Lung Cancer Soapbox

11/17/2011 - It's November 17, 2011 which is the date for the Great American Smokeout. It is also Lung Cancer Awareness month. (I'll bet you didn't know that did you?) November is also Pancreatic Cancer Awareness month and Movember (men's health and prostate cancer awareness). I don't do this very often, but I'd like to take a minute to climb up onto my soapbox.

A couple of days ago I read an entry on the Livestrong blog entitled "Please Don't Ask Me If I Smoked" that kind of struck a nerve with me. Whenever someone finds out that I have lung cancer the next question that comes up is invariably "Are (Were) you a smoker?" The implication being that if someone smokes they somehow deserve cancer because they did it to themselves. No one deserves lung cancer (or any other type for that matter) and to imply that if one smoked they got what they deserved is ridiculous.

In my opinion the stigma attached to lung cancer has to do with the American Lung Association's brilliant and effective marketing campaign linking smoking and lung cancer. The unintended side effect of that is the close association of smoking and lung cancer. The thing that many people don't think about is that there are plenty of never smokers that are diagnosed with lung cancer every year.

Lung cancer kills more people every year than the next three most common cancers combined (colon, breast, and prostate) yet receives the least amount of funding per death.

(Image linked to without permission from the Lung Cancer Alliance)

During my research for this post I happened to stumble across and social media campaign called "WTF (Where's The Funding) for Lung Cancer?" Stop by and you can read the story of never smoker Leslie Lehrman who has contracted lung cancer. It mobilized her daughter Jennifer Windrum to start the campaign to raise awareness, fight the stigma, and increase the funding for lung cancer research.

So the next time that you hear that someone has lung cancer (which I hope is never), it is my sincere hope that you think about this before you ask them if they smoke. Thanks for reading my rant. I wanted to make sure I got this out there before November was over. Finally, since today is the Great American Smokeout if you do smoke I hope you'll at least consider participating for your sake and the sake of your loved ones.

A list of cancer awareness months can be found here: http://www.cancer-services.com/cancer_awareness.asp

Medical Update

11/10/2011 - Monday afternoon found me back at the oncologist's office for my regular checkup before my next chemotherapy cycle. About two months ago I started a new chemotherapy called Gemzar. It is the last chemotherapy drug that is available for me and when I'm finished with it chemotherapy treatment will no longer be an option for me. After that it will just be a matter of managing the symptoms of my illness.

The following is intended neither to be too melodramatic nor solicit sympathy; rather, it is a set up for the second half of the story. The side effects of Gemzar have been positively miserable up until now. Extreme fatigue, body aches, a couple of bouts of nausea, etc. I had a couple of weeks where I was so weak I was practically bedridden. I even got to the point where I had to start using a cane to get around on the bad days. Needless to say, after two cycles of this (8 weeks) I was ready to throw in the towel. I had every intention of walking into the doctor's office and telling him I was going to stop treatment.

About every eight weeks (or after two chemo cycles) I receive a CT scan to check on the disease's progression. Lo and behold, the results of my latest scan which were reported to me on Monday were overwhelmingly positive. All areas of cancerous growth had decreased by 25 to 40 percent (depending on how they were measured) and there were no new areas of concern. I certainly realize that this is only temporary so I'm not getting too amped about it, but it's nice to occasionally get some positive news. So for now I'm going to continue the treatment. The doctor adjusted my dosage to help me with the side effects and I'm happy to report that this week has been one of the easiest that I've had (aside from off weeks) since I started Gemzar.

We'll see how things go after the next eight weeks but for now I'll just be satisfied with the fact that things aren't getting worse and that the side effects aren't as bad.

Last Three States: The Finale

11/05/2011 - We all unintentionally slept in on Saturday. We missed breakfast at the hotel, so we thought we'd get a quick morning meal at Krystal's across the parking lot. After waiting for ten minutes to be waited on and weren't even acknowledged by the staff, we said eff this place and just hopped on the road. Dan led the way using his GPS to get us around Nashville to US-31 E on the north side of town. Once we got on US-31 E we promptly stopped at a Dunkin' Donuts for a much belated breakfast.

Our ride on US-31 E was not terribly long and before we knew it, we were in Kentucky. Once in Kentucky we hopped on US-68 and were treated to some really fun and twisting two lane Kentucky back roads. The weather was exceptional which made for fantastic riding. The ride wasn't nearly as peaceful and isolated as the ride on the Natchez Trace Trail but the twists and turns more than made up for it. We rolled into Lexington past lots of horse farms and horse racing venues and made our way to Interstate 75. An hour and a half later we were in northern Kentucky and stopped for our last meal of the trip together. I thought we'd go all out and have something really nice. Since we were robbed of our Krystal's in the morning, I found the nearest White Castle right after I-75 and I-71 merged. We had our meal, and parted ways. Tim and Dan continued to head up I-75 so Dan could go home to Dayton. Kevin and I continued up I-71 to Columbus. We got through Cincinnati and dark fell and it got chilly really quick. To top it off, my iPod battery finally drained just north of the 'Nati so I'd ride the rest of the way home in relative silence. I didn't want to pull over and take the time to hook it up to the charger because it would have just delayed my arrival home and I was ready to be home.

I pulled in the garage at 8:30 Saturday night and was thrilled to be back at my house with my family. I logged 2071 miles on this trip and thus ends my quest to ride to all 48 contiguous United States on my motorcycle. It has been an amazing journey. I've seen and rode places that I'd only seen in pictures and never thought that I'd get to see them with my own eyes in person.

When it was decided that I'd no longer be able to leave Columbus without an escort, I thought that was going to be the end of my travels and that I'd end up leaving Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana on the table. With that in mind, I'd like to thank Kevin, Tim, and Dan for taking time out of their busy lives to accompany me on this final leg of my voyage. It means a lot to me that they'd spend the vacation and take time away from their families to make sure I was able to finish this out.

I'd especially like to thank Laela and Miranda for being patient with and supporting me while I traveled across the US of A. It's been a long year and there have been lots of ups and downs through it all, they've supported me and my silly wish to see all 48 states. Miranda even rode with me this past spring when we went to Florida. They both joined me this summer when I was on the west coast and spent a week with me while I traveled. I couldn't have done any of it without them.

As for a future goal, I don't have one in mind at this point. Last year when I was diagnosed, I didn't think that I'd get the chance to finish this one, let alone get an opportunity to choose something new. For now I'll just be satisfied with what I've done and be thankful that I was able to do it.

