Scootin' For A Cure

2009-03-24T15:44:00.000-07:00

Hey all! Remember that I talked about being on the route patrol team for this year's 3-Day Walk in San Diego? Well back in February I contacted them about Kevin & I being on the team. They don't need anymore volunteers for route patrol! We are seriously bummed about this. We could have signed up to do any number of other things but we had our hearts set on using our scooters and being part of the team. How cool would that have been?? So I think I'll take a break this year and not participate at all in the 3-Day Walk. I had a chance to do Relay for Life at work but after walking 60+ miles in San Diego walking around the track just didn't do it for me. So....I think I'll either sign up early enough to do route patrol in 2010 or walk again in 2010.

So, even though my blog is called Scootin' For A Cure I'll continue to write....just not about scooting for a cure. Make sense? Anyone who knows me knows that I love to ride my scooters! So my blog will be about what's going on in my life. Fantastic isn't it? Actually, when I think about it, I have a pretty good life. Great husband, great kids, great job, great health.....is there more that I could want? I have a family reunion this summer. That'll be interesting! With nine brothers and sisters it's always interesting. I also have my (cough, 30th cough) class reunion this summer. I've recently hooked up with many classmates via Facebook so I am very much looking forward to the reunion.

2009-01-19T09:12:00.001-08:00

Oh just a short one here. I didn't want to combine as they're such different topics. I'm planning on participating in the 3-Day Walk this November. I won't be walking as I can't see asking friends and family for money every year. Maybe I'll walk again next year. What I want to do is be part of the route safety team. We aren't required to raise $2300 but we're still a big part of the event. AND we get to do it on our scooters! There were probably 10 motorcycles working route patrol at the event and I want to be a part of that team. Kevin & some of the other Bastards and SOBs are also interested. We have to contact them and see if there are spots available.

The job is four days. We mark the route the day before the walk and then for the three days of the walk we ensure the walkers are safe. We help them cross at busy intersections and cheer them along, offering encouragement. Believe me, it was very important to me to see one of them up ahead, cheering us on. The guy in the above picture was one of our favorites.

2009-01-19T08:58:00.000-08:00

Hey all! I hope everyone made it through the holidays and are enjoying the new year. Today is Martin Luther King, Jr. Day. We always have the day off and I always talk about why we have it off. Students just think it's an extra day to sleep in and play video games all day. They don't understand the significance of the day. I tell them that when I was young there were some schools that wouldn't allow blacks and whites to learn together. We looked around the room on Friday and talked about the six black students in our class who wouldn't have been at the same school as the other students. We talk about his speech and the message he was trying to get out. They enjoy the little choral reading we do. It's kinda like a Jr. verson of Dr. King's speech. In the end, they get it and I hope they know how important it is to get it.

Well this year the MLK holiday has an even greater meaning for many of us. Tomorrow, we will see his dream come true, to a certain extent. Barack Obama, is sworn in as our 44th president. It's a pretty big deal. We've all gone through an agonizing eight years and we're hopeful that things will change. Many have lost jobs, homes, and entire life savings. Our country is basically in the shitter and we're hoping that things will turn around. I'd like to think that my daughters will have a better life than I did. Don't we all wish for that?

2008-11-24T13:08:00.000-08:00

And so it is over. The walk for this year is anyway. Unfortunately, the fight for cancer will be around for a while.

This walk and my ride around the country and everything leading up to it has been life changing. You can't sit around and do nothing and expect something to get done. Shut up, get off yer ass and DO SOMETHING BOLD!

Let's talk a bit about the walk.

Thursday we spent the night at Liz & Julie's house in San Diego. Thank you to our two very good friends for putting us up again!

Friday morning, 4:30 am came terribly early. We had to be at the Del Mar Fairgrounds around 5:30 for the opening ceremony and the start of the long 3-Day Walk. Kevin basically kicked me to the curb with my gear. Thanks, Dear....Love ya.

I hooked up with my walking partner and tent-mate, Pat. I was excited to know a friendly face in the sea of over 5,000 walkers. The emotions began right away when the survivors took the flags and walked to the 'survivior's circle'. Thinking about Mom, Nancy, Karen, Karen, Sharon....et all, this all hits home when you make it personal.

The walk begins and I am amazed at the enthusiastic crowd and especially the endless supply of cheerleaders we meet along the way and we would continue to see over the next 3 days.

I won't bore you with details of the 24 miles we walked that day. I'll just say that damn, my feet hurt. Our journey took us to beautiful Mission Bay. We crashed and were asleep by 7:30. Cold and damp, sleeping in little pink tent.

Up at 5:30 for day two. Again, people are so excited to be here and I'm thinking, "We PAID how much to DO this?" Fantastic day, fantastic cheering fans, and amazing scenery.

Everyone fell in love with the San Jose bike cops and the motorcycle/bicycle route safety folks. A thousand thank yous go out to their endless support and cheers.

Pat had problems with blisters so she caught a ride at mile 8 and I walked alone back to camp. I would occasionally strike up a conversation with fellow walkers, but I enjoyed the quiet and time to think about why I was here. Rumor has it that we did another 24 miles on day two. The miles seemed very long.

Day 3 came very early. Again, Pat was having problems with her feet and she caught a sweeper van to the next stop. I didn't see her again.

The cheering fans were out en mass today. A moment here to thank some memorable ones:
*Smile Guy, you absolutely ROCKED our weekend!
*The dancing ladies with the 'butt' t-shirts, we loved ya!
*The 3 lady singers, thank you, thank you.
*The two guys in the SMART car, you're the best.
*Old guy with the 'I'm a breast man' sign, I love your spirit.
*Really loud guy with the massive boobs, how did you manage to keep your voice all weekend?
*Single lady in the white convertible, you're amazing, and we thank you.
*Ninja turtle/free mamo guy, you made us smile.
*Random people with really large fake boobs, very funny and we loved it.
*Anyone else who handed out candy, water, soda, stickers, buttons, pins, etc, etc.....YOU inspired us to keep putting one foot in front of the other.

I refused to hop a ride and never really felt like I needed to. A couple of times it would have been nice cuz I had to pee, but I worked it out and walked the entire 64ish miles.

Kevin, Rex, John, Matt, and Gitta showed up to offer support and encouragement. I think that they just wanted to check out the boobs on display. Whatever their reason was, THANK YOU!

Petco Park was our destination and it was awesome. Walkers arrived and got their victory t-shirts and the party began. I most enjoyed high-fiving all the other walkers. Finally, our last walker arrived. I remember passing her several times over the last 3 days. She's a little older lady who seemed to be on the ultimate mission. Head down, bag over her arm, she just walked. Most passed by her, many gave words of encouragement. Let me tell you that when she came in with police escort it was an amazing and wonderful site. 5,000 walkers on their feet, cheering and high-fiving her as she made her way through the crowd. Wow.

Closing ceremonies were almost anti-climatic after that. Sorry. As the survivors came in with their pink t-shirts we removed a shoe in honor of them and those we have lost. 11+ million dollars was raised by the San Diego walkers. 11+ million dollars to help fight a disease that does not discriminate and pisses me off. I pray that it's done with my family and friends, but I know that's probably not the case. So, we continue to do what we can and hope that someday it'll be a disease that will end.

2008-11-15T10:28:00.000-08:00

Yep, it's me again. I have been training for the walk. Really I have. Ok, well not as much as I should, but I get really damned bored with the walking. I think I got a little over confident when I did the 10 mile training walk in SD and it was very easy for me. So I got to thinking that I was in fine shape. I train at 6300 feet and SD is what, below sea level or some such nonsense? I could be wrong come next weekend when I do my first 20 miles on Friday. And then another 20 on Saturday. Oh, and when I get up on Sunday....I do the final 20 miles. WHAT have I gotten myself into?

