Category Archives: Update!

How about another update?

Posted on July 5, 2008 by | 3 Comments

Hi folks! Sorry for the lack of updates. I’m in Seattle and having a really great time with Ryan, Jaime and Jeff (Taviri and Arcadi, RyJa’s kids, too!).

Arcadi is great. They mostly call her “Pretty Pretty.” She’s fun and giggles a lot at the goofy noises and faces I make. She’s a big gal now and sometimes they speculate that she’ll be a tough broad when she grows up. They make her say, in a really gruff voice, “When you get to hell, tell ‘em Pretty Pretty sent ya!”

These are fun people.

On the scooter-front, it’s again not so great. The cost of drilling out and retapping the bolt came to roughly $340. That’s quite a bit of money. I threw about $700 at the scooter while in Seattle. It’s a lot more than I thought it would be. Money for the Cannonball Run is becoming a concern. I’m seriously considering calling it off.

There’s always 2010, right?

I’ve been checking out Ebay and Craigslist for what the Toyota Yaris is bringing on the market these days. Turns out that if I’d sell it now, I’d actually make $2000 on it!

Anyone want a 2008 two-door Yaris? I’m serious. I get 42 mpg!

Good chance I’ll be selling the Vespa too, but that won’t be till later – maybe Spring ’09. I’ll still have Whitey Will Pay, of course. And I’ll probably have another one (a vintage) by then.

I’ll be leaving for the east on Monday or Tuesday. I’m ready to get back on the road, but also ready to just move in with RyJa. They’re great and I’ve missed them quite a bit. We’ve known each other for around 15 years and I think they, with Jeff, are the folks I’ve been closest to the longest.

It’ll be sad to leave them, but definitely more exciting as far as the blog thing goes.

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Update on the Scooter

Posted on July 2, 2008 by | 3 Comments

Today was not a good scooter day.

I’m still in Seattle (which is a good thing – with friends, that part is really great). But I went to a scooter shop for a rear tire change and rear brakes. They asked if I wanted an oil change and a few other things. I did for sure.

The total came to $350ish. Is that a lot? Yes it is. But is that normal for a modern Vespa? Yes, it sure is.

During the service, they informed me that the bolt holding the exhaust on was broken off in the case. The mechanic said it was either the last place that worked on it or I hit something. Either could be possible with the roads I’ve been taking. It’s hard to say. I certainly don’t want to accuse Scooter Lounge of anything like that.

Anyway, I have to bring it back in on Friday. They’re going to drill it out and re-tap it. I’m not thrilled that it will cost me $210 (though I’m betting closer to $250). But it needs to be done. If the exhaust comes loose, it won’t fall off, but it will melt my brake line.

The more I think about how all of this could be avoided by riding a vintage Vespa, the more I’m disliking the modern Vespa.

On the vintage, I could change the tire myself (split rims), forgo the oil change (it’s two-stroke), do the gear oil myself, the exhaust attaches in a way that makes some sort of sense and about a billion other things.

Sure, vintage does need a bit more attention, but I can do that myself and it doesn’t cost nearly as much.

Will I end up selling dear Ruby II at the end of my travels? It’s a good possibility. Especially since I’ll be putting a 200cc engine in Whitey. And for around-the-town, I hope to get a small frame Vespa. I’m really excited about both prospects.

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More on the Cannonball Run and a bit about “66″

Posted on June 25, 2008 by | 10 Comments

I’ve been thinking more and more about Cannonball Run and if I wanted to do it for charity.

Turns out that I do, but I’m not sure how to go about that. I’ve picked the charity I’d like to support. It’s a food-relief one. I’ve contacted them and hope to hear back soon.

I’m going to be asking for donations for the charity (and the charity only – no money for me, ok?). Folks can donate by-the-mile (or rather, by the 100 mile segment) or can give whatever they can. The money, again, won’t be touched by me.

My folks suggested that I park the scooter out on the west coast, fly back to the east – then back west for the Run. It’s definitely something to think about.

But I doubt that I’ll do that. I want to ride. And if I get back to PA, what will I ride? I have the Stella, but that’s my next project and not street legal anymore.

Anyway, I’m 95% sure that I’m doing the Run. And I’m 75% sure that I’m riding to PA and then back to the west coast.

I’ll have to secure service work somewhere in the upper mid-west, in PA, somewhere in the middle of the country and then somewhere on the west coast (San Jose?).

This is going to be a lot of work, but I’m really really excited about it.

