This is the piece that attaches to the bag holder that will allow me to take my bags on and off the bike easier. It took us a while to get everything all lined up, but I think we got it.





This is what it looks like on the bike. The entire metal holder will come off the bike, so when I don't need to carry luggage, the frame work won't be on the bike.





This is what it looks like with the bag on the holder. Jim is going to rivet the soft bags onto the holders and the entire unit is removable.





This is the rack that is mounted to the bike that the Givi rack sits on and that the sidebag holders are mounted to. Jim had to do some adjusting so this is what it looks like off the bike.





Brian at PDQ Signs made these decals for our bikes.

Two more weeks

Two more weeks!! Jim's still getting the bikes ready and we're getting closer to having all our stuff packed away. We hauled the largest load up to Washington last weekend. Three truckloads with trailers. One pickup pulled the Mustang, one pickup pulled the Fairlane, and one pulled a trailer full of stuff, plus all the pickups had canopies so the pickups were packed full.

All we have left at home is a mattress, the kitchen table and chairs - which stay at the apartment - enough clothes to get us through work the next two weeks, a few dishes and pots and pans, bathroom stuff, the TV and some DVD's, and food.

It seemed strange to look at the trailer full of our belongings and know that all our stuff was in there and once we make one last trip in two weeks, besides our bikes, everything we own will be in there.

What started out in the planning stage six long years ago is now down to two weeks. Whether the remaining two weeks will go slow or fast is left to be known. When we first started planning, six years seemed impossibly far away. Now with two weeks left, it seems like they flew by.



These are the brackets Jim is putting on my bike to mount the soft bags on so they're easier to remove.



These are the supports that the bags will go on that will mount on the brackets Jim is putting on the bike.



This is what the bags will look like when they're attached to the supports that will allow them to be mounted on the bike.



The Fairlane loaded up.



The Mustang loaded up.



Stuff loaded up and being covered for the rain.



The Devlin's head to Washington.



Getting ready to drive the Mustang into the trailer.



Loading the Mustang into the trailer. The trunk was left open because Jim thought he'd have to crawl out through the trunk. There was enough room that he was able to squeeze out the door. Thank goodness he's a thin guy!



The Mustang loaded into the trailer with our household stuff up above on the loft.



Getting ready to load the Fairlane.



Loading the Fairlane.



The Fairlane loaded into the trailer.



The pickup loaded onto the trailer so we only had to drive one rig home.



A happy Jim that the biggest job has been completed. It's all downhill from this point on.

Packing It Out

We're down to one month left - 26 days - 4 weeks - 20 work days - not counting minutes and seconds yet. Time is really flying now. We're starting to see some progress in the packing process and Jim's been working on the bikes to get them ready to go. We're taking care of all those little things that need taken care of - insurance, prescriptions, bill paying, etc...

The party planning for the big kickoff on April 28 is starting to get underway. The weather's been cooperating, so it looks like the winter gravel may be swept up by then. Keep your fingers crossed!



We took a load of stuff up to our trailer this weekend and sold a bike Jim had originally bought to fix up.



We had some supervision as we were unloading the pickup.

Jim installs a vent to help airflow in the trailer.



We'll have lots of room for the rest of our stuff.



We're bringing another load up in two weeks. That'll be the largest load. We'll only leave enough stuff to get by the last two weeks before we take off, then we'll haul that up and be done.

5 Weeks Left

We delivered Jim's parts car to Walla Walla, WA on Sunday. Jim was thrilled to get rid of it and the guy who bought it was thrilled to get it. Perfect for everyone.


While in Milton-Freewater looking for a place to eat we ran across this guy wanting to take a picture, so Jim obliged.


We're starting to pack things up. We're living amidst piles of boxes and stacks of books and clothes, all waiting to go someplace. This weekend we'll take the FZR and a pile of car stuff to store in our trailer and take another bike to sell in the Tri-Cities. The list is getting smaller every day!

Building a Loft

We built a loft in the trailer last weekend for our stuff. We'll park the cars below - obviously ;-) - and store our stuff up above. Jim taught me how to use the SkilSaw. I'm far from being an expert, but I didn't cut off any fingers, so I'm thinking that's a good thing.

