Monterey, California, USA.

Kominn til baearins Monterey i Californiu og er alveg vid strondina.  Vegirnir sem vid erum bunir ad hjola undanfarna viku, thad er, highway 101 og highway 1, sem liggja medfram strondinni, eru otrulega skemmtilegir og fjolbreyttir.  Allt fra thvi ad hlykkjast um thetta skoga upp og nidur, i thad ad vera beinir og fallegir medfram sjavarkambinum, og nanast ut i sjo stundum.  Skemmtileg leid sem eg maeli eindregid med.  Littlir baeir sem vid forum i gegnum a leidinni eru fallegir og verda meira og meira sudraenir og thar af leidandi meira af folki af spaenskum uppruna.  Hitinn eykst og er mjog heitt adeins inn i landinu, en betra alveg utvid strondina, thvi thar er kaldur vindur af hafi sem gerir thetta thaegilegra.  Thad var skemmtilegt ad heyra thad i sjonvarpinu i gaer, ad thetta var i fyrsta skipti i 150 ar sem rigndi i San Fransisko a deginum 18 juli, og hvad haldid thid, ju eg og Einar komum i borgina thennan dag !!!  I dag forum vid svo og skodudum Golden Gate bruna her i San Fransisko og saum hid illraemda Alcatras fangelsi ut a floanum.  Sidan hjoludum vid yfir bruna og i gegnum borgina sem var einstaklega skemmtilegt og fallegt.  Thetta er stor borg og segja margir ad hun se ein fallegasta borg Bandarikjanna.  Upplifunin sem eg vard fyrir thegar eg sat uppi a haed rett vid bruarspordinn og horfdi yfir var otruleg.  Sjaldan fundid svona sterka tilfinningu fyrr thegar eg heimsaeki thekkta stadi.  Eg sat tharna lengi og let thess skritnu tilfinningu siga haegt inn.  En, vid semsagt komum med rigninguna med okkur og komumst a spjold sogunnar !  Thetta er svo sem daemigert fyrir okkur.  Einnig hofum verid ad sannreyna eina kenningu sem gengur ut a thad, ad ef madur klaedir sig i regngallann, tha haettir ad rigna, ef madur fer i peysuna sina og kuldagallann, tha hitnar skommu sidar.  Semsagt, vedrid laetur alltad eins og bornin gera, thad er, ef madur ograr og segir ad manni se alveg sama, tha breytist vedrid i andstaeda att.  Thetta hefur virkad agaetlega hingad til.   I dag stoppudum vid a leidinni hingad vid littla sveitabud til ad kaupa okkur vatn.  Thurfum ad drekka mikid vatn herna, og tha hittum vid folk a motorhjolum, tvo por, sem voru a leid til Monterey eins og vid.  Eg hafdi tekid eftir thvi ad mjog mikil umferd af motorhjolum var a leidinni i thessa att og hofdum vid Einar ord a thessu vid hvorn annan.  En thetta folk upplysti okkur um thad, ad nuna um helgina, verdur staersta motorhjolakeppni Ameriku haldin tharna.  MotoGP, sem er sambaerileg vid Formulu 1 i bilunum !!  Thetta er thvi enginn smavidburdur og aetlad ad i kringum 50.000 manns komi til ad horfa a thessa keppni.  Og tharna erum vid allt i einu og hofdum ekki hugmynd um thetta.  Vid aetlum semsagt ad kikja a thessa keppni a morgun, thvi tha byrja timatokur og upplifa thetta adeins.  Thetta er vist mjog stor vidburdur i Ameriku.  Skemmtileg tilviljun.  Og eg held meira ad segja ad keppnin se i beinni utsendingu a Skja Einum um helgina.  Kannski get eg vinkad ykkur i sjonvarpinu !  Gott i bili. Kilometrateljarinn er ca 25140.   Setti nokkrar nyjar myndir i myndaalbumid.

We are now in Monterey, California, but that’s by the beach. The roads we’ve travelled the past week have been really enjoyable to ride. I’m talking about highway 1 and highway 101 and the roads along the coastline, but they can be really wavy and diverse. It’s a great route to travel and it has my recommendation. The small villages we pass are also very beautiful but thei’re getting more and more southern and therefore the people are more hispanic. The heat is going up but it’s cooler by the coastline because there are cold winds coming from the oceans there. It was interesting to hear in yesterdays news that it was the first day in 150 years that it rained in San Fransisco, on the 18th of July, and of course that was the day Einar and I came to San Fransisco!  We went to see the Golden Gate bridge here in San Fransisco today and we also saw the infamous Alcatral prison. We then rode over the bridge and through the city which was really entertaining and beautiful. It’s a big city and some people even say that it is the most beautiful city in the United States. The feeling I got when I sat on top of a hill, righ by the bridge, and looked over the scene was increadable. I’ve almost never had such a strong feeling visiting other famous places in the world. I sat there for a while and enjoyed that feeling to the fullest. But we are now in San Fransisco, we brought the rain with us and made history! We’ve also been developing this theory which says that if you put on the rainclothes, it stops raining, and if you put on your sweater and your warm clothes, it will get warm shortly after. So, the weather behaves like the children, if you tempt it and say that you don’t care, it will change in an opposite direction. This has been working fine so far. We stopped at a small country store to buy ourselves water today because we have to drink a lot of water here. We met some people there, two couples, who were on their way to Monterey like we were. I had noticed that there was a lot of motorcycle traffic heading towards Monterey and Einar and I had even talked about that. But 2 couples told us that MotoGP, the biggest motorcycle competition in America, will be held there this weekend! MotoGP is like formula 1 in motorcycles so it’s a huge event where there will be about 50.000 spectators. So it’s a weird coincidence that we happen to be there at this time. We’re going to take a look at the event tomorrow. I think this race will be broadcasted live in Iceland. I might be able to wave to you all from there! The km counter is at 25140 and I added some new pictures to the album. Ttyl - Sverrir

Viðtalið í dag / The interview today

Hér að neðan er linkur á vikulegt viðtal á Rás2 frá því í morgun.  Aftarlega á línunni eftir fréttir og lag.

http://dagskra.ruv.is/streaming/ras2/?file=4331563

 

Eureka, California, USA !

