Final Motorcycle day 9/18 Montpelier to Coalville, UT

Our final day was a relatively easy day of approximately 175 miles. From Montpelier, Idaho we headed further west into Idaho and then south along the western shore of Bear Lake. Bear Lake is a long lake nestled in a high mountain valley shrouded by a large number of beautiful homes on the surrounding hillsides. They belong to Salt Lake residents who use the lake as an escape from the summer heat. We enjoyed a nice Subway lunch at the south end of the lake and recapped the amazing scenery and comraderie we have enjoyed for the last seven days. We then headed up into the Wasatch mountains crossing over a 9,000 ft. pass where we "endured" a strafing run by a private jet passing over us at about 500 feet. Boy it must be fun to play with your million dollar toy in this mountainous terrain. We passed the Great Basin Ski Resort nestled in this high mountain valley. We are just at the begining of the Aspen and other non-coniferous trees turning into their fall colors. In another week, this area will be ablaze in the bright yellows and reds of the local vegetation.

We then dropped down and picked up I84 on the way to I80 and the town of Coalville where my father spent the week with our truck and trailer. Along I84 we passed a unique geological outcropping called Devil's Slide. This structure is formed by several layers of hard sedimentary rock with a layer of soft rock in between that juts out of the ground vertically. This is rare in that sedimentary layers are usually horizontal or at various angles in mountain ranges. The soft rock in this structure eroded away, leaving a trough or slide as it's called between the two hard vertical layers.

Arriving back at Coalville, we begain the loading process of securing all of the bikes and our gear for the trip back to PA. The game plan calls for me to drop off Rich, Joe and Gerry at the airport for their flights and then to hitch up the trailer and begin the way back home. It seemed totally appropriate to take our final picture under this sign as we experienced many beautifu8l places and friendly people throughout our trip. Now, the process begins to decide where the Phat Pac will go on its seventh annual adventure.

Friday 9/17 West Yellowstone, MT to Montpelier, ID

Today started off with a short ride from West Yellowstone to Old Faithful. We arrived just in time for the scheduled erruption against a pristine blue sky. We then exited the park and headed south on Route 89 toward the Grand Tetons. As we approached, the view across Jenny Lake was spectacular. If you've never been to the Tetons, they encompass a relatively small geographical area. However, being geologically young mountains, they pierce the sky as unweathered sheer rock spires. We stopped for lunch at a small outdoor barbeque and in true Phat Pac fashion immediately struck up a conversation with a couple from Illinois. Rick and Carolyn Leiding have a small meat cutting business. Their real claim to fame is the research they do in meat processing and packaging. In the hour we spent speaking with them they shared their specialty chorizo and answered our myriad of questions. In the short time we were with them, we all walked away with a new found understanding of the complexities of the meat business. When they get their website up and running you must order some of their chorizo-its absolutely delicious.

At this stop, I encountered my first calamity of the trip. While mounting my motorcycle on uneven pavement, my bike fell over and I bruised my elbow. However, being on Coumadin, even a small bruise turns into a large and painful hematoma. I have to say that it is times like this that one realizes the true friends I am riding with. Everyone has pitched in to help me with the simplest of tasks so that we could finish the trip.

Our initial plan was to stop in Jackson for the evening. However, with the high price of lodging and the desire to put more miles behind us, we decided to press on to Montpelier, Idaho. Our trip ended up being delayed while a heard of approximately 2,000 sheep were herded across the road by cowboys on horses and some really skilled sheep dogs. It was amazing to watch and an education for us. We lost the race against darkness and rode the last 20 minutes in the dark on roads known for large and proliferous wildlife. Joe reported several heavy breaking episodes which turned out to be trash cans and mailboxes. Rich was longing for his PIAA driving lights which are probably waiting for him on his doorstep having been replaced by PIAA as being defective. Happily, we all arrived safely at a Super 8 in Montpelier at half the rate we would have paid in Jackson.

Thursday 9/16 (Gardiner, MT to West Yellowstone, MT.