Aside from the lack of serious training, my fund raising is going well. I gave out little cookies at school as reminders and the staff and students were very generous with their donations. I'm saving them to make one lump donation early next week but I think I'm around $4200 now. Awesome!

Honestly, I'll be glad when this is all over. I'm actually looking forward to the walk because it'll be a wonderful experience but I want to be done with it. I won't do it again next year. I can't ask friends & family for money like this for awhile. Maybe in a few years or maybe every other year, but certainly not every year. Too much work and it really does put pressure on the walker and their ability to raise the money.

I will be taking pictures next weekend so you can see what it was like. We're meeting at the Del Mar Fairgrounds early Friday morning. Our walk that day will take us to the campsite for the night. Saturday's walk will loop around town and return to the campsite. Sunday, we walk from camp and end up at Petco Stadium to the cheers of our friends & family. Well, maybe not....but that's where we walk for closing ceremonies. I have the following week off and I plan to do not much of anything except read on my Kindle and catch up on 2 seasons of Prison Break. Yes, I'll be very busy so leave me alone!

2008-09-06T08:40:00.000-07:00

Work consumes us sometimes. I'm liking my class this year but there seems to be more 'crap' than usual. Endless amounts of paperwork. Why can't we just be left alone to do what we love to do? Teach! So many checkpoints to insure accountability that they've forgotten what it's like to be in the classroom. I just wanna close my door, teach my 4th graders and not fill out anymore checklists, assessments, forms, test result sheets, on and on and on. Such is life in the class.

Training for the walk in November continues at a snail's pace. I'm doing a long (8 miles) walk to the ski resort and back today. Now that I wrote that down, I gotta actually go do it! I signed up for a training walk in 3 weeks. It's a 10 mile walk in La Jolla and will cover some of the same ground that the actual walk will cover. Later that day is an Expo so I'll get more info on what to bring/wear/do/not do. It works well because the next day is our ride to Tecate. We're joining some other riders to Tecate on the Mexican border for a fun day of riding and legal border crossing. Can't wait for that! There've been several training walks that I wanted to join but those damn scooter rallies get in the way! I know I can do the walking but 60 miles is a really long distance!

I'm also still doing some fund raising for 'my team'. My team consists of ME. The $2200 scared everyone off so I'm on my own for this one. Hopefully I'll meet some other lonely walkers at the Expo and we'll walk together. Frustrating, but I made the commitment to join and I've never been known to back out of something once I decide to do it. Alix Bryan donated $450! She's known as the PEACE scooter girl and she's done 22,000 miles on two trips around the country, promoting peace. On a Buddy!She's an amazing young lady and you should check out her blog. There's a link off to the right.

Other than work and trying to train, we've just been riding as much as we can. Spent last weekend in Thousand Oaks to celebrate the 2nd anniversary of Vespa Thousand Oaks, which now includes Genuine Thousand Oaks. They'll start selling the Genuine line as soon as they come in. Demand for the little Buddy is amazing! I brought my Pamplona to the rally and now everyone wants one. Well, not everyone but it was pretty popular. My Bastard brother Hairy, brought his cute little Smart car. Now that's a car that I wanna drive! After the rally we rode a beautiful twistie down to PCH, cruised through Malibu and up Sunset Blvd. on our way home. Where else but in Southern California can you ride at the beach, through the desert, and up 6,300 feet into the mountains in one day? Amazing ride!

2008-08-13T18:31:00.000-07:00

Hey all! We got the scooters back from David and they look good!!! He even cleaned em up for us. With nearly 20,000 miles on Rosie bits are starting to go so it's really just parts that need to be replaced.

We're riding down to San Diego on Saturday morning for the Motorsport Scooters Rally. They're throwing a Sweet 16 party. Should be fun! They've even asked RBSC to lead their Saturday ride. We're pretty darned honored by that. Motorsport Scooters is the ultimate place to get parts for your scooter. We bought our Genuine Buddy from them. They do a nice sale, get-together on Saturday with a short ride and then a longer ride on Sunday, followed by a BBQ and a raffle. They're giving away a Buddy 125 that Marina has her eye on.

http://www.scooterwest.com/

School is back in session this week. So far I have 31 4th graders. Seems like a very nice bunch of students so far.

Training for the 3-Day has not been going so good. Only two days of walking so far. The first couple of weeks of school are always exhausting. I get home near 5:00 and I think we've been asleep by 9:00 PM all week. I will get back on the treadmill!!

This first picture is Dan & I on our last day, just before Dan hit the road north. And we went to see Eddie Izzard at the Kodak Theater. What a treat that was!

2008-08-06T19:11:00.000-07:00

Scootin' For A Cure - The Wrap-Up

Well after being home for four days I still haven't been back on a scooter. I thought about taking the Buddy to work but just wasn't up to it. Rosie is at Vespa Thousand Oaks, getting a much needed once over. Thank you Dr. Spencer!

My friends tease me because I love to keep spreadsheets. I have one for all of the DVDs we own. Now it really isn't that strange is it? I keep the list on my Palm so if we're at the store and I see a movie I like I can check to see whether or not we own it. Makes sense doesn't it?? I'm a spreadsheet nut at work too. You name it and I've got it on a spreadsheet. I like to keep track of what my students do. Can't help it. So it comes as no surprise that I kept a spreadsheet of our Scootin' For A Cure ride. Of course I got teased by my Bastard family and SOBs (Supporters of Bastards) for that one.

Regardless of how OCD they felt I was, I'm really glad that I tracked my mileage. Total miles for each day came out to 6832. Total trip miles, door to door was 6903. Seventy-one miles at the rallies in Tahoe and Chattanooga. Twenty-one days of riding for an average of just over 325 miles per day. Lowest day was 213 miles; Monterey to Yosemite. Highest day was 438 miles; Van Buren, AR to Amarillo, TX. Below is a look at each day.

Day 1 - 427 - Wrightwood to Monterey
Day 2 - 213 - Monterey to Yosemite
Day 3 - 254 - Yosemite to Tahoe
Day 4 - 364 - Tahoe to Eureka, NV
Day 5 - 281 - Eureka, NV to Fillmore, UT
Day 6 - 221 - Fillmore, UT to Moab, UT
Day 7 - 357 - Moab, UT to Gunnison, CO
Day 8 - 300 - Gunnison, CO to Lamar, CO
Day 9 - 296 - Lamar, CO to Halstead, KS
Day 10 - 336 - Halstead, KS to Jefferson City, MO
Day 11 - 302 - Jefferson City, MO to Vincennes, IN
Day 12 - 389 - Vincennes, In to Parkersburg, WV
Day 13 - 231 - Parkersburg, WV to Middletown, VA
Day 14 - 420 - Middletown, VA to Boone, NC
Day 15 - 351 - Boone, NC to Chattanooga, TN
Day 16 - 320 - Chattanooga, TN to Memphis, TN
Day 17 - 308 - Memphis, TN to Van Buren, AR
Day 18 - 438 - Van Buren, AR to Amarillo, TX
Day 19 - 416 - Amarillo, TX to Gallup, NM
Day 20 - 393 - Gallup, NM to Needles, CA
Day 21 - 215 - Needles, CA to Wrightwood, CA

Friends at work are asking how the trip went and would I do it again. Would I? I certainly would do another long distance ride but I don't think I'd go as far. I feel like we missed out on some sites that we couldn't fit in because we had to get 300 or so miles in. What did we miss on this trip? I would have liked to have hit the Atlantic Ocean, done part of or all of Natchez Trace Parkway, visit New Orleans, and visit the Oklahoma City memorial at the Murrah federal building, to name just a few.

