Yesterday I was checking the feeds at PlanetISKCON.com and came across an article entitled Scooter car Ratha Yatra Rally at Ludhiana. I guess some devotees had a scooter (and car and motorcycle) rally for Krishna! This is totally up my ally.

I mean, c’mon. Check out this pic:

Looks like a Vespa P series covered in flowers! Though I could be wrong about the make. There are somethings that make me think it’s not a P series. Yeah, but anyway… What a great idea!

Not covering your scoot in flowers, but a scooter rally for Krishna. Yeah, wouldn’t really work in the US. I only know of one other devotee scooterist.

But that did remind me of my horribly failed attempt to travel the country by scooter this past summer. Even before I was able to start, my scooter died and the store didn’t sell and I just couldn’t make it happen.

Now, however, I’ve got a more reliable scooter and a plan. A better plan. Want to hear it?

Ok, from May to about September, the Festival of India travels around the US and Canada, starting in the east (where I’ll be in May) and heading west (to where I want to be in September). I’d be insane not to try to follow it on my scooter.

The schedule changes each year, but the cluster of Ratha-yatras that happen on the east coast happen from the end of May through June and into July. That would be no problem at all. It would even allow me to come home from time to time. And then, right before the long jaunt west (this year it was from Toronto on July 14 & 15 to Calgary on July 21), I could finalize my packing and moving, get all my stuff together and ready to ship or haul out, vacate my apartment and hop on my Bajaj and ride out.

Now, how I’d make it (in this example) from Toronto to Calgary in less than a week on a scooter that rarely goes faster than 50mph is beyond me. 2100 miles is six days? Honestly, that’s impossible. Well, unlikely. So I’d probably have to miss a Rath here and there, but still…

Is this a good idea? I think it is! And hell, if I sell the store, it’s possible I’ll even have a new, faster scooter for this trip (thinking of the Vespa GTS 250 – it’s automatic, which I don’t like, but goes 76mph – however, it costs $6,000).

The 2008 Ratha Yatra schedule won’t be released until February or March, so I won’t really be able to plan this until then. I have a few other trips in the works, of course. But they may be null and void depending on which way the Festival of India goes. I’d like to do the south and south west. We’ll see if that happens.

Oh, and yes, I did just buy a scooter. A 2006 Bajaj, bringing my current herd to FOUR scooters. I don’t want four scooters, I want one. I love them all, but I don’t think I’ve found the right scooter for me. I’m hoping the Vespa GTS is “that one.”

[This is the Bajaj that I have now - one very similar to it, anyway.]

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2. Route 66 Meets Scoot 66
3. Scoot 66 – Will I be the first?
4. More Scoot 66 Prepping