Looming over the open landscape like the last relic of a city wall, Roosevelt Arch was erected from volcanic basalt in 1903, creating the North entrance to America's first national park.... Yellowstone. After adding to Uncle Sam's coffers to enter the park we pay for with our tax dollars, we headed to Mammoth Hot Springs and then East on the Beartooth Senic Highway. Initial plans called for us to traverse the Beartooth Pass to Red Lodge Montana and come back to the park through Cody Wyoming. We decided instead to climb to the summit and retrace our steps back Cooke City and then down around the grand loop that would take us past Fishing Bridge, Yellowstone Lake and Old Faithful and then to the west gate of Yellowstone where we fortunately had reservations. This would shorten our mileage some plus keep Gerry from being 20 miles short on the range he can travel between fuel stops. An added benefit was that all of our travel could be in daylight. Yellowstone with its prolific wildlife is no place to be driving after dark. Much of our travels in the park were at slow speeds with frequent stops to view sights and wildlife. Bison were in abundant supply and we enjoyed one such mammoth animal walking calmly along the road. We also viewed a large bull elk on the banks of Yellowstone Lake. He wanted to climb the small hill to cross the road, but I was in his way. For a short time he gave me the "get out of my way look" and then just decided to continue eating the tasty shrubs he had been dining on. Never the less, I never turned my motor off and was ready to shread some tire rubber to get out of Dodge had he moved in my direction one more step.

The highlight of the day was definitely the trip up Beartooth pass. We climbed to 11,000 feet and I actually took a picture of my GPS pegged on that altitude. To say this road is spectacular does not do it justice. The turns for the last several miles above the tree line are like anything you will see in travel books for the Alps in Europe. 180 degree switchbacks with a 30+ MPH crosswind and steep climbs in between were enough to keep our attention focused on the road. Gerry said he was having some trouble negotiating them and felt like a rookie on his bike in spite of nearly 50,000 miles together. Rich and I contribute it to the fact that the surface of the earth in Yellowstone subsides or bulges by several inches annually due to the migration of molten rock below the surface. At least that is the story we told Gerry to go with, and we would swear to it. :-)
All in all, it was a very tiring day. We all think riding at slow speeds and stopping often is more fatiguing than cranking off the miles at high speeds on straight roads. You use more muscles to guide the bike through the turns and balance it than when the wheels are producing more gyroscopic stability at higher speeds. At least that is what we surmise. What do we know? We are bankers not engineers. Well maybe except for Mac..
We ended the day with our traditional dip in the pool and hot tub and none us had enough energy to go out for dinner, so we inhaled two pizzas that Joe had delivered. I hope you enjoy the pictures... a camera simply can not capture all the beauty we saw today.

Wednesday (9/15) Great Falls, MT to Gardiner, MT

Today was a pretty easy day from the perspective of miles to cover at only 220. We first visited the Lewis and Clark Interpretive center on the Missouri River in Great Falls. This is the point where Lewis and Clark had to portage their canoes that they had traveled in UP STREAM from Saint Lewis in the hopes of finding a water passage to the Pacific Ocean. What they thought was going to take only a day or two, took over a month of struggling to move the nearly 1,000 pound canoes over the rough terrain. The interpretive center is very well done and a definite stop if you are in the area. A side bonus is getting to see the Roe River which is listed as the worlds shortest river. about 150 million gallons of water bubble up out of the ground at a constant 57 degrees each day. It then flows about 20 feet into the Missouri river. They have actually carbon dated the water and it has been 3,000 years since it fell as rain or snow on the surface of the earth. That is simply amazing to me and well worth the stop. Unfortunately, none of us other than Rich took pictures of it and I can not upload pictures from his Sony Camera. Damn Japaneese!
After leaving Great Falls we headed down Rte 89 toward the north entrance of Yellowstone at Gardiner, MT. Initially the terrain was wide open spaces and exactly what you expect to see in a state named the "Big Sky" state. Sky from horizon to horizon and today it was completely cloudless. At one point the flat roads and wide open spaces got the best of us and we all had to "blow the carbon out" of the bikes. I won't reveal an any incriminating velocities, but the NJ "Super Trooper" did not lag behind on his big yellow bird. Three digits were involved and none of them were insignificant digits for you math experts out there. I won't say more than that.