7 Weeks to Go!

7 Weeks to Go! Time is really flying now. Week 8 was spent sick with bronchitis. Week 9 was spent in California with Jim's Grandparents for their 65th wedding anniversary party.





This weekend Jim is going to build a loft in the trailer so we can start packing up for storage. We've been going through our stuff and deciding what to keep, what to toss, and what to give away. It's amazing the stuff we've accumulated over the years! Last night we went through a trunk full of photos. We tossed a full garbage bag full of envelopes, old negatives, and fuzzy or double takes of photos. We spent a lot of time remembering - laughing and reminicising - as we went through years of photos that never got put into photo albums. What fun! It's fun to see the changes people make over the years. We both made a lot of "look how young "so and so" looks. Now the photos are somewhat organized and easier to go through. Maybe one of these days they'll actually make it into a photo album.

We now have our pickup for sale:

10 Weeks To Go

10 weeks to go. We're on the down hill side now. We purchased a trailer for our stuff.




Jim and his friend are going to dig a trench to set the trailer in so it's just a little above ground level. They'll put vents in it for air circulation so the inside doesn't get damp. They're going to leave the running gear on the trailer so when we land we can hook on to the trailer and get everything in one trip.

We're having a going away party on April 28. We've posted an invite on several motorcycle lists we're on and had pretty good response as far as invitations for us to stay with people if we're ever in their area. That's one of the reasons we wanted to do this - to meet as many people as we can. It's starting to look pretty good.

My 20th class reunion is in mid-July. Jim's 21st is the same weekend. We haven't quite decided how we're going to handle that. Our schools are 200 miles apart, so we can't hit both of them together. I know we'd both like to go to our own reunions so we might end up having to go solo. After spending 2 1/2 months together, we might be ready for a weekend apart anyway. ;-)

12 weeks to go...

Time's really going to start flying now - only 12 weeks left.

Jim's been working crazily on his car - '64 Ford Fairlane Sports Coupe. After he got started, it looked something like this...



And now that he's getting closer - still has a lot of trim work and interior to do - it looks like this...



He sold his VFR yesterday:



Now my Miata is up for sale:



I went for a short ride yesterday while Jim was working on his car. It was about 40 degrees out. Not quite cold enough to keep from going. It's hard to explain how wonderful it feels to get out on the bike after having been cooped up all winter. It was cold out, there was a lot of gravel on the road, and my brand new helmet got chipped by flying rocks, but in spite of all that, it was still wonderful to get out and be on the bike, breathing the fresh air and smelling all the different smells. It was like being alive again. Unless you experience it, there's just not words to describe it. I saw two other bikes in town, but none out on the highway. I wasn't gone more than an hour and a half, but it was enough to refresh me for the week and cause me to look forward to this weekend so I can go again.

Testing...

This is a test, this is only a test...

We're supposed to be able to post to our blog remotely via email so I'm checking it out to see if I can figure out how it works.

94 days left.

Shirts and caps

http://www.cafepress.com/devlins07

Brian at PDQ Signs made the designs for these shirts and cap and set up a Cafe Press account so they can be purchased. We've already bought a couple. I'll have to have Jim model his when we receive them so I can post a picture.

95 days left!

Down to double digits!

As of today we have 99 days left. Double digits. Getting excited? We are, to say the least!

We loaded the bikes up on the trailer last night (in freezing cold, bone chilling temps) so we could haul them to Prosser, WA to have a few recall items taken care of. Would have really liked to have rode, but, burrrrrr!!! The pass is clear, but the temp. is 24. To cold for me.

When we get back, we'll leave the bikes at home rather than in storage so we can start getting them ready. A few things need to get done to make them more travel ready. Jim's going to change the sprocket size on my bike so I don't always feel like I need to shift up one more gear while we're traveling at freeway speeds. He's also thinking about rigging up some better luggage holders for my soft bags. He's getting his seat worked over so it's a little better for shorter legs and has softer padding. Then there's the regular maintenance issues that need taking care of - fluid changing, new tires, etc.

On an unrelated note, guess what we're doing for fun? Taking fencing classes. We've only taken two classes (it's a six week session) but so far it's been pretty fun, not to mention great exercise.

What a view...

This was the view from our driveway this morning. The clouds were coming in over the mountains to the west and the moon was still visible. Pretty cool!!

113 days left!!

