We Ride in a Petrified Forest and Live It Up at Overland Expo West – Moto Travel Diaries [S1 Ep31]

Hey everyone! Welcome back to Notiers  Frontiers Diaries. Today we go to Overland Expo   West, which is the biggest and grandest of  all the Overland Expos. The flagship expo. And it's the original one that you went to to get  inspired for our own personal journey. Yeah. That   was four years ago, right before we started on  our trip. We'd still been dreaming of going on   this big round-the-world motorcycle trip, but you  were able to get some time off of work before we   ended up quitting our jobs, and you went out there  to the Expo. And that was some real inspiration.  

It was a blessing, and I won't say "curse,"  but it was a blessing and a financial burden.   The ticket price was not expensive at all, but  the knowledge that I left with... I mean you can   walk out of there with a two million dollar  Earthroamer. But, I realized that some   of our camping gear was just not going to cut  the bill. We like to do everything on a budget   because the less we spend now, the more we can  be on the road. Exactly. But there is a happy   medium on this scale. And somewhere right in the  middle is what we are trying to aim for now. But  

when I got back from this event four years  ago... We were really on the cheap end. And that   was not good, and you realized that, thankfully,  before we embarked on our big trip. This is true.   Because we had really bad camping  equipment. Just, it was not the smartest.   We had a huge queen-size blow-up mattress that  we were using. And a four-person tent. And it was just cold every night. I woke up at  the first night of the Expo years ago, and I  

just walked around to everybody, and I said, "Who  here wasn't cold? Because I want to investigate   what equipment you use." Because also, you were  under the impression like, "I'm going to Arizona." Arizona is a wide, vast desert in my mind. Right.  It's going to be a zillion degrees. The sun is   shining all the time out there, it's going to be  really, really hot. But Flagstaff is really high   altitude. It's almost 8,000 feet high, I think.  So that definitely cools it down a lot. And some   years it snows at the Expo, that's how cold it  can get. And this year, the Expo was even pushed   further back into the year, because they finally  opened up a lot of large public events. And it was  

very exciting, but it was all pushed towards  the end of the year. And by end of the year,   you mean like in the middle of the summer? Which  was perfect, weather-wise. This is true. Correct myself.   So you had been there before, we'd also been there  the year before, and together, and as presenters,   which was super awesome. But this year it was  really a homecoming for us. It was kind of like   the origin of a lot of the inspiration for us in  our journey. It's cool to be on the other side   of the table.

So anything that is crushable, let  it be computers or camera and stuff, I want in this center.  It's just both sides, and we we  did plenty of walking around, getting inspired by   others as well. But the Overland Expo is just  a good place with a lot of like-minded people   who are out there on their own journeys, preparing  to be on their own journeys. And it's just a   Mecca for adventurers. Yeah, we get inspired,  we get to inspire others. It was super great.  

So we started off that morning in Saint George in  southern Utah, staying with our friends. And we   left really early because we wanted to get to the  Expo in Flagstaff before the campground totally   filled up. We knew it wasn't going to totally  fill up because the grounds are huge, but we   wanted to get our pick of where we were going to  camp. So we wanted to be there a little early. We left right when the sun was rising, and it  was beautiful, because right there in southern   Utah you have the Kolob Mountains, which are  kind of reddish, and they're the mountains   that surround Zion and that area. And we had that  view, just riding into it in the morning with the  

sun making everything look really red and golden.  And then we very quickly got into Arizona. And   southern Utah is very Arizona-esque, but I still  feel like there's a change that happens once you   get to Arizona. The desert really flattens out,  and the mesas pop up just out of nowhere in this   very arid, arid area. The greenery kind of  fades away, and it really just encapsulates  

the essence of Arizona pretty quickly. You feel  like, all right, yes I'm in Arizona now.   It's like you're driving across the state flag. It's just a big sun. It fits the bill perfectly. And you just want to be on  

