Motorcycle Trip List

Are you a Princess or a Biker Chick?

I have to admit that the first time I went on a solo motorcycle trip it was only 100 miles away from home.  It was a pretty big deal to me and I packed my saddle bags full!

Eventually, I added a sissy bar and bought big luggage to attach to the sissy bar and had tons of room for all the stuff I would possibly need for any situation.  I was ready for anything.

My solo bike rides got longer, my longest being 1005 miles in 4 days.  From Medford, Oregon up the coast, then to Portland, Multnomah Falls, Bonneville Dam, Columbia Gorge to The Dalles, a dip into Washington to see Stonehenge, south to Bend then home to Medford.  It was a fabulous ride!!  There have been several 1000+ mile rides since then.

After each ride, I would bring more stuff and when I unpacked I  found that I had unused items, sometimes lots of unused items.  Oh my goodness, what kind of princess am I?  I decided to try to bring less on each ride and perhaps I would have room in my bags to buy souvenirs!

I have a new bike now.  My big trips are still around 1000 miles.  I now have one full bag, one empty one to take off chaps etc. if needed and I still put my sissy bar on for overnight rides so I can take my bike cover.  And now all my personal items fit in a bike helmet cover. That's right.  All I need for a 1000 mile, 4 day motorcycle ride will fit in a bike helmet cover (I bet you wondered what those were for!) with room to spare!

Here are the items I bring, and my theory behind them.

Neck cozie - keeps your neck warm, or cool (wet) and prevents sunburn on your neck.                                  
Jacket, Chaps, Gloves, Boots - no need to explain             
Tire guage/extender- Checking my tire pressure is hard without the little extender I got.                                      
Sena unit - as a communicator or just to listen to music, my Sena unit has great sound.                                      
Sweatshirt/packjacket - depending on weather, I might need a sweatshirt in the morning.  A pack jacket is a windbreaker or rain jacket which also depends on weather.  Definitely something I have to consider now that I live near Salem, Oregon.  I don't ever plan on riding in the rain - but when you ask for vacation days perhaps months in advance, you can't plan weather.  I've ridden over a mountain pass in rain/snow/hail during a freak storm in Northern California and had to ride 200 miles in freezing rain on a trip in Arizona for the same reason.
Bike lock -  I have a caliper lock.  If bad people want your bike bad enough, they are going to take it, but hopefully the bike lock will make mine a less desirable target.  Don't forget your orange lock reminder.
Bike cover- My first trip with the girls, I didn't have a cover (who needs a cover?) and it rained overnight.  In the morning my seat was soaking wet and I had to ride home sitting on a garbage bag to keep my butt dry!  
Garbage bag - as a seat cover or makeshift rain pants, I'm ready!     
Check oil, Check tire pressure - A safety check I always do, especially before a long ride.                              
Wells Fargo bag- This is a money bag I got from my bank but I use it to put a bunch of miscellaneous small stuff it it.  It is always ready to grab and go. It holds zip ties, bungee cords, a lighter, flashlight, pocket knife, spare fob battery, sunscreen, scissors, tweezers, chapstick, tape, bike meds and a trashbag.  

As a nurse, people come to me when they don't feel well.  I carry emergency medications such as aspirin, motrin and benadryl, and if you get a splinter - I'm your girl.  I also have a tiny emergency kit with bandaids, tape and other small medical things.  You may be more of a mechanical person so you might carry spare tools.

Personal items
Wallet - drivers license, credit cards, insurance card
Camera/charger- I do love photos
Phone/charger, Toothbrush/toothpaste - no need to explain these
Sox/underwear- I bring one of each, for each day.
Sandals/tennis shoes- depends where I'm going and how much walking I plan on.
Nightshirt/lounge pants - for relaxing after the ride
Swim suit - the hotel might have a pool or jacuzzi.
Jeans- wear one pair, bring one spare.
Long sleeve shirt - nice for cool mornings.
Short sleeve shirt- I bring two.
Medication - if you are young and don't need medication - remember that age can't be avoided, so keep this on your list.
Cash - on the road, there are still some places that don't take credit cards.

I don't camp.  I did once.  I laid awake all night with bugs literally crawling all over me.  They were ticks and I got Lyme disease.  I now stay in hotels.  NOT super cheep ones, this is vacation time after all and I want to be comfortable. Plus, cheep hotels are generally in kinda sketchy areas and I want me and my bike are safe.

Road hints if you stay in a hotel - the heater in the room can dry out your clothes, just don't put your leathers directly on the heater.  A quick dry may shrink leathers.  The hotel will sometimes let you use the dryer for your clothes.

