My Blog

June 20th

kimber — Sat, 21 Jun 2008 15:18:50 GMT

I had the most wonderful visit with my brother Dale yesterday. He is like a guru when it comes to electronic things. He told me of this new (well new to me) adventure called geocaching. (www.geocaching.com) all you need is a handheld GPS system. (it you buy one he recommends getting the kind that comes within 3 meter accuracy). All over the world are secret caches. You log in to the web site, put your zip code in and it will bring up a list of caches in your area. then you get in your car and drive to the GPS co ordinates and get out and hunt for the treasure (now you can see why your hand held GPS should have 3 meter accuracy). The treasures usually dont have monetary value and there is usually a log for you to sign and leave comments. Remember to take a treasure with you to leave. The idea is to take a treasure and leave a treasure. People have become very creative with this adventure. There are caches that can only be found at night; you have to follow the reflective tape with your flashlight. There are also "cache bugs" little figurines that the original owner would like to see travel to a certain destination. For example from NY to Hawaii. So you might find a bug that says "only place me to the West, my home is Hawaii" The caches have raitings on Difficulty and Terrain. When you live in an area like Vancouver there are many to choose from, some people do this all weekend and will go out find 40 caches in weekend. http://www.geocaching.com/faq/ There are rules to; you need to stealthy, if the cache is in a public place you cant just wander up to and do your thing. Take an item. Leave an item. write in the log book. You can start a new cache - then log it on website and watch the games begin. there is a certain prestige for being FTF (first to find). It is interesting to read the boards. Sounds like a blast??? Start Caching people!!!

June 19, Ontario, Or to SeaTac, Wa

kimber — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 05:07:14 GMT

Wow, we went from one extreme to the next today and back again. The morning in Ontario was clear and cold. The same mornings I remember sitting outside and having coffee with my mom in Salem and watching the hummingbirds come for breakfast. I can remember sitting on her patio and the smell of her roses becoming stronger as the sun ascended. We didn’t have to talk; we could just sit and enjoy each other and the beauty before us. It still amazes me that I can miss her so much after so many years and how the slightest shadow or smell can bring her memories flooding back to me. I pushed all these thoughts aside as I donned all my riding gear. I would need it this morning it was going to be a cold ride over the mountain ranges into Pendleton on the other side. This part of Oregon brings back other memories for me, bittersweet ones of elk hunting with my dad and brothers. I remember one elk that my brother got, that after we skinned it the hide covered our driveway at home. I used to make jerky out of the back strap, yum. We crossed over the bridge from Oregon to Washington heading towards Kennewick and I couldn’t help but cry. The last time I traveled this road was to my grandma’s funeral. What is sad is that I can’t remember what year it was. I do remember that it wasn’t long after my mom died that Clint and I came here. As a child my family traveled this road from Silverton, Ore to Richland, Wa. to visit my mom’s parents; at least twice a year, once for Easter and the other for Thanksgiving. The tears flooded down my cheeks and pooled in my goggles as I thought of my grandma’s funeral. I couldn’t leave; I was the only one there as they started to put the dirt on her coffin. I think I knew that this would be the end of my family as I knew it. My mom and my grandma held our family together, without them there was no family. All of this makes me grateful for my brother Dale. I called him yesterday and he took Friday off so that we can spend some time together. I have 3 brothers, 2 older, 1 younger. Cap is the oldest, he lives outside of Dallas, Tx I have tried to contact him several times but he is a hard one to get a hold of. He travels a lot and is active in biking and diving all over the world. Next in line is Dale, he lives just outside of Vancouver, Wa. We keep in touch the most. Then comes me and the baby of the family Kyle, lives in Portland somewhere. He is usually homeless due to his crack addiction. The only time I hear from him is when he is in jail or prison and the police find my number in his wallet. You know all families have their own intricate web; the individual fibers that make them unique. Mine is no different. I think the difference comes on what you do with those fibers. There is the good the bad the funny the sad the bright fibers the dark fibers. The bottom line is that I would not be who I am today with All the fibers. I like who I have become, I think my mom and my grandma would be proud of me. I have a beautiful new family filled with exceptional people, incredible friends that know me, a loving husband who is my best friend and kids that mean it when they say “I love you”; even better when they say “I like you.” In all my years of traveling up and down the Columbia Gorge I have never taken the I-90. It is an amazing interstate that takes in all the extremes. We went from 90 degree weather in Kennewick to 37 degrees in Snoqualmie Pass. The beautiful winding passage is breath taking with vast desert hills with sage brush rolling around to the snow covered peaks with tall green trees. It was a good ride today; I discovered that it is hard to be creative when you are screaming 85 MPH down a mountain on a motorcycle dodging traffic and watching for wildlife. Tomorrow we will find a place to store our bikes, go see my brother and then back to Seattle for some down time. We have traveled approx 3600 mi in 10 days, have traveled thru 15 states and have had the time of our lives. Thanks for taking the trip with me and listening to my ramblings. I miss you guys, gobbles and gobbles.

June 18, Evanston, WY to Ontario, OR

kimber — Fri, 20 Jun 2008 04:20:22 GMT

I know I have said it before but it is worth repeating “Interstate driving makes for boring blogs”. Interstates are meant for one thing getting from Point A to Point B in a timely manner. So I apologize for the boring blog ahead of time. The morning started out so cold that I had to stop 30 mi down the road and put my rain pants on. The skies were clear and blue as we traveled over the small mountain range that separates Wyoming from Utah. I always forget how beautiful Utah is, the rolling green meadows with the desert craggy backdrops. By the time we hit Idaho I had shed my jacket, riding pants and my gloves as the temperature rose to the low 90’s. After so many days of blogging I can’t remember if I wrote about it, or the thought just ran thru my brain as sped down the hot blacktop. So if this is a repeat it will make for fast reading. Ever since my close encounter with the deer; I have been almost hyper vigilant about watching for wildlife on the road. I started noticing this phenomenon when we left Illinois. Every 50 mi or so there would be some type of road kill on the shoulders. It was mostly deer, which made my bike shy away. Then it dawned on me. These were sacrifices to the road gods. I patted my bike on the gas tank the next time we passed a furry mess and said, “See it is safe, the road gods have been appeased.” My bike seemed to take comfort in this and sped on down the road. Some road gods demand a lot; Wisconsin appeared to need one sacrifice every 50 mi. However, South Dakota required much less and Utah only a few. I was just thankful that the road gods decided to let us pass without the sacrifice. As we traveled thru the desert in Idaho we stopped at rest area where we met two men on bicycles. They said they were from New Mexico and on February 14, 2004 they decided to ride 10 mi for every soldier killed in Iraq. To date they have traveled over 31,000 mi in 11 western states. They picked up a cat in Oregon that now travels with them. They have signs on the back of their bikes that explains what they are doing. They were nice guys. Crossing the Snake River from Idaho into Oregon it was time to call it a night.

June 17 Casper, WY to Evanston, WY

kimber — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:31:43 GMT

June 17, 2008. Casper, WY to Evanston, Wy What an incredibly beautiful day to ride. The day brought beautiful blue skies this morning, no wind, not too hot, not too cold. We stopped at Independence Rock. It is on the Oregon Trail. Travelers used it as a type of mile marker to make sure they were far enough West to make it over the mountains before winter set in too much. To my amazement there were flocks of large birds in the distance circling together. I asked the caretaker what they were, it’s not often you see Large birds circle like that. He smiled and told me they were Pelicans! I laughed; do they know they are in the desert?? Apparently, there are big lakes that they now call home. I don’t have much to write today mostly because the roads were straight and the day was uneventful. I saw lots of antelope (from a distance). We had to shed our jackets around 1pm because it was so incredibly hot even going 85MPH. There was lots of construction as we pulled into Rock Springs so we missed our turn, had to loop around and come back at it. Some of you may remember when Clint was working down here for FMC a few years back. He would come down for 6 months at time. FMC was generous enough to pay for me come down a few times and see him. The wind always blows in this desert town. I remember when I was down here before the wind would blow so hard I couldn’t get the truck door to open and if I could I couldn’t shut it! I always told clint that Rock Springs reminds of the inside of someone’s bowels (if you were to watch it on a colonoscopy). It is nice to know it is still the way I remember it. Bowels or not, we didn’t come for the scenic windy ride. We came to see the sweet people that work here. They too have not changed a bit, still as sweet and wonderful as I remember them. We were able to stay for a few hours to visit. Then back on the road, we have a new deadline to meet; Seattle by Sunday. I think I mentioned that my brother lives outside of Vancouver, I would like to see him before we head to Seattle. Hmmm, I think I forgot to mention, pulling into Wisconsin there was a smell in the air. I couldn’t decide whether it smelled like good cheese or cow dung. Sweet dreams every one.