We've got memories to last a lifetime from this trip. People will talk to folks on a scooter much easier than they would if you're in a car. We met many local people that were fascinated with our journey. Some that stand out were the two young girls at Cluff's Carhop in Fillmore, UT. They were such sweet things that couldn't have been older than my 21 year old daughter. One had two babies at home. The other had one young child and was pregnant. They loved to talk about our journey and how their families had been affected by cancer. I could see a wistfullness as if they wished they could join us on the road. Another young man in Olney, IL just wanted to talk to us. He had also been affected by cancer in his family and he was very sweet as he talked about his friend's mom. The lady at the restaurant in Oklahoma City was such a tragic story. Roxie is battling 3 types of cancer and just wants a little help. It's difficult to say goodbye and not be able to do more for these truely genuine people.

So would we camp on the road again? I wouldn't but Karen sure would! I actually liked the idea of camping but for practical reasons it just didn't work for me. The main thing is it's just way too much gear to haul around. And after a long, hot day on the road do I really want to set up a tent? Not really. Oh, and a bed is a welcome sight when it's nasty, hot out! And a shower without spiders is a plus.

We were smart and had the right tools with us. Karen was great about checking oil and tire pressure every morning. She had the foot pump to keep the tires correctly inflated. We used the spare tire that Star so wisely sent us. We will forever be in her debt for that! Karen needed the spare belt when hers broke in Blythe on our last day. We carried extra oil and filters. The filters were used in Chattanooga. I had some coolant and water for the battery, if needed.

We definitely used our raingear! We also carried an extra pair of gloves and some rubber dishwashing gloves to keep our riding gloves as dry as possible. They helped! I was saved with my tinted helmet visor. It really helped cut down on the heat to the head. I wished we had used rain-ex. Is that what it's called? Helps the rain sheet off instead of bead up. Would have been nice. Sunscreen is also something that everyone needs to carry and use religiously.

What else? Um. AAA Maps. Yeah, I used my TomTom 720 but I still like seeing the big picture. The nice thing about AAA maps is they are free so you can leave them behind once you've done the state/area.

For now, we're back to weekend rides and work. Rally season is still going so every weekend is pretty busy until late fall.

The Scootin' For A Cure ride is over but my walking continues. I feel like I'm way behind in training. I went back to work on Monday but I'm doing the treadmill every night, working my way up again. I feel pretty good considering I've been sitting on a scooter for nearly a month. Thanks again for all of the wonderful words that have come our way. Your support means the world to us.

My fund raising will continue up until the walk in November. My personal goal is $5,000 and I have $3,210. I sure can't complain about that! I'm doing a Pampered Chef party later this year and I'll sell cookies at work. Teachers will eat anything and everything if it isn't nailed down. There are a few other ideas that we're working on to reach my goal. Please keep checking back on the blog. Between my family, scooter events, my new class, catching up on missed movies, and working out I will keep writing!!

2008-08-04T06:54:00.000-07:00

Monday morning, August 4, 2008

Yes, we made it home safely!

We let ourselves sleep an extra hour before heading out for the final leg Saturday morning. Karen was riding south to San Diego so she actually left an hour before Dan & I. She had the furthest to go. The temp was already 95 at 6:30am and we really didn't want to repeat the 122 degree arrival in Needles so we hit the road.

I was hoping to show Dan some wonderful Joshua Trees before Barstow. None were remarkable so I hope he shot some later in the day. He's got a great camera and takes pictures that I wouldn't dream of. I also wanted him to see the massive solar panels near Barstow. We passed them but they weren't facing in our direction. I've driven by before and it's just been one big mirror-like surface. Yep, that's all we got in the desert. A tree that really should be called a cactus and big 'mirrors'.

Kevin was waiting for us when we arrived in Barstow. He was actually perched so he could watch the freeway. I think he was a bit anxious for me to get home! We had a breakfast and said goodbye to Dan. It's been great traveling with Dan.

During breakfast I got a call from Karen, who was in Blythe. Her belt had broken just after a gas stop. We each carried a spare so after getting towed she found a shop to replace the broken one. It wasn't shredded like we've seen others. It had broken into a lot of little pieces. She had Alex at Motorsports on the phone and he made sure the tech guys did the job correctly. Having the entire shop manual probably helped her too!

When I asked her what the scooter felt like she said that she had no power to the rear wheel. Prior to that, she would hesitate when traveling at speed. Unfortunately, my scooter was doing the exact same thing. I know that with a GTS if you ride at a constant speed you will wear your rollers unevenly. So riding at the speed after they wear you'll feel a slight hesitation. Belts/rollers should be changed between 6-8,000 miles. I was at almost 6,900 miles on my belt. Would I make it the last 50 miles home?

We stopped for gas in Victorville before heading up the mountain to Wrightwood. What is it with small desert towns? We've certainly seen our share of them this past 25 days. Yes, I made it home safely. Worn belt and all. My dogs went wild! It's great to be here, in my beautiful mountain cabin.

It took Karen until after dinner to make it to San Diego. She is also home now. She'll get back to her routine of staying up until 2:00am and sleeping until 10:00am. She loves the quiet of the night. She's retired so she isn't planning for work, just all of her other projects.

Dan made it as far as King City on Saturday. He was home in Santa Clara by 11:30 on Sunday. He'll return to work this week.

Me? I'm dressed and ready to go back to work as I write this. Students return next Monday but I'll be in my new room this week, getting ready for the next group of 30+ 4th graders.

I took Rosie to David yesterday so I'll be driving my Jetta. With AC! David and Lynda at Thousand Oaks have been so good to Kevin & I. His tech guys are great and we completely trust them to take care of our scooters.

I will write a final 'Scootin For A Cure' the ride post, but the blog will continue. My 3-Day Walk is in November and I need to get back to training. I have to have some place to complain about walking/training when I'd rather be riding my scooter! Kevin is also doing the treadmill so he can train with me when I start doing my 10+ miles outside for hill training.

2008-08-01T15:28:00.000-07:00

Friday, August 1, 2008

We are back in California! Very uneventful day with a couple exceptions. Karen's scooter fell over early in the morning and 122 degrees in Needles made for a painful last 1.5 hours.

We again got on the road at 6:00am. Within 10 minutes Karen's engine light came on. We pulled over and when she put it on the center stand it was a little too far off the shoulder and it tipped over. It suffered some scratches but she was definitely a trooper about it. I can't say that I'd have brushed it off quite that fast! The engine light didn't come on again so boys and girls if your engine light comes on, simply dump your scooter and it'll fix the problem!

We had to cover the entire state of Arizona so we only stopped for breakfast, gas, and stretch breaks. We basically bombed across and didn't look back. Flagstaff was a very nice little town. Given the heat, I think that's the only place in Arizona I would live.

By the time we hit Kingman the temp had climbed to near 100. Our last 75 miles were pretty much unbearable. 122 degrees when we pulled into Needles, CA and we just about passed out when we got off the scooters. On the way west today we saw many motorcycles heading towards Sturgis. Those poor guys ride with tank tops or just leather vests and most ride without a helmet, when legal. I hope they all make it there in one piece.

