Ever since Ada and I lived in Fairbanks, Alaska I have dreamed about riding to the 49th state on a motorcycle. It took a son-in-law, Kevin Kiley, who had just gotten a bike and also has an adventurous streak to get the ball rolling. We leave on bikes on July 7th, 2009 from Indianapolis, Indiana.
Not to leave the remainder of the family behind, Ada and Laurie and her 2 children, Jacob (9), and Ella (7) will be flying to Anchorage to meet us for a two week motorhome tour up there also. I do hope the volcano is done doing it's thing by then, or it will be a long and lonely trip for Kevin and me as they are having trouble getting airplanes in and out of Anchorage due to the volcanic dust in the air.
I have been busy getting to know my motorcycle for this task, a 2007 Kawasaki KLR650. Kevin has the same model bike, but his is a 2008 model. The picture to the left is him and me installing heated handgrips on his bike. We did this over the Christmas holiday and since it was only 3 degrees above zero outside in Indianapolis we had to bring his bike into their front foyer for warmth. Laurie was not the happiest about her hardwood floors, but we protected them and we got the job done. Back home here in Florida I have been doing some preventive maintenance of my bike and adding accessories galore to make it as easy on this old body as possible. A new custom seat for the sore butt syndrome, a home made windshield, saddlebags, crash guards and new tires have been gotten and ready. The maps in the house have been darn near worn out with routing preference and still that is not decided. You will just have to follow along on this website to see how we get there and back.
I have been busy getting to know my motorcycle for this task, a 2007 Kawasaki KLR650. Kevin has the same model bike, but his is a 2008 model. The picture to the left is him and me installing heated handgrips on his bike. We did this over the Christmas holiday and since it was only 3 degrees above zero outside in Indianapolis we had to bring his bike into their front foyer for warmth. Laurie was not the happiest about her hardwood floors, but we protected them and we got the job done. Back home here in Florida I have been doing some preventive maintenance of my bike and adding accessories galore to make it as easy on this old body as possible. A new custom seat for the sore butt syndrome, a home made windshield, saddlebags, crash guards and new tires have been gotten and ready. The maps in the house have been darn near worn out with routing preference and still that is not decided. You will just have to follow along on this website to see how we get there and back.