June 16 - Keystone, SD to Casper, WY

kimber — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 12:25:06 GMT

June 16 Keystone, SD to Casper, WY I awoke to grey skies with thin high clouds. Keystone is about 2 mi from Mt Rushmore. The hotel was full and there were a few travelers outside as I wandered out to my bike. I was talking with one man from Canada that was traveling with his wife, mom, dad, and 10 kids. No wonder he was outside drinking his coffee. He was telling me all about Black Hills. There is so much to see here, one could spend days here and still not see it all. He and his wife frequently go to a town of Deadwood. They love it there. Clint and I decided to skip it because we heard it is mostly a casino town. Before we could get the bikes packed a thunder storm rolled in. I put a small clip on my www.youtube.com/kimbrgsm account. However, I don’t know if it worked correctly since I can’t get online to check it. On days like this, i just write my blog on Word and then transfer it to the net when I have access. Mt Rushmore is amazing. I discovered that the scenes in Alfred Hitchcock’s North by Northwest was only filmed in some of the surrounding buildings which were torn down this year. All the scenes on George Washington’s face were filmed in Hollywood. The ranger also said parts of National Treasure (the sequel) were filmed here. Another artist is sculpting Crazy Horse about 10 mi to the north of Mt. Rushmore. We wanted to go see it, but the rain was starting to come down hard so we decided to head back to Rapid City; on the way we were met with more lightening but just road thru it to find shelter at a gas station. It was here that we decided that we would change our route and head to Rock Springs, so that Clint could see some friends. From there we will head to Vancouver, Wa. to see my brother and then head to Seattle to fly home. We will fly back down in August and ride the bikes home. We are running out of time and don’t want to feel rushed. I saw the most amazing sky yesterday. It is called “street clouds”. That is where the wind causes the clouds to roll up into tight rows. If you Google it you will find one or two rows but the ones I saw yesterday looked like a farmer’s field. There were probably 16-20 rows, with small dark clouds floating underneath the rows. I snapped a few pictures but clint was able to video them. When I have some time I will cut that part of video into a clip and put them up. It was truly amazing. When I stopped to take the picture I could hear clint say, “get me out of here. This is freaking me out”. We didn’t make very good time yesterday due to the rain, hail, thunder and then 90 degree weather in Wyoming. I think we are both suffering from a little bit of heat stroke. We have both been using SPF50 but that is no match for 10 hours in the sun. My hands have blisters. Yesterday we both wore our jackets all day trying to protect our arms but then the heat got to us. We go thru about 6-8 quarts of water but I think yesterday it was still not enough. The wind in Wyoming gust so much that we could only go 70 MPH instead of the normal 80, So by the time we hit Casper we decided to get a room and get some sleep. It was just our luck, there is rodeo in town and we happen to snag the last room. We should make Rock Springs today and then head towards Idaho. Hopefully the wind and sun are kind to us.

Fairmount, Mn to Keystone, SD

kimber — Mon, 16 Jun 2008 03:49:00 GMT

June 15, 2008 Despite the thunderstorms that woke us up periodically thru out the night the sky is clear and the road is mostly dry. It looks like it is going to be a great day. The plan today is to take I90 across the the southern part of South Dakota 500 mi to keystone which is just a few miles from Mt. Rushmore. It was a beautiful morning we left around 7am and had the road to ourselves for the first 50 mi. the western horizon was looking ominous so we stopped and put on our rain gear. It only sprinkled on us as we made our way to Sioux City. The new gear is great, it was still a bit chilly this morning so the rain gear kept me pretty warm. I missed the first turn for gas because I was looking at the buffalo on the side of the road. I fully expected another exit but instead was met with construction and no gas station in site. I took the first available exit and wound back east along a small highway and led us to what used to be a great tourist attraction at one point in time. Billboards advertising Live buffalo, steaks and fireworks dotted the highway. What we found was a broken down building with remnants of days gone by. They did however, have gas; for that I was grateful. The old man inside talked to us for more than 30 min. He asked a endless questions about Alaska. I did spot some buffalo in the distance. When I tried to walk closer to get a picture I noticed the field in front of me was moving. There were hundreds of little prairie dogs running around. It was fun to watch while clint finished talking to the old man inside. The sky cleared to a beautiful baby blue and all the clouds rolled away, it was a great day for a ride. The only downside is that South Dakota is prairie country, mostly flat with rolling green hills for as far as the eye can see trees are sprinkled here and there. This allows the wind to roar along. I felt like a road my bike with a slight tip to the right to compensate for the wind gust. As soon as you cross the border into South Dakota there are billboards for “Wall Drug”. For over 300 mi we saw the signs pointing us to Wall Drug. This incredible little two lane town is filled with tourist, there are row after row of unique tourist trap shops. I saw a 80 foot dinosaur, sat on a 8 ft jack-alope, watched water shoot from 12 different spouts in the ground to music as children played in the water. It is a great little town I could have spent a couple hours there but Clint was anxious to see the Badlands. Approximately, 10 mi to the south lies the Badlands park . http://www.nps.gov/badl/upload/BADL%20Planner%202008.pdf It is an amazing trip, driving along the highway you think you are in the prairie grasslands only to pull into the viewpoint to find you are on the top of a mountain (like a mini grand canyon). It takes about an hour to do the loop. There are buffalo, big horn sheep and breath taking sites. One could spend days there camping and biking. We only had about another hour and a half of riding before we hit Keystone. It is another small tourist town a few miles from Mount Rushmore. I called a head and made reservations earlier, I would hate to get all the way out there and have to sleep on my bike. We will rest for the night and then go see everything tomorrow. They are also carving a monument for Crazy Horse that isn’t finished yet, we hope to go see that too before we head out. I am having the time of my life. I spent the last few days thinking of all my dance friends and hoping Renn Fair was not only a success but enjoyable. I miss being there with you guys. And chello…. No more dings *grin.

collinsville to West Dundee - Route 66 Finished

kimber — Sat, 14 Jun 2008 03:42:31 GMT

Joliet to West Dundee, IL The morning started off grey, the ground was wet, but the sky was dry; so far, we could only keep our fingers crossed. As many of you guys know we installed converters on our bikes last year in Oregon. This allows us to plug in the camcorder that is attached to a helmet cam that Clint so graciously wears. The converter is then wired to his battery so that we don’t have to worry about the camcorder dying. Well, last night he forgot to unhook all the components so when we out this morning, his battery was dead. We tried pushing it up several hills and “popping” the clutch, but all it would do is bark at us. I walked across the street to the gas station; a lady there let me borrow her set. Jump starting a bike is a little more entailed than jump starting a car. We had to unload all the gear, pull the side cover off the bike to get to the tools to take the seats off, remove the batter cover, and then we could connect the cables. I say we like I was involved. Actually, I was shooting pictures of an inch worm that had crawled on top of a helmet, and sipping the hot sweet coffee I got at the service station. It started right up, clint got everything put back together and after returning the cables we were off to finish the last 40 miles of Route 66. It was hard not to speed the closer we got. You could see the city skyline in the distance which only made matters worse. Downtown Chicago is unlike any city I have ever been in! Every site, every sound, every smell was a colorful unique sensation. There were so many people out walking it seemed every inch of the sidewalks and part of the streets were covered with people. Most of the buildings are so tall that you had to look straight up to see the tops. We rode under the “L train” and over the tug boats. The bridges have grates so that you can see the people below in the boats. Despite the cloudy day the beach at the Navy pier was full. Lake Michigan is a breath taking blue. I would love to tell you how cold it is, but parking was $11.00 an hour. So we parked on the sidewalk and took a picture of it. I was amazed at how easy it was to get around down there. We toured around downtown for several hours before my clutch hand decided it was time for us to find some open road. I don’t think Clint was ready to leave but he followed me out any way. At every stop light he would holler over to me “I love Downtown!!!” this from a country boy. I must say the end of Route 66 was very anti-climatic. We rolled to a stop at the east end of Jackson Blvd. the road on the on the other side of the intersection was closed for construction, but as we sat at the stop light I noticed a sign above Clint’s head “Route 66 – The End”. I could barely pull the camera out of my front pouch and snap the picture before the light turned green. We followed the detour signs but there was nothing on the other side except Soldier Stadium. Still we are now Route 66 Warriors. It feels good to be finished with it; I’m ready for the adventure that will take me home. Some of you may have heard on the news about the record flooding. “the most Catastrophic weather conditions in the last 100 years” said one meteorologist. It is unheard of that a tornado would touch down in the mountains; or gentle rivers rising up to meet million dollar homes only to turn them into rafts. And yet, there has been a little ray of sunshine that has hovered over the top of us since we left. I keep waiting for the weather channel report to come out like this: Weather guy standing in front of the yellow/orange/red map that shows where all the tornadoes, thunderstorm and flooding are. He points to the diagonal line from Oklahoma to Chicago and says “As you can see we have severe weather here (pointing from Ok to Chicago) and more flooding and severe storms here (pointing from Chicago down to Oklahoma) but what I find strange is this little area here”. He points to a small round green area in the middle of all the violent colors. “This area here is sunny 70-90 degrees,” he continues; “mild wind with some gust, no rain.” “This area” he makes a circling motion around the only green area on the map “of perfectly normal summer weather appears to be traveling Route 66, with frequent stops, like it is checking its map. It is the most bizarre phenomenon we have ever encountered”. This is a small portion of my thoughts on the chaos theory and how it has been rattling around in my brain. The most common example of the chaos theory is the butterfly effect. It is simplest form: The beating of a butterfly’s wing in one part of the world can cause a hurricane in another part of the world. I think it is the same in peoples’ lives. Imagine if you will all the events that would have to take place in someone’s life for them to get into a car wreck. If you think of the smallest of possibilities that could/would have changed that car wreck; a stop light? (or run the yellow light), Lost keys? A phone call? (even if it was the wrong number) what if they stubbed their toe on the way out the door. That brief moment in time when they stopped to cuss or whatever you do when you stubbed your toe, could have been just the amount of time it would take to elude the car wreck. Now, before you go getting all depressed thinking of the downside of things. I think it also applies to the good things in our lives. I would like for you to stop and think of the very best thing that has ever happened in your life. Now, think of all the years of events that led up to that event. Were there bad or hard times that helped lead up to the “very best thing”? Were they somehow related to the “very best thing”? For instance, I went thru a very nasty divorce, I remember crying for months wishing things would change. All my dreams of marriage were crushed. All the dreams I thought marriage should be. I was depressed, I was angry. My mom was diagnosed with terminal cancer at the same time. I was torn between being in Florida to get my divorce and being in Oregon with my mom. I hated Oregon at the time and wouldn’t have been there if my mom wasn’t sick. However, if these events hadn’t taken place, I never would have met my best friend Clint. I never would have had my beautiful daughters. The “I never” list could go on forever. So remember, even the slightest change of something, like the flutter of a butterfly wing has the potential to change things exponentially. So smile at someone today. Can you sigh backwards?