California !!  Ja i fyrsta sinn i Californiu thannig ad nu er bara sol, sjor, sandur og surf !!! Ja og ad sjalfsogdu The Beach boys spiladir undir !!   Nei, thvi midur er thetta nu ekki alveg svona.  Nu er eg staddur i Eureka i Californiu, en i dag sa eg ekki solina ne surfid og sa sandinn i fjarska og heyrdi ekkert med Beach boys !  Svekkelsi.  Og ekki einu sinni Arnold ad taka a moti mer vid fylkismorkin !   En ad ollu gamni slepptu, tha var nu frekar gratt yfir i dag og nokkrir rigningadropar fellu a okkur a leidinni.  Leidin er afram gridarlega falleg og forum vid medal annars i gegnum fallegan Redwood skog, en Redwood tre eru ein staerstu tre i heimi.  Umferdin var ovenjulitil skilst okkur og vorum vid anaegdir med thad.  Vid hjoludum ca 430 km i dag og gerum thad a longum tima thannig ad vid erum ad stoppa svolitid og dunda okkur thvi okkur liggur ekkert a nuna.  Thurfum bara ad vera i Los Angeles naesta laugardag.  Einar heimtadi ad eg stoppadi i The Home Depot (Byko) og ad sjalfsogdu vard eg vid theirri bon.  Vid forum inn og leitudum lengi ad efni til ad haekka framruduna hja okkur til ad minnka vindinn i andlitid a okkur.  Vid fundum glaert plastefni sem Einar er ad snida til og er hann ad gera tilraunir med thetta.  Thetta er ad sjalfsogdu adalega fyndid og skemmtilegt.  Eg hitti mann i dag sem eg var ad spjalla vid og fannst honum mikid til koma vardandi thetta ferdalag okkar.  Ad salfsogdu finnst thad flestum, en astaedan fyrir thvi ad eg nefni thetta, er ad thegar eg er ad spjalla vid Amerikanana, tha kemur i ljos ad svo oskaplega margir hafa aldrei ferdast neitt.  Sumir hafa ekki einu sinni farid ut fyrir fylkismorkin og eiga ekki vegabref.  Einn og einn hefur farid til " utlanda " og nefnir tha Kanada og/eda Mexiko i thvi samhengi.  Og thad er annad sem eg tek eftir, og thad er hvad margir eru hraeddir vid ad ferdast.  Tharna held eg ad Bush arodurinn se alveg augljos, thvi forsetinn og hans folk segja ollum ad allur heimurinn se storhaettulegur og ad thad se heattulegt ad fara til annara landa.  Thessu trua margir og skilja thvi ekkert i okkur ad vera ad thvaelast svona um vidan voll.  Nu er komin grenjandi rigning og eg sem helt ad alltaf vaeri sol i Califoniu !!!  En samkvaemt vedurspa, tha a ad stytta upp og hitna a morgun.  Dr. Gudmundur Bjornsson, laeknir ferdarinnar, hringdi i mig i morgun til ad heyra hvernig vid hefdum thad.  Alveg sama hvad eg reyndi, tha gat eg ekki fundid neitt ad mer ne Einari og er thad gott.  Thannig ad eg fann ekkert verkefni fyrir Gudmund, og eg held ad hann hafi vonad ad eitthvad vaeri ad, svo ad hann thyrfti ad fljuga til okkar og fylgja okkur restina !!!! Thetta er ad sjalfsogdu bara grin i mer, en thad ma samt geta thess ad Gudmundur og felagar hans, hjoludu thvert yfir Bandarikin fyrir nokkrum arum og byrjudu einmitt ferdina her a Highway 101 i Oregon.  Var einnig ad setja nokkrar nyjar myndir i myndaalbumid. En nog i bili, - heyrumst sidar. 

California! We are now in California and all we can see is the sun, the sea, beaches and surf! And, of course, the Beach boys are playing everywhere we go. No, unfortunately that’s not completely how things are here. I’m now in Eureka, California, but I didn’t see the sun nor all the surf but I just saw the beaches from far away and I didn’t hear a single song from the Beach boys. A big disappointment. Arnold didn’t even show up to welcome me by the state borders! But all jokes aside, the weather has been rather gray and dull today and we even had some rain. The route we’re going is still exceptionally beautiful and we e.g. passed through a beautiful Redwood forrest, but the Redwood trees are one of the biggest kinds of trees in the world. The traffic was surprisingly little so we were really happy about that. We rode ca 430 km today but we took our time, made some stops and relaxed where we wanted, because for this part of the trip we’re not in such a hurry. We just have to be in Los Angeles before the upcoming Saturday. Einar demanded that we would stop by the Home Depot and of course I didn’t argue with him about that. We entered the store and started looking for something to raise the front glass on the bikes to minimize the wind in our faces. We found a transparent substance which Einar is now experimenting with. I just find the whole thing a little bit funny, but it’s fun. I met this man who was impressed with what we were doing. He’s not the first one to tell us that but the reason I’m mentioning this is because I’m realizing how many Americans have not traveled at all in their whole life. Some people haven’t left their state and don’t even have a passport. Some people tell me that they have been “abroad” and mention countries like Canada and Mexico. I’m also noticing that some people here are really afraid of traveling. I think Bush’s propaganda has something to do with that because his administration canstantly reminds people of all the danger in the world and how it’s much more safe in the United States that in foreign countries. Many people actually believe that and therefore can’t understand why we are doing this. But it’s raining now, and thoght it would be nothing but sunshine here in California! But according to the weather forecast it’s supposed to be dry and warmer tomorrow. Dr. Guðmundur Björnsson, our medic, called me this morning to see how we were doing. Even though I tried really hard, I couldn’t find anything wrong with me and Einar so that’s good. I got the feeling that Guðmundur was hoping something would be wrong so he would have to fly to here and follow us home!! Of course I’m just joking, but I should mention that Guðmundur and his friends, rode straight across American a few years ago and they started their trip exactly here, on Highway 101, Oregon. I put some new pictures in the Album. Ttyl – Sverrir

Florence, Oregon, USA.