We have gotten nothing but kindness from every person on a motorcycle during our trip. At gas stations and restaurants they want to talk about our Vespas and our Scootin' for a Cure ride. Out on the road I would say that 90-95% of all bikes that we've seen have given us 'the wave'.

Home tomorrow.

2008-07-31T14:30:00.000-07:00

Thursday, July 31, 2008

Another great day on the road. Except for losing my credit card.

We were good and got out of the hotel in Amarillo just after 6:00am. It's so much nicer riding in the coolness of the predawn. So nice that we pulled over to put liners in our jackets. I didn't do mine because I figured if I got cold then I'd be the last one to be too hot. Make sense? It did at the time. I was cold.

Our routine for paying for gas, meals, and hotels is to just rotate and take turns. Usually it all balances out and we're not stuck counting pennies. It was my turn for gas and I guess I left my card somewhere. I didn't realize it until it was my turn again. I'm pretty diligant about where I keep things, otherwise I won't find them. I ripped everything apart and didn't find it. I called Kevin so he could get the # on the back of his card and call it in. Apparently, some honest person found the card and turned it in at the gas station. The account already had a hold on it when Kevin called. Thank you Citibank!! One thing I did before the trip was call them and let them know I was traveling and to expect a lot of gas, meals, and hotel charges....across the country. I highly recommend you do this whenever you'll be traveling. I also recommend Citibank. They've always been wonderful.

I'm getting really anxious to get home. Another 400+ miles tomorrow and then it's just over 200 to Wrightwood. It'll be good to crawl into my sleep number bed with my little contour pillow. My dogs miss me, so says my husband. They wander around the house like they're waiting for me to come in. I'm guessing my daughters miss me too but I've raised them to be independent so they don't get all gushy when we talk. Like me.

We're staying at the El Rancho Hotel in Gallup, NM. It was build in 1937 and is protected by the National Historic Preservation Society. We just checked in but we're going to explore. We do know that the restaurant and bar are onsite so after our showers we're in the building for the night! The electrical is old and the outlets don't have 3-prongs for my power strip. We're really spoiled aren't we?

So we had a chance to explore. Gallup is creepy, I'm sorry. Homeless guys wandering around, dudes trying to sell 'genuine' silver braclets, girls hanging outside the bars, and scary-dark alley ways. One guy was walking around saying Happy Mother's Day because it was the first of August. In restaurants and retail businesses you know that the first of any month is Mother's Day because the welfare checks come out on the first. Sorry but I really didn't get a good vibe from Gallup. Loved the El Rancho but Gallup itself? Not so much.

http://www.elranchohotel.com/

Pictures are here!

2008-07-30T17:57:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, July 30, 2008

We managed to get out of Memphis shortly after 8:00 am on Tuesday. Our goal was to get some miles in before the heat kicked in. We managed to get as far as Little Rock, Arkansas by 11:00 or so and went into town to check out the Clinton Library. The library is an impressive structure set on beautiful grounds. Truely a wonderful addition to Little Rock.

We decided to dump the freeway for something slower as the temp was really climbing and the endless concrete tiring enough without 100+ temps. Route 10 turned out to be an amazing ride that took us all the way to Fort Smith, Arkansas. I believe it was Lake Dardanelle that we followed for many wonderful miles. This lake goes into the Mississippi River. Seems like all lakes and rivers end up there eventually, don't they?

Because we took the scenic route, our mileage was just over 300 for the day when we pulled into Van Buren, Arkansas for the night. Van Buren had a terrific main street with antique shops but we were too late to check them out. All closed.

Laundry. I hate it but when you're out for as long as we've been, it's necessary. It was my duty for the night and I spent the time talking to a wonderful woman from Boston. She and her husband are traveling with their grandchildren to Arizona. I hope they find some shade and cooler temps!

To really beat the heat we thought we'd leave by 6:00 today. All freeway and we were in Oklahoma City by 10:00am! We're actually not as tired as I thought we would be, but we put in 438 miles today. Having rain off/on for a couple of hours saved us. We'd cool down enough to keep going and we just stopped for breakfast, gas, and short stretching breaks.

We continue to meet cancer survivors and we enjoy listening to their stories. A heartbreaking one was a hostess at IHOP (yeah, chain restaurant but we were in a hurry....) in OK, City. Roxie was first diagnosed with breast cancer and now has lymphoma and skin cancer. She can't seem to get any help, even with an advocate working for her. She said she contacted the Komen for the Cure group and didn't have any luck. We have her information and we're going to pursue some things to try and help her out. It really is amazing how individuals have opened up to us while on our trip.

Amarillo is our rest stop for the night. We got really cheap and called several hotels to find a good price for a room with 2 queens. I think that because Amarillo is isolated the rates tend to be higher. Where else ya gonna go? We decided on Comfort Suites and it turned out to be a great place to stay! The owner is a scooter rider and he loved checking out our scooters!

Meals have been interesting. Dan has Celiac's disease so he can't have anything with gluten in it. He can't eat wheat, rye, or barley. That's bread! It's not just foods, it's in many, many everyday items. So because of this, when we get to the restaurant he explains to the server the situation and they have to run back and forth to the kitchen and make sure what he orders is prepared correctly. They've all been great and very understanding. Karen likes to ask every server what their favorite thing is and she has to try that. But no sour cream or beans. And me. I'm pretty picky about most everything. Just ask Kevin. I basically have them take all the good stuff off and bring me what's left.

Despite this, we've having a great time and having Dan with us is wonderful! He and I are very much alike. Pretty relaxed and we take our time getting gear and such on. Karen keeps us on our toes!

Here's the plan for the next few days. We make Albuquerque, NM tomorrow. Gallup, NM if we push it. I think we can do another 400+ mile day. Friday will be Needles and we're back in California! Saturday we'll ride to Barstow and say goodbye to Dan. He lives in Santa Clara so he'll have an additional day to get to the Bay Area. Karen will drop me off in Wrightwood and continue to San Diego. Plans are great and all but if the weather doesn't cooperate, I'll be home on Sunday. Darn.....then I'll have to get back on the treadmill and train for the walk..... And go back to work.....

2008-07-28T20:42:00.000-07:00

Monday, July 28, 2008
AmeriVespa is officially over and we're heading west!

Yesterday was the terrific group ride. I'm thinking since a lot of people traveled a bit that many of them went home after breakfast, prior to the ride. I don't know the official number but it was less than 100. Still plenty of scooters but when we had 400 on a ride in Seattle it isn't quite the same. Chattanooga has some spectacular scenery. We rode so twisties and went through several beautiful neighborhoods. Very well done, ride leaders.

The river boat ride was short but pretty cool! After we docked we had a raffle, with 2 people winning scooters. My friends did pretty good but I managed to walk away with nada. Ice cream helped to cool us down and then we headed off for dinner. Can't say that we had a good experience with our service at the restaurant but the company couldn't be beat. True to form, after dinner we hopped on the scooters and went someplace else to get....dessert. Back to the City Cafe for us! Seriously, you have to check this place out.

We were geared up and on the road by 8:45. Our goal was to simply head west. We opted out of freeway riding and took Highway 64, the Buford Pusser Memorial Highway. A beautiful road that followed the water for the first part. We enjoyed several small towns but the heat made the ride pretty miserable. I'd like to make 400 miles a day but we need to be careful with this kind of weather. Several stops for AC slowed us down in the late afternoon. Even with constant water, you still need to get out of the sun and cool off.