collinsville to joliet

kimber — Fri, 13 Jun 2008 22:34:52 GMT

Collinsville, to Joliet, Il June 12, 2008 This small stretch of Route 66 is a beautifully paved highway that takes you thru many miles of farm lands. There are many sleepy towns that mark the way. I would have to say that Illinois does the best job of marking Route 66. I think there are more signs in Illinois than on the rest of the Route. The only problem is there are so many choices to make we still had to stop and check the EZ-bible. Your choices include “pre 1930”, “1956-1960”, and 1926-1930”. It was a wonderful problem to have, considering in some towns we couldn’t even find the route. As we pulled into Edwardsville, Il we noticed the new malls, manicured lawns, beautifully paved streets and the Route 66 banners hanging from the light post. This was a stark contrast from broken down dilapidated overgrown sites that usually greeted us as we pulled into a town. As we pulled out of town, I noticed a small plastic deer in a front yard. “wow” I thought to myself, “that is the first wildlife I have seen since the turkey buzzard.” Route 66 for the most part follows Hwy 4 with some little detours (approx 0.5mi to 2mi) off and then resume with Hwy 4. There was on old rusty Route 66 sign telling us to veer right. I could see the paved road was broken with grass about 4 inches high growing up out of it. A few hundred feet down that forgot road was a large orange neon sign that said “Road Closed”. I was looking at this site, and debating on whether to turn around. “What a great picture that would make” I thought to myself. I glanced back at the road I was on just in time to make eye contact with a small deer in the other lane. Seems a little funny now, I thought to myself “Please don’t jump in front of me.” I could see it hesitate as it decided which way to go. I locked my brakes down, the whole time it never broke eye contact with me. At the last minute it decided to jump in front of me. I don’t know if I hit its hind legs, or it kicked the front of my bike; but whichever it was it caused my back tire to kick out to the left, which by this time was smoking. The deer made one more leap into the tall grass and disappeared. I was able to regain control of my bike and keep it upright. I was taking slow deep breaths trying to adjust to the adrenaline that was pumping thru my veins. All my medical knowledge about the sympathetic and parasympathetic running thru the left side of my brain trying to encourage the right side of my brain this would pass. Meanwhile, my right brain was still picturing the intimate details of each hair on the belly of the deer as it imagined that belly slamming into my face. Apparently my right brain did not care about the facts, only about what could have happened. At this point my whole body was just on auto pilot as Clint zoomed up beside me and put his blinker on for me to pull over. We stopped and checked out my bike, there was no damage that we could see. The nice thing is, clint got it all on video. So we watched it after we got to the hotel room. Makes me laugh now, “It doesn’t look that bad on video” my left brain says. Needless to say, my eyes stayed very close to the road after that as it ran thru the depths of the chaos theory, but I will save that for another day.

Marshfield, MO to Collinsville, Il June 11, 2008

kimber — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 13:03:20 GMT

I think my eyebrows are sunburned! Despite using SPF 50 sun block I am sunburned – ugh! I woke up early and walked across the street to the starbucks for some quick java. As I walked I remembered the dreams I had the night before. One was my poor low rider bottoming out on smooth pavement and bucking me off like she was a wild bull in a rodeo. The other was about this monster; it had a terrible growl that woke me up, sharp rows of green yellow teeth and acid dripping drool. It was after my bike while I slept! I don’t know what it wanted with my bike, but it wanted it. The growl kept waking me up in my dream, I vaguely remember getting up and looking out the window at the dark sleepy street below and seeing a semi truck unloading his trailer across the street; so much for the acid dripping monster. It took a little bit of time to find our way back to 66 but once we did it was wonderful. The 2-lane highway was stretched out so beautifully with rolling hills and gentle curves; just begging us to ride it. The smells all came rushing back as the sun warmed the earth, wild flowers, green grass and once in awhile road kill. I was able to see a turkey buzzard up close as I crested a hill and he was feeding on something unrecognizable in the road. I never realized how big those birds are. He looked to be around 3 feet tall, like an eagle. Each stop for gas brought the locals out to talk with us. This for me is best part of the trip. I love to hear their stories. Clint started leaving the helmet cam on during our stops just for this reason. One guy told us how he traveled 66 back in 1956 on a motorcycle. Was a pretty rough ride, he cant remember how long it took – but it took a while, people didn’t drive as fast back then. At the next stop we were talking about him and clint pointed out how he must have been a little confused. He rode route 66 back in 1956 on a 1970s Harley. Gotta love old stories. We made it all the way to St Lous, MO without a hitch EZ-66 (the book) was right on the money all the way. We stopped at Mesmec Caverns (the famed hideout of Jesse James). It is worth the hour long tour. Once we got to downtown St Louis, Mo nothing matched up. There was no I-70 north, and there was no exit 245b. of course we hit this area around 5pm, traffic was too bad doing 55-60MPH. however after 3 hours of going back and forth across the city we finally just choose a bridge and left across the Mississippi river into Illinois. We landed at Collinsville, Il just east of East St Louis around 9pm. Once we settled in and looked at the map we found we are way off course! Oh well, grab a shower, some food and to bed. We will get on track tomorrow. I still swear my eyebrows are burned.

Cordell, OK to Mrashfield, MO June 10

kimber — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 12:39:14 GMT

Tv in Cordell on sunday night consisted of Weather Watch!! Live on 4. tornedo and heavy Thunderstorm warnings/watches. it was less than 15 mi from us. For clint and i, it provided a beautiful lightening storm to watch; no rain just the beautiful show above and the lightening bugs below. ] We had a late start the next morning - lots to pack a trip to the post office to mail some stuff home, well and clint's parents dragging their feet because they didnt think it was a good idea to leave today, "the weather channel says there are flash flood and more T-storms tracking right up I-44" Damn that weather channel, outside the sky was grey- maybe sprinkles. "oh sweet" i said "then we can check out our new rain gear: i dont think they found it amusing. Finally, on the road, the first stop we wanted to make was the 66 museum in clinton. It was worth the stop! the museum was filled with antiques and little rooms that replicated different eras. you could play music to hear what was popular during that time. there were testimonies from people who grew up duing that time. ONe guy (i wish i could remember his name) he is 96 years old said. when he was a boy his family was poor, shoot we didnt know were didnt have any money - no one had money. his dad got job working on the railroad. he told his son to come down mid-afternoon and bring him some cold water. so around noon he filled a mason jar with cold water- put it in a gunnysack and started off to his dad, he remembers the sand being so hot it burned his feet. Shoot - i havent worn shoes since school was out. he got tot the job site, his father drank his fill then passed the jar around, as the boy turned to leave the boss called him over. Tossed a shiney dime at him and said "do that every day". he remembers rubbing that shiney dime all the way home, and strange he doesnt remeber the sand burning his feet on the way home. The rest of the trip to Marshfield was pretty uneventful. It took me a bit to get back in the rhythm of reading the EZ-66 book (lol not so EZ at times..) we strayed off course a little at the end. Mostly because we were so tired and sunburned. I just wanted to find a hotel. oh yeah the weather - beautiful sunny skies every where we went. some times the roads were wet and locals would tells us "yup just finished raining about an hour ago, heard we got 3 inches last night" then upon closer inspections we could see the drainage systems on the side of the road were small rivers. Falling asleep that night I was thankful for the hot sunny weather - even if my forearms were on fire, and my low rider only bottomed out a few times.

Anchorage, Ak to Cordell, Ok

kimber — Wed, 11 Jun 2008 12:29:14 GMT

Anchorage, ak - Cordell, Ok Well, out plane left anchorage around noon-ish, after a long lay over in seattle; small one in Dallas we landed in Oklahoma City (OKC) around 8am. it was a long flight and we were both wiped out. clints mom and dad (Paula and Leroy) picked us up and we proceeded to find every bike shop in the OKC to find some good rain gear. We met lots of nice people but had a hard time finding gear to fit me. Man i hate shopping! Finally, the BMW shop had a nice pair of pants for me. Clint was able to find everything he needed at the first shop. I had a good jacket that I picked up in San Fransico on the last trip. We spent the next day at the in-laws house getting the bikes and gear ready. we had quite a few things done to the bikes during the winter. LeRoy was kind enough to haul my bike down to the bike shop in Cordell so that it could be lowered some. There are basically a few levels when you talk about a bike fitting height-wise. Tip toe - just the tips of your toes touch the ground, not safe at all. Toe Touch - your toes and the ball of your foot touch, still not very safe. hard to move the bike around manually, like in gravel or if you need to back it up. I have seen people ride crotch rockes this way. my bike was like that, but i wore boots with 3-inch heels to compensate. Almost Flat - if you tip the bike you can touch flat footed on one side, but still hard to get traction if you need to back up - this is what my 3 inch heels did for me. Do-able but makes you thnk twice before you park somewhere. Flat - good solid flat foot on both sides. This is what i have now. I have REAL riding boots now!!! no 3-inch heels!! It felt weird to sit on my bike and be able to move around - W00t!!! now when im in the gravel and say (in my best Grrr voice) "i can do it myself" i really can!! the only down side is that now my whole bike is lowered, so when i go over speed bumps, bumps in the road on in and out of drive ways, i bottom out. Welcome to my Lower-Rider Experience.

