My 13 Day Journey On The Back of a Harley Trike

Day #1 Leaving Home

On July 30, 2018 my husband and I embarked on the first vacation we have had since 2001. Only this time instead of flying to our destination, we took our Harley trike on an amazing adventure.

Since we had been planning this trip for quite awhile and our destination was the Sturgis 2018 Bike Rally in Sturgis, South Dakota, I was excited and a bit nervous.

You see, I suffer from chronic pain having arthritis, Fibromyalgia and have suffered since October 2017 with severe pain in my right side that 5 doctors, 2 physical therapists, 4 rounds of steroids has not taken care of the issue. My fear was I would have to get on a plane and come home.

We were also leaving our 17 year old granddaughter to house sit during this time with other responsibilities she had such as ensuring our dog got her meds, a friends farm animals were fed and watered and driving 2.5 hours to her sisters camp graduation. 

Here we are at the house preparing to leave. The trailer was full with a complete first aid kit that had everything in it from allergy medications (oral and topical), to tweezers and scissors. My hubby laughed when he saw anti-nausea and diarrhea medications, but it was a long trip and I don't like surprises.

Also, if you look at our jackets, you will see the Phoenix patch, this was generously sent to us by Kathie Purkey who is Billy Warneke's mom one of the Granite Mountain Hotshots that perished June 30, 2013. I went to Victoria who is Billies sister and Kathie's daughter and she asked to have them sent to us as Kathie was out of town. 
These patches we wear with honor because we know the sacrifice these men and their families made and I tell everyone who asks me about them how they can support hot shot teams!

The first day we traveled from our home near Olympia, WA to a small town in Oregon and let me tell you, the eastern side of Oregon was so hot, I thought I was going to die and that is no exaggeration.

Lunch in Pendleton, Oregon 7/30/2018

 This is across the road from the Subway in Pendleton,Oregon, no more beautiful green tree's, it is more high desert in the area and we never did see any signs for the Pendleton wool mill.

It got so warm at one point in the trip we stopped for gas and there was this wonderful little park across the street with a lake, we shed our leathers and laid out in the cool grass for a bit.

A beautiful lake to rest for a bit

Reluctantly, I got back on the bike, put all my leathers back on and decided it was better to be to warm than go down and have no skin left. That was until...this stop in Haines:

My face was almost as red as my glasses

You can see my hair is matted down from sweat, my face is red and it was so bad, hubby began pouring cold water over my head, down my shirt and this time...I took the leathers off, placed an ice watered down neck gater on my head and neck and we took off again!

Final Destination for the night...Baker City, Oregon and A/C

We did it! We traveled over 10 hours and over 400 miles and made it safely. The bike was unloaded and secured and while hubby was doing that, I ordered pizza to be delivered, I was done riding for the day!

Our motel in Baker City, was clean, quiet and had air conditioning and large pillows so I was able to prop up my legs, while hubby enjoyed the chair and propping his feet up on the bed.

Next morning we got up, showered, had breakfast at the hotel and once again, we were one our way!

Heading out once again (this pic was taken at home)

Come back when I tell you all about day #2. You won't want to miss it!