june 21, 2002
hamburg

i spent most of the day trying to figure out where i should go spend my last week. i dropped off the car and i wanted to go somewhere where i could chill out. i decided that i was going to go back to a spot in the italian rivieria (cinque terre) to a little town called Riomaggorie. i had been there 9 years before and i knew what to expect. once i decided that that's what i was going to do i had to make the train arrangements to get there. by normal train it was going to take me from 9pm to 4pm the next day. it had to be done. when i was making the reservations the woman asked me if i wanted a couchette, but i declined and thought i needed to sleep in the fold out train seats like everyone else. it proved to be a poor decision because i got absolutely no sleep.

june 20, 2002
bremerhaven/hamburg

in order to get to bremerhaven by 2pm i had to leave the hague at 6am. i needed to allow enough time for traffic delays and the possibility of my car breaking down. i made good time and even got to bremerhaven early. but before i got into germany i was almost run off the road by a black X5. just after we crossed the border coming back into germany i got my speed back up to about 90mph and was cruzin along. out of the corner of my rear view i could see head lights in the fast lane, but they were really far back. driving in the right lane i was quickly approaching a truck going about 60 mph. just as i went to put my signal on i started seeing the X5 flashing his lights, in that split second he was about 5 car lengths behind me! so i swereved back into the right lane and then had to brake hard as to not slam into the truck. he was going at least 130 mph and it was raining.
before i could drop off my car with e.h. harms i had to send some things home that i knew wouldn't be safe or even allowed to be shipped back to the states in my car. just when you think you have it all worked out, you are proven you know nothing. i thought i had been smart to ship some of my things home and that was half way intelligent, but i should have shipped home everything. i found out after i was dropping off my car that i couldn't have any personal effects in the car and if I did us customs would take it, destroy it and send me a large bill. at that point, i had no choice but to give all the car supplies away or dump them in the garbage. an hour before i was at the post office sending other things home! it was frustrating, but there wasn't anything i could do and I was already carrying too many things. i completed the paper work, handed over my keys and waited for the taxi to come pick me up. i was really tired after not getting much sleep the night before and driving for five hours from the hague to bremerhaven. i just wanted to be at the hostel and sleep. I stayed at the youth hostel in hamburg for the night. the hostel was located in a great part of town, but i didn't have enought energy to go to the reeperbahn. i was exhausted.

june 19, 2002
da hague/amdsterdam, holland

my odometer broke when i was in germany and this was the first chance that i had to work on it. my friend and sponsor (Si Garage)curtis ingraham helped me initially fix the the odometer, but some how it just stopped working. as it turns out it was the same problem that i had before. the gear got loose and wasn't turning. i thought that i had watched curt peform the fix, but i was unsuccessful in reproducing the results. some how the super glue that i was using did do the same thing that curt had been able to do. it still didn't work. later that day boeilli took me out to amdsterdam for a short sight seeing tour and then we came back to the hague for dinner with his daughter and wife. that night i feverishly packed up some boxes to send home. the shipping company and customs only allows you to ship things that are associated with you car.

june 17 - 18, 2002
brussels, beligum - the hague, the netherlands

unfortunately i didn't really have that much time to hang out in brussels, but i spent the night and had a great night out on the town. it's just one of those places i need to go back to. i made it out of town relatively quickly and was on the motorway heading towards the hague. it was a good five hours to the hague from brussels and it felt so nice to feel the breeze from the sea. after sweating for so many days it was an amazing feeling to be dry. my friend boeilli had invited me out the hague when i had met him and his wife dorty at the bavaria tour 02 festival in oberammergau. upon meeting them i knew that they were really friendly and almost felt immediately comfortable around them. so here i am visiting my new dutch friends that i met in germany. it was such a cool experience. they took me in and let me ramp up to get ready to drop off my car in bremerhaven, germany.

june 16, 2002
paris, france - brussels, beligum

this morning i left KC's around 11am and hit the road. again it was a brutally hot day and even the french were saying that it was a bit unusal for it to be hot this many days in a row. once i snaked my way out of paris it was a straight shot to brussels. due to all the construction and loads of trucks my average speed was cut to about 65mph. the drive from paris to brussels isn't really that far, but i took my time and got there in about five hours. the motorways were a bit congested and the posted speed limits were a little bit slower than what i was used to in germany. not to mention that it was sweltering. i never knew it could get that hot here. it wasn't hot like i'm used to in california, it was east coast death hot and driving a 32 year old car that doesn't have a/c doesn't make for a fun afternoon. i rolled into brussels about 5pm and checked into the hostel. in my same room i met a guy who works for bosch in stuttgart. he was french, but spoke fluent english and german. we went out that night and explored the city and ate some of that famous belgian cusine. it was a solid meal and the city center was filled with young people ready to party. good times.

