The Zipsicle

We’re here safe and sound. I forgot to check the trip meter but we must be around 870 miles so far. Very fun miles.

We started out this morning from the Brooks Street Motor Inn (tip – if you’re ever look for a place to spend the night in Missoula and you see this place we recommend that you go a bit further and stay somewhere else) where we met up with 5 other bikes from another group. Our ten bikes jumped onto I-90 and drove east to Garrison, Montana where we turned north onto Highway 12 towads Helena. Except for a bit of road construction where we got to practice our gravel riding skills the ride was pretty but uneventful. In Helena we gassed up and Jax and I decided that we’d like to ride on in a smaller group so John G and Perry G and Jax anbd I grouped up to ride the rest of the way to Billings.

We stopped in White Sulpher Springs, Montana for lunch (Dori’s Cafe – a recommended stop) where another rider caught up to us and decided to join us. Eastbound on 12 was very pretty but we hit one stretch where the grasshoppers decided to suicide against our bikes and bodies. One of them hit my faceshield so hard that Jax heard the thud through the intercom! We also had a deer that tried hard to become a fender ornament on either Perry or John’s bike but we all managed to slow and avoid the animal. We saw quite a few deer and antelope in the surrounding countryside as we rode along through the usual lovely scenery.

There’s a lot of bikes here in Billings from around the country and we’re seeing some old friends and making some new ones. Tomorrow morning we’ll attend the opening ceremonies and visit some of the vendors attending this year’s STAR Days (hmmmmm – wonder what else we can fit on the Zipsicle…):

We’ll be here for the next 4 days and they should be fun…

Ride safe,
Zippo and Jax

Oh, what a day! I don’t believe they come any better than this…

Today we rode out of Lewiston over Lolo Pass into Missoula, Montana. 99 miles of twisty and scenic roads. Simply an incredibly beautiful motorcycle road along the river and over Lolo summit. I don’t have a picture of the 99 twisty miles sign but we did manage to get a picture of the 56 mile sign 43 miles later:

We stopped for lunch at a picnic table along the way where Jax caught me getting ready to devour my sandwich:

It was tasty! We had a great day with something like 220 miles or so logged. Tomorrow we’re off on our final leg of back roads to Billings. Should be another beautiful day! Here’s image of the Zipsicle at the Lolo Pass Summit:

Ride safe,
Zippo and Jax

Wow! What a great day. The Zipsicle logged 414 miles from Burlington, Washington to Lewiston, Idaho. Very nice ride over Steven’s Pass and through the old basalt lava fields in eastern Washington. Some beautiful backroads from Wenatchee to Ritzville and we were on to Lewiston. Here’s a picture of the group in Burlington before we left this morning:

We rode in temperatures up around 100 degrees and I’m pleased to report that our Colorado CoolWear functioned as advertised and was very welcome. They provided enough cooling to make the high temperatures very bearable and we were really glad that we had them.

Tomorrow we’re off eastbound on Highway 12 and will be traveling over Lolo Pass to Missoula, Montana. It should be another great ride and we’re looking forward to some more wonderful scenery and twisty roads.

And, so far, we haven’t even found anything we’ve forgotten to bring!

Ride safe,
Zippo and Jax

When you own kitties, a good night’s sleep is a thing of the past. Oh, well. We’re excited to be leaving and now it’s time to get dressed and try to figure out if we’re forgetting anything. I don’t see how we could be since it feels like we’ve got most of the house and half our closet packed onto the Zipsicle. I have no doubts that the bike will handle the extra load gracefully and well. I wonder if we could enroll the Zipsicle in Weight Watchers?

After breakfast at Bob’s Burger and Brew in Burlington and a quick rider’s meeting, our four bikes will jump onto I-5 for the start of our journey south. From I-5 we’ll turn onto Highway 2 where we’ll stop in Sultan and pick up another rider. After a quick meeting to familiarize the new rider with our hand signals we’ll be back on Highway 2 eastbound. Our first fuel stop is slated for Leavenworth, Washington. From there we head to Quincy and Ephrata for a bit of backroads to a town called Sprague, Washington. From Sprague it’s south to Lewsiton, Idaho and our first of many motels for the evening…

I hope to have a picture or two for you this evening – wireless access permitting, of course. It’s going to be a looooong day and we’re really going to enjoy it!

Ride safe,
Zippo and Jax

What a lot to do! Might be easier to stay home… Naw… Still need to give the bike a good washing. Finish packing. Finish programming all the stops into the GPS. Recheck the tire pressure. Did I pack the iPod charging cord? The excitement is starting to get to us. Easier for me since I’m not working. I think Jax is clock watching which always makes the day seem a bit longer. We are definitely anxious to get on the road. I suppose this time next week our butts will make us wish we were home petting kitties!..

We’re meeting our fellow travelers at Bob’s Burger and Brew in Burlington in the morning. We’ll probably go early and have a bit of breakfast. A quick preride meeting and we’ll be off. See you on the road!

Ride safe,
Zippo and Jax

One more day and a get up…

We’ve been thinking a lot about our sanity. I mean, who chooses to ride in the desert in July? Unfortunately, seems like some of the places we want to see on this trip are located in the desert and no one has offered to move them for us so looks like we’ll need to adapt. As part of our adaptation we’ve purchased mesh riding gear. We’ve had a chance to try it out in 100 degree temperatures and guess what. It’s hot! Not as hot as leathers but still hot; at least when you’re not on the bike. As soon as we get moving, though, it seems reasonably comfortable. It has the added benefit of keeping the direct sun away from our skin as well as providing armor in case of the dreaded fall and some protection against the abrasive pavement.