Last Three States: Day Six

11/05/2011 - After the lousiest continental breakfast of the trip, we left the Jackson Quality Inn at about 10:00am. We took a quick jog on I-20 and then exited the Interstate onto MS-25. Then, in another of my strokes of good luck when it comes to choosing motorcycling routes, we ended up on the Natchez Trace Parkway. The Natchez Trace Parkway is a national scenic road that runs between Natchez, MS and Nashville, TN.

It is a beautiful road and even better because it was showing it's full fall colors. We rode 310 of it's 444 miles in the perfect fall weather. We came to a point where we had to make a decision, get off of the parkway, follow Google's directions, and stop before dark or continue on Natchez Trace until we got to Nashville. We were enjoying Natchez Trace so much that we decided to stay on it. As soon as the sun started to set we began seeing deer on the side of the road. By the time it was all said and done and we reached Nashville we had encountered 53 deer. I made a game out of counting deer as soon as I saw the first one. I figured that would help me stay alert and on the lookout and it served me well. The last few that we saw were the scariest because the ran right across the roadway and were no further than three feet from my front fender. Truly terrifying. We pulled over at the first gas station after the Parkway so that we could decompress and I could catch my breath.

The interstate was about 5 miles from the end of NTP so we went to hop on that with the intent of getting off at the first exit with a hotel. We weren't on the highway too long before we found an exit with a Super 8 hotel. As we pulled into the hotel parking lot we encountered what would be our first and last motorcycle malfunction of the trip. All of the bolts but one that held Kevin's front fender to his Concours had fallen out, so the left side of the fender had started dragging on the front wheel. Fortunately the fender was plastic so it just melted under the friction. Had it been metal I shudder to think of what the consequences may have been. At any rate Kevin removed the fender, put it in Tim and Dan's car and that was that. We got our room, and then headed to Red Robin for dinner if you can call a meal at 10:30 dinner.

With our arrival in Nashville, we had about 400 miles left to get home. I was pretty confident that we'd get home on Saturday.

Last Three States: Day Five

11/03/2011 - Thursday morning, time to get up and get ready for the journey home. I woke up, got dressed and walked to Cafe du Monde on a solo mission. I had been told repeatedly that I needed to go there and enjoy a beignet. It was delicious; however, it just reminded me of a sopapilla served without honey. The clientele at 8:00 in the morning reminded me of sitting in an audience at a taping of the Oprah Winfrey show. When I got back to the Holiday Inn, the room was empty and all of the bags were gone. I momentarily thought that Dan, Kevin, and Tim ditched me. I soon received a text from Kevin that they had loaded up the car and went across the street for coffee, so I met them at PJ's Coffee Shop on Canal St. While sitting on the patio of PJ's, it started raining. I just figured that New Orleans was sad to see us go.

We left the parking garage and I was in the lead. As I've stated in the past, I'm an excellent pilot but a horrible navigator. This instance was no exception and I zigged when I should have zagged and took us out of the city the wrong way. We huddled up at a Shell station and came up with alternative route. It was still raining so I broke down and put on my rain gear and we were on the move again. We traveled the Interstates for the majority of the day trying to make up for some lost time. We only traveled about 200 miles today. There is really no easy way to get across Mississippi utilizing the back roads, but we have a plan from Jackson.

We got to Jackson, MS around 5:00 and had to decide whether or not to get a hotel or travel 90 miles to the next town that might have a hotel. We wouldn't arrive there until after dark so we decided to play it safe and get a room at the Quality Inn. Apparently their housekeeping isn't quite so quality because the room we initially got had not been serviced for the day. The beds were still in disarray and the room was filthy. We got another room that was in much better shape and set up shop.

We are staying across the street from the Jackson Coliseum which is hosting the "Mistletoe Market" which is some kind of Christmas Bazaar. I felt like all of the ladies from the Cafe du Monde followed me to Jackson.

We ate dinner at Wing Stop. It was really mediocre. As Kevin said "I could take some frozen Tyson Chicken Nuggets throw them in some Red Hot and have this at home." That was everyone's assessment of the meal. It was a far cry from last night's fine dining. A quick stop at the Shell station for some barley sodas and we were back to the Quality Inn for the evening.

Last Three States: Day Four

11/2/2011 - Left Biloxi, MS this morning. Perfect weather again. About 50 miles later, we crossed the Louisiana state line thus completing my quest to ride my motorcycle in all 48 contiguous United States. I felt quite accomplished.

New Orleans streets suck to ride on. They are almost all one way and they're never going the way that I want to go. I almost got peeled by a Nissan Armada (about 2 feet separated my front wheel from his bumper. There was copious tire squealing.)

Kevin and I met Tim and Dan at the Holiday Inn in the French Quarter. We got a room and parked the vehicles, and proceeded to go on a quick walk about on Bourbon Street. While resting our feet on the steps of the St. Louis Cathedral we were people watching. Met a homeless guy named Kevin Bennett. Tim says "Of all of the homeless people I've met, he's doable."

Interesting things we saw: Crazy drunk trio with wet asses and washcloths picked a fight with another guy drinking a can of Old English 800. Tons of strip clubs with barkers trying to pull us in with promises of the cleanest girls on Bourbon Street.

We ate dinner at the Pier 424 Seafood Market Restaurant. I had the Surf and Turf which was out of this world. After dinner we mosied back to the hotel and took a dip in the pool. It was warm as bath water and really relaxing. After swimming we really just spent the rest of the evening back out on Bourbon Street people watching. Finally I'd had enough so it was time to turn in. We leave on Thursday morning for the trek home.

Last Three States: Day Three

11/01/2011 - Day three was great riding. The weather was perfect and the roads were uncrowded. The ride from Bessemer, AL was rather uneventful. The roads AL-5 and US-43 were actually kind of boring. They were just plain straight roads through farm country; although, one advantage was being able to open up the throttle. We had a couple of opportunities to BRIEFLY hit the 100MPH mark. It was awesome. US-43 took us right into Mobile, AL where we picked up I-65 to I-10 so that we didn't have to drive into Mobile.

We made a quick pit stop at Subway for lunch/dinner at 4:00 and then proceeded to hop onto US-90 for the trip across the Gulf Coast. In 20 miles we were at the Mississippi border. We stopped for a quick photo shoot and were then on our way again. At fist, US-90 sucked. It was like driving on Polaris Parkway at rush hour; however, once we got into Biloxi, MS we were right on the Gulf of Mexico riding into the sunset. In fact, it was so pretty that is where we decided to stay for the night. We got a room at the Quality Inn with a view of the ocean. It was nice not to be riding after dark for two days in a row. We spent much of the evening hanging out at the picnic table looking out on the water. Ask me about the white Honda Odyssey sometime.