june 15, 2002
paris, france

erica flew home today. she had to get back to work, but she had two weeks and we covered alot of ground. when i got back, kc's friend ann and i went out and did some filming around paris. she's a photographer and she was a tremendous help filming and taking some stills. i haven't seen the footage yet, but we got the eiffel tower, the arc de triumph and the champ elysees. it was a lot of fun and despite the fact i thought i was going to total my car on the arc de triumph it was really exciting to drive around the round about. once you let go and you treat it like a game, that's when it's really becomes fun and you get into it.

june 14, 2002
paris, france

today we explored around the area of the bastille, down to the hotel de ville, ending up around the area of the louvre. it was stinkin hot and humid. i had no idea it could get that hot in paris. after sight-seeing and walking everywhere we were all bonked and needed a rest. after a short power nap we were ready to make our dinner reservation at a popular bistro around the corner from kc's apartment. Good food, great sights, wonderful friends and some incredible memories. i might owe a lot of money when i get home, but you can't go back in time to buy back this experience.

june 13, 2002
macon, france - paris, france

the night before laurent was telling us about this great wine spot on the way to paris and that we should stop in and check it out. the area of macon is about an hour and half from lyon on the motorway and all the little towns were loaded with wineries. the only problem was that we arrived at about noon and everything was closed. we drove around to quite a few places, but no luck. then when we were on our way back to the motorway we check one more place and it happened to be open. erica and i both bought a case of wine, one red and one white. the plan was that i was going to take it home. the only thing is, i forgot that i couldn't ship it home in the car and was certainly not going to ship by air. erica would eventually get her's home, but mine was destine to stay in europe. unfortunately we didn't have time to really explore the area and had to get to paris. we were concerned about getting to my friend kc's house near the bastille during rush hour traffic. from macon the drive was about four hours and we arrived in paris right at the height of rush hour, but no different than driving in the bay area at rush hour. the only difference was that i wasn't familiar with the roads. erica proved herself again and again as she navigated us towards kc's apartment. after driving around the the bastille roundabout about five times, we finally figured out which street we had to turn on to get to her house. the parking in the bastille area is very impacted and its all metered. kc's husband insisted that i had nothing to worry about and he was right. in the end i got a couple of tickets, but the chances of them tracking me down is pretty unlikely, not to mention they wrote down my sponsors phone number.

june 12, 2002
lyon, france

the weather was unusally hot and i was starting to wonder if i was going to have to suffer the rest of the trip with these ungodly tempearatures. maud had to take care of some teaching stuff so erica and i headed into town to do a little sightseeing. we eventually found the "i" office and got our map and bearings. again i was remembering where maud had taken me back in 95 and so i proceed to take erica on a similar tour. it was so hot that day, but we managed to get back to the apartment by 5pm. around that time, laurent and maud came back so we went out for a drink at one of the popular bars in their neighborhood. i love going and seeing what everyday people do. to me it's more exciting and more interesting to see how people live opposed to seeing museums and churchs all time.

june 11, 2002
annecy, france - lyon, france

our time was running out and i really wanted to take erica to chamoix. maud wanted to get to lyon later that evening and she had to take care of somethings so erica and i went on our own to chaomix. we didn't have all that much time, but we got some nice photos and had a little walk down through the village. maud's grandmother used to live right in town, so i also pointed that out to erica. the location of her grandmother's apartment was unreal. if you looked out the back windown you looked straight to the mountain and if you wanted to see the tops of the mountains you'd have to get down on the floor and look up. unbelieveable. our little side trip took about 6 hours and after driving to chamoix we picked up maud and went down to lyon. along the way i stopped for gas and didn't realize that I had put in leaded gas. i was a little nervous,but then i remember that all this cars originally ran on leaded gas. it was interesting that i could smell the difference in the exhaust of my car. if maud hadn't been guiding us through lyon there is no way i could have found their apartment. it is in a ideal location and maud even saved me a parking space with her car!

june 10, 2002
annecy, france

today we decided to take a tour of annecy with maud. it had been raining early in the morning and we were afraid that our whole day would had to be spent indoors. just before we left her house it stopped raining. we took in a lot of sites and even went up on the mountain side to where the paragliders were taking off from. it was hella crazy to see those dudes jump off the side of the mountain and just seen them float. it was a nice day spent exploring what annecy had to offer, but mainly to spend time with my good friend maud. that night fordinner maud and her boyfriend laurent took us to a restaurant that their friend owns. the restaurant is in the center of annecy, but has the decor of a mountain chalet. they acquired lots of the wood from a chalet that they were tearing down, so everything is really from a chalet from the alps! their specialty is fondue and stews. the food was out of this world and it definitely isn't the type of food that you can eat all the time. although laurant loves it and i think they eat there at least twice a month. it is one of those kind of meals you need to eat when its cold though.