As we headed further south snow capped mountains appeared on both sides of us and we transited Kings Hill Pass at 7,393 feet of elevation. From there we dropped down into the valley and eventually followed the Yellowstone River to Gardiner.
While passing through the town of Wilsall a building on the right caught my eye. It is the only Bank/Bar that I have ever seen and there was a quite happy group of locals enjoying some "beverages" outside waiting to have dinner. Of course I had to turn around and make some new friends and find out what was up. We learned that they had just rounded up 300 head of cattle, drove them 15 miles to corrals on horseback and loaded them into tractor trailers to head to finishing yards to be fattened up. These were range fed cattle and sold for $1.06 a lb on the hoof. Remember that the next time you complain abou the price of meat in the market. These ranchers are not the big winners in the equation, but the lead wrangler Larry told me that this is one of their few pay days a year and they usually head into the Bank/Bar to celebrate. They were doing that quite well! We joined in the fun for about a half hour as only the Phat Pac can, and came away with some great memories of very nice people that welcomed us to their town with open arms. Everywhere you go in this state you find the same hospitality and vitality. These people work hard, are humble and play hard. They appreciate the land and their little piece of tranquility.
Wildlife has been noticeably less than we expected. The ranchers told us that wolves have moved into the area and are taking their toll on the herds. One was recently shot that dressed out at 200 lbs. Now that is one big mean hunting machine. Mac was able to capture a picture of a herd of Antelope.
After dinner we headed back outside town and parked the bikes in the dark out of the influence of any background lights. We just simply wanted to take in the stars and watch a few satelites passing over. Unfortunately, there was a half moon and that tended to reduce the impact that you experience on a moonless night. Great fun in any event and a great way to cap of an perfect day of riding. Hope you enjoy the photo's!

Tuesday 9/14 (Polson, MT to Great Falls, MT)

There is something about waking up to the sound of sea gulls and looking out to see the beautiful Flathead Lake that is a good start to any day. Temperatures today were cooler than we have been experiencing, but the skies were bright with high cumulus clouds. We headed up Rte 35 along the East side of Flathead Lake. This lake is 300 feet deep and is the largest natural lake in the western US. The drive reminds me of the drive along Lake Tahoe, but with Tahoe being nearly 1,600 feet deep, the blue color is more stunning than Flathead. That does not diminish the beauty we experienced at all today. We entered Glacier National Park and headed up the "Going to the Sun Highway". This road climbs first though a large stand of pine trees until you emerge above the tree line somewhere above 4,000 feet. Logan Pass is at the top with an elevation of about 6,600 feet. The view along the way is simply stunning and is makes one feel small and insignificant. This year marks the 100th anniversary of this national treasure. Some experts predict that by the year 2020 there will be no more glaciers present in the park due to global warming. As we crested the pass we took a picture of the clouds that were approaching from the east literally pouring into the valleys on the west side of the park. This was a spectacular sight as the clouds looked like a wall of water spilling over a spill-way. As we decended on the East side we stopped to take a picture of Lake St. Mary and the peaks that were shrouded in clouds. I have to say that Glacier now ranks at the top of my list for National Parks. If you have not see this, you owe it to yourself to come out and experience the American Alps.

We then headed for Great Falls Montana via Conrad. Conrad is the town that my friend Bill Thrush and I were stranded in last year on the way back from Alaska due to his alternator failing. I simply could not pass this close by without stopping to introduce the Phat Pac to the folks at Olson's Drug store. We all orderd icecream floats and sundaes and the price has not changed from last year. ($1.50) Not only is the soda fountain right out of the 1950's so are the prices and hospitality. I felt like I was being welcomed back to town by my family. I simply love this place out in the middle of the wheat fields of Western Montana. To say the countryside is unclutered is an understatement. Fields of wheat and range land extend as far as the eye can see in all directions. Fortunately, all the bikes are running flawlessly and we did not have any unexpected emergencies. I am having trouble getting a picture of the Drug store on the blog as Sony does not like to cooperate and use a SD chip in their camera.. but we will work it out and get the picture on some how tomorrow. You can't miss the Phat Pac doing what we do best... eating and adding a little local excitement to any establishment we enter. So far no law enforcement officers have had to be called. In Conrad that would mean a call to "Fast Eddy". Yes, that is what the locals call him, but from what I can tell it is used lovingly.