So the total mileage for the day was 291 and we have 81 miles to get to the French Quarter today. As of this writing Tim and Dan are 151 miles from New Orleans. They've been driving all night and we'll all meet up later today. So I'm off to collect my last state today. I'm beyond excited.

Louisiana Road Trip: Halloween Edition

10/31/2011 - Happy Halloween! Today's spooky journey would take Kevin and I from Danville, KY to Beesmer, AL. Mother nature decided that she'd trick us rather than treat us to begin the day. As we pulled out of the Super 8 this morning we were greeted by rain. We pulled to the gas station across the street, fueled up, and donned our rain gear. We rode for about an hour in drizzle but then it cleared up around Lake Cumberland. It was just in time for us to get stuck behind a truck stacked with hay bales. That wouldn't have been so bad but it was on some of the most twisty roads we encountered today and robbed us of the chance to attack the curves at full speed. By the time we got around the truck the sun had come out and it was starting to warm up so we pulled over and stowed our rain gear.

We crossed over into Tennessee and promptly missed the turn for TN-111 and instead mistakenly continued on US-127. It wasn't that big of a mistake because they merged back together towards the bottom of the state. Maybe we can hit TN-111 on the way home to see if it is any more scenic that US-127. 127 was pretty nice. I think we hit Tennessee right at the peak of the fall colors. The trees on the mountains were gorgeous against the blue sky of the afternoon.

We finally ended up crossing into Alabama at about 5:00. We got to a town called Guntersville right about when trick-or-treat started. It was fun rolling through a small town and seeing all of the kids out in costume. The smell of campfires lingered in the air and it was very autumn like.

There wasn't a lot to see after we got through Guntersville and there was no place to stop for the evening so we rode another 90 miles after dark until we got to Birmingham. Once we got to Birmingham we hopped on the interstate for the express purpose of finding a hotel. We got off at the first exit with hotels that we found, but it was another 20ish miles away on a really crappy highway I-20/I-59. It was all chunked up and under construction. I was certain that either Kevin or I was going to get a flat tire. We finally stopped at a Comfort Inn in Bessmer, AL. After checking in and getting settled, we walked across the street and had a nice relaxing dinner at Applebee's. Exhaustion was setting in and within 15 minutes of getting back to the room Kevin was fast asleep. I banged out this blog post real quick and I'm now headed to bed myself. The adventure continues tomorrow.

The Last Three States: Day 1

October 30, 2011 - Today I started the trip to visit the last three states that I need to complete my motorcycle tour of the lower 48 United States. It's kind of bitter sweet for me because this could very well be the last long distance motorcycle trip that I am able to take. I've got one week to travel to Alabama, Mississippi, and Louisiana.

This trip is a little different than the other trips that I've taken because I will be accompanied by some of my very best friends: Kevin Krahel, Tim Birt, and Dan Michalec. Kevin and I departed Columbus on our motorcycles today at about 1:15. Dan and Tim will meet us in New Orleans on Wednesday travelling by car.

Since Kevin and I need to be in New Orleans by Wednesday so we decided to get a jump on our trip by actually utilizing the US Interstate system. I typically try to avoid the highways but I've been through Ohio enough that I didn't feel that we'd be missing much by getting out of the Buckeye state on I-71. We stayed on I-71 until we reached US-127 (south of the I-71/I-75 split in KY). It was nice to finally get off of the super slab and get to enjoy the fall colors on two lane roads in Kentucky.

We wanted to get off the road before it got dark because the temperature was starting to drop quickly and there's no sense in being on unknown roads after dark, that's just asking to meet an unexpected deer. We ended up stopping at a Super 8 in Danville, KY. We ended up completing about 250 miles today. The evening was quite uneventful. We got the bikes situated, ordered a pizza and watched the "animation domination" on Fox. We turned in early so that we could get a jump on things in the morning.

Chicago Riot Fest Weekend

The following is Laela's third person account (with Rob's unrequested over-the-shoulder "suggestions") of the events of October 6-9, 2011:

The trip to Chicago starts not on October of 2011 but back in 1987. No wait we aren't including that. There is to be no story of how on Rob's 16 birthday he ended up in the Descendents Van. Nor about the 20 plus years Rob and Laela traveled around the mid-west to see ALL and Descendents shows. Forget it was even mentioned.

In the quest for something normal in the craziness that had become their lives Rob and Laela headed to Chicago for a long weekend at the Riot Fest. They were accompanied by Laela's sister Elizabeth and her husband Mike Sullivan. Rob was on his break from chemotherapy, by accident. The weather was perfect. The drive good and fast, with only one notable part that being some windmills in Indiana. Wind Farms can be cool and beautiful. They stopped for lunch at the IHOP. Columbus does not have any IHOPs so it's always a special treat to eat all the pancakes.

When they rolled into Chicago and got to the hotel who should be standing at the counter also checking but none other then Stephen Egerton and his lovely bride Natalie. They were all invited to come down to the club to hang out and catch up prior to the show.

The Bottom Lounge was a very nice place with some super good food. Stacie Stevenson met Rob and Laela at the door when they reached the club. Stacie always goes out of the way to make everyone feel like part of the crew. There were so many people who had flown in to see the Chicago show, and Stacy was quick to introduce Rob and Laela all around. Rob, Laela, Libby and Mike sat in a booth with Nat, Stephen, and John Romo eating corndogs and drinking coffee. Later they ended up on the roof enjoy the view of the skyline. Chicago had put pink lights into all the tall buildings. They spent some time chatting with Chad Price. He was sporting a beard that Rob could be proud of. After Laela had a few drinks and Rob had sort of nodded off they ended up wandering down to the bar space where the Pavers were playing.

After enjoying the Paver's set ALL took the stage. Rob and Laela are happy to report that ALL did not let them down. Chad sounded awesome, and the set list was full of fun surprises. When Miranda was played there

were more than a few pairs of wet eyes in the room. Rob got some unexpected love. Check out this shot of drummer Bill Stevenson and Rob. That's right Bill was representin'! They ended the evening about 3 am, that would be 4am Eastern time.

Laela did not feel well when she woke up thanks to all the Whipped Cream and Sprite drinks her sister have given her the night before. Rob had run to get her water and ibuprofen. About 3 Laela got it into her mind that she needed to visit Superdawgs. Rob got it into his mind that he had to nap. Thankfully Laela's sister and brother-in law were also eager to go try the famed Chicago style hot dogs. Google said it was on 7 miles away, in Chicago traffic that means it was a 30 minute drive. Superdawgs is this very retro drive-in hot dog place. The hot dogs come in these darling little blue boxes with fries. Getting back to the hotel was a little trickier. Three rights make a left turned out to take a little longer then expected, and an hour and half later they were all back in the hotel.

