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)(:

LOTS of pizza today!

We went for a ride to get pizza in my hometown of Iron River,MI. We got 2 cooked ones (for eating right away) and 6 half baked for the friends we are staying with.

We stopped and saw some friends and had some great fellowship. Rode back to Munising, which is a 270 mi round trip.

It was worth it. Great pizza and wonderful visiting with old friends. Next weekend will be our last weekend before we take off back west towards WA. Its been a fun, but long ride and we MUST be back by no later than July 14th, or our mail will get sent back on the 15th. And, I m guessing, its gonna be a huge pile of mail!!

Kiddo is getting over a case of the puppy poops and we are greatly relieved to see that!!

We may attend an AA picnic tomorrow,depending on the weather.

The pic is of our favorite subject using the armrest as a pillow. :)

Still Chillin' in da UP

We have been just hanging out here awaiting my class reunion on July 3rd. It will be a longish wait,but I m looking forward to it. We were heading out this coming weekend, but decided to stay for the reunion.

Kiddo got a major 'doo change, and now looks like a...little black dog with a poofie tail. We got her clipped, its called a "teddy bear" type of style.

I havent gotten a pic of her new cut yet, but here is one for comparison, suprisingly sitting on MY motorcycle! :)

Visitation with Gerry and family

We had visited with him before,but this time we took the motorcycles. We had a early Fathers Day because Sue is leaving to NC to visit her gramma today. It was beautiful weather for the 40 mile ride, both ways. We had a great dinner, played WII with the kids, and went for rides on the bikes. Pat even let Gerry drive the Spyder. He was all smiles from that experience, as I anticipated. Kiddo was her usual self..she played with Cutie this time..last visit she was afraid of her. She is getting better with other dogs with every encounter. She is good at dragging lawn chairs around, as you can see fromt the pic. She didnt get it up the stairs,tho. We were going to Grand Marias with Gerry, but he as to work getting a house ready to move, so we will be getting together tomorrow instead. So, our day is free. :) So far.. B/P/K

A Beautiful Enjoyable Day!

Today was great! Sunshine and warm. Our big "thing" for the day was a motorcycle ride to some friends homes. Our friend Patty has a motorcycle,so the three of us went out. We stopped in two places and visited,then on to the big city of Munising(which, last year, aquired their first stoplight.)for icecream at DQ. It was a great ride and wonderful visiting friends. I even got a few shots with the camera of Pat and Kiddo.

"Home" once again!

Landed in the UP of MI night before last. What a relief that is. Went to see our son and his family and have been relaxing..not much else. We will be taking a ride to Grand Marais Saturday. My son has a on/off road dirt bike he will be riding. I havent looked around Grand Marais since the "bad old days" when I was a "real biker" riding a HD and acting like a jerk,back in the mid-70's. How things change when one gets older and wiser.:)

Looking forward to visiting many folks we havent seen for months/years here.

Still no card reader to post pics..I guess its time to just buy one!

Ludington,MI visit with friends

We spent 2 days with our old friends,Bill and Charlotte in Ludington,MI. We had a wonderful time. We went to their grandaughters ballet/dance recital and we were astounded by the performance. It was one of the most wonderful things I have ever seen. The children were fantastic dancers, from 4 years old up to teenagers,with a few "old folks" thrown in for comparison! LOL! We got to see some nice scenery by the river in Ludington and some of the history of the area. We got to ride on a pontoon boat on a lake with thier daughter and grandaughter. All in all, a wonderful visit. Thanks,Bill and Char for your hosiptality. We hope we can return the favor in Seattle some day!

I have pics,but cannot post them yet,because of a lack of a card reader. I ll post em,with a vid, later.

motortrike in Battle Creek

Here are the pics from the last stop, very nice ride today after a great visit with family, I even learned how to play chess in Ohio, my 8 year old great nephew taught me, go figure. Pat (oh by the way no more secrets, the surprises are over)

catch up time

We left Ohio and now are resting in Battle Creek,MI. We had some serious fun visiting with family.Spent 3 days there, then the night here, and off to Ludington,MI tomorrow for another overnight visit with more friends. The ride from OH to MI was fantastic.

The pics are from family in OH..except for the ones on the motortrike, which were taken at a friends here in Battle Creek.

Holy Crap it is, WET, WET, WET

Tried to leave this am and thought we could drive between rain drops. I got Kiddo and the luggage on the Spyder and it started to dump, just like the sky was falling, cats and dogs. Everything is soaked so we have to postpone our departure from WV until tomorrow. Good thing all friends and family are flexible, good thing we are too, we bend like rubber bands after this trip. And no I did not melt when the water hit, Kiddo almost did though. Brad said we would get wet this trip, but I thought we would be moving down an interstate not sitting in a Motel parking space.

