Wednesday 7 September 2011

Motorcycle Road-trip around North America - #19# (The End)

After 13.237 Km this trip is over.

America is the undisputed wonderland of roads.



So long, until the next kick off...



Footage: Patchwork of clips
Soundtrack: Tom Waits, Cold Cold Ground


             The End

Tuesday 6 September 2011

San Francisco to New York - #18# (New York, Manhattan)

A few more pics retrieved 3 years after the trip from a recovered memory card...
I took a nice trip down memory lane last night.

Sunday September 11th 2011. 10 years after the terrorist attacks.


The nearly-complete One and Four World Trade Center at the spot where the Twin Towers used to stand.

Memorial flags for the victims of the attacks down the promenade.
















Soundtrack: Tortoise, Swung from the gutters




San Francisco to New York - #17# (New York, New Jersey)

Hackensack is a small hospital town in New Jersey which I decided to make my base for exploring New York. 

After all it's during the “home stretch” when most road crashes happen. Those last few miles before you reach your final destination.

..and New York is particularly non-friendly for motorcycles.

Hackensack was clean, safe and most importantly it had a hospital where I could park my motorcycle for 3 USD per day!!!

A motorcycle friendly city, that New York it is not.


New YorkNew York was only a 25 mins bus ride from HackensackNew Jersey.


There is some kind of moto rally in New York today... all sorts of moto maniacs are on the loose.






Billboard ads for Linux jobs...


Drove my moto to Newark, New Jersey where it would be crated and then loaded on a cargo ship on the way to Europe. It will take 3-4 weeks...




Soundtrack: Tom Waits, Downtown Train

San Francisco to New York - #16# (Ohio, Pennsylvania)










  
Oil City, Pennsylvania.
  

Oil City in Pennsylvania, was instrumental in the exploration and development of the petroleum industry. 

After the first oil wells were drilled nearby in the 1850s, Oil City became central in the petroleum industry and hosted headquarters for the Pennzoil, Quaker State, and Wolf's Head motor oil companies. 





Straight from Oil City's glory days a Victorian Estate House.




Soundtrack: The Afghan Whigs, Debonair





Sunday 4 September 2011

San Francisco to New York - #14# (Des Moines, Iowa)

Clean cut Des Moines in Iowa, 

Des Moines is the place where  which is home to the Iowa caucuses. The Iowa caucuses have been the first major electoral event in nominating the President of the United States since 1972. 

Hence, many presidential candidates set up campaign headquarters in Des Moines.





The Iowa State Capitol, built 1886.













Soundtrack: Tom Waits, Hold On

Friday 2 September 2011

San Francisco to New York - #13# (Gothenburg,Omaha - Nebraska)

Interstate 76 at the Colorado border.


From the Omaha Native American word, Ní Btháska, meaning "flat water", after the Platte River that flows through the state.


Nebraska home of the Arbor Day is a holiday in which individuals and groups are encouraged to plant and care for trees. 




  


The Pony Express was a fast mail service crossing the Great Plains, the Rocky Mountains, and the High Sierra from St. Joseph, Missouri, to Sacramento, California, from April 3, 1860 to October 1861. 


William Cody, aka Buffalo Bill legend and the folklore hero of the Pony Express.


 Pony Express Relay Station in Gothemburg,Nebraska.

 


Gothenburg founded by Swedish immigrants. 


  



Under the Homestead Act, thousands of new settlers migrated into Nebraska to claim free land granted by the federal government.

These first settlers mostly Germanic and Nordic people left civilised Europe to find themselves in the middle of nowhere in the most harsh conditions.



Many women commited suicide as a result of life's hardships and isolation in the middle of the Prairies.


Because so few trees grew on the prairies, many of the first farming settlers built their homes of sod.





Omaha, largest city of Nebraska.



In 1883 Omaha hosted the first official performance of the Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show for eight thousand attendees.



  
  











"Vítáme Vás", "We welcome You" in the Czech neighborhood of Omaha.




Internationally renowned composer Antonin Dvorak wrote his Ninth ("New World") Symphony in 1893 based after visiting Omaha's robust Czech community.

 


   
More about Sokols here..







Soundtrack: Bruce Springsteen, Nebraska