Loksins, loksins, buinn ad finna tolvu sem eg get notad.  Reyndar er eg a littlu moteli her i Florence og engin tolva, en vid hittum her nokkra vinnumenn her a hotelinu og einn theirra var med fartolvu og lanadi mer hana.  Einar er her vid hlidina a mer og heldur theim ollum a tjatti medan eg nota tolvuna og reyni ad blogga eitthvad med hradi !!  Vid forum semsagt a Islendingadaginn hja Islendingafelaginu i Blaine, WA, og var thad frabaert.  Mer leid eins og storstjornu tharna með alla athyglina og einstaklega skemmtilegt.  Tharna voru um 80 manns a ollum aldri og sumir ordnir vel fullordnir.  Sa sem var elstur tharna var rumlega nitiu ara.  Svolitid serstakt ad tala vid Islending, thar sem badir foreldrar eru islenskir, en hefur aldrei komid til Islands ! En, semsagt vid vorum tharna i 5 klukkustundir og hofdum ekki einu sinni tima til ad borda thvi vid vorum svo uppteknir vid ad tala vid folkid.  Stadurinn sem folkid hittist a heitir Peace Arch Park, og er akkurat a landamaerum Kanada og USA.  Og thegar eg segi akkurat, tha er thad thannig ad hinum megin vid litid limgerdi sem var ad nordanverdu i gardinum, ca 20 metrum fra thar sem vid satum, var Kanada !  Vid vorum mikid myndadir og klappad og fadmadir og folkid einstaklega vingjarnlegt og elskulegt.  Eftir thetta budu Hafdis og Jim okkur heim i storkostlega grillmaltid.  Ostrur, grilladur lax, is og bjor og vin !  Verdur ekki betra, otrulega notalegt kvold og skemmtilegt.  Thessi dagur og thetta kvold verda klarlega eitt af "highlights" ferdarinnar.  Okkur leid svo vel tharna, og svo toppadi Jim thetta daginn eftir, med thvi ad setja upp myndavelagraeurnar sinar uti, og tok portret myndir af okkur.  Hann er atvinnuljosmyndari og ferdast um allan heiminn til ad taka myndir. (hann aetti tho ad fa ser nyrri myndavel, hans er argerd 1964 !!)  En ad sjalfsogdu er eg ad grinast thvi thessir atvinnuljosmyndarar nota einungis thad besta.  En eftir ad hafa kvatt thau tokum vid stefnuna til Seattle og forum adeins lengra og komum vid i storri motorhjolabud i Tacoma og eg keypti mer serstaka gallabuxur sem erum med Kevlar hlifum innan a thannig ad nu er betra ad hjola i hitanum.  Einar fekk ser lika buxur og jakka en ur odru efni og er eins og nyr madur.  Hann glansar og skin og erfitt ad hjola nalaegt honum !!! En svo var haldid afram sudur og endudum i pinulitlum bae sem heitir Raymond, og gistum thar a ekta mjog gomlu moteli.  I dag hjoludum vid svo inn a hinn thekkta highway 101 sem liggur med strondinni.  Otrulega falleg leid og erum vid nuna semsagt i Florence erum bunir ad hjola i dag ca 400 km eda ca 800 km fra landamaerum Kanada.  Allt hefur gengid vel og erum vid badir braedurnir farnir ad hlakka til ad hitta pabba og Skula naestu helgi.  Their eru vist ordnir spenntir lika og er thad skiljanlegt, stor og mikil ferd framundan.  En naestu daga holdum vid afram til sudurs i att til Los Angeles og trulega forum vid highway 101 og i gegnum San Fransisko og yfir Golden Gate brunna og verdur thad skemmtilegt.  En nog i bili.  Kilometrateljarinn er ca 24060 km 

Finally I found a computer that I can use. I’m at a small motel here in Florence and there are no computers here. We just met some construction workers here on the hotel that let me use their laptop. Einar is beside me talking to them so I can blog a little! We participated in the Icelandic day in Blaine, WA, and that was really great. I felt like a superstar because I got such attention but that was really fun. There were about 80 people there at all ages but some were older than others. The oldest person there was in his 90’s. It was quite special talking to Icelandic people, whose parents were both Icelandic, but had never actually been to Iceland! But we spent 5 hours there and we didn’t even get the time to eat we were so busy talking to the people. We were all gathered at a place called Peace Arch Park, but that’s exactly on the borders of Canada and USA. And when I say exactly, I’m talking about that Canada was about 20 metres from where we were! We were photographed a lot and people hugged us and was very friendly, it was really great. After that, Hafdís and Jim invited us to their home to a fantastic barbeque. Oisters, grilled salmon, ice cream, beer and wine! I doesn’t get any better than that and I can truly say that this was one of the highlights of the trip. We had a great evening. And then, because Jim is a professional photographer, he set up his equipment and took several portrait pictures of us. He has traveled all around the world to take pictures but it was fun to see how old fashioned his camera was! But of course the professional photographers only use the best equipment. But after saying our goodbyes we started riding towards Seattle but ended a little further than that and stopped at a motorcycle store where I bought jeans with kevlar pads so it will be more comfortable to ride in that. Einar also bought jeans and a jacket and he’s a totally different man, he’s shiny and it’s hard to ride close to him. But we then kept on going south and ended up in a town called Raymond where we stayed at a really old motel. Today we rode the famous highway 101 that lies along the coast. It’s an unbelievably beautfiful way to go but we’re now in Florence and have ridden around 400 km today (800 km from the borders). Everything has went well and Einar and I are both looking forward to meet our father and Skúli next weekend. Thei’re getting excited too understandably, it’s a big trip. For the next day we will then keep going south towards Los Angeles and we’ll probably go highway 101 through San Fransisco and over the Golden Gate bridge and that’ll be fun. But enough for today. The km counter is at ca. 24060 km. Ttyl - Sverrir

Bellingham, Washington, USA !