Back at the Bottom Lounge for a second night Rob was stoked to see Down By Law. The last time Rob and Laela had seen Down by Law play it was at the Al Rosa Villa. Dave Smalley and boys did not disappoint. Rob went off when they played "All American" and of course when they played Dag Nasty's "Under Your Influence." Dave came out and sang a few song with ALL followed by a set with Scott Reynolds. It was incredible to hear Scott singing all of Rob and Laela's favorites including Dot. When leaving the bar for the night they were stopped on the street by some people who had come to the benefit show in Columbus. Everyone was happy to see that Rob was well enough to be in Chicago. In fact Rob and Laela met a lot of people who had flown in see the ALL show in Columbus. The ALL fans will travel.

After sleeping most of day three away and eating some pizza at Gino's East they drove downtown to meet up with Natalie and Stephen and buy some souvenirs for the kids. Miranda got a panda scarf and did a happy dance when she received it. We all headed off to the Congress Theater.

The Congress Theater holds 4500 people, and it was packed. The t-shirts were almost impossible to look at with all the people

standing around. When they walked into the actual stage area it was people as far as the eye could see. At first Rob dove into the people and headed towards the front. Laela decided that the back was just fine for her. However by the time the Descendents were playing Lucky (for Rob and Laela) Rob had found his way back to Laela. Laela sobbed all the way through the song. Because, what would she do if she hadn't gotten lucky once with Rob? They spent the rest of the evening hanging out with their friends and meeting a bunch of super nice people, except for the one guy who had just thrown up and walked over to shake Rob's hand. They got to meet Chris Shary who does the art work for ALL and the Descendents. He was a great guy, with a love for Swatches. They also got the catch up with Karl Alvarez and his delightful girlfriend Jen. Jen is interested in getting a motorcycle, Laela was quick to encourage her. The next morning everybody was up and atom early. Laela and Rob had breakfast with their friends and headed home.

Rob started the second cycle of his chemotherapy on Monday October 10. If you have been wondering, Rob's new chemotherapy has lots of yucky side effects, and makes him feel awful. This Chicago trip was kind of a once in lifetime experience for Rob and it was everything he could do to get there and back. He is planning to finish up his motorcycle trip of the lower 48 in a few weeks. He has lots of friends going to help him achieve his final goal.

See Ya Soon,

Laela & Rob

Stay Tuned

Dear Friends,

Did you pop by for a Speed Walrus update? Unfortunatly our friend has become a little under the weather of late. He had a stupid flu when he came home from his big out west adventure. It lasted 2 weeks and was rather dreadful. It required one trip to the emergency room and two trips to the doctor. He did recover enough to start chemotherapy this week. He is very fatigued and coughing so much, he is rather sick of it. I promise he doesn't need anything but rest, and for the Sons of Anarchy to never go off the air.

I know he will make a triumphant return to you next month. Although he is no longer aloud to roam about the country unescorted, he does have 2 adventures planed for October. Stay tuned for more great blogs!

>:)<

LTB

Purple Mountains Majesty

8/9/2011 - What an amazing three days of riding I've had since Sunday. Bright and early Sunday morning Laela and Miranda departed San Francisco and I was back on my own. What did I do to celebrate my bachelorhood? I did my laundry at 6:30 in the morning. I took my time packing things up and getting out of the hotel because I knew it'd be the last time I stayed in a GOOD hotel on this trip. I finally got on the road about noon and started making my way towards Nevada. I started by hopping on US-101 Northbound and rode over the Golden Gate Bridge. Traffic was tight for a Sunday at noon, I was surprised by that but what else should I have expected in California? It didn't take long after getting away from the coast for the weather to start warming up. When I left the hotel, I looked like I was on an Arctic expedition and by the time I got to Sacramento I'd pretty much stripped off all of my extra layers and put my summer gloves back on. I spent the majority of the day traversing California and it was pretty run of the mill until I got close to Lake Tahoe. The roads got twisty and threw me back into the mountains. Perfect riding. The south shore of Lake Tahoe was super touristy but in a classy way. I started seeing Casinos and I knew that I had crossed into Nevada. Riding away from Lake Tahoe I encountered my first accident of the trip. It was a three vehicle affair, one of which was a Harley Davidson Road King. There were lots of first responders on the scene and it was yet another reminder not to get cocky on roads that I don't know. I hope everyone was okay. The Chevy Avalanche and the Mazda 626 hadn't fared too well. They hadn't uprighted the Road King yet so I have no idea what kind of condition it was in. I pulled over into the first RV park I found in Carson City and set up shop for the night. The weather was perfect for sleeping and I was very comfortable. The staff at the RV park was very friendly and helpful.

I got up the Monday morning, had my coffee and oatmeal and I was back on the road. I'd put 3500 miles on the bike since my last oil change and wanted to get it done again before I headed into the Nevada desert. The Carson City O'Rielly auto parts oil tank was full so I couldn't do it there. I found another one about 30 miles down the road and I was in business. Fresh oil for the bike and I was on my way again. The desert landscape was something not at all what I expected. I thought I was going to be inundated with sand and nothing. That wasn't the case at all. There were mountains a plenty and open range cattle EVERYWHERE including ON the road. It's a little unnerving rolling up to a full grown bull with horns and being only 10 feet away and being stared down by it. I'm glad my bike isn't red. Lots of space in between gas stations too. At one point I went 225 miles between them. I wasn't nervous yet but I was really glad when I found one. I stayed the night at the Little Al'E'Inn in Rachel, NV. It's a few miles away from the infamous Area 51. Rachel is a sparsely populated town and the Inn is nothing but a cluster of about 8 or so mobile homes. The biggest one is the restaurant/bar/office. The people working there were extremely nice and accomaditing. It wasn't someplace I'd stay with my family but I'm glad I stayed there by myself. I went to park my bike and unload my bags and I was in the gravel. I went to put down my kickstand plate (the one I got when I took Ohio's Motorcycle Safety course) and then it dawned on me. I left it at my campsite in Carson City. I was bummed but hey, what are you going to do. After getting settled in I went back to the restaurant and had an Alien Burger. The Alien Sauce is Thousand Island dressing. Spooky. After eating I went outside to the picnic tables with a Boston Lager and was greeted by a cloudless night sky. With it's lack of light pollution, it put on an amazing show. The stars were super bright; unfortunately, efforts to capture that sky with my camera failed miserably. Lack of cell service but having wi-fi, I chatted with Laela for a while on Twitter and then turned in for the night.

Staying in a room has the advantage of not having to break down camp and tetris everything back onto the bike, so after getting my directions straight I was on the road right away Tuesday morning. Again, first order of business was fuel. I'd gone 125 miles since my last fill up and I was 88 miles from the nearest service station. One thing is for sure, I couldn't have done this trip without carrying copious amount of extra fuel on any of my other bikes. En route to the gas station I was greeted by more desert mountain ranges tinged with the early morning haze. I had never really understood the phrase "purple mountains majesty" before this morning. They were a beautiful sight to behold. After fueling up, I made my way to Utah. As soon as I crossed the state line, the roads turned to shit. Very gravelly and with a speed limit of 40MPH. Again, I wasn't going to push it on unfamiliar roads especially since I was still in "open range" territory. I took a rest stop in Cedar City and when I got going again I happened upon a Suzuki dealership. I went in to see if they had any kickstand plates available because I never know what kind of surface I'm going to be parking on. The lady behind the counter was very nice and said "I've got one but you probably won't want it because it says Suzuki." I explained to her that would make me extactic because I'm riding a Suzuki V-Strom and went on to tell her about my trip and that my other bike is a Suzuki Savage. We had a nice chat and she let me have the plate free of charge. Being as directionally challenged as I can be at times, I asked her where UT-14 was because I had made a wrong turn in town. She informed me that I was on it. So I hopped back on and started travelling east. It was then that I took back my previous cursing of Utah's roads because UT-14 is a twisty mountain road flanked on either side by canyons and other gorgeous scenery. I couldn't stop to take enough pictures. It was awesome. I finally ended up in Arizona and found a campsite at Jacob's Lake. I got my camp set up, had dinner, and wrote this blog entry. You are now all caught up on the adventures of kid gorgeous.

Goodbye SFO

August 7, 2011 - It's Sunday morning. Laela and Miranda have just departed from the SFO Holiday Inn for their flight back to Ohio. I miss them terribly already. It's going to be a lonely ride back to Columbus from here. I'm currently doing my laundry (which by the way is DAYS overdue). We've had a fantastic time as a family on the west coast. The last two days we've spent exploring San Francisco. I have two observations: 1) Two days is not nearly enough to take in all that San Francisco has to offer. 2) I am NOT a big city person.

On Friday we arrived in San Francisco (actually Thursday night but we really didn't do anything but sleep). After we woke up on Friday we drove across town to the hotel we booked for the weekend. Once we got settled in, we took the hotel shuttle to the airport so that we could pick up the BART and go downtown. Naturally since Miranda was with us, our first order of business was visiting Chinatown. The first thing that struck me about the city as soon as we disembarked the BART was how crowded the city streets were. It is amazing how many people crammed the sidewalk. The girls were darting in and out of stores enjoying the shopping while I spent my time on the sidewalk people watching. The stores all seemed to contain the same items so after I went in a couple of them, they all seemed the same.

After Chinatown we made our way to Fisherman's Wharf (because that's what you're supposed to do in San Francisco right?) So we spent some time walking around taking in the sights and shopping there too. The weather was in the 60's and windy the whole time we were here and made it feel more like fall in Ohio than the first week of August. It was quite refreshing and I'm sure that I'll be missing it as soon as I start to travel inland. We had dinner at a seafood restaurant. It was fair, kind of what I expected. How does one mess up fried shrimp and fish anyway? (you can take the boy out of Ohio, but can't take Ohio out of the boy) After dinner we continued walking down the street until we went sea lion watching at Pier 39. We got some cute pictures.

They're really loud and watching them wrestle and play "king of the hill" on the docks was a lot of fun. When we finished watching them we found what? You guessed it...a Ripley's Believe It Or Not Odditorium! We spent the remainder of the evening there. It was MUCH nicer than the one in Newport, OR and much more spacious. We had had enough walking around at this point and decided to go back to the hotel. Looking at the map, I hadn't realized how far we had walked and I ended up submitting the girls to an almost 3 mile death march back to the BART. Once back at the airport, it took almost an hour for the hotel shuttle to come and pick us up. That was more than a little frustrating, but we finally made it back to the hotel for a good night's sleep.

Saturday morning we got up and were advised by the hotel staff that the best way to get to the ball game was to use the CalTrain rather than the BART. The CalTrain had a station close enough to the hotel to drive to. We parked there, boarded the train and were down to AT&T Park in a short four stops. AT&T Park is a great facility for baseball and every bit as picturesque as it appears on television. It was a sold out game vs. the Philadelphia Phillies so I was going to be happy no matter who won because it was my favorite NL west team vs. my favorite NL east team. We stayed in our bleacher seats for the first three innings and then got up and really spent the next four innings exploring the park. Laela and Miranda both went down the slides in the Coca-Cola bottle. When we went back to our seats in the 8th inning they were occupied by some elitist assholes (they reminded me a LOT of the girls we encountered in DC Five Guys last year). They were made aware that they were in our seats and made to move. They grumbled and bitched the rest of the time they were there. Fortunately they decided they'd had enough by the 9th inning and beat it.

After the game we didn't really have a plan for how to spend the rest of the day so I decided that we should do a "Ride the Duck" tour of San Francisco. It was pretty cool; although, of all the duck tours I've been on I'd have to say that was the least entertaining captain we've had, but the first that I'd want to go have a beer with when he's off duty. The other thing about this tour was that over the course of the past two days, we'd walked most of what we drove through. It was nice to get the history of the places on the tour though. The water-born portion of the tour was right through McCovey Cove so we got another fantastic view of the ball park.

We got finished with the duck tour, hopped a cab back to the CalTrain station and were back in the hotel before 11:00. 4:00 am this morning came too soon and it was then that I bid farewell to Laela and Miranda. I really loved getting to hang out with them on the west coast and am glad I got to be with Miranda the first time she went to the Pacific ocean. It's going to be a long 13 days before I get home. I'll probably leave at about noon today, but right now I have to go get my laundry out of the dryer. Until the next time I have intertube access....