We decided that Memphis would be a good stop for the first night. Our friend Mike and his family are here for a couple of days so we arranged to stay at the same hotel. Mike is the guy who had the run-in with the rabbit on his ride to Vegas. He's doing fine and looking forward to some vacation time with his wife, daughter, and fellow scooterist, Christina.

We had BBQ dinner at a fantastic place called, Interstate Bar-B-Que. All we can say is WOW. It started when the manager asked us to park our scooters in front of the building so he could keep an eye on them while we ate. Our waitress was very nice and the food....WOW. Just an all around treat. Then the manager wants to take our picture and talks about his experience with cancer. He says he'll put the picture on the Wall of Fame. We all want to recommend this BBQ to you if you're ever in Memphis.

http://www.interstatebarbecue.com/history.html

We're settled in and ready for bed. Tomorrow will be a long, hot day.

2008-07-27T04:55:00.000-07:00

Sunday morning, July 27, 2008

We're still in Chattanooga for AmeriVespa. The rally has been wonderful, even with the rain. It seems that everytime our little group heads out for a ride, it rains. I think our gearing up is the Chattanooga Rain Dance. From what I've seen I really like this town. Lots of BBQ places but our favorite is the City Cafe at the Days Inn. We've been twice and had the same waitress each time. Lovely lady!

Last night was the award's banquets for various scooter categories. There are some awesome scooters here this year! My favorites were some very pretty green vintage. Sorry, no pics. Here's a link to scoot.net where you can find all of the pics on AV that you need! Give it a few days and many attendees will post their pictures. Keep in mind that there are a wide variety of people here!

http://scoot.net/gallery/2008/07/amerivespa/

There also seems to be a wider variety of riders. The age rage seems to be expanding.

My roommates are still sleeping and the last ride and raffle are hours away. We'll catch some breakfast, join the group for the massive group ride and then do a Tennessee River boat ride on the Southern Belle. The raffle will end AmeriVespa 08. We found out last night that next year the rally will be in San Jose, California. That's pretty exciting!

We haven't decided if we'll leave today or tomorrow. It may be wiser to leave early tomorrow and put lots of miles in while we're fresh. We have a friend joining us for the ride! I rode with Dan to Seattle last year and he's anxious to do a cross country trip. He was on his way east from the Bay area when his riding partner hit a rabbit and crashed his scooter. His friend, Mike is ok but the rabbit and scooter didn't survive. They were determined to get here so they loaded Dan's scooter up and drove the rest of the way.

Here are a few pictures of our friends and Bastard brothers and sisters.

2008-07-25T07:44:00.000-07:00

Friday, July 25, 2008

Finally sitting down to write something. Friday morning here in Chattanooga and it's raining on the first morning of AmeriVespa so I have some time to catch up.

Let's back up to Tuesday. We rode on some of the most beautiful sections of Highway 50. Parkersburg, WV to Middletown, VA is very rural. There really isn't much of anything in the way of towns but we noticed something called 'Designated Business Districts'. And there would be like one gas station there. Interesting. The road itself was slight twists and endlessly gorgeous views. It was a treat to stop in Romney and have an authentic Italian meal at Mario's. Mario himself came out to admire our Italian scooters.

We spent some time at Romney Motorcycle, trying to get some tires. They are wearing faster than expected and won't make it as far as we had hoped. No luck despite the efforts of Chad, the young man in the parts department. I think his name was Chad. Horrible with names here!

Tuesday night took us to the hotel and our meet-up with Mark Bobotek, AKA to the scooter world as Bobo. He rode down from his home in Maryland for the final leg of our journey into Chattanooga. It's always fun to connect with him as he makes his way across the country and back for scooter events.

Wednesday saw lots of rain as we began our trip down Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway. The first 100 miles or so is Skyline Drive and it rained pretty much the entire time. Not a cold rain but enough to cloud the magnificent views of Shenandoah Park.

We exited the Parkway for a bit so we could get some miles in. Once we returned in Roanoke, the sky was clear and blue. For a little while. I have to say that if you ride anything on two wheels you really need to get out and ride something like the Blue Ridge Parkway. Having lived in Southern California since 1983 I really do appreciate all of the green. The rolling hills are amazing.

My favorite little town was called Meadows of Dan. It was just a little blip on the map but it had a wonderful fruit stand and super friendly people. We spent some time talking with a gentleman on a BMW motorcycle. He was traveling from Florida up the Parkway. Like many others, he was impressed that we're taking this trip on Vespas.

We hit some serious rain a bit later on. Some of the worst I'd ridden in. Very slow going and difficult to see.

Our stop for the night was at a condo on Sugar Mountain, just outside of Banner Elk, NC. Lynn Cornfort (Rotten Bastard) set it up for us. She lives in Columbia, SC and made the trip earlier in the day on her LX150. It was great to see her on her side of the country for a change!

We arrived after dark and it was quite cold on the mountain. Boone was a breathtaking little town that's home to the Appalachain State University so it had a great college vibe. Karen's rain gear let a little water in so she was damp and cold from the ride. I think she was like a frozen popsicle! A hot shower helped ease the muscles and warm her up.

420 miles. Probably 300 of it on beautiful twisties. Like 200 in the rain. 13 hours of riding. Long day and we were all ready for bed. Normally we'd be excited to hang out but we watched a show about crab fishing and covered Bobo up as he slept in the chair.

Wednesday was quite the eventful day! Our plan was to ride the less than 200 miles to Deal's Gap and meet-up with a group from AmeriVespa to ride The Dragon. Didn't work out that way!

Sections of the Parkway are closed so we did a bit of backtracking to avoid hitting a dead end. We used a very detailed map that a stranger had given us way back in Eureka, NV. Thanks again for the map!

Shortly after we started Bobo got stung by a bee. He didn't think he is allergic but we stopped to get some Benedryl just in case. The swelling went down and he spent the next several hours riding, very sleepy. At least we found out he's not allergic!

We still wanted to make Deal's Gap even if we had to ride it without the group so we decided to take I40 to save some time. About 5 minutes onto the freeway and Karen got a flat tire. Her rear tire kinda wore out and split open. She safely pulled over and parked. After a 30 minute nightmare with AAA we had a truck on the way. Why do we pay for RV/Motorcycle coverage only to find out they still won't pick us up? She used Bobo's AAA plus and they finally agreed to send someone. 45 minutes later, the truck arrives. We found a shop that did a quick tire change to get us on our way. Luckily, our friend Easy Bastard had sent us a tire for just this emergency. It seems that small shops rarely actually carry tires to install.

So.....we continued and made it to Deal's Gap (Highway 29) by 6:00. The Tail of the Dragon at Deal's Gap has 318 curves in 11 miles and is considered the number one motorcycle road in America. It was a great road but we all preferred Highway 28 as we made our way towards the Dragon. Again, just amazingly beautiful scenery along Fontana Lake and the Great Smoky Mountains.

http://www.tailofthedragon.com/

We took I75 for the last 60 miles into Chattanooga. Not a fun road with an LX150 but we made it in about 2 hours.

The local papers say there are about 450 scooters here for the rally. It doesn't quite look like that many but we're spread out around the historic Chattanooga Choo Choo Hotel. Some folks are even staying in authentic train cars. It's all very southern and pretty terrific.

http://www.choochoo.com/

What happens at a rally? It's a great time to see old friends and meet some new ones. There are always schedules rides, tech sessions to learn how to wrench on your own scooter, raffles, scooter test rides, and lots of food! Tonight our group is on a progressive dinner. They're out for sushi right now. Obviously I passed on that one and came back until they called with the dessert location! The scooter community is a wonderful group of people.