Last weekend we went to REI and Sportsmans Warehouse and bought a bigger tent and some drybags for our gear. We set the tent up in the living room to try it out. We also packed our saddlebags with what we thought we would probably be taking so we could figure out what we still need to get.

Now that it's 2007 - the ACTUAL year of our adventure - we're really starting to get excited. We're getting things set up - mail forwarding, storage units, paying bills in advance, etc.... so it's really starting to hit home that this is in fact really going to happen - we're not just talking about it, we're going to DO IT! Wow!!

Our plans have changed a little bit from what we originally planned to do. We originally were going to ride down to California for a ride we usually attend the 3rd weekend of May, but Jim's Uncle, Pat, invited us to ride with him on the Run for the Wall - May 16-27 -

http://www.rftw.org/

We will be taking the Central Route and camping along the way:

http://www.rftw.org/Central/schedule.htm

So, around the first of May we will be heading to Northern California to visit Jim's Grandparents for a few days, then maybe to the Bay Area to see more of his family, then on down to Palm Desert to visit his brother and sister-in-law, then meet up with Uncle Pat and do the Run for the Wall. From there, our tentative plan is to go up into Canada and ride west, come back into the States above Omak, then ride back East again. But, those plans may change on the fly - who knows - we have no official plan. ;-)

20 Weeks Left!!

We're down to 20 weeks before take off - 137 days - approx. 98 working days. We're starting to get anxious!

I was reading a book by Jimmy Buffett - A Pirate Looks at Fifty - and he has a poem in there by Don Blanding called The Double Life.

The Double Life
by Don Blanding

How very simple life would be
If only there were two of me
A Restless Me to drift and roam
A Quiet Me to stay at home.
A Searching One to find his fill
Of varied skies and newfound thrill
While sane and homely things are done
By the domestic Other One.

And that's just where the trouble lies;
There is a Restless Me that cries
For chancy risks and changing scene,
For arctic blue and tropic green,
For deserts with their mystic spell,
For lusty fun and raising Hell.

But shacked to that Restless Me
My Other Self rebelliously
Resists the frantic urge to move.
It seeks the old familiar groove
That habits make. It finds content
With hearth and home - dear prisonment,
With candlelight and well-loved books
And treasured loot in dusty nooks,

With puttering and garden things
And dreaming while a cricket sings
And all the while the Restless One
Insists on more exciting fun,
It wants to go with every tide,
No matter where......just for the ride.
Like yowling cats the two selves brawl
Until I have no peace at all.

One eye turns to the forward track,
The other eye looks sadly back.
I'm getting wall-eyed from the strain,
(It's tough to have an idle brain)
But One says "Stay" and One says "Go"
And One says "Yes," and One says "No,"
And One Self wants a home and wife
And One Self craves the drifter's life.

The Restless Fellow always wins
I wish my folks had made me twins.

**********

I wonder how many people are in this dilemma?

PDQ Signs

Brian, our good friend at

www.PDQ-Signs.com

designed this logo for us.

Doesn't it look great?

Happy Holidays from the Devlins

How time flies...

Wow....only 23 weeks to go until lift off! It's hard enough to believe there's only 3 days left until Thanksgiving, a little over a month until Christmas, then a New Year, and then, WOW..... I'm sure you get my drift by now.

Hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Some friends have invited us over to their house for Thanksgiving dinner. Besides that, the only plans we have for the weekend is to start going through our gear to see what we have, need, don't need, etc...

The first weekend in December we'll head up to Seattle for the motorcycle show to drool over new bikes and look at gear.

The majority of our thoughts seem to be geared towards our trip next year. It's unbelievable the amount of planning it takes to plan a big adventure like this. Little things like mail forwarding, storage units, and bill paying are on the top of the list. But, the more we do now the less we have to worry about when we finally hit the road.

Bye-bye, Shadow

We have had Shadow since January of 1995. On November 15, 2006 she was ran over. It was a tough night for both Jim and I. Jim always claimed to dislike Shadow, but it was all an act. We'll both miss the silly ol' mutt.

More photos

Check out our
photo site!

Jim's new bike

This is Jim riding away on his "new to him" bike.


Stopped at a rest area somewhere in Utah on the way home.


Ridin' in the rain. Poor bike was abused in the first 24 hours of ownership. It hadn't been ridden in the rain up to this point.