California Cruising

Good Morning! It's August 5, 2011 and I'm sitting in a Holiday Inn lobby in San Francisco, CA. It's been a great couple of days of riding since I last wrote. Wednesday night we stopped and stayed in Newport, OR. While in Newport we took in the Ripley's Believe it or Not Museum, a wax museum, and an Undersea Adventure "show". Almost every time we vacation with Miranda we stop and visit a Ripley's museum because she loves them. Tickets to this one included the wax museum and underwater adventure. The wax museum was a little bit dates with exhibits such as the M*A*S*H tent. They did have a bitchin Star Wars and Lord of the Rings section. The undersea adventure was just sad. It was in a building that was actually submerged under the water by about 10 feet or so and they had a big window that went around the perimeter and looked out onto their "aquarium." It had a few fish in it but they all looked diseased or sick. There were a bunch of crabs that were fighting and eating each other though, so that was kind of interesting.

The next day we continued to travel south down US-101 through Oregon, enjoying the view of the coast and taking in some tourist attractions. We stopped to see Sea Lion Caves near Florence, OR and actually got to see some sea lions basking in the sun. Again, we continued to travel south and eventually found ourselves in California. We stopped at the Redwood Forest information center and got some tips on how to see some old growth redwoods from the car/motorcycle and were also informed that during the course of our journey, we'd cross the Klamath River. It just so happened that there was a whale that had made it's way into the river and was playing by a bridge on the river. Sure enough, about 45 minutes later we were staring right at a real live whale. Pictures can't possibly do justice to how majestic it was. Given the area it was "playing" in, it almost seemed like it knew there were people watching it and was putting on a show on purpose.

We stayed in Arcata, CA Wednesday night at a janky Comfort Inn, but it was the only hotel that had a room available with two double beds. Thursday when we woke up, we continued on US-101 until it intersected with CA-1, the Pacific Coast Highway. We rode the PCH for several hours. It was beautiful but we weren't making very good time and a couple of us were getting car sick from all of the twists and turns the road took as it followed the mountains on the coast line. We did get a chance to go to the drive through tree though! I kind of felt like Clark Griswold.

We finally arrived in San Francisco after night fall and another HARROWING bridge crossing. The Richmond San Rafael Bridge is longer than the Mackinac Bridge. Actually, I just confirmed that it is 5.5 miles long. After a couple of missteps, we ended up at our hotel for the evening. Most everything was closed for dinner, so we all tried Jack-In-The-Box for the first (and last) time. It was pretty gross.

Portlandia

¡Hola, Mis Amigos! It's Tuesday morning August 2nd. I'm writing from the breakfast room at the Fairfield Inn in Portland, OR. It's been a busy few days since I last wrote. After staying the evening on the Idaho/Washington border, I got up on Saturday with about 12o miles to go to get to Seattle. Friday night, when I was at my campsite I set out to oil my chain as I do most days after riding any significant mileage. Much to my dismay, I discovered some of my chain links were binding up. I spent the rest of the evening attempting to "adjust away" the kinks but it just wasn't happening. So I put my tools away, and decided to just ride my motorcycle to the Holiday Inn in Renton, WA where I'd be staying the night. I was at the hotel four hours too early to check in, so I grabbed my laundry and decided to work on that for a while. As I was washing my clothes I decided to call some nearby motorcycle dealerships to see if any of them had the chain I needed in stock and a service tech available to install it. Fortunately for me Renton Motorcycles was 5 miles from my hotel and had both things I required. I figured it was probably in my best interests to get a new chain rather than ignore it and have it break on me mid trip or even worse, with Miranda on the back. So I rode over to RMC, bought the chain and sprockets, and had them install them. They also went so far as to wash my very dirty machine too.

I was in and out of there in a couple of hours. In the meantime, Laela and Miranda's plane had landed and they had made it to the hotel. I got back there and they were already checked in. It was a very happy reunion. We then went and had a crappy dinner at the restaurant at the hotel. Will I ever learn to NOT eat at a Holiday Inn restaurant?

Sunday we got up and headed into Seattle on the light rail system they had. The hotel had a shuttle to run us over to the station and it took us right downtown. We went to the Space Needle, took a Duck Tour of Seattle, went to a Mariner's game at Safeco Field, went to the fish market, and then had dinner at the Crab Pot. The Pirate store next to the Crap Bot was pretty bad ass and we had a good time perusing it. Miranda was wishing that we could have shopped there before her school musical.

Monday morning we got up and headed out on the road. Since Portland was our next destination, we just hopped on I-5 so we could get there in a straight shot. It took a couple about three hours to get there and when we did we met up with my friend from back in the day, Brian Pickering. It was really nice to be able to catch up with an old friend. It's easily been 16 years since we'd seen each other and there was a lot of catching up to do. He's very knowledgeable about the entire Pacific Northwest Area and had lots of pro-tips for us on things to do and see. He also helped us score a reasonable hotel for the evening which is where I'm writing from right now. Today we're going to visit some bookstore, a donut shop, and Chinatown; after which, we'll hop on US-101 and start making our way down the coast.

Greetings from Idaho

Yesterday I spent my time going from Livingstion, MT to East Glacier Park, MT via US-90. It was a pretty good albeit windy ride. I had planned on camping at Glacier National Park but by the time I got to East Glacier Park (that's the city's name not the actual park) night was already falling. Glacier National Park was another 50 miles away and I just didn't want to risk windy wilderness roads that I didn't know without the benefit of daylight. There was a park called Two Medicine National Park, but all of their campsites were full and the staff wasn't very helpful in assisting me with finding alternative accommodations. I returned to East Glacier Park and went to a gas station to see if they could point me in the right direction. They said that there was an RV park called the Y Lazy R that provided tent camping as well and gave me directions. Fortunately they had space for me and I was able to stay there. All I really needed was a patch of grass and a bathroom and that fit the bill perfectly. I got my camp set up, made dinner and went to bed. It was pretty chilly so I was in fully mummy mode in my sleeping bag.

I woke up in the morning with every intention of just hopping on US-2 west and making my way into Washington. When I got up my camping neighbor (also a motorcylist) told me about the Road to the Sun and Logan's Pass in Glacier National Park. He said it was a must ride and that it'd be a shame for me to be so close and to miss it. With such a hearty recommendation, how could I pass it up? I packed up my bike and headed north to the park. It was an amazing ride up the mountain. I've never experienced views as good as that. It's a really tight windy 50 mile ride from the east end of the park to the west end. It is a very popular thing to do and there was a lot of traffic. Honestly, I was happy for the traffic because it kept the speeds really low which meant less of a chance for me to get into trouble.

After riding through Glacier I hopped on US-2 West and headed into Idaho. I stopped to camp 55 miles from Spokane Washington. It wasn't a very productive 327 miles today, but it was fun.