Maybe I’ll head up to New England for a week while I’m in PA.

Now, about “66″.

Several blogs have mentioned me of late and that’s just dandy and a little weird. I want to clear a few things up.

1) I know Route 66 doesn’t go through Idaho. The Route 66 portion of Scoot 66 was over a long time ago.

2) Someone mentioned that this is basically an extended vacation and not a real big deal. I agree. It’s not a big deal and really is an extended vacation. Why should you care? You really shouldn’t. Why do folks care? I’m not exactly sure, but I’m glad they do.

3) The point isn’t to make it across the states and back in 66 days. I’m not behind schedule. I’m exactly where I want to be. It’s Day 55 today and I won’t be home till Day 70 something. At that point, Scoot 66 will be over. In mid-August Scoot 66 II: Electric Boogaloo will start. ((That’s not really the name that I’m calling it – I probably won’t call it anything. Just Scoot 66 or something boring like that.)) That will take about a month and will include the Cannonball Run.

Schedule?

My schedule is pretty foggy right now, but to the best of my knowledge, I should be back in PA in Mid (Carson) July. I’ll be leaving for the Cannonball in Mid-August. I’d like to take a week to go up to New England, but I’m not sure about that one. I’ll return from the Cannonball on Sept 22nd-ish. After that. Oh I’m gettin’ plans!

All in all, I’ll probably have a 20,000 mile summer.

Now that that’s cleared up, go and do something fun, ok?

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Scooter Cannonball Run 2008 – should I?

Posted on June 22, 2008 by | 19 Comments

September 11 – 20, 2008 – San Francisco, CA to Ocean City, MD

The Scooter Cannonball Run is a coast to coast endurance event for scooters up to 252cc. It is a test of both rider and machine that covers over 3000 miles and takes in some of the best motorcycle roads in the country. It will be run as a time/distance/regularity rally where points are awarded based on miles completed and the ability to maintain the standard pace.

So should I do it? I originally was planning on it, but because the dates got switched around, I figured I couldn’t. But there *is* a way that I can.

Basically, I’d have to do this:
-Ride from the West Coast to Pennsylvania in July. Then at the end of August, I’d ride back to Berkeley, California (in a pretty quick fashion and as cheaply as possible). I’d arrive there around Sept 5ish, get the scooter checked out and then set off for home via the Scooter Cannonball Run on the 11th. I’d probably make it home on Sept 22.

I know it seems pretty crazy to cross the country FOUR times in one summer, but I’d love to do the Run.

Registration closes on July 31, so I have time.

Any thoughts?

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Weather Report Suite

Posted on June 22, 2008 by | Comments Off

I wrote most of this as I was writing out the blog entry.

This sucks SO bad. A HUGE dust storm kicked up and the weather people (who didn’t mention ANYTHING about ANYTHING ten minutes ago, now say that there’s a sever thunderstorm coming through right now. No kidding. Thanks, guys.

Later
The tent is blowing over and I’ve had to fashion a new way to keep it in the ground. I’m using my tie down straps to hold up the side that keeps blowing down.

My tent poles are literally held together with cheap duct tape.

There is dust everywhere. I have to keep the windows open or the wind blows the tent over. But with the windows open, the dust comes through the screen.

Little later…
The weather people are now saying it’s partly cloudy with winds at 16mph. They are clearly lying to me. Even the radar shows nothing. I guess this is how they do things in Idaho. Want to know what the weather’s going to be? Just wait… it’s a surprise!

Dust is EVERYWHERE. It’s in my teeth, in my eyes, I’m covered in it. The floor of my tent is covered.

The tent is ripping. I’m not sure that it’s going to make it through this. The poles were broken during the Gallup, NM wind storms and I’ve wrapped them in duct tape. They seem to be holding and that’s really really weird.

My analysis of weather.
Weather hates me when I’m riding. As the long-time readers will know, I’ve had REALLY bad luck with weather, especially in Route 66. But when I was in Albuquerque the first time (not riding), the weather was GREAT. As soon as I left – wind, rain and snow. Oh, but when I got to Berkeley (again, not riding), the weather was amazing!

It then tried to trick me by being pretty good to Salt Lake City. And when I got there and traveled with Sarah (again again not riding), the weather was great! And last night it dipped into the freezing temps and right now I’m sitting with my back to the tent wall, holding it up against 60mph winds.

Seriously, knock it off.

