Day 18 Still in Michigan

Taking one more day off before hitting the road. Jill has flown into Michigan where we are staying with friends. They took us out to a local lake. They said we might see Loons and Eagles. Had great time and we saw both Loons and Eagles.

more to follow...

Day 14 & 15

Time to make the U-turn and start heading toward home. Day 14 was my first wet weather day. I had battled heat for almost two weeks so a little rain felt pretty good for the first hour. First I stopped and put on the rain jacket. Next I spotted a Dunkin Donuts sign and pulled in to get some tea and a couple of donuts. I could see that I was sitting right in the center of the storm so I hung out their for a while. Finally I suited up, rain gear and all, and headed out again. The rain only lasted another 30 to 40 min so it wasn't all that bad.
Stopped for the night in Ann Arbor, MI. The next morning I slept in and took a leisurely ride the rest of the way to our friends house in Bitely, MI.
Jill flys in tomorrow and will spend about a week with me. We are going to head down to the Ozarks after we stop in Illinois to see some of my relatives.
I posted a short video/slideshow on YouTube.

more to follow...

Day 13 BMW Rally has concluded.

Had a really good time at the rally this year. Good seminars. Good vendor attendance. And much to Jill's surprise I spent less than $100.
Today I took a little ride in and around Bloomsburg. Beautiful area especially when you get off the interstate. You can find a little more video on YouTube. Search
Day 13 BMW Rally Conclusion



more to follow...

BMW Rally Entertainment

They didn't think it was hot enough so they brought in some pyrotechnic entertainment.

K1600GTL

I did not think I would like this bike. Too big and heavy. Maybe it would not handle that well. After several seminars and observations I have to say that I could see myself owning this bike at some point.

Return of real adventure ride

You and your passenger/gunner can now go touring anywhere.

BMW Rally Bloomsburg, PA

Saturday morning at the rally. The place is very busy at 8:30am. I came early to beat the heat but it is much cooler today.
Just attended a seminar on the future of BMW motorcycles in the US. The future looks good but not for my K1300GT. It has been discontinued in favor of the new K1600GT & K1600GTL. Good news on the scooter front. BMW will bring their new scooter into the US. It looks like they will have a gas and electric model in time.

Day 10 Ridesomewhere

Riding through the Ohio and Pennsylvania countryside. There is something special about riding here.

http://youtu.be/kG16rN4XJMg

more to follow...

Day 9 Ridesomewhere video

Here is some video of leaving our friends Larry & Donna in Michigan and heading for PA and the BMW Rally.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=leqVPiYzxRg

more to follow...

Almost there

Stopped for my usual lunch at Subway. Decided to get off the interstate for a while. No rush today. The rally is usually pretty quite the first day. A lot of vendors are either coming in later today or tomorrow. It is another warm day. I say warm but the weather news is all about extreme heat conditions. Temps in the high 90's and heat index between 105 and 115. Lots of water and Gatorade.

more to follow...

Morning at the lake

Got up in time to see the sun rise on the lake. Beautiful setting. Going to clean bike and take off for the rally today.

Day off

Today I am spending with Larry and his wife Donna at their lake house in Michigan. Taking time to relax, do laundry and recharge my batteries. Tomorrow I head for the rally.

Day 5 Ridesomewhere video

The best part of our second day of riding was along what they call the "Million Dollar Highway" in Colorado. This area combines scenic beauty and great riding roads. I obviously enjoyed the riding here.

go to http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=justwant2ride&aq=f
and click on the Day 5 video.

Ridesomewhere video

Well I have tried several different methods to upload video and it would appear that my geek skills are lacking. So I have resorted to using YouTube to post video. Not the quality I would like but it does get the job done.
This short video is of my friend Larry and I leaving St George Utah. Actually it is of us leaving the community we both bought in recently.



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bYK8ytrVeGE

Short 500 mile day

We are waiting in line to board the ferry to Michigan. Just 1 1/2 hour ride once we get off the ferry.

more to follow...

Paul A Hacker
HFT,LLC

iPhone drop test

I have once again proved the superior construction of Apple products.
Right after my last post I got on I 70 east. 200 miles later we stopped for gas. Larry handed me my iPhone and told me it came flying off my motorcycle as I entered the freeway. Thank you Body Glove and Apple.

Paul A Hacker
HFT,LLC

Day 6

Left Pueblo, CO at 7am. It was 70 degrees. At 8:30 it was 86, at 9:30 it was 92. It is 11:30 and the temp is 100.
You get the idea. Hot, hot, hot.

Paul A Hacker
HFT,LLC

Black Canyon Gorge Colorado

Great day of riding today. Took Hwy 550 from Durango to Montrose, Colorado. Spectacular scenery and fun riding road. Got some good video. As soon as I can edit it down I will post it.

more to follow...

Four Corners

We stopped, and paid $3 ea. just to take this picture. We could have waited in line for 20 min and got one of us in the picture but neither one of us cared that much.

Almost ready

Day 2 Ride Somewhere 2011

Not a good start today. To begin with this is not a riding day. Second I took my bike out of the trailer this morning and discovered a large gouge in one one the side plastic covers. Evidently the rag that I put between the tie down buckle and the bike slipped out somewhere along the way.
I am also fighting with my new Contour camera. The batteries don't last very long. Going to have to figure this one out before I take off on Friday.
I think I have my external hard drive problem worked out. It seems that it requires 2 cables to run it. In my case one USB for power and the other is the FireWire cable. Transferring data now. Hopefully this solves the problem.

more to follow...

Sent from my iPad

Day 1 Ride Somewhere 2011

Just leaving beautiful downtown Baker. Local temp 109 according to the truck thermometer. Yes i am glad I am trailering this part of the journey.

Almost ready

I have been FARKLING ( The word is generally accepted to mean a combination of "function" and "sparkle", hence, farkle. ) for a couple of weeks now. Got the GPS transponder installed so Jill can follow me everywhere. And I do mean everywhere. Got the video camera mount pretty much set up so I can inundate you with fabulous videos of my very exciting adventures. Oh Boy !!! I will really try to keep them somewhat interesting. I promise.
One major disappointment is my video storage device did not ship so I am going to be schlepping Jill's laptop everywhere so I can store data. Bummer. But thank you dear wife for loaning me your laptop.

more to follow...