Ja, bless Kanada og komnir til USA aftur.  Alaska - Kanada og nú aftur semsagt USA og það er  sidasta landid i ferdinni kringum hnottinn. Otrulegt en satt. Vid erum semsagt komnir til baejar sem heitir Bellingham og er i Washington fylki i Bandarikjunum.  Vid erum alveg vid landamaeri Kanada, rett hja Vancouver.  Her er mikill landbunadur og ser madur allstadar risastor vokvunarkerfi gangi allastadar ad vokva gridarstora akra.  Dagurinn i gaer var langur og strangur, hjoludum ca 750 km !  Thad er lengsta dagleid okkar hingad til, en tilgangurinn var ad na til Bellingham svo ad vid gaetum verid med i islenska picnic deginum her.  Thad tokst semsagt og vorum komnir i gistingu um kl 10:00 i gaerkvoldi.  Vid hefdum verid komnir taepum tveimur timum fyrr, ef vid hefdum ekki thurft ad eyda thessum ca tveimur timum a landamaerunum !  Og astaedan, - ju sma bidrod til ad komast ad, en adalega vegna thess ad eg var rannsakadur lengi og mjog vel.  Eitthvad hefur theim ekki litist a mig, thvi eg spurdur spjorunum ur vardandi hitt og thetta.  Hvenaer hringdirdu sidast i konuna thina ? Vid hvad starfar thu ? Hvernig fekkstu svona langt fri ? Hringirdu oft i konuna thina ? Hvar er siminn thinn ?  ofl ofl ofl ofl ofl !!!!!   Svo var allt skodad hja mer,  veskid og kortin min, allar kvittanir sem voru i thvi og spurdur ut i thaer og i allt voru ad minnsta kosti fjorar manneskjur, tvaer konur og tveir karlar ad vinna i malinu.  Heimasidan min var skodud vel og einn starfsmadurinn sat fyrir framan tolvuna sina og hamadist a henni mjog lengi, greinilega ad fletta mer upp i ollum skram sem hugsast getur !!  Thetta var skritin reynsla, en eg hef svo sem adur verid skodadur, en tho aldrei svona mikid og lengi.  En jakvaedi hluturinn er sa ad thar sem eg hef ekkert ad fela tha bidur madur bara rolegur og fylgist med af athygli.  Thegar eg kom ad hlidinu fyrst, tha sa eg ad landamaeravordurinn var ung kona, og greinilega mikill embaettismadur, med svort solgleraugu, tho ad hun vaeri i skugganum og inni, og med svarta ledurhanska og hladin bunadi i beltinu sinu, byssu, handjarn, kylfa ofl ofl. tha vissi eg ad hun myndi reyna ad finna eitthvad ad hja mer.  Og ad sjalfsogdu hafdi eg rett fyrir mer !!  I eitt skipti thegar eg sat inni og beid i rolegheitunum kom hun aedandi ad mer med horkusvip og aetladi greinilega ad fara segja eitthvad, en tha hrokk hun vid og brosti vandraedalega, " Eg helt ad thu vaerir ad tala i farsimann thinn "  Eg hafdi setid einhvern veginn thannig ad eg halladi hofdinu ad hendinni og hun tekid thvi se eg vaeri i simanum. Thad var nefnilega skilti rett fyrir aftan mig sem a stod ad bannad vaeri ad tala i farsima inni !  Tharna aetladi hun greinilega ad negla mig aftur.  Eg naut bara augnabliksins og brosti fallega til hennar og hlo.  En thegar ollu var loks lokid og thau ad sjalfsogdu fundu ekkert ad hja okkur, skiludu thau pappirunum til min aftur og afsokudu sig eitthvad og oskudu okkur godrar ferdar.  En thad merkilega vid thetta allt saman, var ad hjolin voru ekkert skodud ne thurftum vid an nota Carnet pappirana eda annad !!  Vid hefdum getad verid med hjolin full af eiturlyfjum og vopnum !  En svona er thetta skritid.  En vid erum semsagt her og i godu vedri og hlakkar til ad hitta thetta folk a eftir.  Einnig er gott ad eiga bara rolegan dag her i dag og slaka a hjolamennskunni pinulitid.  A morgun aetlum vid til Seattle og finna thar stora motorhjolabud sem selur godan fatnad til ad hjola i i miklum hita.  Vid hittum skemmtilegan Kanadamann i gaer sem hreinlega elti okkur inn a bilastaedi a leidinni.  Hann var svo ahugasamur um hjolin okkar og ferdina ad stodst thad ekki ad tala vid okkur.  Tha kom ljos hann hafdi ferdast toluvert um Ameriku a reidhjoli og var mikill utivistarmadur.  Madur a besta aldri og greinilega i toppformi. Var a leidinni til Vanvouver med allt sitt dot, var ad flytja fra austurstrondinni til vesturstrandarinnar.  Hann gaf okkur goda punkta um skemmtilega stadi til ad sja og upplifa i Bandarikjunum og er gaman ad fa svona rad fra local folki.  Hann taladi svo mikid ad vid aetludum aldrei ad komast af stad aftur !  En nog i bili. 

