer jets. Dallas and Fort Worth is just down the road, and money is all around. I just spent a week in the wilderness of Cisco TX, a wild west style town that boomed in the Oil years and the site of the very first Hilton Hotel. The biggest buiding in town is now empty and derelict as is most of the town. I was there to train some new Stonecoat guys in the art of stone effect walls, and despite 90 F rain storms and 48f winds.We spent a weekworking long days to finish 2800 sqft in 5 days. Thats pretty good going. Back in Addison, I am sat in a cheapo hotel for this week before heading out for LasVegas for more of the same next week. The issues of food that I recognise as healthy or tasty still stands. In Texas things ARE BIG. Big quantity small on taste and quality. Very few things are crunchy, and many meals are mush on a plate. After a week of Tacos helped along with plenty of Halapinos, the lack of licenced restaurants means that its Water, Coke or Iced tea. I am being looked after by my hosts, and spent the first weekend here running around in a monster 5.7ltr Hemi truck kindly lent to me by Clif Tinder. Big Loud and thirsty..... the truck not me or Clif. We had a laugh with the crew, worked hard and created friendships that will last.

After a few weeks of banding about with telephone calls and e-mails between UK and USA, I finally got the tickets booked for a visit to Texas. Stonecoat Inc to be exact in Arlington . The job is to train some guys in the art of stone effect carving (decopierre), and I will stay a few weeks to see if there is a more perminent position with the company. Not much riding to report as my bike will stay here under wraps, but that doesn't mesn I won't be looking for something to ride out there. I got a four page spread in a UK maga2ine called Motorcycle Sport & Leisure. Plus the section header page show my on the Dragon Tail. Great to see some press about my trip.

Horse shoes and turbo bikes.

Running afew days behind blogging my Bennetts Biker Dream has been a juggling act. Some days more things worth a mention happen and fade out the previous day. Today the 8th June, I started early and left the Super8 Motel at 7.15am to get to Manchester within half an hour. This has allowed me an 312 miles spin and an early finish in Kimball South Dakota. So here is a double report to catch up.

SS Badger, the oldest coal fired ferry on lake Michigan was ready and waiting when I rode the 1/2 mile main street Ludington to get to the port. Just 7am and a few cars had already beat me to the queue. the officer in charge of security and his 'sniffer' dog, waited. Carrying any arms, sir? I was tempted to say only these two, but he looked like a man not too happy to be up so early , so refrained.

$118 seemed a bit steep, but the option to ride 200 miles around the lake and through Chicago, was the other one . The 4 hour rest and experience was enough and meeting Liisa, a designer from Harley, plus the daft bingo manon board made the journey worth while.

Corey Clark a Tech teacher and biker who found me via advrider.com and facebook suggested the SS Badger and a visit to his place for beer and a bed for the night. Hard to refuse and a quick call once in Wisconsin ensured a great night of chicken wings, horse shoe throwing and bike talk.

Fame at last. Motorcycle Sport & Leisure a UK motorcycle mag has a nice 4 page spread in their travel section.................... about ME. I posted out short versions of my journey and as well as this great mention, I hear that Bike, Ride and Overland mags will also mention 'one' in their autumn-winter editions. Funny how it was over a year ago that I completed this life changing mission, and the one down-up side is the bug that has bitten. I read a lot about the 'what do you do after' syndrome and have come to the realisation that it really exists. One is supposed to settle down and get back to reality when a great journey is completed, but the fact remains I didn't get to all 33 Manchesters and with another UK couple already on their way to complete a 50 Manchester world trip, I am trying had to get my book finished to get a QED once and for all. My Twitter @Road2Manchester page is suffering with still under 1500 followers, not sure why but just thought I would mention it as 18100 pageimpressions and 8000+ readers on this blog I should have a few more Iguess....... 80( October weather is even wetter with floods and rain for weeks, buttoday Sunday 6th was sunny though colder than recently. The clocks go back shortly which means dark mornings and evenings in Britain. Winter draws on, as they say. TTFN

October 1st 2012 I have to say that September just went by in the blink of an eye and as Autumn (Fall) arrives,the summer that never was has started to dissapear. Searching for work was on the cards, and despite getting a job in a warehouse, the wages are low and hours very long. The UK biking scene has struggled this summer. The rain has fallen just about every day for a month and despite being hot, nobody wants to sweat in full weather gear whilst getting wet on the outside too. At one point I was telling the world I was going back to the USA to work in the stone effect wall sector that I have been involved in here. All was suddenly stopped at the eleventh hour as my hosts pulled out due to 'directors issues'. October is now here and shortly the clocks change to winter time and its dark in the mornings and dark at 4pm. No fun for those working indoors as they only see sunshine at the weekends. Still looking for a better job, I can only stand 6 days, 60 hrs for a short time, and though I love to work, the place and the peoople need to be half resonable. ends