Northernmost Exposure

Front High-Fender installed!!

2006-11-19T23:36:00.000-08:00

FINALLY! More content! :)It's been a long summer and nasty fall. Shortly after my return from Laguna in July the bike went up on jack stands to start some maintenance. It was there until... today. Other projects have come and gone in that time (primarily this one). Today it was time to get the KTM back on it's tires and finish up something I started buying parts for back in June! How

Relaxing on the California Coast

2006-07-20T06:41:00.000-07:00

After meeting my buddy John in Modesto Sunday night, we packed up the bikes and ran (and I mean RAN) for the coast to get away from the head (108F when we left Monday afternoon). It was too much for me, I guess the Californian in me has been replaced by a Pacific Northwesterner.. LOL. Right now it's early Thursday morning, the fog is just starting to lift off the landscape. It's going to be

Day 4 of the journey

2006-07-17T11:31:00.000-07:00

Today is for resting. It took 2 hours to reach Modesto from Napa yesterday. There was no traffic to speak of and everyone had the hammer down. How quickly I forget how people drive down here without the over-bearing presence of the State Highwayman we deal with up north. As far as the highways go, WA is, by all accounts a 'Police State'. In 3 days here, I've seen only 1 CHP car, it was

3 Days in California

2006-07-16T15:20:00.000-07:00

Well, it's Sunday afternoon and the riding has been INCREDIBLE!!! I could write for days! However I will not since I'm in the middle of a busy internet cafe in downtown Napa. There are some wineries I want to visit before I head south on the final leg to Modesto.Friday saw me leaving Salem early and riding I-5 into Yreka. Weather was getting warmer and warmer. This time I would not hit any

Off to the MotoGP in Monterey, CA

2006-07-13T09:31:00.000-07:00

Final prep for the MotoGP.The time is upon me again to finalize departure plans for the MotoGP in California.Bike saftey checked - CHECKBills paid to end of month - CHECKEmergeny Contacts notified - Uh.. NOT YETBike packed - CHECKTickets purchased - CHECK & CHECKNew helmet - CHECKLodging arranged - SORTAMy plan for the last month was to depart tonight for Portland (arriving around midnight)

North Cascades - Season Opener Ride

2006-05-07T09:13:00.000-07:00

It was a cold and stormy night. Actually, it was none of that.. but I was up late the night before. Regardless, a 7:15 am departure was made, for points north and hopefully to still catch up with the main body of the group in Arlington.Seattle to ArlingtonOur small group of 4, Fritz, Pete, Chris and myself endourted the uber-alb of I-5 for what seemed like hours, evntually arriving in Arlington.

Back from California

2006-05-01T00:09:00.000-07:00

Back from California (Santa Cruz beach)Wow, what a great wonderful wacky and friend filled trip.Monday - Left Seattle at 9:30pm. It was dark, rainy and I was in a bad mood from moving out of a really awesome house because my ex-wife up and left me holding the bag. Passed through Portland, OR half-past midnight. Found a motel just 25 miles south of the state line and called it a night.Tuesday -

East to Roslyn - KTM 950 S first ride

2006-02-26T22:22:00.000-08:00

It was a dark and stormy night. Well.. more like a dark and stormy morning of working on bikes until.. 5:00am! Not exactly the way you want to start off your first ride on a beast a machine, a brand new one at that.Regardless, I'm not one to give up to easy and after an hour of convincing I was able to get Colleen sold on the idea. No sooner was it 1/2 past noon

New Kid on the Block

2006-02-22T13:27:00.000-08:00

It was a tough decision but I needed to take a serious assessment of the Gran Canyon's capabilities and determine if it really was the right tool for the job I need it to perform. In this case, make it not only to the Acrtic and back but all with way down to Cabo San Lucas as well. In one trip. Sadly.. I did not think the Cagiva was the right bike for the job.My issues with it:1. It's

Reno 2005 - Logbook unedited

2005-09-22T08:18:00.000-07:00

Wednesday - September 14, 200506:15 - Bremerton, WA35,118 KmAwaiting departure. Plan to roll out 06:30 to Olympia via SR-3. Really looking forward to this trip and feel confident Ihave not forgotten anything important. Next stop..? Perhaps Chehalis for fuel. At least 200 Km still in the tank.