If your jeans are stinky but clean you can put them in the freezer overnight and this removes the smell.  On a long trip, consider bringing a tide pod or two and ask to use the hotel washing machine.

After ride cocktails - depending on your destination, you may be miles from a liquor store (and a lot of miles away in a dry county). A flask is easy to carry in your luggage and mixers are easy to find at gas stations.  I usually try to pick hotels with nearby restaurants so I can walk there from the hotel.

So here is the Motorcycle Trip List without all the explanation.  Please feel free to copy and paste to a word document for your use.  I print one for every trip.

I almost forgot.  Don't forget to bring your SMILE.  A happy attitude turns a horrible incident (like rain/sleet/snow/flat tire) into an EPIC TRIP.  You might not be laughing at your situation at the time but sometimes, the bad crap that happens on a trip are the things that make it memorable!  

Remember that trip when we went over Siskiyou Pass in the snow??













Motorcycle Trip List

_____Neck cozie                                  _____Jeans
_____Jacket                                          _____Long sleeve shirt
_____Chaps                                          _____Short sleeve shirt
_____Gloves                                        _____Sox/underwear
_____Boots                                          _____Medication
_____Tire guage/extender                   _____Cash
_____Sena unit                                    _____Sweatshirt/packjacket  
_____Bike lock                                        
_____Bike cover
_____Check oil
_____Check tire pressure
_____Wells Fargo bag

Personal items
_____Wallet
_____Camera/charger
_____Phone/charger
_____Sandals/tennis shoes
_____Nightshirt
_____Toothbrush/toothpaste
_____Swim suit


Wells Fargo Bag: zip ties, bungee cords, lighter, flashlight, pocket knife, battery, sunscreen, scissors, tweezers, chapstick, bike meds, tape, trashbag.

Moving has improved my painting skills!

Last October, Charlie got a big opportunity for advancement in his career.  We moved from Medford, Oregon (about 15 miles north of California) to Salem, Oregon (closer to Portland).  It rains A LOT more and finding myself stuck inside gave me more opportunity to paint. 

 

 

A few months ago I started experimenting with shading, or as I learned it was called gradation. I started with this olive.  After this painting, I decided to purchase Ginger Cook's "Back to Basics" and watched the beginner videos several times. 

 

I loved her videos on making the masters backgrounds and had lots of fun doing those.  I painted several backgrounds and set up a still life in front of one.  So I guess it's my reference photo.

 

 

I battled with the color of the radishes and learned how hard it is to get a lighter red without going pink!  I added the bell pepper from memory (because I didn't have one in the refrigerator!)  I love the way the bottle turned out.

 

 

 

Another masters background inspired a painting for a friend's daughter who loves penguins.

 

Sometimes I figure out new techniques by accident, but it sure is fun to learn!  It has been a long wet winter and I do love to paint - but I long for sunshine as I have a motorcycle in the garage that is calling me to ride, louder and louder as the days go on.

I guess when the sun comes out, the motorcycle will win, and when the clouds come back, the paint will win again.

The Battles of the Yard

"The Battles of the Yard"  Written September 2018
   a sprinkler and drip system story (and beginner tutorial)

When warm weather starts and the rain subsides, it is time to check the sprinkler systems!  Since my husband and I decided to divvy up the yard work, I decided to learn all the important stuff for myself.  I am in charge of the front yard and he is in charge of the back yard.  And the battle begins.  So, I figured out how to turn on the sprinklers and this is what I got:



Holey Mackerel!!   Is anything getting wet besides the fence?  Under further investigation there are loads of bare black pipes, missing drippers and sprinklers and chewed up pieces on the ground.  I wonder how that happened??

Cute little puppies get bigger and so does the chewing! 

My sweet black lab "George" ripped up all the irrigation in the back yard and getting a new puppy didn't help things much!

I went to Home Depot and picked up some tubing and some drippers and some sprinklers.  Easy!  I got home and tried fixing the leaks, reburied the hoses and realized the problems were bigger than I thought.  The ground was soaked where I had just fixed the hoses.  Bad fitting hoses!  Old tubing and cracked fittings!  By my third trip to Home Depot I just stood there in the plumbing aisle and decided to just start over.  I talked to a guy staring at the equipment with the same blank look I had and told him "I have no idea what I'm doing - I'm learning by failure!"  He laughed and said he was doing the same thing!

I bought large black tubing, small black tubing, little black bubblers, spikes to attach the big hose to the little hose and a few sprinklers.  I recently learned to light the BBQ grill and can start the leaf blower now - I can do this.