August 10, Needles, Ca to Williams, Az.

kimber — Tue, 21 Aug 2007 19:00:11 GMT

The heat is crazy hot at 8:00am, we decide to pack our jackets, chaps and gloves and opt for just a tank top and helmet. I’m so excited today as we pack up the bikes. Route 66 should take us far away from the interstate and out into the desert. As we head out of town we stop for a photo op at the covered ‘welcome’ wagon that says “Needles California”. I sure wish I had the laptop during this time so that I could write down all the things running thru my brain and people I met. But for now I will just have to try and hit the highlights. I write these blogs for purely selfish reasons, I want to remember what I felt, saw and the smells of the journey. I want to remember the interesting people I met along my way, ones that touched my life and heart with a simple smile or conversation. As we leave Needles, we have to join I-40 for a bit. As we cross the Colorado River you can see the old Route 66 Bridge to your right. You can no longer travel on it; there is a gas pipeline that occupies it. Still I wonder how many families stopped to cool off, maybe have a picnic and take a swim. There is nothing but hot dry desert for hours and hours in all directions. As we take the Oatman Rd exit, we find ourselves back on Route 66 and its sleepy hills and lazy curves. On the crest of each hill is a sign that warns drivers not to proceed if there is water on the road. This area of the desert is known for its flash floods, as we proceed you can seen the remains of the last flash flood on the road. Red clay covers the road, the shoulders of the road look like dried up river beds. The sky is blue, the breeze is warm, there is not a cloud in the sky – so we ride. The book warns that although the road ‘looks’ like you can do 65 mph, take heed and follow the 45 mph speed limit signs. It was right, the curves are not banked correctly and you find yourself fighting to keep your bike on the right path. We find there is nothing but desert between Needles and Oatman. I can tell that we are getting close to Oatman some hour and half later when I see the signs to watch out for wild burros. We turn a corner and sure enough, there is a small herd of 6 or so burros being fed by the tourist that have stopped. As we pull into Oatman, it is like stepping back in time. This single-lane town has not changed since the late 1800’s. if you are traveling out this way, you can’t miss the town of Oatman, it is worth the extra drive to come out here. You can read more about the town at http://www.oatmangold.com or http://www.desertusa.com/oatman/du_oatman.html. We parked at a hitching post and wandered thru the town. This town is booming today, there were so many motorcycles and cars; it was hard to find a parking spot. We met a couple from Canada. They just got married last week, flew to NY and rented a Harley. They are traveling Route 66 to California so that his new bride can meet all his friends in LA. This town is wonderful, they stage gunfights, there is live music and you can walk thru the Oatman Hotel where Clark Gable and Carol Lombard honeymooned in 1939. It is the back drop to several movies, How the West was Won, Foxfire, and Edge of Eternity. There are many beautiful artists that call Oatman home, good thing I was on a bike, or I probably would have spent a lot more money than I planned. I did buy the cutest little monkey shirt – gotta love the monkey. We ate lunch at the Oatman Hotel, it is covered and I mean covered in 1 dollar bills. The waitress will bring you a black sharpie and a stapler so that you can add your own. The food was good, I had something called “Burro Ears” which is really just homemade potato chips served with a salsa sour crème mix, and they were great. We take time to lube up (SPF 50!) and gear up and head out of town. Even though we used SPF 50, sometimes up to 6 times a day we still got very very dark. The road to Kingman is filled with switchback corners and drop offs that make my tummy flip flop (no I don’t think it was the Burro Ears). Sitegreaves Pass elevation is only 3500 ft, but there is a spot you can stop at and see 3 different states: California, Nevada, and Arizona! The scenery is breath taking with all the crags and vast desert and Saguaro cactus. There are a few remains to gawk at as we zoom by at a whopping 40 MPH. Regardless, of whether you travel I-40 and jump off to Route 66 for the sites, or if you stay on Route 66 for the whole trip; you will take the Business Loop of every town you come across. Downtown Kingman has done a wonderful job of preserving the Route 66 feel as you travel through it. There are many hotels that have restored the original signs and some remains of repair shops that allow your mind to travel back in time. Kingman is a good place to stop, refuel, and rehydrate; get your bearings and press onward. It was somewhere along this long stretch of highway that I came up with the idea for a children’s book. The sky is so blue here and the clouds are so puffy, I found myself picking out a cloud and making up a story about it. I thought if I could start with a picture of a cloud on one page and then on the opposite page draw the image that it evoked in my twisted brain. I could write the story. At the end of book, I would put the same picture of the original cloud and kids could make their own picture from it. It is so weird some of the things that run thru your brain when all you have is wind to listen to. On our way to Seligman, we stopped at the Grand Canyon Caverns. You can read all about the wonderful story here http://www.desertusa.com/mag99/feb/stories/gccaverns.html I must say I was amazed at how much I enjoyed the tour. I just wanted to stop because of the giant dinosaur out front; I wanted my picture with him. Clint wanted to take the tour, and I’m glad he did. Our tour guide was animated and captivating. It was hard to climb back on our bikes when the temperature in the cave is a constant 56 degrees and the temperature on our bikes was not! It was a whopping 104 degrees outside!! However, Seligman and the Roadkill Café called to us, and we had to answer. Seligman is the birthplace the Historic Route 66 Assoc. of Arizona; they sponsor and annual Fun Run where in the spring classic cars, motorcycles and people fill the streets to take a run on Route 66. The Roadkill Café has wonderful food, their motto “you kill it, we grill it”. Thankfully, they declined the bugs that were on my windshield and fed me anyway. There are so many things to see in this town, they truly believe in keeping Route 66 alive. The sun is slowing setting as we cruise on down the road, the gust of wind becoming a little cooler. We climb a few large hills and the sun drops below the horizon and I find myself shivering on my bike. The shivers signal that it is time to find a bed to sleep in. We pull into Williams and call it a day. But the fun doesn’t stop there. The hotel has a fire pit out back by the swimming pool, Clint grabs a drink and we head out to enjoy the cool night air. We meet a couple of travelers out there. One couple from California they are looking for somewhere to retire. Another couple, mom and son, that are headed east to take a truck to her oldest son that is in the military. The California guy asks “are you guys part of those bikes out front?” “Ummmm” Clint and I look at each other, “we are the bikes out front!” The conversation only got better from there.

West Covina, Ca to Needles, Ca 8/9/07

kimber — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 18:34:31 GMT

It is another bright sunny morning in California. I hate getting a late start when we are riding, but we have no choice today. I need some good maps to be able to follow Route 66 and the bookstores don’t open until 10:00 am. I call Barnes and Noble and the girl there tells me that they have several books on Route 66; she will hold them at the counter for me. I thought the store was just up around the corner, well keyword is thought. We drove for over an hour trying to find this bookstore before my radar kicked in and we were able to find it. We bought several quick laminated pull out maps, one book about stories on Route 66 and this book called “EZRoute 66”. That was the most complicated book of them all. I told Clint not to buy it “there is no way I can use that book on my bike”. Thank goodness he bought it. If you are ever going to take the adventure of Route 66 this is the book for you. The quick laminated maps are nice to find interesting stops or read a little bit of history now and then. The EZRoute gives you piece by piece details of where to go, what the road is like, the date that section of the road was built and used, and a little bit of history that pertains to that section of the road. It is an amazing book, I highly recommend it. Now I’m getting ahead of myself. We stumbled over to the Starbucks to pour over our maps and plot our adventure. We are such yuppie riders, “I’d like a hazelnut latte and a side of smashed bug (for my windshield).” We sit down and start looking, a nice gentleman besides says, “I couldn’t help but overhearing your plans, can I help you find a good starting place? These towns can be so confusing.” I welcomed the help, from what I could see there were at least 6 different ways to get to Route 66 and all of them looked hot! He pointed out the two easiest ways to get there and let us choose. We choose the freeway start, since it was 11:00 am and traffic was heavy and hot. He was right within 5 min we were on Route 66 and headed to San Bernardino. Oh I am so excited. I never dreamed that I would be traveling like this. The high of being on Route 66 over rides the boringness of the freeway. It takes us a little bit to get thru San Bernardino using the EZRoute book because it takes some getting used to, I think by the time we get to the next town I have got this “Bible” figured out. Until then I struggle and we take lots of wrong turns, find new interesting routes and love it all the way. We decided to skip the McDonald’s museum and zoom on ahead to Rialto, Ca to see the Wigwam hotel. This is one of two hotels left in a chain of hotels along Route 66. The rooms are unique, individual little tee pee’s to stay in. Although one book suggests that you not stay there because it is the local working place for hookers. I found it clean and well kept; it was just too early in the day to stop for the night. Now is the time I am digging out my EZRoute book and find that it is the best one to use. In Victorville, Ca we stopped at our first Route 66 Museum. This museum is a must. It is packed full of memorabilia like one of the first Model T’s, the 15 foot tall hula dancer and the famous Teardrop trailer. The man running it has more stories about Route 66 than many of the books he sells there. He has traveled the Mother Road six times. For more information or pictures http://www.califrt66museum.org. Route 66 takes us away from I-15 now, I’m so thankful. The temperature is around 102 degrees and the desert offers a breeze so hot, you swear you just opened the oven too quickly on your turkey!! The breeze hits my hot engine and blows up in my face igniting my nose hairs. I will have to admit it is better than the interstate where the heat from all the semi-trucks only add to the heat from the bikes. The speed limit is 45 miles an hour and we see an old couple in a 1970’s truck; they look to be around 80 years old, flashers on, as they drive 45 MPH, putting along on Route 66. I think that will be Clint and I one day. I was hoping they would stop somewhere along the way so that I could strike up a conversation with them and maybe beg for a picture but we lost track of them. It’s too hot to do 45mph we choose to 55. We stop at what is left of the “Bottle Tree Ranch”. It is amazing to think this little secured lot was once a booming stop on the route. Now abandoned like so many other ruins we have seen along the way. I snap a few pictures of all the colorful bottles that are mounted on poles. People are so creative. As we guzzle our water and Gatorade, I picture all the 1940’s cars and trucks pulling in here, woman running for the bathrooms, men chatting as they filled the gas tanks, checked the oil and the tire pressures; children just running wild around the bottle trees after being couped up in the backseats for so long. “You headed East?” one man ask, as he wipes off the oil dipstick. “Yeah, we gotta get to Chicago, for her mother’s funeral.” States the other man, “You?” “California, my brother has a job for me on those new oil rigs. They are putting them right on the ocean now!” The man shakes his head. “Oh boy, this thing uses more oil than any car I have ever had. Still low and I have already put in 12 quarts.” “Well, you better grab some of those water bags to put on the radiator, that desert will suck all the life out of it if you don’t” the East-bound man states, “see, I placed one on each side, helps cools the engine and you can add water to the radiator when it gets too hot.” “hoo doggy, what will they think of next.” States the west-bound man as he wipes his brow. “Good think you have a job waiting for you, there is an army patrol at the border of California.” The east-bound man states, “They aren’t just letting anyone in there.” “Dad! Dad! You gotta see this Hula girl” shouts a little boy, excitedly “she is bigger than our house!” The man glances over at his son, waves. “Yeah, I heard rumor about that back home.” The west-bound man replies, as he pours his third quart of oil in the engine. “but I didn’t reckon they were true.” “Hey, you gonna stand here all day and stare at that?” Clint asks me. Well, I probably could, I think to myself. “Nah, lets head out”. We gear up and as we drive down the highway, I think “man, my brain can really put together some weird stuff. I totally mixed all my eras together in that last scenario; 1890s and 1940’s. On my left I see the turn out for the Roy Rogers Double R Bar Ranch and decide quickly, it is too late in the day to stop. California has done a great job of marking the old Route 66; they have painted the emblem on the road every few miles. It gives me comfort to know that we are on the right highway; I don’t want to get lost in the Mojave Desert. The highway is dotted with ruins we don’t stop at them all, just enjoying the view of life gone by. We pull into Needles, fill up and find a place to stay for the night. The laptop is still dead and I am worried that I will forget all this before I am able to write it all down. After a hot shower and some grub, I find I’m too tired to write, I fall deep asleep.