Mexico Research - ordering some maps

2005-08-13T22:31:00.000-07:00

Odd, it's rather difficult to find Maps of Mexico at book stores according to the people at Borders I spoke with today. There seems to be some sort of issue with the release of rights to publish maps of Mexico. Never really crossed my mind before that there might be some challenges with obtaining maps of forien countries. Of course the internet is always my friend. With a couple of quick

Truck heading southwest..

2005-08-13T07:04:00.000-07:00

The truck is back underway after a manditory rest period for the driver. At this early hour on Saturday morning it is on the Kentucky boarder and continuing to head southwest. When I spoke with the dispatcher she indicated that there was a shipment that had to be dropped off in New Mexico first then it would make it's final trip north to Everett. Looking at the map it sure seems like it's got

Alaska research continues

2005-08-12T16:44:00.000-07:00

I found a link to a 1999 trip (quite detailed too) on ADVRider Forum. 26 days from the northern midwest. WOW.. looks like quite a trip! Great resource material for maps, etc. Give it a read: Doug Grosjean's Alaska Trip ReportRight now we are checking on what sorts of side-bags and top-cases to get for the bikes. John's I believe has side-cases already but wants a top case. I'm in the

Stuck in Ohio, again...

2005-08-11T14:38:00.000-07:00

I've been watching the online tracking and the bike seems to be stuck in Ohio so I called up the shipping company to find out what the details are. I guess the driver ran out of 'time' and has to wait there until he can drive again. As I recall under federal laws they can only drive so many hours a day/week and he was at that limit. They said it should be heading west again soon via.. New

Bike has shipped and is now on it's way west!!

2005-08-10T12:17:00.000-07:00

Alright. Daily (OK, hourly) checking of the shipping website has finally given me some good news!! I'm really excited about this and will probably blog every morning about it's progress west. Thanks NAVL!!!Contract Number: #######Ship From: CINCINNATI, OH 45247Ship To: EVERETT, WA 98203Actual Pickup Date : 08/10 10:15Estimated Delivery Date : 08

One step closer..

2005-08-08T09:26:00.000-07:00

I love the age of the internet. Online tracking of shippents is pretty neat. Imagine making a phone call every mornig (or every 30 min.) to get an update on a shipment!Contract Number: ########Ship From: CINCINNATI, OH 45247Ship To: EVERETT, WA 98203Estimated Pickup Date : 08/08 To 08/11Estimated Delivery Date : 08/19 To 08/22Current Shipment Status: Shipment is at the origin - driver is

Bike shipping arrangements finalized

2005-08-05T13:10:00.000-07:00

Well, it's a done deal. Shipping for the bike was finalized today. Tentative pick-up in Ohio between 8/8/05 and 8/11/05. I'd contacted a number of shipping outfits via the web for quotes. The ranged from $605.00 to almost $800 depending on the size of the bike and the location of pickup/drop-off.Oddly enough the least expensive of the options was the one that would be the quickest and easies

Compiling lists and checking them twice

2005-08-02T11:41:00.000-07:00

It's tough waiting for final word that you money has arrived and the bike is now officialy yours! In the mean time I've been reading over lists and trying to determine what we will need to take and what we can leave behind, how much camping we can realisticly tollerate and how much Credit Card Camping we'll end up doing.A pal of mine just returned from a trip to Alaska himself (today). I'm

Talked Alaska with a local rider that's been there

2005-08-01T08:35:00.000-07:00

Had the chance to have lunch with a local rider that did this little trip last year about the same time. The insights were excellent. She also took the time to send me this recap so it's here verbatim. Thanks Colleen!(In no particular order)Dease Lake, BC – icky cafeteria atmosphere that left me with no interest in even trying the foodPrince George, BC – much bigger than I thought. Stop

And so the adventure begins...

2005-07-30T18:06:00.000-07:00

Dateline: Seattle, WA. Bored with the day in and day out monotony of database programming and web harvesting, IP tools guru and Pacific Northwest Native decides it's time for some adventure.Adventure Touring to be exact. Today marked the first day of the rest of his (motorcycling) life. With the press of a few buttons and a quick trip to the bank a deal was struck to bring this little beauty