2008-07-25T05:58:00.000-07:00

Friday, July 25, 2008

Just a quick morning post to let you all know that we're safe in Chattanooga! We've got a busy rally weekend. I will sit and post later today to catch up from the last few days. It's been crazy! Love you all and thanks for the emails and phone calls!

2008-07-21T17:14:00.000-07:00

Monday, July 21, 2008
We woke up to some serious clouds and talk of thundershowers so we were on the road by 7:30. We're finally in the eastern time zone so it was tough for us California girls to get going that early. I love continental breakfasts at the hotels. Saves time and money!

Our goal was to get to Cincinnati by noon to hook up with Catherine from Scooter Diva. She met us on the road so we thought she was some weird scooter stalking chick. Not really. Our plans for a nice lunch were cancelled with the impending storm so we ate McDonald's. We prefer little local places because we find that those are where the locals eat and that's who we want to meet. Catherine was very nice and even took us across town and got us in the right direction on Highway 32. I guess I prefer the slower pace of Highway 50 but we really wanted to beat the storm and 32 was a much faster pace. We waved goodbye a few miles out of beautiful Cincinnati and continued east. Highway 32 reminds me of the northernmost section of Interstate 95 through Maine from Bangor to Houlton. Endless trees, rolling hills, and little else.

Again, pretty hot and humid but we pushed on, even going past Athens and into West Virginia! I'd forgotten about the east coast towns and the one way streets. Parkersburg is full of them! Oh, we stopped at the post office in Athens (gorgeous college town!) and shipped a huge box of our camping gear home. We're done camping and I doubt we'll need those sweatshirts! The scooter feels like a new bike, 30+ pounds lighter!

I'm so excited that we're meeting Bobo tomorrow night! Our journey east will end and we'll head south down Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway.

2008-07-20T15:13:00.000-07:00

Sunday - July 20, 2008

Whoo, did three states today! Missouri & Illinois are no more. We're in Vincennes, Indiana. VERY hot on the road. Temps around 98-105 with 215% humidity. I kid you not!

I was having breakfast at the hotel (I need to bring my camera everywhere with me) and I met a wonderful vet who is a horse dentist! He is traveling around the state, visiting his patients and training a young man to also be a horse dentist. We talked for a bit and he made a generous donation to the 3-Day team! Thank you Dr. Tom Allen! His wife Dawn, runs a custom framing business when she isn't busy scheduling Tom around the state. Again, more wonderful people that we continue to meet!
http://www.horsedentist.com/
http://www.savetheunicorn.com/

A trip through St. Louis isn't complete unless you stop to see the Arch. At 630 feet tall it is the tallest monument in the states. The freeways weren't fun to get to the Arch but well worth the adventure! Also, outside the Arch we met a hot dog vendor/tour guide. Kidding about the tour guide part but she was very helpful in getting us back on our way to Highway 50. She was also very excited when we asked if she'd be in our picture. Thank you to the sweet girl selling hotdogs outside the Arch!

From there, it was wicked hot and more cornfields then I care to think about. Miles and miles of them. Who said there's a problem with over crowding?? It's just that everyone wants to live in the big cities. I'm starting the think the farmers are the smart ones! Lots of land and sunshine.

We're meeting plenty of people who want to talk about their connection to breast cancer. It seems that they all know someone who has survived, passed on, or is undergoing treatment now. It's touching to hear their stories. A nice young man in Olney told us how his best friend's mother was going through chemo now. She's lost her breasts and she's fighting it in her throat. I wish her the best.

Dinner is next and then we're off in the morning to meet Catherine from Scooter Diva. She'll be our tour guide through Cincinnati. She's even made lunch reservations for us! She'll also ride to Ohio and possibly crash in our room. Scooter people are simply the best!

2008-07-19T16:59:00.000-07:00

Saturday, July 19th

A fairly hot day on the road. Overcast skies kept the temp down a bit though. Thank you clouds! We are currently in the state capitol of Missouri, Jefferson City. From what we've seen, it's another wonderful mid-west city. We're finding that the people throughout our ride our decent, hard-working Americans. There's great pride in what they have. I love seeing the HUGE lawn mowers on the amazing front lawns. Nothing like the smell of fresh mown grass. Lots of beautiful brick homes. There's also these brick towers. Water towers? Many of them have trees growing out of them!

We got off Highway 50 near Ottawa, KS and took 68/2 east. Very nice road! In many spots 50 turns into a freeway type of road and after awhile it gets pretty boring. 68/2 was wonderful, with great little towns along the way. We even passed through California, Missouri once we were back on 50. Population 4,000!

We were interviewed by the Jefferson City Tribune. Story and pictures to follow! The link below is from the story in the Rebel Yell.

http://www.unlvrebelyell.com/article.php?ID=12162

2008-07-18T18:11:00.000-07:00

Thursday and Friday, July 17th and 18th

We've come a long way in two days! Gunnison, Colorado was a wonderful little town! Once out of the mountains, it was very dry and hot! Pueblo was slightly confusing and my odd sense told us we were somehow turned around and heading west. "Why is the sun in front of us?" Very windy out of the city and nothing but cow pastures until Lamar. And just outside of Lamar we saw the biggest pile of cow poop imaginable! Where is Mike Rowe and the dirty jobs crew when we've got the perfect job for him? The Cow Palace Inn was nice and the spa at the hotel was just what I needed to relax.

Kansas is home to some of nicest, friendliest people we have ever met! First up was lunch in Garden City. Karen, in her typical way, pulls up next to some random car and knocks on the window to ask for a lunch recommendation. Herb's Carry Out, the lady tells her! Well, she was right. Fantastic burgers, the nicest folks you could meet and just a wonderful stop! They make everything fresh, including yummy cookies and pies. The owner (sorry, I forgot his name!) gave me a cd called, "Beef Industry Celebration" by local artist, Darrell North. I can't wait to load it up and give it a listen! So, if you're on Highway 50 please give Herb's Carry Out a visit.

Next was the famed Dodge City. Somehow, the statue in town looks just like Kurt Russell! The Great Western Hotel is now a museum/gift shop. We took a short walk along Front Street and Boot Hill. Through town Highway 50 becomes Wyatt Earp Drive. For western fans this is a great little stop.

The mid-point in the US is Kinsley, KS. 1,561 miles to San Francisco and 1,561 miles to New York City. I think that is the only claim to fame that Kinsley can actually claim.

We met a father and son on a 1970's British Norton Motorcycle. I have never heard of one but they're riding 2-up from Las Vegas to the Norton Rally in PA. They kinda look like the Triumph. He was in awe of our scooters and our journey and we were in awe that the two of them were on the motorcycle with very little gear!

Our stop for the night is a wonderful campground called Springlake RV Resort. Again, these are some of the nicest people we have ever met. They have gone way out of their way to make sure we have everything we need. We we're going to tent camp but it looks like rain so we got a hobo instead. I call it a cabin, they call it a hobo. All I know is I have a bed to sleep in! So if you're traveling along Highway 50 and need to camp for the night I can't recommend Springlake RV Resort highly enough.

We're probably going to ship our gear home and stick to the hotels from here. It's weighing us down and reducing the gas mileage. And who wants to camp in the south....in the summer?? The thought of riding Deal's Gap with an extra 60 pounds isn't fun anyway.

2008-07-16T20:02:00.000-07:00

Wednesday - July 16, 2008

Phew, the days keep flying by! Left camp very early today so we could get to Canyonlands NP before the heat of the day. Perfect timing at a perfect place. If you've been to the Grand Canyon you know that the pictures in today's slideshow simply cannot show how grand something like this is. Just an amazing sight!