San Simeon to West Covina,Ca

kimber — Mon, 20 Aug 2007 17:41:47 GMT

Well, it is still a bit cool here in the mornings, donning jacket and leather chaps we head out for the day. Highway 1 continues to snakes it way south along the Pacific Ocean, the drive is beautiful and quiet. Around 5:00 pm we hit Malibu, Ca. Now life on this sleepy little highway picks up! I find myself doing 55-60mph in a 40 mph zone just to keep from getting run over. No longer do we stand along the cliffs and look down at the white beaches, no more para-surfing. Now all that fills my sights are condominiums crowding the way with little glimpses of beach front. We rounded a corner and there was a van flipped over in front of us. It must have just happened; the occupants were still trying to get out. I pulled over to see if they needed help. The two occupants that made it out were sitting on the sidewalk, a little dazed and scratched but ok. There was still one man left in the van; it appeared that he was trying to free his leg. Another man stopped to help also, name was Angel I thought it was very appropriate. Meanwhile several bystanders were calling 911. I was trying to talk to the man in the van thru the windshield. I didn’t know if he couldn’t hear me, or if he didn’t speak English. I was trying to tell him to stop moving and sit still until paramedics arrived. Angel was translating for me in case the trapped man didn’t speak English. He finally stopped moving, and indicated that his left side hurt and his right leg was still trapped. The police arrived about this time. I was surprised at how rude the police were to us, and even ruder to the men that were in the accident. When we asked the police later how they thought this happened he replied, “Stupidity”. It made me mad that they judged the men before they had the truth. We left when the paramedics arrived; one paramedic and one policeman thanked us for stopping. Angel wandered over to our bikes as we were gearing up and asked my name. I asked him if he knew the men and thanked him for his help in translating and providing paper towels to stop the bleeding on the other two guys. He didn’t know them, but he wanted to tell me thank you, “most people, when they see Mexicans don’t stop, they just look and drive on by, thank you so much for stopping, I wouldn’t have known what to do.” What a nice man, I’m glad I met him. The rest of the drive to Santa Monica was uneventful, thank goodness. I definitely rode differently after seeing that accident. We got to the Santa Monica pier around 6:00 pm, the pier was packed with people. I was amazed to see the carnival rides complete with Ferris wheel! All the sights and sounds that go along with a carnival, cotton candy, the metallic music from the carousel wheel, all the stuffed animals hanging, begging you to win them and take them home. One half of the pier is the carnival the other half is shops and street vendors. There are artist there that can carve your image in clay in less than 20 minutes! The likeness was amazing. I saw puppeteers, jugglers, painters and sketch artist. At the end of the pier people were fishing, live music from a one man band echoed out across the water, just behind the Mexican restaurant. The breeze felt good against the city heat, even this late in the day but the sun would be setting soon and we needed to be on the other side of LA before night fall. Rumor has it that Route 66 starts at the Santa Monica pier, I tried to find it so that we could take it thru LA. This is probably the most troublesome part of Route 66. If we were in car I could navigate it better but since we were on a bike we choose to get on Highway 10 and cross over LA then pick Route 66 up on the other side. I was later to find out that Route 66 doesnt start at Santa Monica Pier; that was an advertising gimick to promote Will Rogers latest film; complete with a plaque. By nightfall we found ourselves in West Covina. It was a good place to call it a night. Tomorrow we would find a book store and get some good maps and head out.

Aptos, Ca to San Simeon,Ca

kimber — Thu, 16 Aug 2007 20:03:16 GMT

I have discovered something about myself; I knew I loved the big fast city life, all the lights, the hustle, the people and many different venues of entertainment a big city has to offer. However, when it comes to traveling I found I prefer the Highways to the big Interstates. When traveling on the Interstates you go at speeds so fast you can barely find your exit. They also tend to snake thru the land out in the middle of nowhere; you know there is life out there because you can see the houses in the distance. Interstates were meant for one thing; getting from point A to point B quickly. I like the slower pace of the highways. There is so much to see. Highways take you through those little towns – remember the houses you saw in the distance? Highways open the window to the town’s history as you travel through it. There are old buildings with the paint peeling, weeds growing tall where people once used to walk. You see old cars, rusty, no windows, no wheels, flowers sprouting out the engine compartment. These cars once used to travel these roads; taking families on vacation – kids fighting in the backseat. Maybe, they stopped for ice cream at the parlor up the road and decided they liked this town so much they stayed. Highway (Hwy) 1 snakes along the California coast, along the cliffs of Monterey through the mountains of Big Sur and down onto the beaches of Santa Monica. The road is well paved for the most part, there are lots of fun corners most are 25-10mph. You find yourself doing a 180 degree turn and heading back the direction you came. The breeze that comes off the Pacific Ocean is cool; I still wear my jacket and chaps to keep warm thru the huge trees. As the sun rises and warms the land you can smell the pine tar and the flowers that grow wild along the highway. I love all the smells as you travel; well for the most part. I could have done without the skunk or the roadkill on the side of road. There is a route we want to take in Monterey, Ca called the 17 mi loop. This loop takes you out along the cliffs of the Pacific along Pebble beach. We pulled up to the toll booth, so excited, the road ahead is shady from all the trees, so scenic. But the toll booth attendant tells us that they don’t allow motorcycles on this loop. As we head back through town and head towards Hwy 1, I was a little sad that we will miss that part of our journey. Our next stop is Big Sur. The climb thru the mountains is wonderful, filled with breathtaking scenery of the ocean and the mountains. I was amazed to find Belly dancing stuff at the gift shop at Big Sur! She had typical coin belts and some of the most beautiful Kuchi cuffs I have ever seen but they were $435 so I just looked. There is a mini bus that someone turned into a store. You just grab a cool drink and head out back to the little creek that runs behind it. There are lawn chairs in the creek, kick your shoes off, roll your pants up and cool off in the creek. Next stop is San Simeon, Ca., I want to tour Hearst Castle. As we waited for the tour I sat outside and shared a cookie with the ravens. Man I love ravens. The tour last around and hour and is wonderful. This castle sits about 5 mi off the hwy (you have to take the tour bus up there). You can read all about Hearst Castle at http://www.Hearstcastle.com . It was built in the late 1800-early 1900 and is absolutely amazing. I realized something through this long twisty ride, it is a lot like life. When you are traveling you keep your eyes on where you ‘want’ to go. Once in awhile you glance in the rearview to see where you have been. But then you quickly switch your focus back to where you want to be. You don’t look at the road directly beneath you or you will see all the bumps and rocks that can trip you up. You focus on the horizon. It is the same with life, don’t look at the past too much or you lose focus on where you ‘want’ to be. It is easy to get stuck, ‘no matter how far down the scale we fallen we will see how our experience can benefit others’. Believe it or not I’m thankful for my past; it is made me who I am today. This statement may shock those that know my past, but it is true, and it has given me peace. In life it is easy to get tripped up by the little stuff that falls at our feet as we go through our daily life, same as focusing on the ground as you ride. It is better just to glance once in awhile to stay safe, take care of things that you can, let go of the things you can’t. I discovered that in life, and in riding, I tend to focus on the horizon. I enjoy the scenery, I enjoy the experience, and I enjoy the journey. All of this came to me because of the one time I wrecked a motorcycle when I was 15 yr. My family was coming home from bike trip to the Oregon Coast. We each had our own bike. My brother, Dale, and I were in the lead and kinda playing around, we went to make a right hand curve, I took the inside and he was on the outside. I hit that small pea-gravel on the inside corner and down I went. I can still remember to this day, sliding on the gravel, it is all in slow motion in my brain. So now when I take corners, I lose my focus. I tend to look at the ground under my feet, my bike slows way down and my riding is not as effective as it could be. Clint noticed this and suggested I look as far into the corner as I can, keep your focus there, he said. I did, well I tried, old habits are hard to break and I found he was right. This new way of taking corners didn’t come easily for me, I had to keep trying and even know 4000 miles later, and I find I still want to look down at my feet, but can quickly switch my focus back to the horizon. It is a good thing. We stayed the night in San Simeon. The hotel where we stayed had a hotel with an outside patio. Everyone on the patio applauded when the sun dropped into the ocean – yeah there was lots of drinking. Then the weirdest thing, all the wait staff brought out blankets and bundled us all up so we could finish our dinner. It was a great dinner; wish I could remember the name of the place. We went back to our room and Clint decided to take a Jacuzzi. He filled the tub and checked all the jets, then turned it on. As the water sprayed everywhere – I scrambled off the bed trying to get out the stream, running to the jacuzzi trying to find the off switch. Meanwhile, Clint was trying to block the jets from spraying all over, but he was out numbered 12 to 1. The water shot all the way across the bed to the front door and walls and everything in between, including the bed. Needless to say, the laptop was on the bed and it too got a jacuzzi. That was the death of our laptop. Sometimes it is the little stuff that trips you up.

