1 Week To Go!

This time next week we shall be on our way to the airport! There seems like an awful lot to try and fit in between now and next Sunday.

We are currently in France closing down the holiday cottages for the winter. We would normally be open for at least another month but this year we are closing early to go on our trip. We've got 2 days to get sorted out, then we travel back to the UK on Monday for my last 4 days at work (can't quite believe that I only have 4 more days in uniform!).

I had a good trip over to France on our Heritage Classic on Thursday.  The weather was not great but the journey went well - 11 hours door-to-door.  However, 9 hours in the saddle was quite hard work but good practice for the road trip!  Our longest day on the trip will be a maximum of about a third of the distance travelled on Thursday, so I'm pretty confident we'll cope fine.

We have had it confirmed that we now have a Road King as our first choice rental bike. I am hoping that, as it is just over a week until we pick the bike up, the dealer would have said if they did not have a Road King available so I am reasonably confident that we will have one.  I've not ridden a RK before but I'm told they are one of THE best touring bikes, so looking forward to getting on it!

Right!  Time to get back to work - roll on next Sunday!!!!!!

2 Weeks To Go!

We are now less than 2 weeks away from departure day!  We are still waiting to find out whether we will be riding a Heritage Classic or a Road King - hopefully we will find out this week.

I have been investigating the various tours and tour companies around Monument Valley.  There seem to be quite a few companies that run tours but the favourite looks like being Navajo Spirit Tours - they are number 1 on Trip Advisor and have fantastic reviews.  Has anyone got any recommendations or advice?  We are planning to do the morning Monument Valley tour but I'm tempted by the All Day tour which includes Mystery Valley in the afternoon.  All the reviews say that it is well worth doing.

I made a bargain purchase the other day.  We have been thinking about how we are going to transport our kit to Chicago, bearing in mind that whatever we take either has to come with us on the bike or get "binned" on arrival in Chicago.  I considered taking all our stuff in a couple of bin bags or cardboard boxes but neither option is particularly convenient.  I then had a brain wave and remembered the "Para Bag" I acquired many moons ago.  It holds loads of stuff and folds up fairly small when not in use.  That led me to looking on line for lightweight packable bags and I came across a Karrimor bag on Lillywhites that holds 100 litres, is lightweight and packs up to next to nothing.  It was only £12.99 (half price) so we ordered one to see what it is like.  It is perfect: strong, lightweight, packs up to a very small bundle - just the job.  13 quid well spent - I wish I'd ordered 2!  (Also available on the Karrimor website for the same price!)

So, a lot to fit in the next 2 weeks.  2 days at work, during which I have to start returning all my kit and "clearing" from both the Unit and the RAF; a long weekend at Razay (travelling out on the Harley) to close down the cottages and the pool for the winter; followed by 2 more days at work; then my leaving do at the Airborne Delivery Wing at RAF Brize Norton; a recovery day (!); a day with the family before we depart and then - the Big Day!!!!!  Can't wait!!

Countdown...

3 weeks today we shall be on our way to the good old US of A!  It seems to be approaching so fast - what with me going on a course next week, us having to close down the cottages in France at the end of this month and preparing to leave the RAF, we seem to be running out of time!  I have 5 days actually at work between now and 7 September!  But, it is so exciting now that it is so close.

Changes are still happening - we have an invite to stay with friends of friends just south of San Francisco in Los Gatos, which is nice.  So instead of 3 nights in SF, we will be 1 night in Los Gatos and 2 nights in SF.  Sadly, some other friends who we were hoping to see in the SF area are having to move back East at short notice so we won't be seeing them, which is a great shame.

We have been considering the potential benefits of using a Road King instead of a Heritage Classic for the Route 66 journey.  Whilst we wanted to do the trip on a bike like our own, the advantage of a Road King is that it has hard, lockable panniers and a lockable box on the luggage rack.  This would be beneficial in that we could leave some stuff with the bike when we stop and visit places and not worry too much about our kit getting stolen (not that some t-shirts, socks and underwear is going to be particularly valuable or attractive to thieves, but there is the inconvenience!).  The hire company are looking in to it but it may be too late to change now.  Oh well - I'm sure we'll cope!

The final installment of our itinerary is going to be:

Day 39:  Seattle, Wa to Coeur d’Alene, Id
Day 40:  Day off/explore Coeur d’Alene and surrounding area
Day 41:  Coeur d’Alene to Wenatchee, Wa
Day 42:  Wenatchee to Seattle
Day 43:  Return car and overnight flight back to the UK - trip over L
Day 44:  Arrive back in UK about midday.

1 Month To Go!!!!

Only one month to go until the start of our big adventure!!  This time next month we shall be about to board our flight from London Heathrow to Chicago O'Hare!  This also means that I have less than a month until my last day at work in a light blue uniform.

The Harley hire company, H-C Travel (who also operate as Orange & Black) have been in contact and are trying to arrange for the Harley to be delivered to our hotel in Chicago, which will be a real bonus, as it will save a good couple of hours on that first day - we should be able to head off on Route 66 earlier in the day than expected.  Fingers crossed that will be arranged.

The next stage of our itinerary takes us from San Francisco up to Seattle, through the redwood forests and along the northern California, Oregon and Washington coastlines.  It should be spectacular.

Day 29: San Francisco to Fort Bragg
Day 30: Fort Bragg to Eureka, Or
Day 31: Eureka to Brookings, Or (near Twin Rocks)
Day 32: Brookings to Florence, Or
Day 33: Florence to Astoria. Or
Day 34: Day off in Astoria
Day 35: Astoria to Ocean Shores, Wa
Day 36: Ocean Shores to Port Townsend, Wa
Day 37: Port Townsend to Seattle, Wa (via Highway 101 & the end of the PCH)
Day 38: Day off/explore Seattle

Final installment to follow....