Extreme weather in WV/PA

The weather is cooking up a witchs brew of nastiness. We are considering waiting till the route is a bit less treacherous. We will be heading north thru Pittsburgh to the extreme northern part of PA then head east to where ever the next sister is gonna be suprised. It worked well with the first one, so this sister(in law) should be flabbergasted as well.

We got a bit wet yesterday,but not bad at all. I went to a restaurant for take out and got drenched, but it was only a few hundred yards of distance.

We enjoyed breakfast "camping style" in the motel room this morning. Pat is brushing Kiddos teeth now, and we will be doing something, either driving or staying,in the next hour or so. We DO NOT want to be caught on the freeway in severe winds/rain/???. The one small storm in TN was enough for us.

200 miles to go..

BPK

Holy Crap it is HOT, HOT, HOT

Well no internet access last night but tonight we are in Faremont, West Virginia. Nice day for travel. It stayed in the low 80's and when it rained it went down into the 70's, nice after yesterday's high of 93. Thought my butt was gonna start to sizzle for sure. We will be in Ohio at my Nieces to surprise my other sister tomorrow. Brad went to get some dinner, yum, yum. Talk to ya' all tomorrow.

Tuesday and new Tie-Airs!

We proceeded to Redline Powersports for new tires on the Honda. What a difference. The front one needed replacing,also. I m very grateful for the fella who noticed the bad rear tire.

So..we will be hangin' here at da 'Beach till they kick us out, I guess. Kiddo is getting another cut and nail job done, so will have to post another pic of our "delicate flower" of a dog here in a few hours.

From Nashville to Asheville

We spent the night in Asheville,NC Saturday night. We made around 300 mi with 300 more the next day.

So..here it is the next day. Everything is *was* going just grand..we left at a record time in the AM! On the road by 8 AM and our a**es were in a tow truck by noon. Luckily some fella at the gas station we stopped at said.." Have yall looked at yer rear tie-alr lately?"(folks talk real funny down here:)The white cords were showing in the center of the tire in two places. So, here we are on a Sunday, a holiday weekend, and we need a tire installed. We called every stinkin dealer,both motorcycle and tire, around and no tires available. We did the next best thing..called AAA tow truck and got towed to Myrtle Beach. We rode 4 hours with both the Honda and Spyder on the truck and us inside. We will be able to get a tire either tomorrow or Tuesday. We suprised Pats sister to tears, literally, and are enjoying their food and companionship. I am very thankful that that man noticed the tire,for it could have ended in disaster for me, for we were doing our usual 80 in a 70 zone.

Time to relax and enjoy ourselves once again. Jill, thanks for giving our niece our phone number. We appreciate it!

Brad

Friday night in Nashville

We made it a whole 190 miles from my friend Jills home in Lakeland,TN to Nashville. The day started out with retracing our steps from 20 miles out back to Jills because "someone" forgot Brads hearing enabling devices. So, back to whenst we came, retrieved the said devices(which, suprisingly, were right where they were left) and jetted back towards Nashville. That was bump in da road Numero OOnO.

Then Numero Dous came when Pats commnunicater decided not to let her increase the volume. We tried taking it apart to repair it, but couldnt get it apart. So, in the end, we had to buy a new set of helmet radios. Not as good as the ones we have,but good enough. They are charging and will try them on the morrow.

It started raining, so we stopped at the "Bucksnort Deli", which, apparantly, hadnt had enough bucks snortin' in it and was for sale, and hung out for a bit. Two HD riders stopped to getout of the rain and we had a nice convresation with them.

So..here we sit lookingout the window at "beautiful" downtown Nashville, which is really unattractive, but we are grateful that we have the opportunity for this fantastic voyage. I can get hung up on the little things that go wrong, and forget that there are wonderful things happening all around me, if I choose to get out of myself long enough to look. For instance, a child getting joy from petting our lil bundle of energy Kiddo..it just brightens my day every time that pup makes a little one smile with her relentless kisses.

Thats all for now..its off to lalaland. :)

B.

Made it to Lakeland,TN

We made it to visit our friend Nana's daughter in Little Rock and then ventured on to Lakeland,TN. Ran into a nasty thunderstorm for about a half hour which soaked us completly. We hid under an over pass while the worst of it blew over. Spent the night with my HS friend and let Kiddo play with thier dogs.

We are off towards Myrtle Beach tomorrow morning.

Fort Smith,AR. Too pooped to..do anything

We made our destination. It was raining quite hard this morning in Wichita, but it cleared and heated right up!..in the mid 90s after 2 pmish. Had to stop often to cool Kiddo off, her being black..we soaked her down with water before putting her in her Kiddohut, so I m sure she was fine.

The pic is from this morning in Wichita, with steady rain coming down.