Goodbye Canada and hello USA again. Alaska, USA, to Canada and now back in the US. This will be the last country we’ll visit before coming back to Iceland. But we’re now in a town called Bellingham in Washington state. We are just by the borders of Canada, close to Vancouver. There’s much agriculture here and we are always seeing huge watering machines watering the fields. Yesterday was long and tough and we rode ca. 750 km! That’s the longest we’ve gone in one day so far. We did this so we could make to Bellinham in time to join the Icelandic picnic they were having there. We made it and were there around 10 pm but we would have been there around 8 pm if we hadn’t had to spend 2 hours by the borders. The reason for that was, besides a small line, was that I was inspected very carefully. They clearly didn’t like something about me because I was asked a lot of questions like “when did you call your wife”? “What is your work?” , “where is your phone?” etc.etc.etc.! Then they had to see and look through all my stuff. My credid cards, the paperwork, my wallet and basically just everything. They had 4 people working on me, 2 women and 2 men. They even looked at my webpage (this one). It was an unusual experience, even though I have been inspected before, but never like this and for this long! But the positive part about this is that if you don’t have anything to hide you just sit and relax while they do their thing. When I first got to the gate I saw that there was a fully-equipped woman standing there and I knew that she would try to find something wrong with me. And that was exactly what happened of course. During the inspection, she came running towards me, clearly very angry, but then she suddenly stopped and made excuses and said:”sorry, I thought you were talking on the phone”. There was a sign behind me that said “no cell phones” so she was clearly trying to get something on me there. I just enjoyed the moment and smiled to her. But they finally finished their inspection and after they didn’t find anything wrong with us they returned the papers, made some excuses and wished us a good trip. But the weird thing about this all is that our bikes weren’t searched at all and we didn’t have to show the Carnet papers! We could have hidden tons of drugs or weapons on our bikes and they wouldn’t have found it, even after 2 hours of inspection! But we’re here now in a good weather and we’re looking forward to meeting the people here. It’s also nice to have a day off to relax here. We’re going to Seattle tomorrow to find a big motorcycle store there that sells quality clothing to wear in high temperatures. We met and interesting Canadian yesterday who simply followed us until we parked, he was so curious and interested in our bikes. We found out that he had been traveling a lot around America on a regular bike and he was a true outdoor man. He was on his way to Vancouver with all it’s stuff, was moving from the east coast to the west coast. He gave us some good pointers about interesting places to see and it’s nice to get that from locals. Enough for today. Ttyl - Sverrir

Prince George, BC, Kanada.

Endastodin i dag er baerinn Prince George i BC, stundum kalladur hofudborg nordursins i BC.  Thetta er fallegur baer og ibuar um 73.000.  Leidin hingad fra Fort St John var oskaplega falleg thvi hun la um Klettafjollin og fegurdin olysanleg.  Stundum finnst mer eins og eg se staddur i postkorti thegar eg er ad hjola herna !  Mikid af hlykkjum og beygjum og upp og nidur, allt sem motorhjolamadurinn elskar mest.  Vedrid i dag var rosalega " vont "  Thetta segi eg svona tho ad thad hafi verid heidskirt og hitastig um 32 gradur.  En fyrir mig og ekki sidur Einar, er thetta mjog erfitt vedur ad hjola i vegna hitans.  Vid erum ekki bunir fyrir svona hita, og erum thvi i motorhjolagollunum okkar sem eru fyrir kulda og trekk !!!  En ekki vil eg hjola a gallabuxum og bol, af oryggisastaedum.  Eftir ad hafa hjolad um 480 km i dag i thessum hita, er eg algjorlega buinn.  Otrulega mikil orka sem fer i hitann.  En vid erum bunir ad finna verslun sem selur DRAGGING JEANS gallabuxur med innbyggdum hlifum ur Keflar ofl, og er fyrir svona heitt vedur.  Einnig eru their med jakka og annad sem tharf.  Thessi verslun er i Tacoma, WA, sem er rett fyrir sunnan Seattle.  Svo fekk eg skemmtilegan tolvupost adan fra islenskri konu i Bellingham, WA, sem heitir Hafdis.  Thessi baer er rett sunnan vid landamaeri USA/Kanada.  Hun er semsagt buin ad bjoda okkur i heimsokn, og thad sem meira er, ad hun sagdi okkur ad a laugardaginn verdi svokallad Islendinga picnic og erum við thvi spenntir ad reyna ad komast thangad a laugardag.  Thad aetti ad takast ef vid leggjum af stad snemma i fyrramalid og hjolum frameftir degi. Thad er um 760 km thangad.  Thetta er spennandi og skemmtilegt.  Thad er skritid ad hugsa til thess ad nu eru lidnir 65 dagar fra thvi ad vid logdum af stad og af thessum 65 dogum eru 8 dagar thar sem vid hjoludum ekki neitt.  Otrulegt en satt.  Hver einasti dagur, hvada vikudagur sem er og vid setjumst a hjolin og okum ca 386 km a dag !  Thetta er eins og ad hjola til Akureyrar a hverjum degi.  Nema munurinn er sa ad madur er okunnu umhverfi, framandi umferd, framandi tungumal, engin mjukur og godur sofi heima sem bidur i dagslok ofl ofl.  Thetta er gaman ad setja thetta i svona semhengi.  Einar var ekki anaegdur med vidgerdina a hjolinu sinu i gaer, thvi hann fann einhvern vibring sem ekki atti ad vera.  Thess vegna forum vid i dag og keyptum nyja og betri kedju a hjolid hans og vandamalid var ur sogunni.  Hin kedja var samansett ur tveimur og greinilega ekki ad virka eins og vera ber.  Kilometrateljarinn er kominn ca 22150 km.  Vid erum ekki lengur a nyjum hjolum, (tho ad thau seu bara fjogurra manada gomul) heldur a notudum hjolum sem tharf nuna ad hugsa betur um !!  En nog i bili.

