14,000 miles completed! 

Food, gas and lodging expenses were just $90 per day.  2005 trip expected to be just $70 per day (If 2 share rooming costs, then look at $50 per day)

Dear friends and sponsors:  Below are the emails I attached en route:

 July 7 ... drove from St. Augustine to Key West, then to Lumberton, NC, then to New York ... then  Burlington, then to Maine, then from New Brunswick to Thunder Bay, Ontario.  Covered 4,200 miles the first six days.  It went down to 40 degrees in Maine.

Rain everyday!  Today alone from North Bay, Ontario to Thunder Bay, Ontario was 680 miles of nonstop rain.  Thanks to the excellent aerodynamics of the bike and the Clearview windshield, I remained dry and safe.

Weather seems to be clearing up for my marathon 1,000+ mile run to Saskatoon.  Hope to give you a new update in a few days!

For those of you who know me well, you will be amazed at the beard I am growing!  Protects me from the wind, y'know.

July 8 -- arrived in Saskatoon after driving a thousand miles from Thunder Bay, Ontario.  It was 40 degrees when I left this morning, warmed up to 72 and then down to 59 degrees here in Saskatoon.  Went through two storms but my raingear kept me toasty and dry.  Saw three moose, got two on videos, including one majestic bull!  Tomorrow it is on to Grande Prairie, Alberta. 

My '02 Silver Wing scooter now has 74,500 miles. This bike is fast, comfortable, and reliable!  I love passing Harleys on the Canadian highways!

July 9 ... arrived in Grande Prairie, Alberta.  The temperature varied from the 50s to 70 with sporadic rain.  A very pleasant drive, videotaped a couple of elk or caribou (will need to look at a book later to see the difference), bike running nicely.  I had an electronic cruise control installed by Joe Wolfe in Kingsport, TN and I LOVE IT.  Nice to hold a steady 65 MPH through all terrain.  Trip mileage is now past 5,500 miles, averaging over 700 miles per day, getting about 48 MPG. 

 Thank you for your pledges ... even 1/10 of a cent per mile will bring in $14.80 to deaf babies.  It is not too late to sponsor me!  By the way, Grande Prairie just had their first ever tornado.  I had been driving through a persistent 600-mile-wide storm system.

I have oil change service tomorrow morning and then it is off to Watson Lake, Yukon Territory.  I don't know when my next update will be. 

There was no oil change, the dealership was closed due to the tornado.  Not to worry, the bike has recommended oil change intervals of 8,000 miles.  Nice, hey?

July 14 --- at Fairbanks, Alaska ... went up to Arctic Circle yesterday and that was without a doubt the most challenging drive of my entire life.  You talk about 230 miles round trip on travel on the Dalton Highway.  This is GRAVEL and MUD and there were forest fires on both sides of the road.  I have videos of all this!  Bike runs great ...will be leaving tomorrow morning for Destruction Bay, then July 17 at Junction 37 near Watson Lake, then July 17 will arrive in Hyder.   Next update probably July 19 when I am in Oregon.

Have to thank Fairbank Motorsports ... even though they were swamped, Fred took me to an independent mechanic that changed my oil.  I need to post his number later for your information if you ever go to Fairbanks.

For those interested in mechanics, I only had to add 1/2 quart the first 8,000 miles of the trip.  This shows Silver Wings to be very well engineered.  I have to give my compliments to those who design motorcycle tires ... after hundreds and hundreds of miles of washboard, gravel, potholes, and rocks, the tires still look great.  There was a stretch of 122 miles between services on the Dalton Highway.  The trip to Arctic Circ le is definitely not for the faint of heart!

July 20 .. arrived in Portland, Oregon after several days in "no internet wilderness".  Bike has almost 80,000 miles.  Forgot to mention but a few days ago, there was a buffalo herd on the Alaska Highway ... a couple of other bikers and I stopped and watch them approach.  A couple of huge bulls got feisty and started butting heads and the herd got riled up.  Since they were on the opposite side of the highway, we took off quickly! 

Another time, on a highway with NO shoulder (forest up to edges of highway), I had to stop because an 8-inch diameter hardwood tree had just fallen over it.  Took a video and helped other motorists chop it up and move it off the highway.  I noticed that when the terrain is rocky, the topsoil is very thin and trees can't root deep so they fall over easily due to erosion. 

