First Day (s)

Had a long and icky flight with not enough sleep, bad coffee and a sociopath 2-year old in the next seat. We were rewarded with a smooth transaction and the bike as advertised. We had some challenges getting all our stuff strapped on the bike but managed to get on the road by 2pm. The seller Rick was awesome and a huge help. He is sending some stuff to us by UPS.

We rode though 2 or 3 thunderstorms but only for the first 75 miles. After that it was on and off light rain. We had a minivan bite the wall right in front of us and had to go around the debris. We made it to St Louis about 8pm.

We are spending the day and tomorrow night with our friends in muggy St Louis, then we will be heading out early Monday.

The bike is great but a little loud. I didn't wear earplugs at first and I was nearly deaf after an hour. I also need to adjust the brake pedal for my height. Other than that, it's great. Oh yea, that windshield turned out to be a great idea. Sorry no pictures today but the only one that might have been interesting was the grain elevator museum  (no kidding) but it was raining really hard and I didn't stop.

More later . . .

Today is kickoff day.

Today is about getting ready, packing, mowing the lawn, cleaning up, etc.

We are flying out late tonight and will be in Illinois tomorrow. The guy I am buying the bike from will meet us at the airport tomorrow (Thanks Rick). Most of the riding gear is packed as carry on and we are working on the rest today. I figured that if they lose my checked luggage that at least this way I can ride on to WalMart and buy clothes. Also the helmets, chaps, rain gear and jackets add up to well over $1,000.

I called around the Harley dealers near the Chicago / St Louis area to see if I could find a windshield in stock. I realized that with this being the Memorial Day weekend that I might not be able to find one until Tuesday or later. I stopped at Latus Motors on the way home last night and bought a sport style windshield that I will be able to check as luggage. 

I found out today that the east entrance to Yellowstone is restricted to night traffic due to avalanche danger. We may end up using one of the other entrances. Perhaps the NE or N entrance. We shall see.

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Getting Ready

Beginning with some essentials for a comfortable trip:

Planning a Road Trip

I am planning a 2 week trip and I am afraid that my productivity at work may be slipping. Fortunately my boss rides and is understanding. I have 15 days off to fly back to Illinois to pick up the 2003 Harley Dyna FXD that I bought on eBay. My wife and I are riding first to St Louis to visit freinds then across Nebraska to Cheyenne, WY. From there the plan is free-form with several days to dink around Yellowstone, Billings & Cody. We will most likely come out through West Yellowstone and up to Butte then over to see some other friends by Missoula. Then to Spokane, WA and home to Oregon. 2,600 miles in 10 days and no, we are not camping, this is a Motel 6 type of trip. Hoping for dry weather and no tornados.