Monday 9/13 (Hailey, ID to Polson, MT

The day dawned cool and clear. Temperatures at our departure were in the upper 40's which is on the cool side for riding any distance, but jus the way I like it. Our goal for the day was to ride about 390 miles. That is not hard out west with the open roads, but it does take some stamina in the cold weather. Not long after we passed through Sun Valley, ID and began to climb toward the Galena Summit the temperatures began to fall quickly. We reached a low of 34 degrees and everyone was turning on their electric clothing and heated grips. The summit is about 8,700 feet and there was snow on the ground above and below us. The roads were dry and we stopped at the top and had our picture taken by this historic marker by a German fellow that was touring for three months in the US. He was about to embark on 6 days alone in the mountains backpacking. He said "it was good for him, and gave him time to think". I guess so... I wonder how many people have ever spent 6 days alone and never had any contact with another human. I bet it is a fraction of a percent of us. I have met a lot of Germans while traveling the west and they are full of adventure and fun to speak with. He wanted his picture taken first with the Harley, as they have so few of them in Germany and then with the rest of the bikes. He said that he has a BMW R1000GS back home and loves to ride the Alps. We chatted for a few minutes and wished him well. After decending from the pass the road snakes along the Salmon river for many many miles. This is some of the best riding of the trip so far and rivals the Route 12 trip up to Lolo Pass I took earlier in the summer. Here is a picture taken while cruising along the river. This view was the norm for about 50 miles and I could have taken a picture anywhere that was just as beautiful. As we were decending along the salmon, I saw a plume of smoke coming up from the stream right by where a fisherman was fishing. At first I thought he was probably cooking his catch, but as I passed I got a good smell and it definitely was not trout, but sulphur. It turns out there are hot springs all along the bank of the river and at various places hot water at about 180 degrees just pours out of the mountain and empties into the river. A few miles down the road we found a hot spring site that was built in the 1930"s by the CC corp. If you have never heard of the CC Corp.,it was a government program enacted during the depression to give men meaningful work to do. Many of the state parks, national parks and historic sites were projects and the buildings and trails these men made are still enjoyed by many Americans and foreign travelers to this day. Now there is a revolutionary idea! It probably could be used today with the state of our economy, instead of lining the pockets of many of the crooks that have received "bail out" money. The building was a simple, but sturdy hut made out of stone for changing clothes. There were NO doors or stalls, just a roof and walls about 5 feet high. This is not a problem for the Phat Pac as there is very little modesty among the group. Mac changed beside his motorcycle along side the road and left his pile of clothes there. I can only imagine what passing motorists thought. Maybe that is why so many people stopped while we were soaking.. they were probably looking to see who left their clothes beside the road. We quickly exited our clothing and donned our bathing suits and headed for the stream. It was kind of tricky at first to find a spot where you did not scald yourself, or get too much river water, which I estimate was probably in the low 40's. After all we were only a few thousand feet below the snow on the mountain. Some local people were there when we arrived and they had built a bunch of little pools out of rocks that let in just the right amount of cold water to mix with the hot. AHHHH.. we had our own little hot tub surrounded by steep mountain walls and glorious pine trees. We sat, relaxed and laughed for about 40 minutes in the stream. For me this is one of those little bonus things that happens on a trip like this, that was not planned and ended up being the most memorable moment of the day. Joe manned the camera to avoid being in any of the pictures... so the hunt is on to get a good picture of him at some point in the trip, when he is least expecting it. After getting back on the bikes, all refreshed, we headed up RTE 75 to the intersection of Idaho Rte 93 and headed north to Flathead Lake, passing through Missoula, MT. We are staying in a motel right on the lake tonight and from local reports, we have been told to dress for the cold tomorrow. Tomorrow we head up to Glacier National Park and will transit Logan Pass, which if I recall from last year is up over 11,000 feet in elevation. I am hoping for some snow... Not a lot, but just enough to allow me to uphold my reputation for finding it on our trips out west. We will see!

