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

While in Arkansas for one of the last nights of the Bikes, Blues, and BBQ rally, we swung into the Cathouse where the people watching is no less than epic. A couple of people were walking around giving away tickets for a drawing - no cost to enter, so why not? So, at 10pm, we moseyed to the back of the bar patio where the live music was happening and waited for the drawing.  Adam Sandoval was there and turns out the raffle was for either A.) A $100 bar tab or B.) an 'epic-epic dream vacation to the KRIVER for the Bring It Home parade in Paris, Texas on October 5th.    They called the winner of the bar tab. Then they called 9415 to win the epic dream vacation... and no one claimed it. Next up:  9548    YESS!!! MY BESTIE WON THE EPIC DREAM VACATION!!!!!!!!!!   Adam described it as the Complete Dream Vacation in a luxury RV, fully stocked with alcohol, $100 GC for food for the multiple food trucks at KRIVER for the weekend, $200 game pl...

When I google "best switchback roads near me" and Shelf Road (outside of Cripple Creek, CO) comes up.. and all of the comments say "4WD recommended" or "Rough ride even on a dirt bike" or "XT250 and I turned around"... I silently wonder if they are telling the truth or not. And I want to see the person who posts the comments...basically so I can judge whether or not I am anything like them and basically to confirm that I would be a FOOL to (not) try to take the Victory on said road. Because lets be real, I WILL try it until its too late to turn around. #Committment  Meanwhile, poor Stiffy is following me and I can feel her daggers beaming into the back of my helmet, right after I turn around as we start up the gravel road, give her a thumbs up sign, smile, and then do an evil laugh complete with shoulder movement to let her know that she might want to reconsider following me.  She admitted once that she was petrified of riding on gravel. I cant ...

Ah, the annual fall trek to the Bikes, Blues, and BBQ Rally - in Fayetteville, Arkansas. Northwest Arkansas is my ALL time favorite place to ride in the USA. Four of us girls took off after work to get a head start on the (easy) 11 hour ride. The more daylight we could arrive in, the better, since 3 of us were going to need to set up camp when we arrived to Arkansas.        Sporting my Nomadic Gear thanks to @NomadicMichigan We all look so bad-ass in our leathers!!! We stopped for the night just outside of Des Moines - get a few hours of sleep, and back on the road in the morning! After an easy 7 hour ride to Eureka Springs, we debated between heading straight to camp to set up, or heading straight to the Cat House bar to park and walk over to Aquarius for THE BEST TACOS in the entire region. In the end, Tacos clearly won! Aquarius is a cute little place on Main Street in Eureka Springs, AR. I don't even think the name of the place is on th...

If you are in the market for the perfect gear/swag for a wandering soul on 2 wheels - check out Nomadic Michigan gear! My favorite sweatshirt in the world used to be an old Under Armour hoodie. It has now been replaced by the Nomadic hoodie - the softest, best fitting hoodie I own to date. And it speaks to me every time I wear it - mountains, motorcycle, and wandering around in a nomadic manner. All things that I absolutely love!!! If you haven't checked out Nomadic Michigan's website - do it!! They have apparel, water bottles/drinkware, pins, hats, flasks, stickers, sunglasses, belts and more. Nomadic Michigan is an adventure apparel retailer born out of a love for motorcycle adventure, travel, and a nomadic spirit. Talk about MY PEOPLE!! If you are looking for high quality apparel that shows off your adventurous motorcycling spirit, check out https://nomadicmichigan.com  Nomadic Michigan Hoodie size Large                   ...

A flat tire on a motorcycle. One of those things I have always dreaded. And of course we had left Niagara Falls, NY, around dusk and were making great time, on track to make it to MN by the start of the Vikings football game... until we weren't.  Knock on wood, it didn’t happen to me, but it did happen to Stiffy on our way back to MN from Niagara Falls, at 2:30am in the middle of no-where at the Ohio Indiana border. A flat (rear) motorcycle tire. I was in the lead and Stiffy would fall back a ways. Thinking she was messing with her music or needing a stretch break, I would slow down, then she would catch back up for a bit. But then, just as three semis were cruising up in our rearview, she disappeared to the side of the freeway. I pulled over a little ways up and waited. She texted that she had a flat tire. DANG IT! For once, I was HOPING she was going to text the usual (“My phone flew out of my holder” and she would be running down the side of the highway to find said phone). S...