National Treasures

I've seen a lot of great things since I last had a chance to blog. When I last wrote I was on my way to Mt. Rushmore. I made it there successfully and it was just as awe inspiring as I had hoped it would be, there just wasn't a whole lot to do there besides look at the monument. After visiting Rushmore, I found a KOA to stay at for the evening. It was crammed with people and RVs and screaming kids. My campsite was across the street from the playground which was kind of terrible. The campsite itself was a whopping two car spaces big with a picnic table. My neighbors were cool though and I had an opportunity to take a hot shower and do my laundry both of which were much needed. On the plus side, the weather was perfect for sleeping and I actually ended up getting a really good night's rest.

Monday morning 7/25, I got the bike packed up and got on the road. The Black Hills of South Dakota are amazing. It was absolutely the best motorcycle riding I've ever had. Lots of elevation changes, sweeping curves, and hairpin turns. I rode the Needles highway, Spearfish Canyon, and even passed through Deadwood, SD. Once out of Spearfish Canyon, I connected with I-90 West in order to get to the Wyoming welcome center. I picked up a state map and campground guide there. After that I proceeded to the Devil's Tower National Monument.

Pictures can't convey what an awesome spectacle the Devil's Tower is. It was just massive. I walked some of the 1.5 mile trail that surrounds the base of the tower and it was quite tranquil. Lot's of pine trees and woodland creatures scurrying about. As I was getting ready to leave, storm clouds were rolling in. Since I was headed in the opposite direction, I didn't think that I needed to rain gear up. 20 minutes later I was pulled over on the side of the road doing just that because it started raining. I really got dumped on when I got to Moorcroft, SD to stop for gas and grocieries, but as quickly as the driving rains came, they stopped. I kept going and rode through Buffalo, SD and by this time the sun was starting to set, the ride was getting cold, and I needed to find a place to stop. The Bighorn National Forest has lots of little off of the road campgrounds to stay at and I found one called Lake Side about 45 minutes outside of Buffalo. The campsites are exactly as the name states and are on the side of a lake. It was a really gorgeous setting. I found the site that I wanted to stay at and went to go pay for it at the camp entrance. As I was pulling out of the site, Pikachu decided to buck me off. I was going downhill, in the sand, and hit a pothole that I didn't see. The next thing I knew, the bike was on the ground and I was thrown from it. I'm glad I had my helmet on, because I bounced my nugget right on the ground. I hopped up and quickly determined that I wasn't injured. My next thought was to get the bike picked up as quickly as possible. I had just filled up my tank and didn't want it spilling all over the ground (or on my gear). That bike is heavy when it's all loaded up and I had trouble getting a foot hold in the sand to be able to leverage the bike back up. After a couple of unsuccessful attempts I finally stood it back up. There was no noticeable damage so I rode it up, paid for my campsite, and got a bundle of firewood so my camp would have some light because the sun had just about set and I still needed to set my stuff up. I had another great night of sleeping weather.

I woke up on Tuesday eager to get to Yellowstone. The road to Yellowstone went through Cody, Wyoming and once on the other side of Cody the wind really picked up and made riding difficult. I had to take a break just to collect my wits and be able to continue. The only things I wanted to do in Yellowstone were see Old Faithful and get a campsite. I was unprepared for how beautiful Yellowstone was and how massive. The park is huge. It was about 60 miles from the entrance where I entered and Old Faithful. At any rate, there were no campsites to be had so I figured I'd just go see Old Faithful erupt and then proceed to Gardiner, MT to get a hotel for the night (54 miles away through the park). By the time I got to the geyser it had just erupted and I needed to wait 90 minutes before I could see it. Old Faithful was cool, but the other big geyser nearby called the Beehive I believe, put on a much more spectacular show. I didn't end up leaving until 8:30 and the sun was setting fast. Before long it was gone and I was faced with the prospect of navigating my way down a mountain in pitch black. It was quite a harrowing journey and I don't think that I went faster than 25MPH getting out of there. If you are doing the math, yes it took me two hours to get to Gardiner and by that time all of Gardiner's hotels were booked and all of the private campgrounds offices were closed. My only prospect for getting a room was to drive north to Livingston, MT which was another 52 miles away at night. There is NOTHING between Gardiner and Livingston either except a bunch of signs warning of "Wildlife Crossing." I was able to get behind a tractor trailer and follow it to Livingston so I didn't feel completely alone. I finally got a room at the Parkway Budget Host hotel.

Over the last couple of days I've really been able to experience the vast array of natural beauty that the United States has to offer. Now that I've been able to see it in person, I have a much better appreciation for it.

I'm now 804 miles away from Seattle and have four days to get there where I'll meet Laela and Miranda. I can't wait!

Cross Country Update

Today was day four of my excursion out west.  So far I have travelled throught the Lowe and upper penninulas of Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, and I'm currently halfway through South Dakota.

I cant't believe I spent as much time in Michigan as I did. The UP is way longer than I anticipated. It might as well be another state all on it's own.  I ended up camping twice in Michigan, once in the LP and once in the UP.  I think one of my favorite parts of the trip so far was travelling along Lake Michigan after crossing the Mackinac bridge.  The sand dunes are huge and the highway runs right along side of it.  There wasn't a cloud in the sky and the water was really blue.

Yesterday I caught a little border fever in Minnesota and rode too long trying to get to North Dakota.  I went through Detroit Lakes, MN after dusk and was trying desperately to find a campsite.  Day light ran out and as I was getting further south there was an ominus lightning storm that I was headed into.  I decided that it would be in my best interest to return to Detroit Lakes and get a hotel for the night. It was a cheap hotel and they should've provided a mosquito net for the bed because there were more mosquitos in the room than there were the previous night camping.

When I awoke on Saturday it had stormed all night and everything was wet.  The sky was still really dark too and as I pulled out it started raining.  So with my raingear on, I made my way to North Dakota and was there quite briefly on my way to South Dakota.

South Dakota has been surprisingly large. I guess I just underestimate the actual size of the states because I thought I'd be much closer to Mount Rushmore by now.  When I entered SD, I stopped at the welcome center.  Janice was the kind old lady working the information booth and as soon as I walked up to her she handed me a brochure about motorcycling South Dakota.  She also gave me some invaluable information on camping too.  It's a good thing that she did too. The campground I wanted to stay at has been closed due to floooding.  So I located an alternative and made reservations at one of my frequent rest stops.  I am staying at the West Bend Recreatinal area tonight. I pulled in with about an hour of usable sunlight left.  I quickly got my gear set up and made myself a dinner of Ramen noodles.  I made it thought the day today spending less than $6 excluding gas. The primitive sites at West Bend are separated from the electric sites by about a half mile walk. Guess where the showers are. I wasn't even going to attempt sleeping tonight without a shower after being cooped up in my rain gear for ca long today, so after dinner I made the trek up to the electic site showers.  Words can not convey how gorgeous the starlit cloudless sky was. I know it's cliche' but with no light pollution it really looked like someone just put a collander over the globe and shined a light on top of it.  Millions of pinpricks of light flooded the night time sky.  It was worth the walk just for that.