Today’s stop is at Prince Goerge, BC, sometimes called the capitol of the North in BC. It’s a beautiful town with the population of 73.000. It was very beautiful all the way to here because we were riding by the Rocky Mountains. I sometimes feel that I’m in the middle of a postcard! The roads are wavy, up and down, and it’s really fun for a biker to ride these roads. The weather wasn’t good today even though it was 32° C today and clear skies. I say that because it was simply too hot! It was very difficult to ride in this heat and it absorbes a lot of the energy out of you. But I don’t want to ride in only jeans and a T-shirt because of security reasons. But we’ve found a store that sells motorcycle clothing that is less hot. This store is in Tacome, WA, which is just south of Seattle. I also received an e-mail from an Icelandic woman from Bellingham, WA, whose name is Hafdís. Bellingham is just south of the USA/Canada borders. So she invited us to visit and even told us that there’s going to be a picnic on Saturday for all the Icelanders on the area so we’re excited to get there. We should make it if we get up early tomorrow morning. It’s around 760 km to there. It’s strange to think that we’ve been traveling for 65 days now and only for 8 out of these 65 days have we not ridden anywhere. So we’ve been riding for ca. 386 km per each and every day! That’s like going from Reykjavík to Akureyri every day and it’s fun to put it that way. But the difference is, of course, the language, unknown surroundings and now the usual comforts during the night. Einar wasn’t too happy with the repair on his bike yesterday because he heard some noise that wasn’t normal. So we bought a new chain and fixed that problem. The other chain was clearly not working as it should. The km counter is now at 22150 km. So we’re not riding “new” bikes anymore obviously (even though thei’re just 4 months old) but we’re riding used bikes that need more care! But enough for today. Ttyl - Sverrir

Viðtalið í dag / The interview today

Hér má heyra hið vikulega viðtal á Rás2 frá því í morgun.  Aftarlega á línunni eftir fréttir.

http://dagskra.ruv.is/streaming/ras2/?file=4331558

 

Fort St John, BC, Kanada.

Halló, nuna er ég i littlum bae sem heitir Fort St John og er i BC fylki i Kanada.  Dagurinn byrjadi a thvi ad vid forum ad gera vid hjolin.  Ja, thetta var staersta adgerd sem vid hofum gert a hjolunum.  Thau hafa stadid sig frabaerlega en nuna skiptum vid um dekk, baedi ad framan og aftan og settum undir god gotudekk.  Einnig skiptum vid um kedjur a badum hjolunum.  Eins og kom fram i sidasta pistli tha slitnadi kedjan hja mer og thar med var kominn timi til ad skipta.  En thetta gekk vel  og hjolin i toppstandi nuna.  En dagurinn var hefbundinn, hjoludum til Fort St John i gegnum geysilega fallegt landslag og i godu vedri.  Hitinn eykst med hverjum deginum eftir thvi sem vid komum sunnar og thad endar med thvi ad motorhjolagallarnir sem vid erum i verda allt of heitir.  Verdum ad leysa thad bradlega.     Eg thurti ad stoppa a hjolinu i dag vegna thess ad thad var verid ad gera vid bru sem vid thurftum ad fara yfir.  Ekkert mal, en fyrir framan okkur var nokkura ara gamall Harley Davidson med kerru i eftirdragi og tvaer manneskjur a hjolinu.  Thegar vid vorum bunir ad bida tharna smastund forum vid ad spjalla vid thetta folk.  Tha kom i ljos ad thau voru Amerikanar og voru a leid heim eftir ad hafa farid til Alaska.  Thetta voru hjon og orugglega a sjotugsaldri.  Hann var stor og mikill og fulskeggjadur og hun var lika stor og mikil en adeins minna skeggjud !   En semsagt, tha voru thau stor og thung og med mikinn farangur og eg verd ad segja eins og er, ad eg vorkenndi hjolinu svolitid, svo hladid var thad !  En thad sem stod uppur thessu samtali, var ad madurinn sagdi ad thau hefdu akvedid ad fara til Alaska i sumar og vaeru akvedin i ad fara med storu skemmtiferdaskipi thangad, thvi thad er mjog algengt.  En svo sagdi hann og brosti ut ad eyrum:  " Eg bardi i bordid og sagdi vid konuna mina, veistu elskan, ad a medan vid getum hjolad a Harley Davidson hjolinu okkar tha forum vid a thvi, vid getum alltaf farid med skipi thegar vid erum ordin gomul "  Tharna sa eg semsagt yndisleg hjon a besta aldri og i godu standi sem vildu lifa lifinu lifandi. Thad skein af theim hamingjan og lifskrafturinn og thad var yndislegt ad sja thau hverfa a braut ut i buskann a gamla hjolinu !  Svona a ad gera thetta, aldrei of seint.  A morgun holdum vid afram sudur og forum i gegnum baeinn Dawson Creek thar sem Alaska Higway byrjar.  Thar er svokalladur " Mile Zero " eda upphafspunktur thessa merkilega vegar.  Svo holdum vid afram i att til Vancouver.  Erum ekki alveg bunir ad akveda hvada leid vid forum.  Kemur i ljos. 