june 9, 2002
anncey, france

today we arrived in feldkirk at 7:45am and patiently waited for the car carrier transport train cars to be uncoupled from the main train. erica and i really didn't know where to go, but we just followed the crowd and found the other people waiting for their cars at the end of station. i asked erica to film getting the car and get me driving off so it'll be a nice addition for the documentary. as we made our way to switzerland we passed through leitchenstein. leichtenstein is a dinky country that is sandwiched between austria and switzerland and can be cross in about 20 minutes. ok maybe an exaggeration but it is a very small country. a little confused as to where we really were i was just following the signs, but then we saw a big sign that read Suisse! that was about 20 minutes later. if you want to drive on the autobahns in switzerland you need to get a highway sticker. i was stoked to have to put a swiss highway sticker on my car. a friend of mine whom i met while at school at the university of british columbia grew up in annecy, france and we're to meet her later that afternoon. when we got to the swiss/france border i started to recognize some of the roads from when i last visited in 95. as it turns out i choose the correct road to get to annecy from the highway and when we got to a famous bridge in her area i called her. she was pretty amazed that i remembered. it was the first place she took me to after she picked me up from the train station in geneva. her parents house was about 15 minutes away and before erica and i knew it i was giving my friend a hug whom i hadn't seen in 4 years! lac annecy, where she and her family live is an amazingly beautiful place. their house is actually a converted barn that they share with another family. the barn is split in such a way that her older sister has a place downstairs. it seriously is one of the coolest houses i've ever seen and the views from the house are breathtaking. i felt like i was in my second home. though.

june 8, 2002
vienna, austria

we spent the whole day with stephan and his wife sylvia. we took a short drive out to the country-side and went to an underground airplane factory that hitler used during wwII. the tour was pretty fast and there was even an underground boat ride that everyone could go on. after our jount to the country-side we headed back to their flat to rest up before having to catch the train to feldkerk. feldkerk was as far as we could go on the train with the car. it was actually a perfect way to go. we were able to spend the entire day with Stephan and Sylvia and we made it to Switzerland before 9am. putting my car on a train is something i'd always wanted to do and this was the perfect situation. another dream come true. we even had an full night's rest in a couchette.

june 7, 2002
vienna, austria

the next day erica and i went into the city to go explore. we walked around the whole day and then met up with my friend Stephan. i hadn't seen him in 8 years! he wasn't working the next day so we decided to stay another day and put the car on the train that same night to Switerzland. it was so great to have a chance to catch up with an old friend and see him in his own stomping ground. we shared a nice meal in the university part of town and hit a few bars. it was a nice evening.

june 6, 2002
prague, czech republic

knowing that we had to move on, erica and i set out to doing some filming before heading out of town. we knew that going over to the old part of town would end up taking hours and there weren't many places to turn around in case we didn't get the shot, so we decided to stay on the palace side of the river. i really wanted to get the feeling of the midevil archeticture so we tried to get part of the palace and the charles bridge. it was highly difficult without a production crew to get through traffic and turn around, but we managed to get a couple of shots. i hope that they turned out. we wrapped up the filming after lunch and were off to our next destination, Vienna. I had called an old classmate of mine from the University of British Columbia and we were to meet him in Vienna the next day. We arrived in Vienna in the early evening and eventually found our camp site. it wasn't an easy task finding Wien West camp site, but just before the sun went down at 9:45pm we found it! erica was ready to just pay for a pension, but i told her that we were camping and saving money! we were actually hoping to stay in one of the 20 bunglows that were on the campground. unfortunately they were completely booked up by a Estonian tour group. it meant that we had to camp. through out the drive from prague to vienna it had been raining on and off. i was really hoping it was going to stop, but when we first got into vienna it was pouring. bad news for camping. so when we found out we were going to have to pitch our tent we weren't too happy, but i was pretty sure that the tent would do fine. maybe i was placing too much faith in a tent that i hadn't tested in the rain. two hours after falling asleep i could hear the rain, then i lifted my feet in my sleeping bag and my feet were in a puddle of water at the end of the tent. i was so tired that i really didn't care much at that moment so i went back to sleep. about an hour later, i started feeling drips of water from the ceiling. i tapped erica and said i think it's pretty wet in here, she said, "yeah, i've been soaked for the last two hours." at that point we knew the only dry place was in the car, so erica took the back seat and sleep in the drivers seat. not a comfortable way to have a good nights rest, but at least we were semi-dry.

