Day 5

It's raining and my bike won't start.

Have a call in to a VERS list VROCer
Have a call in to the local Kawasaki dealer.

When it stops actively raining, I'll check the battery. I don't think that's the problem, but it's a place to start.
I already pulled apart the switch housing, but I can't see any problems there.

Good news is I'm in a hotel room and not on the side of the road.

Lessons learned - try to start the bike one more time before letting the tow guy load it.

After callings four different tow companies I found one that could tow a bike. He was extremely careful and considerate, didn't even comment when the tears started rolling down my face. That's when I knew this bike was truly mine.

Get it offloaded at the shop, tech rolls it in, pushes the starter button and she fires! WTF?
Guy looks at me and says, "The kill switch was on."
.
.
.
I may be an idiot at times, but I KNOW I checked that a dozen times. I think, somehow, taking apart the housing and putting it back on did something. But I should have tryed it one more time before the tow guy loaded.

So no sightseeing today, just got on 101 and ran.

Thanks for the emails and calls, nice to know you care.

Miles for the day = 286                                   Total = 1092

Day 4

Jerry and his wife Carol put me up for the first night on the road.

Jerry is heading off to work.

Thanks for the hot tub, guys. Just what I needed after all the rain and cold.

Redwood National Forest

I stopped the bike and pointed the camera straight up

                                                  Forest floor

                                                      Bit of coast

Very touristy and bad for the tree, but I couldn't resist

Lunch at Abel's

I've never seen anyone use kidney beans in a side salad but it works.

There are two chicken enchiladas in there. Nice presentation.

BIG tree

More forest floor

Stopped in Santa Rosa, CA for the night.

Miles for the day = 308                                                                    Total = 806

Day 3

Send off crew from Battle Ground, WA.

Thanks Wrongway! You have a great family, hugs to your wife!

Lunch

Needed to warm up

I made it to the ocean outside Lincoln City, WA Cold and wet all day.

More beach view

If you look close there is a sea lion on the rock below with hundreds of birds. I missed the actual "Sea Lion Cove"

Lighthouse

Sherm and Pat let me warm up at their house(Coos Bay). Pat served up homemade soup and hot coffee, I really needed that for the final push to Gasquet, CA Thank you for the warm-up!

Miles for the day = 390                                                Total miles = 498

Day 2

 All the stuff in the boxes is loaded

 Wrongway is going to ride with me today, we will end up at his house later.

He is the one that handled the transaction for the bike, and Viper stored her since February.



Viper and 'Goose, plus their sweet dog saying good bye 

 Mt St Helens hiding behind the clouds

Dinner with some local VROC'ers near Battle Ground, Wa. Wrongwy and family at end of table.

yes, that is a tower of onion rings.

Other half of table.

Miles or the day = 108        Total miles = 108

Day 1

DIA - 5:30am
Leaving my car with my youngest

Airlines are airlines, but I like that Frontier has animals on their tails. DIA terminal in background.

Viper met me at the Portland airport. Thanks, buddy!


Took the Goddess out for a get aquainted ride, through the rain, to fill up with high octane and get enough oil for a change. Pretty scary after a year of no riding, but just what I needed to get my head ready for the road.
Started to pack the three boxes I had shipped. Tools, helmets, leather and other riding gear. Viper shaking his head saying I should ship half of it back. :-)

Gormet pizza at Walking Man Brewery

                                            Owner and Brewmaster

                                           One of the bathroom doors, the other one says "readers".
                                           Which one are you?

Starting out..

This will be a journal of my travels to pick up my "new" bike and ride the west coast before turning east to wind my way home.

I'm a member of VROC and will meet many of them in Deadwood for WWR5 http://www.wolfmanswanderingrally.com/

This is my 1500A and how I packed her on the way to Sturgis once. Camping in luxury with tent, cot, and chair.

She is crippled now and needs a rebuilt top end. So I bought a "new" bike to ride while I learn how to fix her.

This is the "new" bike, waiting for me at Viper's in Carson, Wa. Soooo sparkly! 1999 Nomad.