 

Hi, I’m now in a little town called Fort St. John but that’s in BC, Canada. We started the day by fixing some things on the bike. It was the biggest operation we’ve done on the bikes since we started the trip but the bikes have done a good job overall. We changed tires, both rear and front, and we put some good street tires under the bikes. We also changed the chains on the bikes but that was especially necessary because like I said before, my chain broke not long ago. Everything went well and the bikes are ready to go! Besides this operation, this day was pretty normal. We rode to For St John and passed the beautiful landscape in a nice weather. The heat is constantly increasing now when we’re going further south. The motorcycle clothing is getting too hot for us so we have to fix that problem somehow. We had to make a stop today because there were men working on a bridge that we needed to use. In front of us there was this old Harley Davidson with a cart attatched to it and two people on the bike. W started to chat with this people and found out that they were Americans headed home after traveling to Alaska. They were married and probably in theyr 60’s og 70’s. The husband was huge with thick beard and she was big also but didn’t have as much beard! But anyway, they were heavy, carrying a lot of stuff with them so I felt a little sorry for the bike. But what stood up from talking to them was when they told us that they were going to go on a cruise to Alaska but decided to ride the Harley while they still could because they could always go on a cruise later =) It’s never too late! But tomorrow we’ll keep heading south and we’ll pass through Dawson Creek where Alaska higway begins. “Mile Zero” is there but that’s the beginning of this famous road. We will then go on towards Vancouver but we haven’t decided which way we’re going to go. We’ll see. Ttyl - Sverrir

Fort Nelson, British Columbia, Kanada

Tha er eg komin til Fort Nelson sem er i bresku Kolumbiu i Kanada, eda BC eins og their kalla thetta fylki.  I morgun thegar eg vaknadi forum vid Einar ad skoda hinn fraega Sign Post Forest i Watson Lake.  Thetta er sannkalladur skiltaskogur og thegar sidast var talid arid 2006, voru skiltin um 61.000 talsins !  Otrulegt en satt.  Thetta eru allskonar skilti af ollum staerdum og gerdum og negld upp a tre staura.  Thetta byrjadi allt saman i stridinu thegar settur var upp einn staur med skiltum sem bentu i att ad heimabaeum hermannana.  Sidan tok einn hermadurinn ad setja upp fleiri skilti og svo for boltinn ad rulla.  Mjog merkilegt ad sja thetta.  Svo heldum vid af stad i att ad Fort Nelson sem er um thad bil 500 km fjarlaegd.  Svakalega falleg leid og thegar vid komum inn i BC fylkid forum vid adeins inn i the Rockies, thad er, Klettafjollin.  Thau na semsagt fra nyrsta hluta BC nidur til New Mexiko, ca 3000 km long.  En svo gerdist thad !!!!!  Hjolid mitt biladi !!! Loksins !  Thad sem gerdist var ad kedjan slitnadi og eg var stopp.  Eg var heppinn thvi kedjan laesti ekki dekkinu og thvi rann eg bara afram og stoppadist fljotlega.  Vedrid var gott og stadurinn fallegur, inni i fallegum dal milli harra fjalla Klettafjallanna.  Gat ekki verid fallegra.  Eftir um thad bil klukkustundar dundur, komum vid thessu saman aftur, Einar snillingur, og heldum afram.  Vid vorum akkurat med rettan kedjubut til ad baeta inn i og akkurat nogu marga kedjulasa til ad setja saman.  Otrulegt en satt.  Svo heldum vid afram og tharna a leidinni sa eg i fyrsta sinn Buffalo dyrid.  Thvilik skeppna.  Eg kom fyrir horn og tharna lag bara ein hjord, ca 100 dyr.  Mikilfengleg sjon.  Einnig sa lika i fyrsta sinn bjorn. Thad var Black bear, eda svarti bjorn og var hann ad naga eitthvad i vegkantinum thegar eg kom hjolandi ur einni beygjunni.  Otrulega skemmtilegt ad sja thessi dyr i sinu natturulega umhverfi.  Hann hljop fljotlega inn i skoginn aftur thegar eg stoppadi.  Og thegar vid vorum ad gera vid hjolid mitt, tha voru fjalla kindur ad rafa allt i kringum okkur thannig ad dyralifid her er mikid og gaman ad upplifa thetta.   Fort Nelson er a slettunum austan vid Klettafjollin og her er ein staersta gasvinnslustod Ameriku.  Vedrid var gott i dag lettskyjad og hiti um 20 gradur.  Kilometrateljarinn er komin i ca 21600 km.  Bless i dag.

Here I am now in Fort Nelson wich is in British Coloumbia in Canada or BC as they call the state here.  This morning,Einar and I decided to go and see the famous Sign Post Forest in Watson Lake.  This is truly a sign forest and when the last counting was made, in 2006, the signs were about 61.000 pieces !  Ubelivable but true.  All kinds of signs in different sizes and are nailed into treeposts.  It started in the war.  A sign was put onto this treepost to lead the way for the soldiers to their hometowns.  Later, one soldier put up more and then more and more came.  Very interesting to see this.  Later we rode on forward to Fort Nelson, about 500 km away.  It was extremely beautiful when we came into the BC state we rode to the Rockies.  The Rockies span from the BC northest part to New Mexico, ca 3000 km. long.  But then it finally happened !!!! My motorcycle broke down !!  This is what happened, the chain broke down and I was at a complete stop there !  I was lucky because the chain didnt lock in the tires so I could let the motorcycle slide until it stopped.  The weather was good and the place was beautiful, couldn't be more lucky about the place, in this beautiful valley in between the high mountains.  We were about an hour to fix this and Einar was a genious.  We had exactly the right chainstump to fit into and exactly enough chainlockers to put together !  Lucky me.  Then we kept on going and on the way I saw for the first time in my life the bison.  What an animal.  I came riding through a corner and there were lying ca. 100 animals.  This was a great sight.  I also saw for the first time a bear, the black bear and he was gnawing something when I came riding from one of the turns.    Unbelivable to see these animals in the nature.  The bear ran soon into the forest when I stopped the motorcycle.  While fixing my motorcycle there, there were also lots of mountainsheeps around us so here is a real wildlife and nice to experience it.  Fort Nelson is on the plains east to the Rockies and here is one of the biggest gasworks in America.  The weather today was good and partly clouded and the heat was 20.C.  The counter is now in ca. 21.600 km.  Until next time.  Ttyl. Sverrir

Watson Lake, Yukon, Kanada.