Monday August 6 - Millbrea, ca to Aptos,ca

kimber — Mon, 13 Aug 2007 03:43:25 GMT

Ahhh the first day back on the bikes - had the hotel bus drop us off at the bikes, couldnt wait to see them. They were just as we had left them, safe and sound. We arrived in Millbrea around 6am - so we grabbed a room and slept till noon, we really wanted to ride so we started out of town. Our plan is to hit Highway 1 and take the coastal route to Santa Monica; that is where Route 66 starts, on the pier. The final destination for this trip will be Cordell, Ok. That is where clint's parents live. we will store our bikes there, fly home, pay off this trip and earn some more money to start planning our next trip. We would like to finish Route 66 by the end of this Fall. For those that arent familar with Route 66, it is considered the Mother Road of America. It travels from Chicago, Il, to Santa Monica pier, Ca. Some of the history dates back to the late 1800's. The history is rich and there are still some business' that are still around, most however are just ruins. Some time around the 1970's the Interstates took over, poor Route 66 was left to die. But there are those in America that believe that "how" you get there is more fun that 'how fast' you can get some place. Route 66 takes you off the fast track and allows you to enjoy the journey. In some places like Oatman, Ca. it is a step back in time, nothing has changed in this town since the early 1900's (well atleast not on the surface). I will talk about Oatman later. Since we got such a late start on the day - we only make it to a little town called Aptos. We are just grateful that we were able to find Hwy 1 without being run over by the rush hour traffic in Millbrea. Aptof is just South of Santa Cruz. It is a quiet town, the streets rolled up at 9pm, we found this out at 9:15pm when we decided we were starving - only to find a vending machine to feast on. Here is a hint - dont get the chips that are good for you, they smell good, sun dried tomatoes and spinch but they taste like cardboard. but at this stage of the game i will eat anything. The bed is soft, it is late. Im glad just to sleep.

July 17th San Fran to anchorage, ak

kimber — Wed, 18 Jul 2007 17:38:04 GMT

well busy day today, need to get packed up and ready to fly home tonight. I called several motorcycle shops in this area but they are all closed on monday. Clint found one on the net that is about 11 mi from here I called them. Mission Motorcycle, Marc answered the phone, he said they had 2 windshields in stock but they fit a 7/8th handle bars. woo hoo i was in luck, the theives only stole the shield itself, i still had my mounting brackets (they are 1in). Marc was so sweet on the phone he wanted to know all about our trip, our plans and how my windshield was stolen. It was a nice drive down to Daly,Ca where the bike shop is. The town was all misty but warm out. We decided to take the city streets instead of the freeways (those freeways are killer). we found the shop, no problem. While i was explaining to the service guy about my windshield - marc popped out the back room. He is a little cutie, goatie, dirty blonde hair in braids and dreads under his granola stockin cap. He points at me "Chick from alaska?" I smiled. "one sec" as he went back thru the door. two seconds later he pops out with the exact windshield i need. It is all dusty and has seen some lovin, he tosses it on the counter. "Guess what i found?" he smiles. He goes on to tell me that he thought he had just taken a spitfire windshield off his own bike a few months ago, so when we got off the phone he went looking for it. "its yours, if you want it" I was flabergausted!!! I offered to pay him for it but he wouldnt hear of it. "Good road karma." he smiled "enjoy" we bought a few bike covers and i found a Cortex riding jacket. I had to bring my leather home, it just does not keep you warm like Cortex does. Eventually i will find some riding pants to go with the jacket. The nice thing about Cortex is that it is rainproof, and breathable. It also has pads built into sensitive areas like elbows, kidneys, and shoulders. I wore it back to the hotel and it was wonderful, the sun was out and i was still comfortable. we lucked out storing our bikes, the hotel we were staying at has a secured long term parking. So we found a nice spot in the back under a tree and prepared the bikes for the 2 week rest. Unfortunately the bike covers didnt quite fit but good enough for now. The flight home was uneventful, I read John Grisham's new book Bleachers. it is a good story about some old high school football buddies that come back to their home town for their coaches funeral. it was just perfect, finished the book as we were descending into anchorage. James was woke up just as we were falling asleep, cricket brought him in to our bedroom, He has changed so much, he sat up on my lap and was kinda yelling/talking to us. He really seemed like he missed us. He "talked" to us for about 15 min. What a little charmer he is. hopefully i will see Jesse today after he gets home from daycare. that is the downside to traveling, I miss my kids/grandkids so much. I get to talk to dakota everynight on the phone, she tells me about school and what she ate for lunch. Her newest thing is "14 days with no accidents" That just means that she has gone that long with out peeing in her pants. Now she is 'bigger and bigger' and can move up to the next 'grade' in her school. I got even luckier today, I was supposed to work but i was able to get put "on call". So that meant i could sleep in, and just wait to see if the hospital needs me today. I will be able to unpack and get some things done around the house. /great to be home kimber

July 16th Ukiah,ca to San Fran - WE MADE IT

kimber — Tue, 17 Jul 2007 04:29:15 GMT

what a great ride!!! we hung out in Ukiah until the only motorcycle shop that is open on Monday was open. we lucked out it was 2 blocks from our motel. they didnt have a pop on windshield so i picked up a flimsy face mask that fit my helmet. the only downside (really an upside for me) was that I could no longer carry the helmet cam; so clint popped it on his helmet and we discovered it rides much better on his helmet - better picture!!! Sweet! off we go. I have got to tell you this Hwy 101 is the best drive ever! It is not the fastest way to San Fran but it is definately the most enjoyable. we dropped out of the mountains into farm country - vineyards for as far as the eye can see. These places must really rake in the dough because each 'farm house' looked like a picture out of town an country magazine. They just made you want to stop at each one. it was waaaaayyyyy to early in the day to be stopping for wine tasting - if i had started that i might not crawl back on my bike for a week. "Will work for Wine" There are a few gorgeous mountains between Ukiah and San Fran - as we flew down the last one the wind started. Oh My Gooses!!!!! I thought the wind coming off the Arctic ocean was cold. The gust were so strong I really had to fight to keep my bike in my own lane. Regardless of what the speed limit is posted - everyone does 70-80. So keep up or get run over. I was really feeling out of my element, like a little tiny fish in a great big ocean. Still feeling that way a little bit, but if i lived here - it would be a different story. There is a little park on the west side of the golden gate bridge. We took the scenic tour with 15-25 mi curves, gusting winds and breath taking views of the bay/Golden Gate. (I will post pics when im done). We stopped at a little pull out on the way down and parked our bikes with the view of the Golden Gate behind us. Before we could even get off our bikes a lady jumped out of her car and said "can i take some pictures for you of both you and the bikes?" how sweet was that? There was a huge raven behind us. She commented that she has never seen one that big here (she was taking some friends sightseeing). I told her it was alaskan size - musta followed us down the alcan. She tried to get the raven in the shot with us, but he wouldnt cooperate. Going across the Golden Gate was awesome, it is something Clint has wanted to do all his life. he told me today - he hasnt been to California before; well, except when he was 2 yrs old and he doesnt remember it. Hwy 101 snakes you thru down town San Fran all the hills and trolley cars, the beatiful old sculptured buildings. I really love going to downtown in any town. it is the heart of the city, the birthplace. there is usually so much history that you can just see in the way the buildings are made. After a little bit of "touring" (i dont call it being lost) we found a hotel by the airport. well, i think it is actually ON the airport it is so dang close. Seriously, I can look out my window and watch them load the luggage. We dumped our bags and headed out to Belise ( i think that is the way you spell it) Clints friend Tiny lives out there. It was around 430pm when we left here...... always plan your trips according to the time. in other words Dont leave during Rush Hour. Belise is about 40mi from where we are - it took over an hour and half to get there. I was amazed to see that it is legal in California to "split lanes". Not that i would ever do it, but it is legal for motorcycles to ride IN BEWTEEN the cars. You dont need a lane, just the dotted line!!! Since clint and I both decided that wasnt for us - that explains why it took an hour half to go 40 mi. Belise is a wonderful little town that is surrounded on 3 sides by water and the Vallejo. tiny lives in my dream house. a Warehouse - with all the "toys" downstairs and a loft studio apartment upstairs. One day - when my kids are grown (all of them) I will sell my house and by a warehouse, half will be a dance studio, half for bikes/truck and my little loft studio apartment - ahhhhh that will be a wonderful house for me. we have all day tomorrow to mess around in San Fran. I cant wait. enjoy the pics /shimmies k