The tree is another reason why we won't do any night driving on future chairty runs.  Take my word for it, hitting a 1,000-pound moose will put an early end to your adventures!  Add to this orange and grapefruit-sized rocks on the road everywhere.  Add to this 50-pound deer (if this doesn't scare you, imagine a 16-pound bowling ball hurled straight at your bike and you will understand) leaping out right in front of you.  Be wise, be safe, plan your driving time well.

Take my word for it ... driving on gravel isn't easy.  You must respect the environment and highway and you will be all right.  The same day I was on the Dalton Highway (Yes, I reached the Arctic Circle!), two Gold Wingers got hurt badly.  Most of the highways have NO guard railings and there are abrupt drops at a 50 degree angle going down for several feet.  No pavement markings, etc.  I still am amazed at those yahoos zooming along at 40 MPH on their bikes ... I keep to 15 MPH on gravel ... that really adds to the time but, hey, being safe is more important than bold and getting hurt.

Went through Hyder AK and saw and videotaped a couple of bears catching salmon.  Lovely!  Next year's trip will be to Hyder, AK as the highways to that site are lovely.  If you want to go to Fairbanks, Anchorage, etc. you need to put up with hundreds of miles of pavement breaks, gravel, etc.

I am stopping in Portland for an extra day so everything else July 20 and on is bumped up one day.  I should be back on the road at 1 p.m. July 21 and plan to stop in Sacramento CA late that night.

Reason why I stopped?  While in British Columbia, I was stopped for road construction.  Waiting for the pilot vehicle, I closely examined my rear tire and found several ominous bubbles.  That tire already had 10,000 miles on it and the tread left was impressive ... but all the gravel took its toll.  Needless to say, I was concerned and kept my speed down to 55 MPH.  When I arrived in Portland, Oregon, I found Mt. Hood Honda in the phone book.  They were extremely helpful and had a new rear tire overnighted.  I was on my way at 11 a.m. the next morning.  Keep Mt. Hood Honda in your little black book as we will include this in our next year's itinery.

The trip is lovely!  Gorgeous topography.  I am amazed at how tree varieties change every 15 or so minutes ... evergreens, hardwood, etc.  You never get bored! 

Sunday, July 25 ... yesterday, visited my 90-year-old grandfather that rides his '85 Honda Elite 250 daily and walks 2 miles daily.   He had the biggest motorcycle of its time in the 1930s, an Indian 4-cylinder.  If I am like him at all, when I am 90 years old, we will be doing our 40th Alaska Charity Run later!

Arrived in El Paso, Texas driving nonstop from Long Beach, Calif.  Temperature extremes 68 degrees up to 114 degrees during this segment.  Went through Mexico on Highway 2 ... very colorful scenery!  It's on to Houston tonight and home Monday night!  Bike has passed its 81,000-mile mark.

Hope y'all join me next year on a leisurely, scenic jaunt on 2-lane country roads to Alaska July 2005 (and have fun raising money for deaf babies)!

Tuesday, July 27 ... arrived home in St. Augustine at 11 p.m.  The trip from El Paso, Texas to Houston was really windy and stormy but the Silver Wing handled it well.  Left Houston at daybreak and had fabulous weather the rest of the way home.  Bike now has 83,000 miles and used just one quart of oil the entire 14,000 miles of the trip.

My editorial:  It is nice to make motel reservations and KNOW you have a warm dry bed awaiting you.  Last year, you would have to stop early in the afternoon to secure a motel room.  If you rode until sunset, most motels are full and prices are non-negotiable.  However, making reservations doesn't give you much wiggle room if you have bad weather.  Next year, the leisurely run of just 400 to 500 miles a day will give us much more wiggle room.  Also, you can't go wrong investing in a GOOD quality wet weather riding suit.  If you have that, rain is just a piece of cake.  You also want to have contact information of motorcycle shops along the route.  For example, if you notice a tire or a component going bad, you can call a shop where you will be in two days and they can have it ready for you when you arrive.

There was a nice article in the July 11 St. Augustine Record on this trip!