june 5, 2002
prague, czech republic

we had a leisure morning and quickly got ourselves acquanited with the subway map and the sites we really wanted to see. for me this was my first trip to prague, but for my sister she had been there before and had been ranting and raving about how cool a place it was. i had heard about it from other friends and heard that it was changing fast with the influx of backpackers and the like. it was pretty touristy, but it still had a good vibe. i'm not really one to stick to all the touristy things, so Erica and I wondered off the beaten path to see some smaller shopping areas. During the whole day we were scouting for places to film and there were plenty of great shots to get, but the traffic in prague is ridiculous. we could have spent a few weeks there filming and getting different shots, but we were on a strict schedule and had to leave by the next afternoon. while we were in prague we ate and drank well. prior to my sister meeting me i was on the backpackers diet; bread, cheese and beer,wine and coke. to say the least i ate alot and it was a fraction compared to germany.

june4, 2002
munich, germany

after sending home some things, we said good bye to john and headed out to reach prague. we had our maps, plenty of high octane gasoline and the best mode of transportation on the road. after driving a few hours in Germany we reached the border. i was happy to see that once we hit the border gas was immediately cheaper. i love when you can buy race gas and have it be the same price as regular in germany! but before you can drive on the Czech Autobahn you have to purchase a highway sticker. i was kind of excited that i got to put a Czech sticker on my car. it wasn't very expensive and now in retrospect i should have bought two! from the border it took about two hours to reach prague. the signs in the czech republic aren't always in english, so we guessed on a lot. luckily the main roads are easy to find and we eventually found our way to a bed and breakfast in the suburbs. the main reason for staying in the suburbs was that i was concerned about my car getting ripped off. i had heard things from people at the festival that car theft in eastern europe was really bad and that i should reconsider driving. the bed and breakfast was perfect, fenced in car port and only a 10 minute walk from the metro.

june 3, 2002
oberammergau - munich, germany

after the festival was over it was still hard to believe that i had been lucky enough to have been a participant. the next day, i went to pick up my sister from the munich train station with john hud. john had spent a significant amount of time in munich and guided me right up to great parking space outside the station. after picking up my sister, my sister and i decided spent the day and night in munich before pushing off to prague. john didn't have any set plans so we spent the day wondering around munich and bought some much needed oil changing supplies. that night john and i changed the oil, fixed a switch for my blinkers and realigned my window so it didn't leak as much air.

may 31, 2002
oberammergau, germany

last night i didn't really get any information about the schedule of things and when i finally got my stuff together and out the door, i had a strange feeling that i was the only one left in town. sure enough as i was driving through town, no one was around. what i didn't know was, what time the car exhibition started and what time Mobile Tradition was going to be opening there tent. at any rate i was late for the start of everything. one thing nice about arriving late was that i had a parking spot in the shade! shortly after arriving on the show grounds at the olympic park a young guy came over to me and asked me if it would be ok if they could take some photos of me for a bmw magazine!! i almost didn't know what to say, but of course i said yes. the photo shoot took about an hour and half and it was a very surreal experience to be on the other side of the camera. in my past work experience i've helped produce videos or short films. i must say that having a stylest and some one cleaning my car with a spay bottle and soft cloth was something i could get used to. immediately after finishing up the photo shoot we headed off to the Mobile Tradition Museum. i was told that the tour wasn't anything special and it was just a warehouse of old cars, but indeed it was special. it is usually very difficult to get access to the Mobile Tradition Museum and i had a great time. the only bummer was that we couldn't take any photos inside. after our 2 hour tour we headed back to Oberammergau for dinner with the rest of the group. during dinner we i was approached by one of the organizers if i would be willing to share about my journey. in fact they asked all the people from far away to come up. i initally thought it was going to be each of use giving some sort of speech, but it was more of question and answer. they had a gentleman who is known as the voice of the Nurnmberg Race Track. he was great and his ability to switch from German to English was very impressive. unfortunately during the question and answer i didn't have time to fully tell my story to the whole crowd. i was a little disappointed, but all of us being interviewed were English speakers and I could tell the German crowd was getting restless. the night didn't go too late and i went to bed early. i was tired.