july 15 from Bandon,ore. to Ukiah, Ca

kimber — Mon, 16 Jul 2007 14:58:41 GMT

ahhh you gotta love the oregon coast!!! woke up to the wonderful rainy/foggy/mist that makes it so green. I have been told in Scotland they would say "Tis a Soft day today" I told clint we jinxed ourselves when we didnt bring the rain gear in from the bikes the night before. I thought crawling on my bike would be rough, it was cold and wet, but actually once i was on the road it felt wonderful. Now, i can see why people love Hwy 101. It travels along the cliffs of the oregon coast there are breath taking views with every turn. It is also laid out pretty cool. You have a little 2 lane hwy (55mph) that winds in and out of the trees; so there are lots of fun corners to play on then opens up into a 4 lane freeway (65mph) to free up the congestion. I thought it was a great way to prevent road rage and accidents from people trying to pass when they really shouldnt. if you got behind someone going 40mph on the 2 lane road, you knew that in 5 miles or so it would open up to a freeway. my helmet cam is working great. i thought i would just film non-stop and then put it all on one disk in a higher speed. you know, like one of those videos where you can watch a flower sprout, bloom and wither in 2 min. the "soft" day continued until we hit the California border (seemed weird crossing into a state where you dont have to stop and talk to the border patrol). We climbed one last mountain and as we decended on the redwood forest the clouds were gone! the sun was shining the birds were chirping - well maybe not chirping, they looked more like buzzards or condors. I never considered myself a bird watcher, but there is something spectacular about a predatory bird (eagle, hawks, ect) circling in the sky. I love to watch them and see if i can figure out what it is. They were everywhere on this part of the trip, it was hard to keep my eyes on the road. We dropped into Cresent City, ca so happy just to be in california. even the sun was out there was still a chill in the air. So i kept most of my layers on, 2 shirts, 2 jackets, 2 pairs of pants, 1 pair of cow socks, my rain pants, but ditched my rain jacket with its duct tape cuffs. I loved how the scenery changed from ocean to redwood so quickly. the redwoods were huge, but not as big as they were going to get. We stopped at Legget, ca and rode our bikes thru the giant redwood, I put some pics up of that one. Clint and i decided we are going to try and stick to highway driving after this as opposed to freeway. people are so much more friendlier. we talked with this guy who is from Utah, he has rode his bike all over the lower 48 and up into the first part of canada but has not been able to take the trip to alaska. that is his next big dream. He told us all kinds of wonderful places to ride on our next trip. unfortunately we are going to miss the Sturgis rally (it is the first week of august). however, he did tell us to take the NE entrance of yellowstone park and take the Bear Tooth loop thru it. So that will be on our next trip in August. We arrived in Ukiah, Ca around 930pm, ordered some pizza and watched the movie Wild Hogs (man traveling is rough). I fell asleep during the last half of the movie, but what i did see made me laugh. I'm so excited we are a little over 100 miles from San Fran. I just want to get on the road and go, but we have to wait for the honda shop to open next door so i can get a new wind shield (mine was stolen). talk you guys tomorrow, hope all is well. kimber

July 14, 2007 Bandon, Ore.

kimber — Sun, 15 Jul 2007 04:01:00 GMT

Well the trip has been pretty uneventful so far. We spend the last few days catching up with clints friends that he has known since kindergarten. I think the last time we saw them all was about 10+ years ago. They all look wonderful, their kids are growing up faster than mine i think. So today marked our first real day of traveling. It has been 80-90 deg everyday, but now that we are traveling along the oregon coast the temp is more like anchorage. it was a welcome change after the sweltering heat. We took hwy 20 from Corvallis, or to Bandon, or. coming thru the mountains was heavenly. there were so many wonderful corners (bikes love corners). The sun we just breaking thru the thin clouds, warming the air in the forest, the smells were incredible; warm pine, fragrant flowers, fresh dirt. I love traveling thru the mountains. As we topped the hill coming into Newport the smell of the ocean hit me full force. I used to love the oregon coast, the beautiful jagged cliffs that over look the ocean, the "Dr Suess" looking trees that stand like sentinals along the cliffs. Now, that im older I realize the tremendous wind and rain it takes to create such a picture perfect scenery, so as i was cruising down the highway i thought "man, i would never want to live here - the wind would blow me over". Weird how much you think you stay the same but yet are ever changing. There is a fire blazing in away in the fireplace, the sun has set, the clouds are blushing pink, waves crashing on the beach; it is a good day to be alive.

June 22 - the end

kimber — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 15:52:47 GMT

dropped our bikes at the honda shop yesterday - it was so sad. like dropping your kids at summer camp. it was hard crawling in a car, i feel closed in, trapped. went and had dinner with clints parents and his aunt and uncle last night. I havent seen his aunt marie in 20yrs. what a wonderful woman, she is so welcoming, easy to chat with. i would liek to stop by again when we come down. salem is a hard town for me to be. I spent most of my teenage years here. I was able to spend the last 9 months of my mom's life with her here. now when i pull into town, i just miss her so much. she has been gone for 20 years and i have so much to tell her. weird even after 20 years, it makes me cry to be in this town. I wish she was here waiting for me. I think im ready to come back to alaska. we will drive the rental car to seattle in a few hours and get on the plane. lots of packing to do, see you guys tonight - we fly in at 730pm - then i have to work sat - tues. it is going to be a long haul thanks guys for coming on this trip with me, i thought about each of you alot while i was riding - our total trip 2800miles. /big hugs. k

June 21 - Lacey, Wa - Salem, Or

kimber — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 15:47:09 GMT

ahhhh the morning is incredibly beautiful - there isnt even any mist on our bike seats. clint is sad - he has been hauling this little 2.5gal gas can on the back of his bike since we left anchorage. for the last 2 nights he has been hoping someone would steal it - but there it sits to greet him in the morning. HA HA HA it is nice riding on the freeways - the road is so smooth, the corners are built for bikes. The traffic isnt too bad this morning. we stop to fill up one last time before we hit salem. there are probably 6 UPS semi's in the parking lot and it is like old home week inside the gas station. the 2 women running the place are calling each of the guys by name and harrassing them all unmercifully. i chuckle at some of the banter - but im feeling like an outsider - i miss the camaraderie of the yukon territores. Oh shoot i forgot to tell you guys about Frank. We met him yesterday in williams lake. he was riding a Boulevard - beautiful bike that i have never heard of. Frank is in his late 50's with a quick smile and a contagious laughter. his home is in Dawson Creek - just outside of Whitehorse. a few years back he went out and bought a little 900cc bike - he has never ridden a bike before in his life. He said he put about 500 mi on it and went home and told his wife he was going to trade it in on this new bike and ride to Florida. "wanna come" he asked. she laughed and said "Frank, you have never ridden a bike before in your life. I tell you what you go to florida and if you make it - you call me. I will fly down there and ride home with you" his nephew made the trip with him - all the stories he told made me laugh so hard. They got to florida and sure enough his wife flew down. they all had a great time on the trip home. sure wish i could tell the stories they way he does, you guys would be rolling. Frank would have been the last person that we were able to sit and chat with until we stopped for gas today. this old man came up and started talking to us, told us of a trip him and his wife took back in the 80's. he had a grey beard down to his belly. they were going to montana or wyoming and it started thundering/lightening they pulled off on the side of the road and knocked on this farm house door. the people wouldnt even answer the door. he said - "we just wanted to hide outside behind the barn till the storm passed" then he chuckled "i dont know if i would have answered the door either, we were probably pretty scarey looking" we arrived in salem around 9am. sun shining it is going to be a scorcher today 80+deg.

June 21 Quesnel - to Lacy, Wa

kimber — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 15:33:36 GMT

well, sure enough - sunny days make for boring stories. this was our longest stretch ever 700mi this day. the sun was so hot for the whole trip we both got sun burned pretty bad. it is wonderful. the countryside is wonderful, rolling green hills dotted with livestock - i even saw a llama!! oh yeah and the oreo cookie cow - black head and shoulders, black butt and hips, white creamy belly. Gotta love the oreo cookie cow complete with milk!!! we took a wrong turn at cache creek and headed towards Kamloops. it wasnt a bad thing, it just meant that we missed riding thru hell's canyon or devils canyon i cant remember. what i do remember from previous trips is that it is incredibly gorgeous!! the road we took was so high up 1444 meters that it looked mostly like desert but still wonderful. it dropped us down into the little town of hope. where we stopped for a little lunch. oh the border is so close i can taste it. before we knew it - we were in washington. it only took us a little over 24 hrs longer than we thought and technically our plane leaves seattle at 7pm. clint changed the plane reservations to friday at 7pm in quesnel (see i told you i was spoiled) when we arrived to seattle i had to pee sooooo bad. dont forget im the one that told clint "we dont have to stop at rest areas to pee, i would prefer just to pull off, no stinky outhouse to deal with - just squat do your business and your back on the road" pfft... in seattle it takes 15min to pee!!! you have to find an exit - stop at all the lights, find a gas station, get the key, do your stuff, (and the bathrooms are just as stinky as the outhouses) return the key, get back on the road, try and find the on ramp - no seattle doesnt always put the on ramps in the same location as the off ramp. deal with traffic, lights, pedestrians. and then finally 15 min later you are back doing 75mph. i told clint 'i want to go home, where the animals are friendly and predictable - (not like these hostile cars in rush hour traffic) and where it only takes 5min to pee." we are so close to our destination and yet so far. I told clint i would ride until i was too cold to ride any more. that is how we ended up in lacey, Wa. only 160 mi from our destination. it was about 9pm when we pulled in. we ate first and then went to our room. normally we kinda unpack a little, straighten up stuff, hang up our gear (mostly so it will dry by morning - hee hee it has been dry for 2 days now), but not tonight, we laughed the next morning - there sat all our stuff in a giant heap on the floor. we were so tired after 700mi it was all we could do just to take it off and die for the night. im so excited - we are almost there.

