Hi everybody! I'm starting to send out the link to the blogs to friends & family, so HI to all of those starting to check it out. Pulled up the weather for some of the places we'll be going... Whitehorse, Yukon will be 52 deg tomorrow... it's 98 here in Dallas... Man, is that going to feel good. Looks like mid 60's as we get north of Calgary, and in the low 70's in the Alaskan interior. 58 deg. in Anchorage..... It's hard to think about packing heavy clothes & long sleeve shirts when it's so hot here in Dallas. The water in the swimming pool is 85 deg. here!!!!! Like taking a bath....

Laying out things to pack & trying to make the final list of things going... don't want to overpack, space is really limited, but also don't want to leave something behind we might need on the road. Air compressor is mandatory, camera is a must, clean underwear will be at a premium. Packing all of the leathers as we leave is going to be tough, they take so much space! And, it's way too hot to wear them till we get farther north, don't want to have heatstroke right after we leave.

And the new grips! With the Throttle Boss on it. This should help with numb hands on the long stretches.

I don't see a way to post more than 1 photo per post...... Oh well, on the road, we'll be lucky to get 1 uploaded!

Here are the new rails mounted on the hard bags. This will be a good place to bungee the tent & sleeping bag.

getting ready to drill

The transfer of ownership at work is complete, I am now an employee of Heartland Payment Systems. Things are looking good so far, I think we'll have a ton of work to do to get everything done that's on the list. I'm glad I got my long vacation this year!

Spending time on the bike getting it ready. I've had it in the shop (Plano Kawasaki, best shop around!) a few times getting all the little stuff done before I leave. Did an oil change today, we'll have to get at least 1 more oil change on the road.... even with synthetic oil, this is going to be a stretch. I put on new handgrips this past week, with a "Throttle Boss", hopefully, that will help from getting a cramped right hand on the long stretches. Also added top racks to the hard bags, one more place to bungee things if I need the space.

Here's a few pics of drilling the bags & the new racks.... Hated to drill a $1,000 bag, but I needed the extra space...

Change is in the air

My company decided to sell off my division a couple months ago.... The sale is finalized & I have "new hire" orientation tomorrow. We'll see how things go. Looks like I'll lose a few days of vacation with the new company starting in '09. Benefits seem OK, I'll know more tomorrow. At least it won't affect the trip this year. I'll see how far I can negotiate the days off during the "offer" session. I negotiated 4 weeks to start at the current company... Vacation is important!

Had some sushi tonight! Probably won't see sushi for a month on the trip..... Mike & I think alike on most things, especially on the trips we take.... but..... food & drink. I'll try every beer that's available on the road... I've had some pretty good ones & a few I'd rather not taste again. Mike sticks to the tried & true. Same with food, I'll eat most anything... Mike's not big on seafood.....
Also had some really good sake. I believe it's called Oto Kuyama. It's served in a container that's iced, and is really, really good.... I just wish sushi & sake weren't quite so expensive.

I set up a Flickr account this weekend... not sure if I like it.. I had a Fotki account for years, and thought Flickr might be better... not sure yet, so far I like Fotki better.