its a celebration

I have recently realized that it is possible if budgeted right to travel around the US on a motorcycle for a year for less than $10k. If this is the case then imagine mexico:) my dad turned 60 the other day, still raring and ready to go for adventure, I can only hope I have as much zeal when I'm in his boots. I was looking through not so old pictures this morning and realized that many have not been shown through public avenue, so here is a start.

Arizona you sneaky whore, or How I lost my gloves on the "Other Through Highway"

I raced out of work early on friday. redy to put the wind at my back for a rousing trip up to Jerome. The back way. I had gone up past Roosevelt once before but I had found a slightly altered trip plan that brought me by what seemed like cool country. after some frantic packing (that left me without a camera:( i hit the road. those same feelings came rushing back. its the first fifteen minutes of the trip where literally anything is possible that would keep one running for months. heartbeat quickens slightly and a giddy excitement churns throughout the bike and body. a quick packing snag around river and 1st had me pulled over but quickly back to it. the trip was same old goods up till apache junction (a quick wave hello to the house at golder ranch on the way up). here i stopped to verify my directions, I had looked at the map for a grand total of about a minute and a half before i left, knowing i had to go north i figured id just wing it from there. part of the fun. but in apache junction i found that nobody had heard of the road that i had intended to take. i brushed them off as crazy junctioneers and went along my way. sure enough i found my route just a little further east down the 60. route 88 east an "other through highway" according to the maps. the first thirty miles were incredible. a cross between the 89a from p-town to jerome and zion. the superstitions rose all around and a heavy smattering of all manner of cactus littered the roadway. just a mile or so passed the yellow rock i saw the sign. "pavement ends" ok not a problem, im relatively confident on dirt. how bad can it be. (i had not seen another car for at least half an hour) keep on riding. the next sign put a little bit more of a jolt into me. "dirt road for the next 22 miles" a slight hesitation. but fuck it, ive already come this far. a trip back would cost me at least a couple of hours. what ensued was a 10 mile an hour tops adventure through gut wrenching grades steeped high with hairpin turns all the while navigating through the potholes and washboard roads. even the most seasoned veteran would have cringed at the wild road, making indian roads look like a dream vacation. 2 and a half hours later i was kissing the paved ground and looking fondly at roosevelt dam. it put me out on the other side with just enough time to gaze on another roosevelt lake area sunset, the land before time. from there it was another three hours putting me at just over 9 hours of road weariness to the puttering campfire filled air of the Jerome Jamboree. wouldnt trade it for the world, but next time on the 88 will be behind a windshield. cheers arizona, you've still got a few tricks up your sleave.

see you at the training meeting

I went to a training meeting for work yesterday. not to learn much of anything pertinent, unless you consider 400k' of vending space and a customer base that stays an average of four hours on the floor while looking for vendors at an average of 3 seconds things worthwhile to take to the grave. this conference was for the SAHBA tucson home and garden show of which JWP will be a part. i still dont know why i had to go and learn about it. I just make our clients prettier:) it was definetely a reminder that i dont really fit in in that world. i sauntered in and grabbed a free water and donut, found my space in the back, took out my tattered early college notebook from my camelback, placed my helmet under the table behind me and, and waited for the onslaught. in the waiting i noticed everyone else was quite older. had neatly groomed hair, no or little piercings, hadnt pulled materials out of a backpack and were already working on interest rates or scribbling illegible work notes and the such. no point to this rant i suppose. just observation. in fact im quite proud that i dont fit in with that crowd, i would feel a might bit defeated had a sat in and talked about my wife and three mortgages with joe slick sitting next to me. On another note me and margaret went and sat through one of those time share scam thingies and it actually worked with very little hassle to get the gifts. we have free tickets to san diego with two nights paid lodging and a $25 gift cert. to the movies, and of course no timeshare:) anyhow off to another fun filled day at the JWP

i suppose i have been quite lax

all in all the postings have been few and far between. to the constituents reading this hooplah i do apologize. i have been quite drawn to other sites recently and have neglected the blogging. ive created an account at deviantart, which has been relatively amusing of late. at least it has kept me posting/creating things which has been good. monday i go out on assignment to an alma matter of a few of you good folk out there. ill be running a logistical battle with hordes of angst ridden catholic schoolers as they come in for their id card photos. should be an adventure at least:) anyhow heres some eye candy for those of you that dont make it to the deviant art shoodlebop.



these are two quite recent creations that im quite fond of, they spurned from photos of my bro when we were up in the coral pink sand dunes. anyhow to all of you fine folk out there i bid you gods luck and good speed.

highway bloggery

this comes to you from a kiosk at the BMW motorcycles of Western Oregon shop in Eugene. We've been holed up here for the last couple of hours taking care of a minor hiccup in the trip(to be detailed at a later sit down). Dads diode thingy dinger went out about 70 milse ago leaving his generator light lit up. a minor setback on a wonderful trip. the next couple of entries should return to full travel adventure bloggery, and i will recount the ups downs gutters and strikes of the last couple of days in full detail. until then.

wedding bells

for those of you not associated with facebook...yes i have turned down that road. ill rehash it for you. tomorrow i perform my first ministerial duties, and send biscuit and lena (not their full wedding names) into the land of the married. i am slightly nervous...but not nearly as much as one would imagine. in fact the nervousness may even be just a little indigestion from last nights fricasee. anyhow, send your thoughts the way of the bride and groom tomorrow. good luck and god speed i suppose. or gods luck and good speed, depending.

on another note, ive thought of a slogan for the CFH (chickens from hell) tshirts.

"half the tread - twice the ride".

until the next

it really is the little things

today i watched with hidden amusement as my coworker framed a half dozen "gentle savage" images in early colonial style frames.

i leave for the open road in a little over a month. then its a number of days of nothing but me dad and glorious adventure.