Headwest 2009 Total Track

So I've been back to work for a couple of days now and I must say "it sucks". I knew I would have fun on this trip, but was not expecting it to be as great as it was. I was lucky enough to be a part of this trip with great friends, new and old, and my family. It doesn't get much better than that. My 7 year old son got to see so much it made the trip that much more exciting. I really miss everybody!!! Even though I think we each had our little bouts of crankiness from the long days, we all got along incredibly well. There is nothing more that I could have expected from this trip.

Thank you Big P for putting it all together and allowing each of us to enjoy it without having to think about a thing!!! There were truly days when I forgot what day of the week it was and it felt incredible!

Thank you to everybody that went for allowing me and my family to be a part of it!

Below is the track for the entire trip, but there are gaps because either it couldn't get a signal or the battery was dying. The miles are off, but it shows most of the trip.

http://www.instamapper.com/trk?key=1256669315565222032

What A Combine!

While in Wayne we took in the Fair and took this photo next to a new John Deere combine. It was huge and expensive - well in excess of $600,000. I love Virginia but there is still a part of me that misses good ole Nebraska. Go Big Red!!

The Open Road

Now that we have been home for two days I can honestly say I miss being on the road. I thought I would be glad to get off the bike for awhile and rest but the trip wasn't dificult at all and I am anxious to do the next one. This photo is of our group riding through South Dakota and to me it shows what the trip was all about. A group of good friends getting together to see the country on bikes - there is no better way! Thanks to everybody for going and making this an awesome ride.

Detox...Day2

We are all back home, safe and sound. Everybody is getting back into the swing of things and starting to think about the next trip. I thought several weeks away from work would make me look forward to going back. Turns out...not so much!!! I have been looking over some of my photos from the trip and have been smiling all day. We had a lot of fun. Gary stopped by the hangar today to see Bob and me, and we did some transferring of his photos. While he was here, we also talked to Marilyne and Perry. It was just like old times!!!!! I can't wait until we get together for our "after action report". Could be fun.

When we got to work this morning, we noticed that someone had posted the group picture of us from the Crazy Horse Memorial on the wall. We look uber tough, like the biker bada$$es we are!

I hope everyone is feeling less slug-like after a few days of normal eating. It felt weird not to have 4 sodas, a candy bar, some cheez-its, and peanut M&M's during the day. I managed to survive!! :)

Day 12

While in Salina, Kansas, the guys were disappointed to find out that they couldn't buy beer on Sunday. They were really ready to hit the road this morning!! Because they were bored, they took turns riding around the motel parking lot on each other's bikes. It was fun to watch. This morning, we left early so we could put some miles behind us before the heat got too bad. For those of you who have never been to Kansas, let me tell you what you have been missing......not a single thing. YIKES!! I was excited to reach the Missouri state line.

We all got a lot of sun today. We had a good ride today and ended it with a visit to the Gateway Arch. It was fabulous! We all enjoyed the ride to the top of the arch in the oversized egg. We all checked it off our bucket lists. We had a nice dinner at a restaurant next to the hotel, and are turning in for the night. We are gearing up for another long day tomorrow. I hope the Kentucky bluegrass is fun to watch fly by at 75 mph. The hail damaged corn fields of Kansas were a bit anti-climactic.

I think we are all sad for our trip to end, but will be excited to be back home. Perry has done an incredible job of organizing the trip and keeping us straight. That job is similar to trying to herd cats!!

Headwest 2009 Day 11

Unfortunately this morning Lesa, Marilyne, Julie, Kim, and Pam flew back home. We will miss them, but will see them soon enough when we get home as well. We left Denver about 7:00 this morning and arrived in Salina, Kansas around 5:30 this evening. Unfortunately we are losing time going east, but it's all good. We dodged a couple of thunderstorms and as we were pulling our luggage out of the car it started pouring. We got very lucky once again.

Gary decided to press on so he could hopefully get back in time for his friend's funeral on Tuesday. We hope he has a safe ride and can avoid the weather. Bryce is really missing Lesa and Gary already. He really enjoyed their company!

I put my bike on the trailer as well so that Mable wouldn't have to drive all the way back across the country. There wasn't much to see today, but it was a good drive.

Here is today's track.
http://www.instamapper.com/trk?key=16357422311170827740

Headwest 2009 Day 10

I am posting this a little late, but this if the post for Saturday. It was an awesome day even though it was a short ride from Dillon to Denver. Mable, Bryce and I went up to Breckenridge to show him where we had been skiing when Mable was pregnant with him. We came back to meet the group and left Dillon around 9:30.

We worked our way to Golden, Colorado and wouldn't you know, that's where the Coors brewery plant is. They were even nice enough to offer us a tour of the plant. Amazingly engough, they also offer free samples!! We stayed there for a little while until Julie pulled Mike out of the free sample line.

From there we made our way to Mile High Harley out by the airport. We did a little shopping and bought a few things, but nobody came out of there with a new bike. We made our way to the hotel then to dinner. We had an awesome dinner at Ted's grill and Brad and Vicki, Perry's brother and sister in law, joined us which was nice. Dave was showing us a cool bar trick and i think that Heather summed it up perfectly, when she said "Damn you Dave". We're still working on it. After dinner we went back to the hotel to load up Marilyne's bike. Hopefully we will get it back safe and sound.

Even though it's a short one, here is the track for Saturday.
http://www.instamapper.com/trk?key=16357422311170827740