Sunday 9/12 Ogden to Sun Valley, ID

Today dawned as every day has on this trip with clear skies and warm temperatures. When I say clear I mean clear.. not a cloud in the sky, from horizon to horizon. The hotel we stayed at in Ogden hosted a 100 year birthday party for a "young lady" yesterday. This morning she came into breakfast when I was eating, as spry as she could be. I congratulated her on starting the second hundred and asked her what she was having for breakfast. Without hesitation she told me.... "anything I want". Her daughter told me that her husband died a few years ago at 106. Now that is an amazing gene pool! Once we saddled up, we headed to Promotory Point Utah where the two railroads were connected on May 10, 1869. This was the first transcontinental railroad and forever shaped our nation. There is something about standing at the actual site and thinking of what has happened to this nation since then that makes history come alive. We arrived about a half hour before they first engine "Jupiter" came chugging down the tracks. They back this engine to the site, as it is the one that came from the west coast. I have been on a lot of steam engines in my day, but none as spit shined and polished as this one. It is wood fired as trees were plentiful in the pacific west. About a half hour later the second engine that arrived from the east was scheduled to come, but we had miles to cover and did not stay to see it. It is cloal fired though, as wood was not plentiful in the mid west grass lands and wood was used to supply the ties for the railroad. It is hard to imagine that at one time track was laid at the rate of up to ten miles in a single working day. We take 4 years to pave an intersection in PA. I think the work ethic may be a little different today. We then moved on to transit the wide open spaces of Idaho to our final destination in Sun Valley. Actually, we are staying about 10 miles south to take advantage of better hotel rates in Hailey, ID. This area is all tied to the ski business and you can tell that there is a lot of money that comes into the economy each winter. I don't think many of the folks that come here are too limited by the current state of the economy. Private jets were in ample supply at the airport. In the irrigated lands along the snake river we saw lots of wheat fields, onions, potato's and sugar beets. There were a few soy bean fields as well. The big factor out here is water. If you have access to it you can grow amazing crops. If you don't the land is nearly barren with nothing but browned out grasses and sage brush. It is an awsome drive through valleys that extend as far as the eye can see with no visible human habitat. It really makes one feel small. At one point Gerry was getting very low on fuel and we had to "stretch" his tank to about 180 miles. We made it, but there were some tense moments, as fuel stops here like people, are few and far between. All in all, it was a great day of miles and smiles. We had a little mix up with Mac late in the day and lost him for about 5 hours. Don't ask me how this can happen, as we never pull out and leave anyone behind. I can not for the life of me understand how 4 motorcycles can load up, start up and go across the street, literally 50 feet and park. He claims he had no idea where we went so he headed up the road. One was Gerry's Harley... it does not purr like a kitten if you get my drift. We were getting off our bikes across the street when he pulled out and motored off up the highway not to be seen for about 5 hours. This can only happen to Mac and I can't explain why. We sent text messages and voice mail and calls, all to no avail. Oh well, he found his way back and we are all bedded down. The wayward R90S is parked with the rest of the stable out front. Tomorrow is another day!

Saturday 9/11 (The Pac Arrives)

