2023: A Girl, a Motorcycle, and a Gypsy Soul

I live life on the edge. Figuratively and literally, most days. My mom and I recently had a discussion on where this fascination may have come from (DAD).. when I was a kid, we went on road trips every summer, usually heading west. One year, when I was roughly 11 years old, we went to Washington State to visit family. Family who, like me (now), live for adventure. They wanted to show us a cool trail - all I remember is that the trail came up to a STEEP ledge, barely wider than the length of my foot, and had a cable screwed into the rock so that we could hang on and not fall off the trail, down the steep cliff, never to be seen again. She remembers is more like this, "We went on this TINY narrow trail, with two kids who HATED each other. All I could picture is (my brother) pushing you off the edge with one swift movement." My rebuttal, as an adult, was of course, the fact that there was a safety device well drilled into the earth to keep us all alive and on the path. She still...

Sometimes getting from Point A to Point B is simply boring. Long stretches of road, with little to look at, lead to checking Roadside Attraction website for oddities to help break up the monotony of the otherwise boring ride. Going from Arizona to Arkansas brings many long stretches of such boring-ness. But, in the midst of it all, comes quirky, fun stops! Ala Cadillac Ranch. LITERALLY in the middle of nowhere, on the side of the freeway,  with no warning signs nor tourist signs to be found. Here lies a quirky treasure worth a stop, if not for a spray-painting session, at least a few pictures and laughs. In the middle of the field, alongside a busy freeway, lies a brightly painted group of Cadillac's, face down. You park 'wherever', walk through an old cattle gate (size matters - its a tight squeeze)), through an old field, and thru a sea of paint cans on the ground. You are welcome to paint or draw on the cars and people leave free will offerings of paintcans and permanent...

The Moki Dugway, located just outside of Mexican Hat, Utah, on 261 is one of my favorite (short) gravel roads to ride. It is 3 miles long with an 10% grade - gravel switchback after gravel switchback after gravel switchback. The views from the top are impressive of the mesa below. It's not for the faint of heart, nor those who don't like to ride 2 wheels on gravel.  But it is very do-able on 2 wheels. And, it's super fun!      A view from the top of Moki Dugway! Waiting for Stiffy - so I can capture the moment!!  It's like at one point, someone suggested they pave the corners. But then they changed their mind midway through..  Riding on roads not exactly meant for 2 wheel cruisers is my HAPPY place! (This one IS very do-able so long as you are comfortable on gravel and with switchbacks!)  Round and Round and Round I go! Here come the corners!!! And drop offs! The view from one of the top pull off areas ...

July 2019 - How come vacation goes so fast but reality goes so slow? In just 5 days, I managed to put on over 3,500 miles, and have ridden through MN, ND, MT, ID, WA, and OR. I ran the gamut of weather from sun shine, extreme heat, mid 50°, and a side of sleet/hail. Stiffy and I took off from MN with West Virginia on our minds for a destination. Until the morning we were leaving... I checked weather and saw over 70% chance of rain every day in WV. Screw it. Weather looks amazingly perfect to the west - we shall go west! So, with 'Montana' as a new destination, we headed west. That was legit our plan. Montana. Which didn't narrow it down much! As we were headed west, doing an Iron Butt to get there, my brain was reverting to childhood - where we often headed west for family trips. Going to the Sun Road! I remember being in the truck, on going to the sun road, and seeing my dad driving the narrow corners with steep cliffs on the side of us, with the ginormous ol...