Day Before Departure

Yesterday my cousin (Sunshine) and I went to a music festival here in Seattle. Unfortunately I forgot my phone at home and I only have this pictures she took of me.

That's me holding the space needle (if it wasn't obvious enough). 

So last day here and I felt like I should blog something. It's been a pretty epic two weeks of travel, learning, and thinking. The best therapy for me is the open road on two wheels. Life is so much like riding a motorcycle. Example -

You constantly have to watch out for jackasses who want to run you over. Who doesn't have people like this in there life.

Sometimes the road is flat and boring, other times its curvy and fun. Patience is indeed a virtue and if you can make it around the next corner, it is normally worth the wait. Even when riding through a desert where you can see 20 miles of straight road, make the best of it and open it up!

Prepare for the worst. Luckily I only got rained on twice the entire trip, but I was ready for it and honestly said "BRING IT"! It was my first time wearing my rain suit and was pretty excited. 

You have a million plus friends out there. With every passing motorcycle your friends are always looking out for you. Letting you know if there is something in the road to look out for or if there is cop around the corner waiting for you. You have a million plus friends.  

WEEKS LATER -

I'm not really sure what happened and why I never got around to finishing this post. Life I suppose. Never the less, here I am. I flew home after an amazing weekend with my cousin. Here are a couple photos.

Don't worry that drag wasn't on the plane. We had brunch the day before at a really great restaurant that had a show going while you ate / drank. It was a little costly but was worth the money and the place was packed with people. 

So home I went, started my new job, and life goes on. I am missing my motorcycle (extremely missing it) and am already plotting a plan to get it back here ASAP. I feel like after 5,400 miles of it being attached to me that a part of me is missing. I'm grateful for this journey and know there will be many many more to come in the future. Part of me is starting to appreciate the introvert side of me that has been hiding all these years. Me, myself, and I on the open road. I know now that I don't need more than the three of us to feel complete. 

Until the next journey! Ride safe and keep the rubber on the pavement.  

Vodka, Gin, and..... Bourbon?

I don't have a whole lot to talk about today. Yesterday we went and checked out the Ferris Wheel down town a took a ride. It was a nice view of downtown. Afterwards we walked around to a couple distilleries that were making vodkas and gin. The gin was good, but I can't say much for the vodka. There was also a distillery making bourbon. Just goes to show Kentucky isn't the only place doing it. Whether it is as good? Is another question. Wine drinking today! Bumbershoot tomorrow and a getting ready to head home Sunday.

Oh the bike went to the shop yesterday because my handle bar grip was melting. It's not covered under warranty and is 350 dollars to replace. We'll save that repair for later.

Finish Line

My last day of traveling from state to state. I finished up the trip by taking interstate 5 from Oregon to Seattle. I would had gone the back roads but I was looking forward to getting to my cousins house and it would had taken me another day. But, I did stop at my favorite wine winery! Which was amazing by the way. Here are some shots I got while I was there.

Wine packed and ready to go!

Most of you probably know I love this wine. It was pretty awesome to have a glass of there signature (what I drink at home) and be at there actual winery drinking it. It tastes like home but a much better view. They have a restaurant here too that looking pretty happening. Wouldn't mind going back down to try it.

I rolled through Portland, which is a really pretty city, and about 60 miles outside of Seattle.... it started raining. Shocking I know! I whipped under an over pass, put on my rain gear and suffered out the last hour. As soon as I get into Seattle it stops raining and I look like an idiot with all this plastic wrapped around me.

Yesterday we went to the zoo. It's right in the middle of Seattle and really nice. I didn't take any pictures unfortunately. I did get to play with a couple sheep. Later in the afternoon I trucked it down the hill to the fish market to get dinner. It's about a mile and a half from my cousins new place. I did take a couple photos here.

That's all I have for now. Four more days from now I'll be back where I started and my journey will be over. I'll take a picture of my final miles tally and post it later today. I'm pretty sure its somewhere in the 5,000 range. 

Northern California

First let me start by saying that San Francisco is amazing. I had been there before but never with such great company (myself). The room wasn't as nice as Tahoe but it was right in the middle of China town, which was cool! It took me awhile to find the place because it's on top of a tunnel. I have this same problem in Cincinnati, that the GPS keep trying to place me inside the tunnel. So it didn't take much time to realize that is what it was doing.

Got in my room, cleaned up and had a drink at the hotel. I was feeling a little under dressed so I walked around looking for dinner. Not thinking I would have to walk back up the hill, I headed down and came a across a pretty nice looking place with a bar. It was called Michael something.... I had a couple small plates and asked to take my dessert back to the room with me. They bring out this big bag! It made getting back up that hill easier. Back in the room I open the box to find (drum roll) -

ARE YOU KIDDING ME!!!

I don't think I need to say more on that.

Wrote my blog and headed out the door. Had a great ride getting out of the city. I love being in another city and feeling like part of the morning commute. What I didn't know, was that 101 goes right over the Golden Gate bridge. I got a couple shots going over the bridge then had to stop and get a couple more pictures. Here is was I ended up with.

I had intended on taking 101 all the way, but I some how found my over the 1 just above Sanoma. I grabbed a couple shots here too.

It was really pretty but the roads are tough. Some serious turns which are nice, but you literately had to go to a crawl to make it around the curve safely. Here is part of the highway to give you an idea.

As you can see my phone didn't have service at this point or the blue line would be on my route. More on this in bit.

Next I headed into the Redwood Forest. Which was AWESOME! I had been to the Red Woods in New Zealand, but sorry NZ you don't have anything on Northern California. There is great road called the Avenue of Giants. I wish I had stopped and taken more pictures, but I was ready to get to lunch. Here are some of the shots I did get. 

They aren't great pictures but this road went on for miles and miles. Back over to the coast, the rocks were getting much larger.

 I stopped for lunch and realized my phone still didn't have service so I rebooted it. As soon as it came up it blew up! Apparently I was offline for quite awhile and people we're starting to get worried. I haven't got the entire store yet, but needless to say they were very concerned. At least I know if I do end up on the side of the road I wouldn't be there long.

That's all I got for today. I'm headed to my favorite wines winery in a couple hours then it's to my destination, Seattle Washington.

Oh, one last thing. I'm about 4,800 miles. I'll take a picture of the miles when I land in Seattle.

"Keep the rubber on the pavement" - Some biker I met