a motorcycle. You want to be, it can get hot,  but you definitely want to feel like you're a   cowboy out there. Because that's the scenery  surrounding you, those red rocks, those oranges,   it is really beautiful. We got to the Expo,  we got checked in, we got a place to camp,  

and our dear friend Pete and his wife Lisa who  had helped us in Colorado, they were also there.   And then they said, "Hey, you should camp next to  someone who you're going to be really excited to   meet." And they're like, "Here's Amanda!" Amanda  Zito - As The Magpie Flies. I've been really   excited to meet you for some time now, because  we love your YouTube videos. I am so glad I got to  

meet you. Amanda, of Where The Magpie Flies...  "As" The Magpie Flies! Isn't that awesome?   Aranda... I told you this is why people  call me the Magpie Lady, and that's okay.   All right, here we go. There we  go. Look, I have a passenger! Alright. Are you are you ready? Here we go. Drive like a jerk  so she thinks I ride nice. As The Magpie Flies, I mean, she's just an  incredible YouTuber. She's an incredible  

motorcycle rider, she really brings the motorcycle  community together. She's done some amazing   things, and we were super excited to meet her. And  we got to camp right next to her, and she ended up   being kind of a staple throughout the weekend for  us. Because we were just constantly doing things   together, and going to events together. We got out and did  the thing! We got out and did the thing! That's  

her motto. Yes. And we got to trade information  about gear and stuff like that, because she always   has some really good insights to some of the best  motorcycle gear, especially for cold weather.   We'd done a lot of being in warm countries for  a very long time, and so this summer we're going   to be going to Alaska. We wanted some good  feedback of what was good for cold weather.   She's from Montana, so you know, it's perfect.  Also in the Expo we saw Kingston and Jackson again.  They were the film crew that did a cool little  documentary for us for the first Overland Expo.   You have to check that out. Yeah, you have  to see it. We'll link it below. These videos we have are

YouTube worthy, and we love them.  And we hope you do too. But... It's only like six   minutes. It was like, "Oh my  God! This is..." I wish every video could be   that quality. They're professionals. We're just  mules, but we're good mules. We hope you enjoy   this footage. And you started having a couple  problems with the motorcycle, I shouldn't say   "you," like "we." Well, the  bike kept on having problems. And you know, it's   the Expo... Just to kind of wrap it up in a  big bubble, the Expo is fun and it's great,  

but we're very busy. We have to present at the  the tent, to present ourselves, we almost sold   out of all of our books. So thank each and every  one of you who purchased a book. But then we're   presenting, and I don't want to shine this in  the negative light at all. I'm just saying we were very busy.   And then, as I'm riding the bike around back and  forth, there was... it felt like first gear was  

slipping or something. And what it turned out to  be was the chain had just gone from "you should   change me soon" to "oh my God, you should have  changed me a long time ago." And that's kind of   like the indicator. There is not a lot of warning.  It's just now-your-chain-is-basically-trashed.  

So that's what my bike was doing to me, because  it was so loose when I'd hit the accelerator,   or the throttle. The chain would have to catch  up to itself. And I'd make this "guh-gunk."   Did you know it at the time? That  that's exactly what was happening? Well...   You knew there was something wrong with the chain.  Yeah. I actually ran into Kingston,   and he's smarter than I, like most of  you out there. And so he got on my bike,  

and rode up and down, and said, "I don't think  it's your final drive, I think it's your chain."   And so he's the one who kind of pointed  it out. And then after further inspection,   and just taking the tire and jamming it, you  can hear that "ka-ka," it wasn't the final drive. There's  no more like 0.5 second delay of a final drive.