Looking to the west, I can see it getting really dark. If things go bad and start to really rain, I’ll take my act indoors.

More later…
Rip in the tentThe wind died down for a bit, but now it’s picking up with rain. The neighbor’s tent just blew down. Possibly away. It’s dark now and hard to tell. They’re very unhappy about it.

They’re having a much rougher time than I am. They’ve got several tents and they’re all blowing down. If I were them, I’d go to a motel. But I’m just me and if I have to abaondon ship, I can hide out in the bathroom. The office and recroom are closed, so I can’t do much about that. It seems we’ve been sort of abandoned by the campground manager.

At least it’s not snowing.
I guess.

The neighbors are sticking around. Hats off to the troopers!

Later still
You know how they always tell you that tornadoes sound like freight trains? Well, you know what else sounds like freight trains? Freight trains. And there’s one right by the campsite every 20 minutes or so. I’ll hear this rumbling in the distance, the wind will pick up (because that’s what wind does) and suddenly there’s a rumbling sound like a freight train!

Because it’s a freight train.

Morning edit
All is fine. The storms passed with a little rain and now it’s nearly 7am. People are up and coughing. A lot of people are up. I think there’s only one bathroom for the entire camp. That bathroom includes one toilet and one urinal and two showers. This should be an incredible start to my day.

Here are The Monks with “Hushy Pushy” to get you started on your day.
[audio:hushie.mp3|titles=Hushie Pushie|artists=The Monks]

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The best way to start summer?

Posted on June 21, 2008 by | 6 Comments

Can you think of a better way to spend the first night of summer? How about in a teepee in Wyoming where it’s so unbelievably cold that it completely hinders even the concept of sleeping? And how about when you wake up, there’s frost on the ground. You know… that mythical first frost of summer. Ahhh!

That’s pretty much my night. Except that there were obviously moments of sleep. I had dreams such as:

-The dream about a gas heater… warm blue flames.
-The dream about buying thermals at Kmart.
-The dream about hanging out with Cole in warm California.
-The dream about an electric heater.

I’m sure there were more. So I slept at least four times last night.

The scooter was also covered in frost. Right now, it’s 39 degrees. I’ve ridden in colder, but would really rather not. The sun is out and warm (thank god the sun isn’t cold). The temps will rise quickly in the sunny spots.

There are cows bellowing in the background.

Tonight, they’re calling for the possibility of severe thunderstorms with dangerous lightening (as opposed to that safe, cuddly lightening) and microbursts. My tent won’t hold up to that. The fiberglass poles are held together with duct tape. If I find a Gander Mountain type store, I’ll be hitting it to buy aluminum poles. If not, and if the weather goes bad, I’m heading for a motel. I don’t want another night like Gallup. No thanks.

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Day 50 – Ready to roll? Nearly.

Posted on June 19, 2008 by | 2 Comments

11:30am (MDT) – I need rear brakes. Mine are nearly shot. Scooter Lounge in Orem told me they were bad, but they couldn’t get any in because Vespa (who is incredibly impossible to deal with) couldn’t get them to them in time.

This might be a reoccurring theme, and as much as I love the modern Vespa, an easy to work on vintage might be the way to go (if you’re not crossing the country).

I called two shops in Portland, but neither can help me. I called Vespa Seattle, but they can’t help me either. I’ve got two shops, one in Seattle and one in Portland that I’m about to call. I emailed Big People Scooters in Seattle and they said that they could fit me in for a tire change, but I need to make sure they can do a break change too.

I’ll be calling them when they open.

12noon (MDT) – Called Big People Scooters and they are fitting me in at 4pm on July 2. So it’s looking like I’ll be in Seattle till at least the 3rd. That’s weird, since I was supposed to be home on the 4th.

It’s not that I’m behind schedule though. If you’ve been following me, I’ve added a bunch of stuff, including Seattle, to my trip.

So Big People will be doing a rear tire change and a break change. As for the oil change, which I won’t need by then, I can do that myself in any parking lot, so no big deal. It’s just nicer if someone else does it for me.

Let’s have a song, ok?