I dag hjoludum vid afram a hinum fraega Alaska highway og lidum afram i fallegu umhverfi og godu vedri.  Thessi vegur var byggdur i kringum 1942 og fyrir nokkrum arum var thessi vegur skilgreindur sem " The 16th wonder of the engineering world !"  Semsagt mjog merkilegur og sagt er ad allir Amerikubuar eigi ser thann draum ad fara thennan veg ad minnsta kosti einu sinni.  Sumir fara thennan veg einu sinni a ari.  Vegurinn er 2488 km langur og tengir Alaska vid byggdirnar fyrir sunnan.  En nog um thad.   I morgun thegar vid voknudum forum vid a litinn morgunverdastad og satum thar i rolegheitum og bordudum ameriskan morgunverd af bestu gerd !!  Tha var allt i einu logd hendi a oxlina a mer og sagt; How is your english ?  Mer bra pinulitid og leit vid og sa tha reffilega konu a midjum aldri  brosandi ut ad eyrum.  Eg svaradi henni ad vid toludum ensku agaetlega og tha spurdi hun hvort hun maeti setjast hja okkur.  Ad sjalfsogdu samthykktum vid thad og eftir ad hun hafdi nad ser i morgunverd lika, settist hun hja okkur.  Tharna var komin ferdamalastjori Whitehorse !  Hun hafdi verid a gangi fyrir utan og sed hjolin og sidan okkur fyrir innan gluggann og stodst ekki matid ad spjalla vid okkur.  Ur thessu vard hid skemmtilegasta spjall i ca halftima og sagdi hun okkur allt um lifid i Whitehorse og nagrenni.  Thessi kona er fra nordur Englandi og buin ad bua tharna i 18 ar.  Hun, eins og svo margir adrir, elskar Kanada og tha serstaklega nordurhlutann.  Thetta var skemmtilegt og ad lokum baud hun okkur morgunmatinn eda rettara sagt, eins og hun sagdi thetta, " I am not paying for this, my work is " og hlo datt.  Skemmtileg kona.  Eftir thetta forum vid a stufana og eg keypti mer ny solgleraugu thvi hin gafu upp ondina i gaer, thad er, endanlega thvi thau eru buin ad vera ad gefa sig undanfarnar 2 vikur.  Sidan forum vid og keyptum ny dekk a hjolin hja okkur thvi ad kubbadekkin eru ad verda buin.  Vid keyptum nu sitthvora gerdina til ad profa, Einar keypti dekk eins og vid byrjudum a, Metzeler Tourance, en eg keypti mer Acon Distanca.  Thetta er daemigert fyrir okkur braedur thvi reynum alltaf ad vera ekki eins !!!  En ad sjalfsogdu er thetta gert til gamans og sja muninn a thessum dekkjum.  Watson Lake er pinulitill baer alveg a morkum Yukon fylkis og British Columbia fylkis.  Vid gistum a sogufraegu gistiheimili, Airport Lodge, og thar raedur rikjum Austurrikiskona, og tha var skemmtilegt ad koma tharna inn i andyrid thvi thad fyrsta sem hun sagdi var, - Vinsamlega fara ur skonum !  Tharna var greinilega heragi og leit allt ut samkvaemt thvi, thad er, mjog snyrtilegt of hreint.  Einnig sagdi hun ad thad maetti ekki reykja og utihurdinni yrdi laest kl 12:00 !  Ef vid yrdum ekki komnir tha, tha yrdum vid bara ad vera uti !! Allt a hreinu her.  Konan er litil og lagvaxin en mer fannst eg vera litill thegar eg taladi vid hana.   En nog i bili og bless bless.

Today we kept on riding on the famous Alaska highway and passed by beautiful landscape and it was a really good weather. This road was build up around 1942 and few years ago this roas was defined as the -16th wonder of the engineering world ! -  So it's a really well known road and it is said that all Americans dream about going this road at least once in their lifetime.  Some people take this road once a year.  This Alaska road is 2488 km long and connects Alaska to the inhabited areas in the south.  But enough about that.  This morning when we woke up we went to a small breakfastplace and had an Amercian breakfast and that was really good !  Then suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder and to my surprise I saw a lovely woman in a middle age smiling and she asked me if I spoke English.  I told her that I did and she asked if she could sit down to our table and ofcource we invited her to sit with us.  She got her a breakfast and sat down with us.  This woman is the travelmanager in Whitehorse !  She had been walking by the breakfastplace and saw our motorcycles and then us through the window and she couldn't resist to come in and have a chat which was very interesting and amusing and she told us many things about the life in Whitehorse and the areas around. She comes from N-England and has been living here for 18 years.  She, as many others do also, likes Canada and especially the northpart.  She insisted to pay for the breakfast or as she said - I am not paying for this..my work is - and she had a laugh.  It was very nice meeting her and a she is a really great woman.  Later that day I went to buy myself new sunglasses because my older ones were totally finished after beeing broken the last 2 weeks.  Then we went to buy new tires under the motorcycles because the tires we have now are nearly finished.  We bought different types to be able to compare them, Einar bought tires which are the same type we started the trip on, Metzeler Tourance but I bought Acon Distanca.  This is typical for me and my brother and also just for fun to see the differnce between the tires and fun not alwasy doing the same thing. Watson Lake is a small town on the edge of state of Yukon and the state of British Colombia.  We are staying on a historic hotel, Airport Lodge, and in control of there is a lady from Austria and it was amusing when we came into the lobby, -take your shoes off !- was the first thing she said to us.  Obviously everything under control on this hotel and everything was very nice and clean.  She told us also we couldnt smoke and had to be inside the hotel before 12 oclock otherwise we couldn´t get in !  This is a rather small and petite lady but I felt rather little when I spoke to her :)!  But enough for now.