We met a lovely lady who was admiring our seat covers (by Crystal). She told us how she had breast cancer and had both breasts removed to prevent it from happening again. She loved what we were doing and wished us well!

Much of yesterday and today were on Highway 70, as it merged with Highway 50. High speed gets old very fast. Finally crossed the Colorado border and picked 50 back up in Grand Junction.

Today was our first day of riding in the rain. Not a down pour but any amount of rain can make for slippery roads. Too bad we had limited visibility because we're in Gunnison National Forest and it is breath taking! Blue Mesa Reservoir is a wonderful recreational area and the town of Gunnison is a lively, out-doorsie kinda place. Dinner at the Gunnisack was perfect!

2008-07-15T18:46:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, July 15, 2008 (day 7) Fillmore, Utah to Moab, Utah

We broke camp at about 8am, left Fillmore and headed north to catch Highway 50 East again. Don’t tell Linda, but I wasn’t really looking forward to it. Yesterday, the 50 was smoky and hazy all through Nevada until about 30 miles east of the Utah border. The landscape was deadly dull and endlessly dreary. And it was brutally hot.

Fortunately, today was the polar opposite (except for the heat). Morning brought bright blue skies, fluffy white clouds and truly spectacular scenery. Rock formations seemed to randomly rise out of the earth. (The truth is, I am told, it’s all a result of water and ice, extreme temperatures and underground salt movement. Erosion and weathering seems like too simple an explanation for these breath-taking spires, monoliths, fins and balanced rocks.) We stopped at a few of the view points. Only a few. There just wasn’t time to pull off the highway every couple of miles, remove gear, walk around, take pictures, gear up, remount and ride a couple of more miles down the highway.

We had lunch at a “World Famous Restaurant” (?!) Wild West truck stop in Green River. About an hour later, we dropped off our gear at tonight’s campsite and back-tracked through Moab to Arches National Park. I cannot adequately describe the stark and stunning beauty here. You’ll just have to Google it. We rode around in the 110+ degree heat admiring the various formations for several hours. If we had found some relief from the heat we would have stayed longer. Tomorrow we plan on going to Canyonlands National Park in the early morning hours. Hopefully that’ll help us avoid heatstroke.

We’ll post pictures tomorrow from both of the parks. Sending love and thanks to you all for your support and encouragement.

2008-07-15T05:59:00.000-07:00

Monday- July 14th - Eureka, Nevada to Fillmore, Utah

We survived the Loneliest Road in America! We thought that the portion of Highway 50, going through Nevada was beautiful! Very long stretches of nothing and many, many miles between towns. The towns were old mining towns, with Eureka being very well preserved. We stayed at the Best Western and met some terrific people, all traveling the same lonely road. One wonderful couple were on their 14th trip across the country! Our passports were stamped in Baker and we'll get a certificate to document our 'survival'. Come on over if you want proof!

Leaving Baker was another story. This stretch of the road is endless. Just about 100 miles of dry and vegetation free. Off in the distance there were a couple of interesting peaks but the road was clean. We rolled into the KOA in Fillmore around 4:30. Oh, before I forget, a cute story about the little Yorkie in the picture. We stopped at the Ely KOA for something and this dog was running around, almost catching the frisbee. He'd flip it over so he could carry it and bring it back for another round. AND his name was SCOOTER! What are the chances of that? I miss my 4 dogs.

Our dinner was a lovely carhop type restaurant, Cluff's Carhop Cafe. This place has been in operation for 4 generations. The current owner has Utah license plates from every year and an antique bottle collection that is worth a look! The food and berry shakes weren't too bad either! Very friendly people at this wonderful little diner.

Weather has been cooperating so far and we're off to Moab!

2008-07-13T17:35:00.000-07:00

In the interest of catching up on our blog I’m just going to do the last several days into one post. Who really wants to read the minutia of every day anyway? Keep in mind that we've done over 1,200 miles since Wednesday so my spelling, etc....well, just keep that in mind!

7/9/08 – Southern California to Monterey, California
I left from Wrightwood to join up with Karen at Thousand Oaks Vespa to begin Scootin’ For A Cure! She had spent the night at her parents in Northridge so she had a short ride and we were on the road by 10:00AM. Exactly as planned! First stop was a visit with Scooter Bobby at Vespa Santa Barbara. He’s always a welcoming fellow and our latest visit was no exception. He set Karen up with a Faco front rack, some heavier bar ends and gave us each a t-shirt! Thanks Bobby!

Our plan was to hit 101 for a bit and then ride Highway 1 up the coast to Monterey. The fires were still raging so we stuck to 101 for the duration. I gotta say, this is not the nicest ride in July. Hot, hot, hot. Did I mention how hot it is on 101 in that part of the state? Temperature gauge read 118 at one point. And we were fighting the wind most of the way up to Monterey. Arrived just before dark and settled in with Kevin’s Aunt & Uncle. Thanks for the hospitality Art & Mary!

7/10/08 – Monterey, California to Yosemite
What a great day of riding! Yes, it was hot again but we saw some amazing countryside! We especially liked the area around the historic town of La Grange on highway 132. The local bar was actually paid for in the 1800’s with 15 cent shots. That’s a lot of shots! The roads were beautiful. Just some amazing twisties!

We met up with Kevin at Yosemite for our first night of camping. After setting up the tent we were off for a ride to find some dinner. 500 miles from home and we manage to run into fellow club mates at the restaurant! They were also on their way to Tahoe for the rally.

Two long days of riding and we’re still feeling pretty good. The adrenaline always kicks in when you’re on an adventure, and I know that’s what we were feeling.

7/11/08 – Yosemite to Tahoe
Broke camp early and waited a bit for our buddy to arrive. Most people in the Vespa community know Mark Bobotek as Bobo. He’s an awesome friend and a die-hard scooter rider. He was joining us for the trip to Tahoe. Before heading north we rode down to Yosemite Village. Just an amazing place! The beauty of something like that is difficult to describe. Waterfalls, endless hiking trails, and sheer rock cliffs. We will be back for an extended stay!

Highway 395 out of the backside of the park is pretty much a slow climb to Tahoe. Our ride also took us onto Highway 89. This was another treasure of a road. For those of us who ride scooters or motorcycles we learn to appreciate the perfect little roads when we find them. This was one of those great rides! Arrived at Camp Richardson for the second annual RBSC rally.

7/12/08 – RBSC Rally
The day consisted of a wonderful ride around the lake, a fantastic lunch with friends, a BBQ to die for, a big screen showing of Blazing Saddles (THANK YOU Starr), a generous raffle, and a night around the fire pit. All in all a pretty darn good rally!

7/13/08 – Tahoe to Eureka, Nevada
Today was the day that Karen & I officially left the group and headed east. It was more difficult than I thought it would be to say goodbye. Maybe it was the whole group hug thing. That all kinda gets to you after a while. It is also our 11th wedding anniversary! So how did we celebrate? We took off in opposite directions on Highway 50! See you in a month, Kevin!!

Highway 50 – The Loneliest Road in America. A bit about this route. There’s lots of info on the internet about the road but it really is something to experience and we’ve only done a short section of it. This road will take us all the way to the start of the Blue Ridge Parkway next Tuesday. Endless vistas and beautiful sunsets. Free range cattle. Lots of road kill. And houses in the middle of nowhere. I mean, 30-40 miles from the next town. Who lives in those houses?? I'll let you know in a week if I still find The Loneliest Road in America fascinating.