Tomorrow we leave for the Memphis area, cant remember the exact town, but its near there. Really looking forward to seeing my friend from HS and do some catching up and getting some needed rest. My(our?) back and backside are seriously hurting.

off to bed!

b/p/k

Wichita,KS

We wimped out and just made it to Wichita, but had lots of fun just the same. Are in no hurry, of course, you already know that after making it less than 100 miles today.

We did laundry, hung at MickeeDees waiting for the motel to start taking guests, then went to an AA meeting. Pat officially celebrated 28 years tonite. The meeting gave her a coin, it was very cool. "it works if ya work it!" :>)

The Spyders backrest pin needed some new circlips, so I got to ride around for a bit in Wichita without a helmet. Its been years since I rode without one. Back in 1992ish I rode to WI to some sort of HD factory thing, and we rode thru WI helmetless. It feels nice, but I do feel more comfortable with one on.

So..the "plan" is to stop in Fort Smith for the night tomorrow, and then on to Memphis and my friend Jills place somewhere near there.

No pics today..Wichita is not the most picturesque city, but its was extremly hot..in the upper 90's, we were not in a pic takin' mood. Here are some ones I havent posted from who knows when..

More to come, of course..

B/P/K

McPherson,KS

Left 10 am from the Springs and stopped at my friend Earl's house at around 7:45. This included some extra stops for the Kidd, who decided she wanted OUT of her dog hut, while zipping along hwy 70 at 80mph.

We set a new "record"..440 miles in a day. It was especially hard for Pat who had to wrestle with the puppy.

So, we had some extremely hard crosswinds in KS while going east on 70. Not so bad for Pat, but very challenging for me. We had wind coming at us from the north, and then when we went over a certain overpass, the wind changed to the south. This almost ended in disaster for me and taught me a valuable lesson in driving with high winds. Passing tractor/trailers is a bit of a challenge, also. But I learned quickly, or the old motorcycle experience started coming back.

We are extremely tired tonite, and will be spending 2 nights here. I d like to visit with my friend again tomorrow, tho its gonna be a surprise to him..hopefully a good one!

Colorado

Here we are in Colorado Springs. Had a long, hot slow trip through Denver, Friday, rush hour and and an accident, (not us), forcing 4 lanes into 2 lanes. We were going so slow the GPS asked if we wanted to switch to pedestrian mode, now that is slow. Almost 1 hour to get through Denver.

Stayed an extra day to visit with Brad's sister and to rest. Hot and windy here, off to Kansas tomorrow, 445 miles to next destination, who knows how far we will get. (The Shadow Knows!)

mountain pass

The Togwotee Mountain Pass was where we passed through snow, rain, and 39 degree temps. First time and last time for that kind of experience. I wasn't sure if we were gonna make it or be found some hundreds of years later frozen in the ice. The Rocky Mountains are very rocky and snowy in May.

They forgot to tell her about the foil hat

While we were laid up in Bliss we had quite a weird experience. The first thing was a Sheriff came to the front desk and got a card for the motel. Then there were a few people, who were wearing yellow reflective vests, at the front desk talking about someone. I did not hear the conversation except that it was about some female. Then there was a car parked next to the bikes for two days and a woman was in the back seat every time I went outside. I asked her once if she was ok and she said yes thanks.
Anyway, while checking out I gathered some interesting info. She was brought there by the Sheriff, her car was towed by a tow truck because she lost the keys. She had a room but did not feel safe there because of the lasers that were hitting her brain from above somewhere. She even checked the second floor. So she would not stay in the room and stayed in the car, covered up with either a blanket or towel. Poor thing was schizophrenic and not well to say the least. The owner said her family had been called but by the second day they were a no show. When we left the woman was on the phone with (I think) a garage about the keys.
Brad worked with a guy who it was rumored wore tin foil in his hard hat for simular reasons.........

Pat

Thursday in Rawlins,WY

We spent the night at some sort of resort somewhere in the Tetons,close to Jacksonhole,WY,and headed out this morning, not having any oidea of what was to come. We kept going up..up..up and it got colder..colder colder, then the rain started, then, wouldnt ya know it, SNOW! I was getting a tad nervous, being on two wheels instead of three, and still putting up with this bronchitus stuff..which means having to spit once in a while. I almost dumped it after one spitting session, so no more of THAT till we hit dry,no snow pavement

Oh, one more thing about motorcycles, helmet communicators and spitting. I found out yesterday, the hard way, about forgetting I have a microphone in front of my mouth when dealing with one of those spitting incidences I have to endure with this bronchitus. I ll just leave it up to your imagination..twas not pretty AT ALL!! :(

We saw some really fantastic views on the way back down, the temp got down to 39 but gradually crept back up the further down away from the snow we drove. In an hour we were up to a balmy 50 deg or so.

I ll post up all the pics when I get em off the phone. We are all doing well. Pats off doing laundry,and me and Kiddo are chillin', awaiting pizza..

Colo Springs and my sisters tomorrow!

CYA

bpk