Well .org’rs, I’m at T-minus two weeks until I head from DC to Alaska. And while I’m not doing it on the Busa some of you might be interested in the journey and the adventure nonetheless. As things stand now we’ll be heading out of DC on or about July 16th and going across the northern states En Route to Seattle. I’m taking two digital camera’s, a netbook and a fat bag of cigars…;-) Wherever time and WiFi access allow I’ll post updates and pictures. Here’s the rundown as of three months ago:
Monday April 20, 2009. T-minus 3 months and counting until me, Brother Dave, and Kirk head for the last frontier this July. The grand plan is for all three of us to ride our Harleys through Alaska and then back home. The whole scheme came into being in late November two years ago when Kirk and I were reminiscing about our California Putt in 07 and comparing notes about where to ride next? For those of you who don’t know, Kirk and I took our first grand Putt together in August of 87 just after we both got Harleys. We rode together from sunny San Diego up the coast to Oakland, and then headed north to Vacaville, Sacramento, and ultimately to Tahoe. We then dropped down to Yosemite and then back to SD. All this in about 10 days. It rocked! This was back before the days of credit cards, cell phones, AAA memberships, and cushy bagger suspension. It was also before the days of reading glasses, chronic back pains and a multitude of other symptoms that indicate none of us are getting any younger. But hey what the heck, before the Grim Reaper gets his scythe into us we’re heading out once again for grand adventures. This time Brother Dave can finally join us having raised his kids, gotten the blessing of his bride, and finally gotten himself a Harley! Can I get an Amen? ;-) So, originally we all wanted to traverse the US together from DC to Seattle, unfortunately Brother Dave can’t get all the vacation time he’d need to swing an additional week, heck with the economy being what it is right now he’s lucky to have a job. So, we’re gonna ship Kirk’s bike out here to DC from San Diego and he’ll fly out to join me in mid July for the first leg of the trip. We’ll ride together to Seattle and join up with Brother Dave who’ll head up from Vacaville mid-week. Mid-day Friday we all board the good ship Lollypop for our 3 day ferry ride to Haines Alaska where the highway awaits us. From there it’s off to Fairbanks, the Arctic Circle, Anchorage, and then the Alaskan highway (Alcan) back through the Yukon Territories, British Colombia, and ultimately back to Seattle where we’ll all part company, I head east - bound for DC and they head south back to California. Kirk and I are figuring on about a month on the road, and Brother Dave about 3 weeks. The planning for this adventure has been non-trivial. I purchased a bike just to make the journey, a 2007 Street Glide (FLHX) and Brother Dave after hearing me ramble on about the trip broke down and took the plunge purchasing a brand new 2009 Harley Ultra. All together I’m figuring my total mileage should be somewhere between 8,000 to 9,000 miles by the time I return to DC. One other little tantalizing possibility is that I may be able to join a group of friends from DC as they return home from Sturgis south Dakota on my return leg depending on when we get back down from Alaska to Seattle. So, there’s the breakdown of the trip as it stands right now. Hopefully as time allows I’ll be able to add details to this log and maybe hang a few photo’s to my wall for those interested in following along. Thanks for reading.
-Jim
Monday April 20, 2009. T-minus 3 months and counting until me, Brother Dave, and Kirk head for the last frontier this July. The grand plan is for all three of us to ride our Harleys through Alaska and then back home. The whole scheme came into being in late November two years ago when Kirk and I were reminiscing about our California Putt in 07 and comparing notes about where to ride next? For those of you who don’t know, Kirk and I took our first grand Putt together in August of 87 just after we both got Harleys. We rode together from sunny San Diego up the coast to Oakland, and then headed north to Vacaville, Sacramento, and ultimately to Tahoe. We then dropped down to Yosemite and then back to SD. All this in about 10 days. It rocked! This was back before the days of credit cards, cell phones, AAA memberships, and cushy bagger suspension. It was also before the days of reading glasses, chronic back pains and a multitude of other symptoms that indicate none of us are getting any younger. But hey what the heck, before the Grim Reaper gets his scythe into us we’re heading out once again for grand adventures. This time Brother Dave can finally join us having raised his kids, gotten the blessing of his bride, and finally gotten himself a Harley! Can I get an Amen? ;-) So, originally we all wanted to traverse the US together from DC to Seattle, unfortunately Brother Dave can’t get all the vacation time he’d need to swing an additional week, heck with the economy being what it is right now he’s lucky to have a job. So, we’re gonna ship Kirk’s bike out here to DC from San Diego and he’ll fly out to join me in mid July for the first leg of the trip. We’ll ride together to Seattle and join up with Brother Dave who’ll head up from Vacaville mid-week. Mid-day Friday we all board the good ship Lollypop for our 3 day ferry ride to Haines Alaska where the highway awaits us. From there it’s off to Fairbanks, the Arctic Circle, Anchorage, and then the Alaskan highway (Alcan) back through the Yukon Territories, British Colombia, and ultimately back to Seattle where we’ll all part company, I head east - bound for DC and they head south back to California. Kirk and I are figuring on about a month on the road, and Brother Dave about 3 weeks. The planning for this adventure has been non-trivial. I purchased a bike just to make the journey, a 2007 Street Glide (FLHX) and Brother Dave after hearing me ramble on about the trip broke down and took the plunge purchasing a brand new 2009 Harley Ultra. All together I’m figuring my total mileage should be somewhere between 8,000 to 9,000 miles by the time I return to DC. One other little tantalizing possibility is that I may be able to join a group of friends from DC as they return home from Sturgis south Dakota on my return leg depending on when we get back down from Alaska to Seattle. So, there’s the breakdown of the trip as it stands right now. Hopefully as time allows I’ll be able to add details to this log and maybe hang a few photo’s to my wall for those interested in following along. Thanks for reading.
-Jim
sounds like an awesome trip
I'll post some pic's once I get the bike loaded and before the 'Bon Voyage.' 