Joe, Gerry and Rich arrived on time in Salt Lake. A little tired from having worked all week and getting up early in the morning to catch an early flight, but here none the less. From what I heard Joe did not have to throw anyone wearing a towel on their head off the plane. After all, it is September 11 and they were flying at almost the exact same time as the attacks of 2001. On the way back to Coalville we took a quick diversion to BMW of North Salt Lake. These are the folks that bailed me out on my trip to California earlier in the summer and installed my new clutch. Of course, I had to say hi to my friend Mindi who came to the door to greet us. This is right out of the old Commerce Bank training manual. "Make the customer feel special". Mindi is expecting a daughter in a few months and shared her sonogram with us. I think she is a little excited! She will be a great mom and it was good visiting with her again. These folks know how to run a dealership and they make you feel like you are visiting an old friend and coming home. The Phat Pac looked at all the toys and eye-candy, plus talked to a group of GS riders from PA that were headed to Central America. Gordy was back in the shop working his magic on one of their bikes. Mac threw his leg over a new R1200GSA and bailed on taking a test ride. Besides.. we don't have room to haul another bike back home. We traveled the 40 miles back to Coalville to unload the bikes and load our gear for the trip. Today was an easy day, as we only had about 80 miles to travel. We headed out to Antelope Island State Park which is in the middle of the Salt Lake and is only accessible by a several mile long causway. In the mid 80's this causway was under water for nearly 5 years. The lake is actually very low now and there were salt/mud flats along either side of the road. Antelope Island is home to several large heards of Buffalo, Mule Deer, Elk, Antelope, Mountain goats and large numbers of migratory birds. The lake is so salty that only very tiny brine shrimp are able to survive. It is America's "Dead sea". We initially planned to swim in the lake which is a hoot, but with the lake level being so low, it was nearly a half mile walk to the water's edge and it did not look too inviting. Plus, it would have mandated taking all of our gear off, showering in fresh water and then putting all the gear back on. A quick vote in normal Phat Pac style ended with a unanimous decision not to go swimming. We enjoyed a stop at the visitor's center and the marina and decided to find our motel for the night. All in all, a good day. Of course at dinner the stories began to flow as normal from Joe, with the rest of us having sore ribs from laughing so hard. This is a special group and we always have a great time together. I can't wait to hit the road tomorrow!

Arrival in Coalville, UT

Here is the cabin that will serve as the base of operations for the Phat Pac for the trip. As you can see it has a nice western flair and offers space to park our trailer. There is a trout stream behind the cabin and many friendly RVers around to keep my dad company. I am sure he will enjoy the week.

Friday September 10

Well, we have transited the dreaded east and mid-west and are finally in the true west. Wide open spaces in all directions. It brings to mind the old Cowboy song "Don"t fence me in". There is something about the vastness of the west that is refreshing to me. I never tire of the miles and miles of open spaces and the variety of scenery that is so different from what we have back east. We left early from Kearney, NE and were soon into Wyoming. There is something about seeing the sign welcoming us to Wyoming that raises my spirits and gets me excited about the days to come. Mileage for the day will be about 600. The temperatures are much cooler out here and the range for the day was from a high of 62 and a low of 38 as we passed through a local wind and sleet storm for about 40 miles. Storms out here are awsome as you can see them for miles and there is no place to hide. I always keep a keen eye out for the signs of any funnels. Winds were easily in the 50 MPH range which really plays havoc with the fuel mileage. What is so evident in Wyoming is the number of wind turbines that been built. We would pass huge installations of them that each would have literally hundreds spinning away at their 16 rpm speed. In the course of the day we saw thousands of them on both sides of the highway. We ended up pulling into the RV park where my dad will be staying in Coalville, UT at about 4:30 p.m. They have small one room log cabins that have three beds for a frugal $28 per night. Initially my dad had planned to stay in the empty motorcycle trailer, but this is a far better approach and I will feel much better leaving him here to spend the week. He will have the truck for short trips and to go out for meals. His dog Gretchen is his proverbial side kick, so he is happy as a lark. Tomorrow Rich, Joe and Gerry will arrive at Salt Lake at about 10:00 a.m and we will pick them up at the airport. The Phat Pac will be complete and we will unload the bikes and head out on our adventure. Total miles for the trip via truck has been 2,147. Total elapsed time has been 62 hours which includes all sleep, meal and fuel stop times. It is a good thing we are not ICC regulated truckers, as we could never cover that distance in that amount of time legally.

On the Road Again (Day 1 and 2)

Wednesday (Day 1) we drove 820 miles to Ottawa, Ill. This is west of Chicago and gets us past the traffic for an easy start in the morning. We had a little problem with Gerry's bike, as one of the tie downs pulled out of the track on the floor of the traler and one of the fittings on the wheel chock had a loose bolt. As a result, one strap came loose and his bike was partially laying over toward the wall. It was still being held by several staps, but the plywood wall did rub a spot of his paint on the very edge of his fairing. No other damage has been seen. We resecured the bike, broke out the tools and tightened all the bolts of the wheel chock mounting hardware and added a strap over the seat like we did on the Gold Wing. The other 4 bikes all seem to be riding well. I am driving as smoothly as I possibly can and not making and sudden movements. Mac is on my case for accelerating so slowly and driving so gingerly... but it works and the bikes are riding well now. Kind of like when I was in High School and the driver's ed teacher said you should drive like you had a cup of hot water on your lap and don't want to spill any. Now there is a picture for you. I hope it makes up for the lack of a pictures from these two days. I didn't think anyone wanted a picture of I-80 and truck traffic.
:-((