June 20 Pink Mountain to Quesnel (pronounced Qui-nel)

kimber — Fri, 22 Jun 2007 15:14:49 GMT

waking up at our typical 4am (damn my internal clock) the weather outside was soft and misty and a wee bit cold - elevation 944meters. crawling on the bike wasnt as hard as i thought it would be. the morning reminded me of when i was growing up on a strawberry farm. while the rest of my school mates were sleeping in and enjoying summer, my brothers and i were up at 5am facing the same soft misty cold mornings. Hitting the field early so we could get our work done. the rows between the strawberries were mud, the bushes themselves were wet, you learned to kick them with your boots to knock most of the water off it before you picked the berries so your hands could stay a little warmer. the nice thing about those days is that the sun always came out around 10-11am and dried everything up. you would find yourself peeling the layers of clothing off as the morning wore on, and by lunch you were just in jeans and a tank top. I was hoping the yukon territory would be the same. we got about 30m down the road and my fingers were so cold i could hardly brake.the roads werent bad this morning just a little wet so we were making good time it was just so dang cold. i pulled off and asked clint if we could change bikes. His has a huge windshield. oh my gosh!!!! his bike is heaven!!! my body stopped shivering.... my fingers could move somewhat freely - i dont think i will ever give his bike back. about another 30miles down the road and he stops. crawls off the bike "damn woman - you are one tough chick!! i dont see how you rode this bike all this way" he had to add some more layers and adjust some of his stuff so he could stay warm. he would go on to tell every one we talk to from here on out " i wasnt on that bike for more than 30 min before i had to pull over to get warm and she did 1800 miles in that!!!" i have such a wonderful husband. he makes me smile so big. We stopped at Wonowon to fill up and the guy running the place told us we just missed the hail storm. hee hee miracles DO happen!! the ride was incredibly beautiful - up so high - we were riding even with the snow capped mountains in the distance. I was so glad clint changed bikes with me. i was able to stop shaking long enough to enjoy it. we didnt see any animals on the trip down the mountain, a few eagles and lots of hawks. that is ok though, I am thrilled that i was able to see all the bear - 11 total. i wish i could remember what town we had just left when we saw bear #10. I was on clints bike - so it had to be on this leg of the journey. He was a huge black bear, about as big as my bike. we could see him crossing the road in the distance. so we slowed down. as we got closer, he just stopped in our lane. luckily it was on a straight stretch - i was worried about stopping in the middle of the road and being rear-ended. we were revving our bikes and inching closer. clint started honking his horn and still the bear just looked at us. he was like a troll that wanted something so that we could cross his road. I was trying not to get too close - you know a bear can be 0-60 in 3 leaps. although that cant keep that up long - it is certainly enough to grab hold of my bike. it felt like forever - this stand off with this bear - but either he finally figured that we were worth much - or that the noise from our bikes was deafening. he wandered off to the side of the road and we rode past. just around the corner were some tourist parked sideways on the road looking at a moose. silly tourist.... they could have looked a bear right in the eye if they had kept moving. ahhhh it 'was' going to be like my strawberry mornings!!!! The sun!!! i feel its heat thru all my gear. our next stop for gas - we start peeling layers. What a glorious day!!!! We decided to take the Hudson Hope loop because it was sunny, the roads were dry and it is a beautiful drive- saves you a couple hours. we were waiting to make the decision until we were closer, mostly because the road has soooo many corners and sooooo many deer. I am glad we took it - we dropped down off that mountain into some of the most incredibly beautiful farm country!!! and yes there are a ton of deer. luckily they all just sat on the side of the road eating breakfast watching us go by. i thought wow... dinner and a movie for the deer - no wonder they like to eat here. we stopped at a town called clinton ( hee hee gotta stop there for my husband) for breakfast - peeled off the last of our gear - repacked and we were back on the road. we left our leather on for safety reasons - we are able to go 75-80mph now. the curves are so smooth you dont even have to slow down - wow this is a great day. prince george is a large town - we were able to find a bike shop with a universal windshield that would fit my bike. it was about 80 deg outside. we had to peel our jackets off for the rest of the ride. i have noticed now that we are back in "civilization" that people arent as quick to strike up a conversation. no one talks to each other at the gas pumps, no one hanging out drinking coffee outside talking about their adventures. it makes me a little sad. i love meeting people - hearing their stories, hearing their plans for what is next. i am thankful for this whole trip - with out the rain, the mud, the crappy horrible roads, or if i had a windshield ..... think of how boring my trip would be!!! all these things are great. There would be no trash bag butt, no garbage bag feet..... nothing to tell at all. I love this trip and really am not ready for it to end. even though we are still so far from our destination - i have a feeling that the adventure is over - now it will just be a trip. we got to quesnel around 7pm - tired, a bit sunburned - starving. ate some dinner and slept - damn - beds feel so wonderful when you are so tired. that was the first place with internet access so i was able to start the blog. however, i was too tired to write it all. i have noticed now

June 18 Watson Lake to Pink Mountain

kimber — Wed, 20 Jun 2007 04:48:37 GMT

didnt even have to set the alarm clock this morning - the thunder and lightening woke us up around 530am. made a cuppa insta sanka - crawled into my semi dry clothes, complete with new garbage bags for my feet. trudging out to the bike i wondered "who's brainy idea was this any way?" it was sooooo hard to crawl on the bike that morning, looking on the horizon there was nothing but black black clouds. once again i was smacking myself for not having a windshield. on the brightside, the roads were smooth and mostly straight. I have always been a little worried about riding in the rain, my bike hydroplanes so bad, you have to take corners so slow - no leaning your bike into the corner. this was going to be a long long day. about 10 min into the trip i could feel cold rain water soaking my butt, /sigh - it is going to be even longer than i imagined. we stopped at the first lodge we came across, there were about 6 other bikers there headed N. I stripped off my rain gear, they all laughed when they saw how wet i was. then they pulled out their rain gear and started putting in on before they headed out. i went in and bought some large heavy duty garbage bags, dug some semi dry jeans out of my bag - poked 2 holes in the bottom of the garbage bag and slid my legs thru them. as i was tucking the top of the garbage into my jeans, the waitress wandered by and said "nice butt" - imagine this huge bubble of air trapped in the garbage bag (front and back) "yeah but check out my package" i said as i turned around. everyone laughed. it was fun cuppa coffee later - repack and we were off. The garbages worked like a dream!!! I was dry, so cold....they said the temp was 7-9c - not sure what that is in F - but let me tell you at 70mph it is cold - damn where is my windshield. we saw another grizzly with 2 cubs, i dont think i have ever seen so many bears in one trip. we saw a young brown bear hanging out with a young black bear. clints first thought was "where are your mothers?" there were so many buffalo i lost count. a few moose (they look so small compared to ours) but for the most part, they all just sat on the edge of the road and watched us go by. we finally got to fort nelson around 3pm - found a work store and bought some rain gear. it isnt meant for motorcyles but at this point i didnt care. i just wanted to be dry. oh did i mention i finally bought some riding boots. All this time I have been in street boots with 3 inch heels!! there are a few women who can say they rode their bikes down the alcan, they might even be a few that can say they did it without a windshield. but I would like to find the one that can add "and i did it in 3 inch heels" the rain just never stopped that day. we tried to push on but about 60 clicks out of town, by body was broken, my feet so cold i couldnt shift my gears any more. we stopped at the first lodge we found. so full of life, every one gathered around the fire, talking about their day, eating dinner. when they lady told me they were full - i almost cried. then she said there is another lodge about 15 clicks down the road. nice place you will like it. as i was drying my gloves by the fire there were some pictures of this young man, Jeremiah, on horse - all signed by him. He rode his horse from palmer, ak to mexico!!! it only took him 2 yrs to do it. he kept in touch with this lodge and sent them pictures and post cards along the way. one of the sayings on his picture was "if your gonna be dumb - you gotta be tough" back out into the rain - the 15 clicks felt like 1500 clicks. but there at the bottom of hill sat a tiny little store, 3 cabins off to the side. as we pulled up a man came out to greet us. rain beating down on him - "sure we got a room - take them middle cabin the door is open" sure enough it was open. we dumped our helmets and went to pay for the room. the store was so warm and cozy, lazy dog by the fire, too tired, or too cold to get up to greet us. the mans wife popped up out of her easy chair and came right over. "welcome" the man behind the counter "take some movies - there is some microwave popcorn over there" he said as he pointed to the wall of movies. "i will be right back - gonna turn the heat up in that cabin for you guys" he was out the door before we could stop him. what a nice couple - they went out of their way to make us feel welcome, warm, entertained and dry. once again i dont remember my head hitting the pillow. this was the longest day yet - on the road 16 hours. only made 500 clicks. trying not to be depressed about it - listening to the rain hit the roof - i slept.