One more quick note, there was a birdstrike on thw way to the campsite tonight. Crossing SD can be desolate at times and with that desolation comes an abundance of wildlife on the roads (especially birds).  Well, one finally hit me tonight. About a dozen of them scattered off of the road in front of me and unfortunately for one of them, it wasn't quick enough and right right into my left knuckle.  Poor guy. 

So if all goes well, I should make it to Mt. Rushmore tomorrow. It's about 250 miles from where I am now.

Chicken Little

So, I haven't written any blog updates with regard to my health lately.  Up until last week, there hasn't been much to write.  Last Tuesday we received the results from my latest CT scan.  In this case, bigger is not better.  The reults showed that all of the tumor areas are increasing in size and areas that were almost imperceptible on the last scan are now full blown growths.  What does this mean for me?  I am down to four treatment options:

1)  Do nothing and let nature run it's course.
2)  Go back to the previous therapy I was on
3)  Go to a third (and final) line of chemotherapy
4)  Take a "hail Mary" pill for which I tested negative for the protien that it inhibits. (Some doctors have reported success in administering this to patients who tested negative.

Needless to say, it was bad news.  I'd been doing so well for so long that I'd lulled myself into a false sense of security.  I feel almost the same as I did last year when I was initially diagnosed. I also feel a tad like chicken little because it feels like the sky is falling.  It felt like that l,ast year too, but I'm still here and am not feeling too bad.  Yes, I'm shorter of breath. Yes, I get fatigued more easily. Yes I'm coughing more, but other than those things I don't feel any different than I have over the past year.

I have chosen to do the third line therapy in hopes of a positive response but I'm not going to start it until Miranda starts school in the fall.  In the meantime, it feels a little more imperative that I get some things done that I want to do.  I think you know what that means...motorcycle trip!  I'm sitting in my tent writing this on my phone on the banks of Lake Huron.  I am riding my motorcycle to Washington (state), then down to San Francisco and back.  This is night number 1 of my month long journey.  I'll be joined on the west coast by my lovely bride and awesome daughter as we travel down Highway 101 (they'll be in a cage). I have 10 days to get there.

I'll round out my travels in October by hitting the southern states that I need to complete my motorcycle the contiguous 48 goal.

Day 6 - Rounding Third and Heading for Home

6/20/2011 - Up early in NYC. After a quick trip to Dunkin Donuts with Anthony, we were back to his place and I was on the road by 8:30. I was contacted by several of my friends who were in NYC at the time but since I was on a time crunch I wasn't able to get to see them. Sorry Donny and Howie. Getting out of the city isn't too tough on a Monday morning because most of the traffic is going into the city. I was through the Holland Tunnel and into New Jersey in no time.

In New Jersey there wasn't a Welcome Center to stop at so I just kept going for about an hour and stopped when I needed fuel. I had totally forgotten that you aren't allowed to pump your own gas in New Jersey; however, the pump operator at the service center was sympathetic to me being on a motorcycle and let me pump it myself albeit supervised. While pumping gas, I struck up a

conversation with a gentleman who regaled me with his tale of coast to coast travel on his Triumph in the 1970's. I love getting to talk to people who have done similar journeys because it's always interesting to compare notes. The end of my brief stop in Ashland New Jersey had me walking into the restaurant, getting some coffee, and having my picture taken with Chris Christie. He's the governor of the Garden State.

I hopped back on my motorcycle and before I knew it, I was in the state of Delaware. I almost missed the exit for their welcome center. That would have been a shame too because it was the cleanest and most modern of all the welcome centers that I visited. I was even greeted at the door by an orange barrel Transformer. The breaks and state lines were coming fast and furious. I really felt like I wasn't getting anywhere because they were so frequent that morning.

The final new state line that I would cross would be to Maryland. It happened and I didn't even know it. I couldn't have been in Delaware for more than 20 miles total. I really just clipped the corner. With that in mind, I made my last stop for a Welcome Center photograph. Here it is in all of it's splendid glory.

My GPS did give me a little gift though. In a mere 150 miles, I'd be off of the Interstate for a while and onto US-40. I-70 takes a crazy jog north in Maryland and to keep my route going back home as shortly as possible, it diverted me to I-68 and then dumped me on US-40. It was great. As soon as I got away from I-95 I started seeing a lot more trees and hills. Maryland was a REALLY nice state to ride through. It was very scenic. I stopped at around 5:00PM and had my lunch/dinner at a gas station in the mountains. Here is the view from my picnic table in Hancock, MD.Although it doesn't show up in the photo very well, it was really quite remarkable. After I ate and got cleaned up, I settled into the saddle for what would be the longest single ride I'd ever taken without getting out of the saddle. I rode from Hancock, MD to Cambridge, OH without getting off the bike. 213.9 miles. I finally had to pull over at 10:00PM because my fuel was getting low and I just needed a break. There's only so much time that good music and a positive attitude can get you through and I was starting to feel worn down. The one thing that was very invigorating was seeing the Welcome to Ohio sign. At that point, I knew I was only about two hours away from home and I could do two hours

standing on my head at this point. So I went in to the Sheetz convenience mart grabbed a coffee and a banana, sat down for 20 minutes or so then it was off for home. I finally pulled into my garage at 12:05am Tuesday morning (thereby breaking my promise of being home on Monday). This is the photo Laela took of me in the morning when she woke up.

All in all, it was a great trip. I got to see some friends, visit another country and see a bunch of states that I'd never been in before. My Suzuki V-Strom DL650 handled perfectly and was a joy to be on. I never once doubted it's ability or reliability. It's a really solid bike. I can't wait to get some new tires on it to see what it can really do. My only disappointment with the trip was my time constraints which required me to be home by Tuesday 6/21/2011. That made me choose between quantity of states or quality of ride. I spent WAY more time on the super slab than I wanted to but if I hadn't, I'd have never gotten to all of the states I needed to. I'll see what I can do about scheduling more time for my next trip but that's going to be contingent upon what the doctor tells me on 7/12/2011. Let's hope it's good news.