may 29, 2002
oberammergau, germany

the bavaria tour 02 festival offically started and there certainly is a buzz. people have been very interested in my car and wanting to hear the story. the 02 has been a great vehicle for sharing about ALS. on the first day we toured the castles and the mountains. we all lined up early in the morning, got our roadbooks with driving instructions. the roadbook also had some trivia questions that would later be scored for a prize at the end of the festival. in my car i was honored to have Bob Murphy, the man who has been very instrumental in organizing the shipping and information for the States. the driving instructions were a little confusing, but then we met some now great German friends who helped us out. without holger and klaus we would have ended up in italy! lucky not. holger and klaus, were very interested in the story, they were the first people to get my pitch. they are great guys and they hadn't heard anything about ALS, so I made some real progress. As for the driving, it was INCREDIBLE! it was better than anything i could have imagined. it was so surreal to see that i was driving my 02 in Austria and Germany with people from 18 nations. a true international event. on a side note, we went to wash my car i was met by a guy who looked at my license plate and said to me, "you've come from a long way." turns out that Vincent also came from far away, Brazil. he shipped his car and it took 45 days for it to arrive in Hamburg. another truly dedicated 02 nut. throughout the day it was so great to see so many cars from the new class. this event wasnt just 02s, 20% of the cars were other makes such as the E3s. we all met for lunch at a common place, very scenic and very traditional. Southern Germany is so different from the north and the air is so fresh. My car loved it, as did all the other cars. passing all the castles, i wanted to stop and take pictures and video every 10 feet. after driving all day we headed back to Oberammergau for dinner at tha Ammergau House. The city of Oberammaergau was very accommadating and opened up all their facilities to the Bavaria Tour 02. Everyone at the festival was great. it was a feeling of meeting an old friend, but having never met before. that night we all at together in a huge hall and drank into the night. the next day's program was in munich, the olympic park\car show and exhibition.

may 20, 2002
frankfurt, germany

Today we arrived early in which case I arrived too early to check into the hostel. I always like talking to new people and especially sharing with them what I'm all about. I'm starting to feel really tired, but I've got to stay awake or I'll be waking up at 3am tomorrow. I must go walk around right now to wake up.

may 17, 2002
new york city, new york

I went down again, but to find about 2 thousand people who beat me to the fence. celine dion was putting on a free concert and there was a huge car show at rockerfeller plaza. All in all, Friday isn't a good day to be hitting the Today Show. I left after about an hour of trying to get a good spot, but no luck. All the college students from mississippi or somewhere were taking up way too much room.

may 11, 2002
san francisco, california

Today was the Bay Area Swap meet and show. Until Ben Thongsai informed me that I was going to be home for the show I totally didn't realize that I would be able to make it. The show was a huge success and I got to meet up with two of my sponsors; 2002 AD and 2002 Haus. It was really nice to have a in person meeting. We talked about the journey and about the big festival. Nelson Jones who is the owner of 2002 AD is also going to be attending the Bavaria Tour 02. As far as I know, I will know two other people who I saw today in Oberammergau. Dave Gee is the other person that I met who informed me that he was also going to be there. Dave is picking up a convertible from somewhere near Hamburg. It's so cool. I can't wait to see it.

april 22, 2002
lincoln, nebraska

We had a late start and didn't get on the road until noon. As it turns out was ok because our contact, Andrea was going to be at meetings and school all day. Lincoln, Nebraska took us about 8 hours from Denver. We have been averaging about 23 miles to the gallon, which to me is very good. Driving in the Bay Area I hadn't gotten anything above 20 miles to the gallon. Earlier in the day I noticed a new oil leak. I could kind of see where it was coming from but wasn't sure. I cleaned off the area and went to inspect it the next fill up. It was as I suspected, leaking from the fuel pump. It didn't look dire, but an oil leak is an oil leak and I don't like them. I just sent out an email asking my bay area buddies to see if anyone had any suggestions for me. It's now 1:22am and if I've forgotten anything I'll have to up date later. We are planning on getting to Chicago tomorrow and hopefully have a lay over day. We'll see. If the fuel pump oil leak isn't major then I'll fix it there, but if it is dire then I'll fix it here in Lincoln. We are just kind of taking it as it comes. It'll all work out.

april 19, 2002
san francisco, california - lake tahoe, california

This morning was the official start to the 02 drive. Friends and family gathered at the ferry terminal in SF to take photos and say their good byes. The valet company that uses that area for parking was very kind and let me stage me car for 2 hours. They were very generous to let me stay. After leaving the ferry building, my co-pilot, Grant and I left SF via the Golden Gate bridge. A few friends followed us as we made our ceremonial exit from the my favorite city. As we made our way to Interstate 80, our friends dropped off and returned to SF. We were now on our own, but not for very long. Our first stop was Truckee, CA. A few short hours and we were at some friend's house. Warm food, nice beds and great company awaited us. My friend's, the Courtney's, were very hospitable to accommodate us for the evening. They even had breakfast for us.