How about… “I Lost My Girl to an Argentinian Cowboy.”
[audio:lostgirl.mp3|titles=I Lost My Girl to an Argentinian Cowboy]

Later

For those interested, here are the routes I’m taking to Portland…

Day 51 – SLC to Jackson, WY
-201 E to 215 N
-214 N to exit 324 US 89
-US 89 (10mi)
-I-84 E to Exit 92
-UT 167 North (12mi)
-RIGHT on UT 39 (50mi)
-LEFT on UT 16 (19mi)
-RIGHT on UT 30 (4mi)
-Turns into WY 89 (4mi)
-LEFT on US 30 (50mi)
-RIGHT on US 89 (80mi)
-RIGHT US 26/89 (36mi)
-LEFT on WY 22 (5mi)
-RIGHT on Moose-Wilson RD
KOA – Two miles

Day 52 – Jackson, WY to Mountain Home, ID
-WY 22 West (17mi)
-Turns into ID 33 (5mi)
-LEFT on ID 31 (20mi)
-RIGHT on US 26 (43mi)
-RIGHT on Broadway ST in Idaho Falls (5mi)
-Straight on US 20 (61mi to Arco)
-44 miles to Carey
-100 miles to Mountain Home
Cross I-84
-Straight on ID 51
-Right on N 2nd ST
-Straight on Main (1/4mi)
-RIGHT on 10N ST
KOA

Day 53 – Mountain Home, ID to Baker City, OR
-Main Street N out of town
Before I-84
-LEFT on Old Oregon Tr (16mi to exit 74)
Cross I-84
-LEFT on Old Hwy 30 (5mi)
I-84 (21mi)
-EXIT 46 / ID-55 (112mi)
-Straight on US 95 (45mi)
-RIGHT on ID 71 (29mi)
Turns into OR 71 (11mi)
-LEFT on OR 86 (67mi into Baker City)
Follow 86 to Clark ST
-RIGHT on Auburn
-LEFT on US 30/Bridge Street

Day 54 – Baker City to Portland, OR
-Auburn to ID 7 S/W (50mi to Austin)
-RIGHT on US 26 (140mi – 25mi to John Day)
-LEFT on OR 126 (46mi to Sisters)
-RIGHT on Santiam Hwy (31mi)
-RIGHT on Cascades Scenic (44mi)
-LEFT on OR 224 (43mi)
-North on I-205?
Need directions from Ashley

Later Still

Here are some maps.


Right now, I have been through all the states in red since May 1. After Seattle, it will look like this!

After the trip, I will have ridden or driven through all these states in 2008. If I put my mind to it, this is what I could accomplish before fall.

Even Later Still
It’s just occurred to me that this is the 50th day of my trip. I’m well over half-way, but it feels like I just started. Not in a “time sure does fly” sort of way, but in a “I have no idea what I’m doing” sort of way.

I think I’ll be on the road for another month. That’s 30 more days. Maybe I’ll go out after that. Maybe I’ll make it an even 100 days. Or I could make it auspicious and make it 108 days.

Though it seems like I’ve been stagnant, driving in a PT Cruiser or staying with friends in ABQ, SLC, PDX and SEA (ha! airport codes are fun!), I’ll definitely be putting on some miles real soon. It’ll be over 1,000 to Portland, another 250 to Seattle and at least 3,000 to Pennsylvania. You’ve got upwards of 5,000 miles of writing to look forward to! Lucky you!

Let’s have another song, shall we? Here’s “Convertibles and Headbands,” another song-poem. The music isn’t much to write home about, but the spoken part at the end is worth it, trust me.
[audio:convertibles.mp3|Titles=Convertibles and Headbands]

Mucho Yummo!Much Later
I decided to go for a ride and get some Chinese food from Long Life Vegi House. What a wonderful place!

I got the Sweet & Sour Chicken sans onions and peppers with nearly raw broccoli on the side. YUM. I love when places will substitute crappy vegetables for broccoli. Love it. Thanks!

Viva La!!!Since this is my last night, I thought I’d treat myself, you know?

Mandy and Earl were at a wedding reception, so I milled about and didn’t really do much. I collected my thoughts and loaded up the bike a little bit. Oh, I did some laundry. Fun.

I’m ready to go. Mandy and Earl have been really fun and great – but it’s time to ride, Sally, ride!

It’s been a long time since I’ve really been riding. I’m ready to hit the road. I’m excited! I don’t really know what I’ll be seeing, but I feel like a cowboy! Yeehaw!

And to sing me on my way, here’s a travelin’ song. “Lola” by The Raincoats.
[audio:lola.mp3|Titles=Lola|Artists=The Raincoats]

Oh wait! There’s more! Watch this.

And then watch this.

OK? Good! Now sleep.

Miles today: 33
Total miles: 6.066

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