I haven't been around much lately and figured I best set the record straight that the rumours of my death have been greatly exaggerated.
One of the benefits of my job is that I do the project planning and resource scheduling. That means that I can often put off big things until fall so that they don't impact motorcycling/traveling season as much as they might.
The down side to this is that once fall comes, the flood gates open and we get swamped. Between renovations on our house and renovations on our primary product at work, I'm more than full time occupied day and night. That is the reason I have not been around much. I expect to be away from the forum with only the occasional checkin until spring. Until then I will leave it up to the other regulars who are doing as fine a job as usual at bantering.
Meanwhile, here is a collection of images from our 2009 year in review.
2009 saw a decrease in motorcycle trips and mileage. This was partly due to poor weather at the start of the season and a major landscaping project at the house. Our ~14x22' deck was completely rotten and had to be levelled - it has now been replaced with a smaller Trex specimen and a raised brick patio.
We did something new this summer. Normally we subscribe to the motto of "If this bike is in the back of a truck it's been stolen!". However, with the little ~= 250cc dual sports the thought of crossing the Rockies fully loaded with touring gear was not a pleasant one.
So we actually trucked the little XT225 and WR250X in the back of the Unimog and went out to B.C. where we participated in the revelry known as the Kootenay Borsch and Burn.
We then proceeded to spend a week motarding through some great trails in the Kootenays.
(full trip report on that can be found under trip reports->motarding in the kootenays 2009 on our web site@ http://www.volkswagenhaven.net)
KLRChickie finally got her purple Monster. Well, it was actually silver, but we painted it so now it's purple. :)
We did our annual trip to Oregon. Highway 14 on the Washington side of the Columbia River is a somewhat scenic way to bypass some of the more dismal parts of the state. There are a number of dams on the river as it is a major source of power generation for both Canada and the United States. This is a bit before the Dalles. You can see the giant wind mills in the distance. There's a lot of those around here for a reason. It can be awfully windy much of the time.
Our annual trip to Oregon was planned to coincide with North-West MogFest which was the 10th annual event this year. There were a lot of trucks of all varieties of European ancestry both large and small. Here they are lined up for the parade and group photo. Our Unimog stayed at home and we rode motorcycles to the event.
Here's a nice clean example of a Unimog in safety Orange. It may look like a Tonka toy but don't let that fool you. He can look a Kenworth driver in the eye at a stop light!
A typical camp scene when we're touring in the U.S. People usually seem very friendly when they know you're from 'forn' parts.
One place we usually head through when down in the U.S. is Joseph, Oregon and head North to Washington through Rattlesnake Pass. This year we spent some extra time on a detour that took us to Imnaha, Oregon. It's a delightful twisty region just North of Hells Canyon. The pavement ends just past Imnaha, but looking at the maps and the satellite views the area should be fantastic for dual sports.
We had hoped that the late spring would mean a late fall, but alas, it was not the case. Riding came to an abrupt end in September with snow and cold for weeks and all through October.
This year we finally succumbed to getting a 'slightly' more conventional motorcycle hauler. Here's a picture of the Z1000 being transported to its winter storage. Looks can be deceiving. The interior space here is 5.5'x5.5'x8.5' It will cary two dual sports and gear easily.
What is it????…
It's a smart-for-eight!
It's also known as a Sprinter. It's a 3/4 ton van manufactured by Mercedes and branded by Dodge. This one happens to be the smallest Sprinter model ever made but it fits bikes, get's good milage, has air conditioning, and has a torquey turbo-Diesel.
It should be handy for setting up a base camp on dual sport trips to the South.
And now, one of the main reasons I'm not around much this winter...
House Renovations. We're replacing all the carpet and linoleum in the house with hardwood and tile. All the sub-flooring requires various amounts of repairs and preparation. So, when I'm not working 10+ hours per day, we're puttering at this.
We'll probably resurface in early spring when the cabin fever hits hard. Maybe we'll load the bikes in the Sprinter and head for Moab or somewhere. Who knows, but you can be sure there will be pictures and a report…
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