Since we’re anticipating temperatures above 100 degrees we decided to try a couple of “Cool Vests”. After some searching on the web web found the “Colorado Cool Wear” website. We liked that they make the vests themselves and the prices were very similar to what we’d pay locally for an imported vest so we decided to spring for a couple of them. Since it was Sunday when we decided on these and since we’re leaving on our ride this coming Saturday, I thought I’d give them a call at their toll free number and see if there was a chance on paying extra to get them quick shipped. Being Sunday, there was no answer so I left a message figuring I’d hear back on Monday. Within an hour I had a call back from “Bill” to inform me that they ship all of their vest using priority shipping and it wouldn’t be a problem getting a couple to us before we left. Nice guy!

Sure enough, they arrived late yesterday and we got our first look at them. Nicely made and they fit well. They have tubes for the water absorbing crystals sewn into them and, for the money, they look like they’re going to work very well. I’ll be reporting on how well they function once we get into the desert heat but I’m expecting that they’ll make a very nice addition to our gear. We’ve also added some cooling bandanas so we should be good to go.

Now, who says we’re crazy to ride in the desert?

We are only two days and a get up from our first long trip on the Zipsicle. As you can imagine, our time is taken up with planning everything from where to go to what to pack. We’ve wondered a bit, whether or not it’s better to plan the route extensively, with anticipated fuel stops, meal stops, and motel reservations or whether it might be better to just wing it and take it as it comes. In this regard, we’ve planned the first part of our trip pretty extensively in cooperation with the folks we’ll be riding along with on the journey. Since the second (and longer) part of our trip is by ourselves we’ve decided to take it as it comes. We have some planned places we want to visit along the way but we’re not reserving motels or trying to decide now where we’ll eat or stop for fuel.

A friend of ours says that he couldn’t travel in this way. He has to know where he’s going to stop and stay each night. He says that he’ll often figure out where he thinks he’ll be for the night and will use an AAA travel guide, or something similar, to locate a motel and will call ahead for reservations. We see the logic in this and recognize the need for some security but, in our case, have decided we’ll travel each day, seeing the things we want to see, stopping when we feel like stopping (given the constraints of the mileage we’ll need to cover each day to make it home in time to keep from losing our jobs! ), and staying when we see a place we think we’d like to stay. Clearly, we’ll need to look ahead a bit so that we don’t run out of fuel in the desert but we think that minimal planning should allow us a bit more flexibilty and enjoyment of the journey versus thinking about the destination…

Now, do I take along the running shoes or the sandals…

Ride safe!
Zippo and Jax

We helped out at the monthly BBQ at our local dealer – Skagit Powersports in Burlington, Washington. They had a nice 2008 GoldWing with low miles that they were looking to sell in a hurry. Very nice price. Jax and I took it for a test drive and hoo boy! Now we know how the other half lives! What a sweet ride. Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending) they wouldn’t offer us as much on the Zipsicle as I wanted for a trade but we were close. It would have been a very difficult decision since we’ve done so much to the Zipsicle, are so happy with it and it fits me so well. But, man! That Wing… Here’s an image:

Today, Jax and I and some folks from our local STAR Touring and Riding group – Chapter 154, rode into Bellingham, Washington to Memorial Park to pay our respects to The Wall. Jax and I give our heartfelt thanks to all of our servicemen and veterans…

Ride safe
Zippo and Jax

Only one more week to go before we leave for Billings. Getting short and we’re really looking forward to going…

Tomorrow we head down to Skagit Powersports in Burlington, Washington for the monthly BBQ. SPS hosts the BBQ and provides the food and facilities and STAR Chapter 154 provides the labor and accepts donations for the “Feed the Children” charity. A worthy cause. It’s always a fun day and we usually go for a ride after the BBQ is over. Tomorrow our group intends to ride into Bellingham to Memorial Park where we’ll pay our respects to “The Wall”; the American Veteran’s Traveling Tribute. Afterwards, we’ll head to the South Side of Bellingham where we know a place with 23 different flavors of soft serve ice cream. Weather’s supposed to be good and any ride that ends with ice cream is a great ride!

The Zipsicle just turned 13,000 miles today, Yesterday she was in for her belated 12,000 mile service (no I didn’t ride a 1,000 miles since yesterday! ). She now runs with synthetic oil. Shifting seems to be a bit more smooth and she’s running good. The service department did say that her rear brakes are down to 50%. They would have changed them while they had the rear tire off installing a new Metzler rear tire (180-70-16) but they didn’t have the parts in stock. The brakes will get changed when we get back from our trip and should be fine ’til then.

Ride safe!
Zippo and jax

Jax and I had the opportunity to ride in escort with the American Veteran’s Traveling Tribute, yesterday, and were very proud to do so. We are not veterans but sure do thank our veterans and servicemen and jumped at the chance to lend our support to them. We met The Wall at the Smokey Point rest area near Arlington, Washington off I-5 where we joined around 500 other veterans and supporters.

The State Patrol secured one lane of I-5 for our use and we rode along with The Wall.

The Wall arrived safely at Memorial Park in Bellingham where there was a ceremony held for our veteran’s.

The Zipsicle rode proudly with American flag deployed.

Mine and Jax’s thanks and gratitude go out to all veterans and serviceman as well as the Police and Firefighters who serve so well and so faithfully. Thank you.

Ride safe!
Zippo and Jax