Saturday, August 22, 2009

Final Facts

Miles:

11,080

States/Provinces:

Florida
Alabama
Mississippi
Louisiana
Texas
New Mexico
Colorado
Utah
Idaho
Wyoming
Montana
British Columbia
Alberta
Yukon
Alaska
Washington
Oregon

National Parks/Forests:

Apalachicola National Forest
Ocala National Forest
Everglades National Park
Big Cypress National Preserve
DeSoto National Forest
Pike National Forest
Gunnison National Forest
Black Canyon of the Gunnison National Park
Grand Mesa National Forest
Arches National Park
Bridger-Teton National Forest
Caribou-Targhee National Forest
Grand Teton National Park
Yellowstone National Park
Glacier National Park
Banff National Park
Kootenay National Park
Muncho Lake Provincial Park
Stone Mountain Provincial Park

(I am surely missing some of the National Forests and Provincial Parks, there were definitely more, but it’s surprisingly hard to find them on a map)

Times Zones:

EST
CST
MST
PSD
Alaska

Countries:

USA
Canada

Border Crossings:

4

Bikes:

2005 KLR 650
2008 KLR 650

Chains used:

3

Sets of tires:

2

12V Accessory plugs melted:

3

Oil:

5 Qts.

Estimated gas (assuming 43 mpg):

130 gallons = $332.80

Flights missed trying to get from Portland to Dallas:

4

Total Elapsed time:

37 days

New Friends:

Dozens

New Memories:

Hundreds

Lessons Learned:

Alaska is cold. All the time. And it takes a special kind of person to live there.

Dirt tires work awesome on dirt.

You cannot spit your gum out with your helmet on.

Bikers are awesome at helping each other on the road.

Wi-Fi is hard to find in Canada.

People from Yukon hug everyone.

Trying to see a buffalo at night is like trying to see a polar bear in a snowstorm. With your eyes closed.

The world is huge.

The world is small.

The world is beautiful.

All little kids wave at motorcycles.

Gas stations hate selling 3 gallons of gas to motorcycles.

The hippie movement is still alive and well.

90% of RV’s can be found in Utah, Wyoming, and Montana.

Everyone either loves or hates Texas. Which is awesome. It means they never say, “you’re from where? Oh, where is that?”

Pictures can never do justice to all the great stuff that is out there. Go see it for yourself.

2 comments:

  1. This almost made me cry! It's hard to read this and not feel trapped inside the walls of civilization...job, cubicle, mortgage, financial stability and 'normalcy'. Thank you for being unemployed and doing something amazing with it, and most of all, thank you for sharing it with us!

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  2. I really enjoyed reading about your trip. That had to be one hell of a ride. What amazing memories!! Good luck on the job search. Now when someone asks what is your greatest accomplishment in an interview - you will have a pretty awesome story to tell!

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