So thank you to Kingston. Thank you for multiple,   multiple reasons. But we're just constantly busy.  Now I have this over my head looming, what   are we going to do next? Which is how I felt at  the last Expo. And then in Idaho, and then...   The other thing that was kind of looming over  us was the fact that we knew that in 10 days   we were going to have to be in Virginia for  the final Expo - Expo East. That is not a  

lot to get across the United States. Well,  comfortably. Right? Comfortably. You can.   Certainly. But we like to enjoy ourselves  and get there rested. Especially with these bike   problems that have been popping up throughout the  summer. We just were concerned that we might not   make it. Every single Expo, we felt like we might not  make it. Every Expo I called the person in charge and   said, "Hey, I don't know if we're going to make it. I'm so sorry." And then we get there. "Oh, I'm so glad you made it!" And   we'd hug, and then we'd take off with smiles,  and I'd call her. So we were like, man, we've  

done two out of three. This is great. We were able  to get here to Arizona, but in 10 days we have to   be in Virginia. And already, the bike is having a  couple things. Well, this one was a known, just   swap out a part issue. But nobody in the area had a  chain and sprocket. And so we knew we would have   to be leaving on a battered bike. But after we get  out of first gear, it wasn't so bad. So after the  

Expo, we said our goodbyes. We parted ways with  Pete and Lisa, we parted ways with Amanda.   I highly suggest anybody out there going and getting  out to the Expos because they're such a blast to go to.   We left early the next morning to just  head east, and see how far we could get.

But along the main highway that runs  from Flagstaff eastwards out of Arizona,   there was a place that I said, I can't just go  by it and not stop there. I have to go and see   this place because I've always wanted to  go. And that is - the Petrified Forest. But what really surprised me about the Petrified  Forest is I thought the highlight of it would be   seeing the logs from the dinosaur ages that  had been turned to stone, and all the really   beautiful stones that are encased in the logs  now. But actually, for me the highlight was   the drive through. It was this huge long  stretch. And so the highway is here, and   you kind of pull off the highway and then you're  running parallel to it for a little bit. And then  

you actually cross the highway, and you go off. It  wasn't like this far remote thing, but there was...   It had to have been 30 miles or something of this road. Beautiful. And it went  through an area called the Painted Desert. And it   was just night and day versus the highway, versus  this road. And it was just like, who built the road  

and wasn't like, "Hey, let's build it two miles  east." You know? I don't get it. The highway...   it doesn't matter. We'll cut that part out. But it  was just a fantastic ride that was semi Bryce   Canyon-esque in sections. And then riding at an  altitude with an overlook of mesas. All the  

colors that were out there were so stunning. There  were these mounds that were kind of greenish gray,   and then they'd have these black stripes. And then  there were red ones, and there were orange ones,   and there were completely white ones as well. So  I definitely understand where it got the name,   the Painted Desert. It was like a Bob Ross  painting. It was just insane. Yes. And I didn't  

expect it to be so beautiful of a ride through  it. Yeah. We did a little bit of a hike down   into an area that had some of the logs that had  fallen over. And it was very strange to think   that millions and millions of years ago this had  been a jungle, and it had been completely covered   in dinosaurs. Huge dinosaurs everywhere, and huge  fern-like trees. That part was a 45-minute ride   into the scenery. Unbelievable. It was really  really cool. And to think that not only were these  

once living things. But now they haven't just  become like stone, they've become gorgeous gems.   They're just so pretty, there's quartz in them.  And yeah, they really are sometimes like crystals.   It's like a magical thing, like a dinosaur forest  turned to crystals. Some enchantment by some evil   witch, I don't know. Only on earth! Only on earth! It was the perfect little detour. And we   took a nice little hike down. And it was kind  of strenuous, because it's up on this bluff...  

By strenuous, by our standards, because we don't hike.  We don't like to hike that much. But you could   reach out and touch them. And it was just, it was  really really cool. It was a feel-good day, it was   a very beautiful ride, with very beautiful strange  objects. And you know, that's what we like to hunt   down. In our next video, we will be booking  it across the United States. We come across  

hail storms, and more bike issues, and saving  graces, and all sorts of crazy adventures.   So I hope you stay tuned, and I hope  you liked this video. If you did,   please give us a big thumbs up,  and hit the subscribe button below,   and we will be seeing you next  time. Thanks everybody. Bye! Peace.

2022-01-13 07:43

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