Thursday (Day 2) We traveled from Ottowa, Il to Sidney, Ne. Sidney is near the western edge of Nebraska about 75 miles east of Wyoming. We have traveled about 1,700 miles so far and stopped here for the evening. Sidney is probably best known as the headquarters of Cabella's. We have about 500 miles to go tomorrow to get to Coalville, UT where we will unload the bikes and prepare to pick up the other three Phat Pac members at the airport in Salt Lake on Saturday morning. We were very fortunate today, as we had pretty strong winds, but they were from our rear quarter and actually helped the fuel mileage. My truck is getting 11.8 MPG for the trip so far. We estimate the trailer and bikes probably weigh a total of about 8,000 lbs. The Duramax Diesel and Allison transmission make easy work of it and we roll along efffortlessly at about 70 MPH on cruise control. We are seeing lots of motorcycles almost all of which are traveling East. Most are loaded indicating that they are on trips and not just local rides. I can't wait to unload and beging clocking some 2 wheel miles. There is just something wrong about a bike being in a truck or trailer. They are meant to be ridden. We thought about getting my dad up in the bed of the pickup and having him mount my motorcycle and riding a few miles up there in the wind. We decided against it as the local Law Enforcement Officers may not have the same sense of humor, plus we did not bring a wire brush to clean the bugs from between his teeth. Windmills are everywhere out here... between corn to alcohol processing plants and windmills, I would say that the west is doing their part for renewable energy sources. Good for the farmers.. these folks need a lift!

T-Minus "0" We are ready Houston

Well, the long awaited Phat Pac trip is finally here. The bikes are all loaded in the trailer and my bike is in the back of the truck. We pull out of Lansdale at 4:00 a.m. much to the moaning of Mac, who claims that he is missing valuable "beauty sleep". Man up Mac..... it is time to roll. The West awaits us. The GPS is all loaded with the route to Salt Lake... well all we really need to do is head up I-476 to I-80 and turn left, but playing with electronics is a good way to pass the time as we travel 2,200 miles. The next real turn will be into the staging area in Coalville, UT. (This is where my dad will spend the week while we travel north. I hope all those Mormon guys keep track of their flocks, as the old War Hero is in town.) Yep, that is it... not much need for a map or GPS as we will be traveling I-80 all the way. Putting 4 bikes in a 20Ft trailer takes some planning. We have the Gold Wing in the front left figuring that it probably weighs the most. Rich's R1200GS is next to it. On the left rear is Mac's R90S which is by far the lightest of the group. Gerry's Harley is in the right rear being "Heavy Metal". Besides, we always relegate the Harley to ride behind us. It is much quieter with all the noise behind us, and we don't have to watch out for all the parts that may fall off during the trip and come bouncing back our way. Actually, Gerry always takes his bike in to the dealer before the trip and tells them to replace any missing bolts and hardware and dip the bike in Lock-Tite. It seems to work.

My dad will be making the trip in the truck with us. He is 89 and loves to travel, so a couple of weeks with the "boys" is good mental health medicine for him. Here we are all loaded and ready to roll.

T-Minus 36 Hours and Counting!

Well the 2010 Phat Pac trip is about here. The motorcycles are all staged in my garage and ready to be loaded in the trailer. Mac Kirkpatrick, my dad and I will be trailering 5 bikes to Salt Lake City Utah. The other three Phat Pac members will be flying into Salt Lake on Saturday morning 9/11. Timing.... date..... Oh well, Badecki can handle anyone with a towel on their head. :-). Not that it is profiling or anything. Former New Jersey troopers would not do that. Posts to the blog will probably begin on Wednesday 9/8 as we start the trip out. Keep watch and we hope you enjoy the blog. Packing... what to take and what to not take??? HMMM