2008-07-11T10:36:00.000-07:00

Very short post today! Day 3 here and we're in Yosemite. All is fine, but internet is limited. We're off to Tahoe later today. I will get some pictures up and talk about the ride so far as soon as I can! Love you guys!

2008-07-02T14:45:00.001-07:00

I was finally able to load the scooter up with all of my gear. It's between 55-60 pounds worth of 'stuff'. I cruised around the neighborhood and found that it feels slightly 'squishy'. I don't normally ride 2-up so it's probably close to the feel of having a very slight passenger. I'll adjust the shocks and see if it makes a difference. I tried to keep most of the weight off the front end, putting only the tent and footprint on the rack. Here are a few pictures that also include a wonderful vinyl sign made by the very generous Ray at Derby Enterprises. He does logos and signage for personal and business purposes. The other stuff in the picture are my duffle and miscellaneous camping and necessary scooter survival gear!

2008-06-30T11:01:00.000-07:00

Today is just a totally random post. Seriously. I'm trying to figure out how to upload a slideshow so I think I've got it down with Picasa. I'm not a geek when it comes to certain computer things so I had to ask my geek friends and this looks like the way to go. So enjoy a few of my pictures!

2008-06-29T08:34:00.000-07:00

Things seem to change daily. People we thought we'd ride with can no longer make it or meet us. The only constant is we're going and we're gonna have a great time! We've decided to just make our own concrete plans and hope folks can join us. We don't want to be constantly changing reservations or make serious route adjustments.

Kevin is working hard on contacting media along the way. He's put a lot of time into it and hopefully it'll pay off. Everywhere we go he's handing out our cards and talking up the ride. Who's more excited??

Yesterday was a great day. Life is all about the little things and a nice little thing happened. A new guy (we had never met him) was putting on a 'Root Beer Float Ride'. Even though we had to pick up Rosie (more on that later) in Thousand Oaks, I wanted to do this ride. Steven is a very new rider and was quite surprised when about 16-18 scooters showed up for his short little ride. I guess the timing was right for all of us. We only did about 40 miles but it was scenic, the people were fantastic, and it ended with yummy root beer floats. We met some very nice people and just really enjoyed ourselves. Hats off to Steven and welcome to the wonderful world of riding a scooter!

After the ride we had probably 120+ miles to get to Thousand Oaks. Of course, we can't just go directly there. No, we're known for going 'the long way'. The 10 Freeway ends in Santa Monica and becomes PCH through Malibu. That was our chosen route. Absolutely beautiful day! Beyond Malibu we decided to take Decker Canyon. A very twistie, fun ride. A little difficult as it was at the end of the day, but very do-able.

Spencer was working on Rosie when we arrived. He's a perfectionist and we like it that way! The good folks at VTO always take care of us and our scooters. It's like a wonderful family there. He finished his final inspection, took her for a test ride and was satisfied with her performance. So we get her loaded up with spare tires and head off.....to Chuey's with David & Lynda. Finally, 8:30 rolls around and we leave for our three hour ride home. At the end of the day we had logged about 325 miles and many hours in the saddle. Exhausting.

But here we go again today! We are San Diego bound to attend a wrenching workshop/BBQ with our beloved scooter club. Really, we can do the mods ourselves but it's way more fun to do it with our friends!

2008-06-17T08:38:00.000-07:00

Some have asked what our itinerary will be so I thought I'd post our east-bound route. We'll average about 270 miles per day. A couple of days in Utah will be much shorter so we can see the sites. Some nights are camping, other nights we will be comfortably resting in a hotel. Here is where we'll be each night:
7/13-Eureka, NV
7/14-Fillmore, UT
7/15-Moab, UT
7/16-Gunnison, CO
7/17-Lamar, CO
7/18-Hutchinson, KS
7/19-Jefferson City, MO
7/20-Vincennes, IN
7/21-Athens, OH
7/22-Winchester, VA
7/23-Somewhere near the Blue Ridge Parkway
7/24-Arrive in Chattanooga for AmeriVespa

We leave Chattanooga on Sunday, July 27th and head west. As of now, we don't have a definite route or itinerary other than Natchez Trace Parkway. Route 66? Route 80? We will still probably stay off the Interstate system, well....because they suck for scooters and riders who want to actually see and experience the local cultures.

2008-06-14T07:38:00.000-07:00

Finished school yesterday so the real planning begins! We have our east bound route all set and we've decided to just 'wing it' heading back to California. We definitely want to do the Natchez Trace Parkway. Either in part or the entire way. We'll also do the Blue Ridge Parkway with friends from the east coast.

My very good friend and fellow Bastard, Colin (The Reverend) will be joining us on the trip out and quite possibly for the entire ride. Kevin feels better about a guy being along but really can Rev fix a flat in the desert? That's our biggest concern; mechanical problems. But we won't let it stop us!

Rosie goes in soon for the pre-ride service. Backwoods will take good care of her. Still need to arrange for tires in VA or elsewhere. Not sure if the Avon's will last the distance.
Well, another picture of our rides is in order. They will look different loaded for camping! Cranky's is the beautiful dragon red GTS. That's Rosie on the left.

2008-06-10T18:50:00.000-07:00

Just a quick post to get a picture up of me and my wonderful riding partner, Karen! We are so excited about this ride. It's all coming together and we truly can't wait to get started. This is us, along with our trusted scooters!

Oh, two more wonderful things happened

over the weekend. Crystal Waters of the World Famous scooter seat covers has offered a very generous donation of two pink ribbon themed seat covers for our scooters! Can't wait to get them. A picture will definitely follow! Secondly, Alix B. who is on her second around the country tour, spreading PEACE has offered her support as well. She will donate a % of the monies that are raised during her ride. I think it's fantastic how the scooter community continues to be blessed with such wonderfullly giving individuals.

2008-06-08T21:29:00.000-07:00

What a fantastic day! Cafe Moto Vespa Club had their annual Temecula Wine Ride. I'm guessing there were about 50 scooters. Wonderful ride, terrific company, fantastic food! Kevin & I scored some 'swag' that makes it kinda nice as we never win stuff at rallies!

So we're cruising on old 395 and Alix (we call her the peace sign girl) is off to the side of the road with Shaun. He has ridden with her since Tucson. She's heading to NoHo for a Dodger game with Mike and if it works into her schedule we're hoping she spends tomorrow night with us. She's on an amazing journey that is covering the US. Twice. Check out her site.

The picture shows my very good friend Clever Bastard, Alix, and me, Wicked Bastard. http://www.peacescooter.com/

2008-06-07T07:38:00.000-07:00

Just about a month left before we leave for Tahoe and our Highway 50 journey. I think we've got all of our gear ready to go. I ordered some mesh pants. Hopefully, that'll make the ride more comfortable than jeans. I practiced setting up my tent last weekend. It looked enormous until I put my gear inside. How can they sell these as a 3-4 person tent?? After this weekend I'll get my topcase and front rack on. I haven't loaded everything on Rosie yet so I'm anxious to see how she handles, fully loaded.

I am meeting tomorrow with my lovely riding partner, Karen, to participate in the Temecula Wine Ride. It's especially nice this year as all donations from riders go towards the Susan G. Komen Foundation. My good friends in the Cafe Moto Vespa Club put this amazing ride together every year and we are so excited to help them.

We'll also see several of our Bastard brothers & sisters. Karen is Cranky Bastard and I'm Wicked Bastard. Karen is the least cranky person I know so her name is quite amusing. Wicked? Well, you know how in Maine everything is "wicked"? That's where my name comes from.