I ripped up all the old tubing and foot by foot, put in new big tubing, new small tubing, and new bubblers for each plant.  I got to a place in the yard where the tubing went behind a bunch of bushes and not conducive to me crawling on my knees to bury new pipe.  I decided to connect my new pipe to the old pipe for that 30 foot stretch.  The old pipe was too small to fit right into the new pipe.

That's when I figured out that there were at least two sizes of big black pipe......I had bought 3/4 inch and the old pipe was 1/2 inch.  OMG, no wonder there were so many people wandering around in the plumbing isle at Home Depot!

Directions of painting

Does anyone who starts painting know their directions?

I don't mean North or South, Left or Right.  What I'm talking about is the STYLE of your painting.  Do you start out wanting to paint like Monet, Salvador Dali or Bob Ross?  

Rivers, countryside, buildings, ocean waves, clouds.  What subjects haunt your soul?  What demands you to put paint to canvas?

I started painting a little over a year ago and I still have not found my favorite direction.  Each new piece has gone a new direction from the last.  My latest works in progress are an 8 X 10 still life of my own creation and a picture of a Kong ball that I did for my dog! 

Maybe I'll never find my direction, and maybe direction doesn't matter.  

Maybe it's just the feel of a loaded paintbrush against canvas which fills your soul!

Minimalism

Xlentcrap

Well, I do have a lot of excellent crap, but it's official, I'm moving! 

I have been in my current house since 2007.  Besides all the stuff I moved from Waddell, Arizona to Medford, Oregon, I also have accumulated a bunch more stuff to fill cabinets, boxes, closets, under beds and in the garage.  As I start packing I realize that a significant amount of this mass has just been lying around, taking up space, acquiring dust and requiring dusting. 

Some things like CD's and DVD's didn't originally take up much space, old jackets that I had to have at the time, some stuff other people got rid of  like power tools and even more stuff with emotional attachments.  The stuff with emotional attachments are the hardest ones to get rid of. 

Moving is a GREAT opportunity to get rid of things that aren't used, not needed and don't matter.  I am taking pictures of things to get rid of and taking them to work.  Kind of like a virtual garage sale.
 
I've been doing a little research on minimalism.  I've been called a minimalist in my decorating skills but trying to be a minimalist in life sounds a bit daunting.  I'm not moving into a mini-home, but I do want to be able to park my car in the new garage.  I do want to spend less time cleaning and organizing, dusting and washing.  I do want to spend more time socializing with my new neighbors and friends.  I want to spend more time riding and less time cleaning. 

One of the great things about minimalism is that you have less stuff.  Less to wash, less to dust, less to store, less to worry about.  More time to relax, more time to ride my motorcycle. 

My new house is by a lake with a community park only a block away.  I imagine sitting in a chair by the lake reading or sitting by the fireplace and watching a movie.  But most of all - more RELAXING.

In my case, I'm getting a little bigger house than I have now.  The property size was my first priority to downsize.  I currently have a half acre of lawn and gardens and a ton of trees.  Last year I bagged 28 bags of leaves pretty much by myself - something I never want to do again.  I learned to use a leaf blower, start a gas lawn mower, use an edger and put in a new dripline. It was a great learning experience.  And a great space if you like to garden but I'm personally over that part now.  I have always had two large green cans for yard waste and they are always full about 9 months a year.  My new house has a yard that can be done by a Barbie lawnmower.  Yea! 

The house is ready to sell, just need to finish a few projects and off we go.

Ground Hog Intelligence

 

When the ground hog predicted six more weeks of winter, I laughed.  It was a pretty nice day and I was convinced that spring was imminent.  After several back to back storms, unpredictable blocks of rain, sleet, grapple, hail, snow and ice, I have to admit the little fur ball was right.  With one last big shove, Mother Nature decorated all the surrounding mountains with a blanket of snow, put on some amazing color displays and reminded us what a beautiful place we live in.

 

Purple and pink sunset.

 

 

Jet condensation trails on a cold morning.

 

 

                                                Pink clouds at sunrise while at the dog park.

                                    Yellow and orange sunset while waiting for Mexican Food.

 

Brilliant blue skies!

 

 

In the next week the temperature will go from the 40's to the 70's and winter will have to release it's icy grip and give way to spring.  The flowers and trees have already started to bloom and I'm ready to be back on the road, riding my motorcycle to destinations unknown.

 

My first canvas!

 

 

I still have to practice on my clouds but I'm pretty happy with the way it turned out.