THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME,AUNTIE EM!!

We made it back yesterday afternoon. The last 425 miles was..torturous. It was 90something degrees. The engine heat off my motorcycle actually burnt my let thru my jeans.

But, the great thing is we succeeded in our journey and have returned to the HOT city of Everett.

The trip was a success. Saw friends,relatives, and met some sensational folks along the way. Every gas stop, every stop for the night, was a new experience. People will ALWAYS gravitate towards a woman driving a new, unconventional 3 wheeled contraption that looks like it was once owned by Buck Rogers. Throw an irresistible black pooch riding behind her into the mix, and you have a combination that is an instant crowd gatherer. We really had fun talking with everyone along the way!!

Thanks for reading about our exploits here at "Nicholsons Across America" and I can, without a doubt,guarantee you that there will NOT be another blog started by us about a 8000 mile, 7 week trip across this great nation!!ONCE IS ENOUGH!! (and I say this in a GOOD way!!)

Brad,Pat,and the West Casino Kidd(o) Nicholson

8 am and we are almost outta here

See yall in Evert in 9 hours or so. :) Hope my backside can handle the last 400 miles.:)

426 more miles to go

We are in St Regis,MT tonite. We will be home tomorrow. Our respective buttock's are..begging for a day off the motorcycles, but,alas, there is about 9 more hours in the saddle for both sets. :)

We had a real picturesque ride thru MT today. Montana is a very beautifull state, even if its seen from I94/I90.

It will be great to get back. Its been a long trip.

Billings,MT tonite.

We made it to Billings with no mishaps other than sore backsides, a bit soggy from rain and hungry tummies.


So..we are going to attempt another 400+ mile day tomorrow. Today was around 420 and it wasnt bad. Pat has a hard time because of her seat/seating position, so anything near 400 is a great day. If we do 420 miles a day, we will be home Thursday evening.

When we stopped for gas, I noticed a huge RV type bus towing something I have never seen towed by an RV. Usually its a little car, or a Jeep,or something like that. But a...HELICOPTOR??

Also, Kiddo was tired and decided to sack out on the Spyder while we were awaiting the rain to subside.

Wonderful Day Ends in Bismark,ND

Thanks to my friends on a Honda website/forum specific to my motorcycle, I repaired it this morning. Cost? Not a cent.

I had to tear some body panels off and do some finaggling with some gas lines to by pass a certain diaphram valve that went bad. After completion, it ran as well as ever and we traveled 364 miles. Excellent mileage, considering what I had to accomplish before our departure.

Cool thing is, our AAA road service is gonna take care of the motel and meals while the bike was broke down. :)

So, here we are in Bismark,looking forward to another day of 80+ mph on I-94. We saw some fantastic scenery in remote MN west of Grand Rapids. The lakes in that area are beautiful.

Time for some shuteye, and hopefully an *early* start in the morning.

B/P/K

Interesting day w/ tow truck

Luck is not with my Honda..but AAA is. We made it as far as Grand Rapids,MN, thanks to a tow truck. My ST1100 quit just the other side of Duluth,MN. Loaded it *yet again* onto a tow truck and got dropped off at a motel. Tomorrow we will head for the Honda dealer hoping for the best. Seems like a fuel delivery problem, like a fuel filter or pump.

I m grateful that we have the opportunity for this trip, even tho things are not always happening as we had planned.:)

*YACHT* Day!

Yesterday we picked up a MacGregor 26 sail/power*YACHT*. It is on loan to our friends John and Patty from her brother. We decided to remove all the sailing equipment off because of lack of sailing experience(NONE!) Its a pretty cool *YACHT*. Has a 50 HP outboard capable of 22 mph. 26 feet long. Room inside for a few people to sleep.

John scrubbed it to day. I helped him empty out the boat for the interior cleaning. Not sure if we will get a chance for a spin or not before we leave for the class reunion on Saturday.

We are all non-card carrying honorary members of the super exclusive *SHYTOWN YACHT CLUB*(total membership=4)(: