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Well, it’s official. The countdown has begun. T-minus 8 and ½ days to departure. Launch preparations are progressing nicely.
The vacation is totally approved. The gear is finally all here. The bike has fresh oil, a new Avon front tire, a fairly new car tire (5000 mile Yokohama) on the back, new plugs, new air filter, new CB, new tunes, and is as ready as I can make her. My maps are packed. My credit cards are all charged up.
Life is good.
Leaving Dallas, Texas in the wee hours of Saturday the 19th for my trip to Alaska. Through a series of seriously long workweeks and a marginal amount of creative blackmail I don’t have to come back for 31 days.
31 days!
<thinking they’re gonna have to retrain me when I get back...assuming I remember where back is...>
Leg one is a hard run Saturday of about 1100 miles. Headed from Dallas to Onalaska, WI. Before anybody bothers to point out that just because "Onalaska" has the word “Alaska” in it doesn’t mean it actually is Alaska . . . I know this. This adds about 600 miles to my trip to Alaska …but promised somebody in Wisconsin dinner (waving frantically).
25 years of riding and I’ve yet to figure out what a straight line is.
Next I will head west . . . probably crossing into Canada in Montana, headed more or less for Fairbanks. I’ll take the high road out, and if road conditions merit I may try for Inuvik in the extreme northern Yukon Territory. I’ll probably head back through Washington. Not sure about that.
That . . . is the complete extent of my planning. Heck, I’ve got gas money, and I’ve got maps…and I’ve got 31 days. I expect to pull 10-12K miles on this trip.
Things remaining . . .
-Rear drive oil change.
-Clean the machine. She’s a mess due to all the riding in the rain I’ve been doing.
-Install the electric tap for my vest/gloves. Don’t know if I’ll even need those, but I figured the electric vest and gloves took up less space than a bunch of winter riding gear. It can be cold in some of these places, especially some of the passes.
-I’m running to Louisiana this Saturday to visit friends…since I’ve changed packing methods (I’ve got a “T” bag now instead of all the duffels) I’ll probably pack the bike for the trip and see what shakes out…kind-of a dry run so to speak.
<tap tap tap tap tap>
T-Minus 8 and ¼ days and counting.
Sigh.
CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer
http://lifeisaroad.com
The vacation is totally approved. The gear is finally all here. The bike has fresh oil, a new Avon front tire, a fairly new car tire (5000 mile Yokohama) on the back, new plugs, new air filter, new CB, new tunes, and is as ready as I can make her. My maps are packed. My credit cards are all charged up.
Life is good.
Leaving Dallas, Texas in the wee hours of Saturday the 19th for my trip to Alaska. Through a series of seriously long workweeks and a marginal amount of creative blackmail I don’t have to come back for 31 days.
31 days!
<thinking they’re gonna have to retrain me when I get back...assuming I remember where back is...>
Leg one is a hard run Saturday of about 1100 miles. Headed from Dallas to Onalaska, WI. Before anybody bothers to point out that just because "Onalaska" has the word “Alaska” in it doesn’t mean it actually is Alaska . . . I know this. This adds about 600 miles to my trip to Alaska …but promised somebody in Wisconsin dinner (waving frantically).
25 years of riding and I’ve yet to figure out what a straight line is.
Next I will head west . . . probably crossing into Canada in Montana, headed more or less for Fairbanks. I’ll take the high road out, and if road conditions merit I may try for Inuvik in the extreme northern Yukon Territory. I’ll probably head back through Washington. Not sure about that.
That . . . is the complete extent of my planning. Heck, I’ve got gas money, and I’ve got maps…and I’ve got 31 days. I expect to pull 10-12K miles on this trip.
Things remaining . . .
-Rear drive oil change.
-Clean the machine. She’s a mess due to all the riding in the rain I’ve been doing.
-Install the electric tap for my vest/gloves. Don’t know if I’ll even need those, but I figured the electric vest and gloves took up less space than a bunch of winter riding gear. It can be cold in some of these places, especially some of the passes.
-I’m running to Louisiana this Saturday to visit friends…since I’ve changed packing methods (I’ve got a “T” bag now instead of all the duffels) I’ll probably pack the bike for the trip and see what shakes out…kind-of a dry run so to speak.
<tap tap tap tap tap>
T-Minus 8 and ¼ days and counting.
Sigh.
CUAgain,
Daniel Meyer
http://lifeisaroad.com
And, in the immortal words of the late Frank Zappa, "Watch out where the huskies go, and don't you eat that yellow snow"
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