Kelly? What's up? I know the thought of dust on that bling is difficult to digest, we'll make it through together And I'll be eating the dust, no doubt.......
The Bay area is about 12 hours south of the Canadian border, I'm sure that some place could be found for you NW guys to stay, there are many members here. Sounds like Blake is about 8-10ish hours from bay area, so this might be the 1/2 point.
The Passport center in SC didn't like my birth cert. Now I have to order a current one and apply again. Man the clock is ticking.
If you're anywhere close to the county you were born in, you can go down and get a certified copy in just a few minutes. You can do it by mail, too, but you have to have your paperwork notarized. Be sure to ask for a "certified" copy with the embossed watermark. Also, if you spend the extra $$ to have it expedited, it should arrive in time. I turned in my application on Dec 19th and my passport was issued on Dec 31st. Good luck! WoodsChick
I was born at a truck stop in Selma CA. That's a 4.25 hour trip each way according to MapQuest. I can make it there in 3.0 hours. First I'm going to see if there is a document retrieval service in the area tomorrow. Maybe they can get a new "certified" copy for me and overnight it to me for a reasonable cost. If not then I'm riding on out to the fabulous birth place of FTC and getting the damn thing myself. Any members In the Selma, Fresno, Visalia, Bakersfield, Teachapi,Mojave, Lancaster, Palmdale, or Victorville area wanna do lunch this weekend? If the retrieval service doesn't work then I'll be driving through these towns on my way up to Selma. P.S I'm buying.
Ouch! Well, on the off chance that you still have family in the area, a family member can get it for you, too. If it makes you feel any better, I spent 2 hours driving to San Jose and back to get mine. From the time I got out of the car to the time I got back into the car with the coveted birth certificate, I'll say a maximum of 10 minutes elapsed. WoodsChick
When I got a new passport, I also got a new birth cert. and found out my name was misspelled on the original. I thought people in the 40's could spell. Who the hell spells Gordon, ....Gordan. never heard of anyone named Gordan....except maybe a Japanese mythical monster.
Greg and I will be representing the Pacific Northwest (95% sure)! We will be getting together soon to plan out our trip down to George's shop for the Caravan at 10AM. According to Google Maps, it's 1,139 mi – about 17 hours 35 mins. I'm pretty sure we'll either leave later in the day on Wednesday, February 11th or really early on Thursday, February 12th. I have a few questions/suggestions: 1. Could we stay the night at somebody's place (Blake?) in the Bay area? 2. Maybe we could consolidate our efforts there so that we don't have unnessary convoys going. 3. I wouldn't mind trying a night ride. 4. I wouldn't doing some a challenging excursion or two! 5. What suggestions on prepping the bikes? 6. Anyone have a regular un-cut seat I can borrow from a 2008 TE (I cut mine down and fear it will be very uncomfortable!!!)? 7. I don't think I have a 70 mile range as I have the stock 1.9 gallon tank on my 08 TE 450, but I can carry MSR gas bottles on my back or siphon out of Greg's 3 gallon tank...suggestions?!?! David
A lot of PMs occurring as of late about the details. A few things: Yes it looks like about 18 hours to Georges shop from Seattle It also looks like about 18 hours from Seattle to Calexico "Bay Area" usually refers to the San Francisco Bay Area where I live which is about 45 minutes off I-5 - yes you could stay here but that only makes sense if you leave Wednesday morning (I'm about 12hours from Seattle) Blake is in Temecula which is a few hours north of the border Multiple possibilities regarding detailed logistics that would work multiple ways - and it all depends on when the you PNW guys get down to the SF Bay area, and those could be changed at the last minute - too complicated to list right now. I made up a siphon years ago from a outboard motor priming bulb, and of course a baggie to transfer fuel LOL At the moment it looks like I'll be driving a 2nd chase truck (Mikes) for a few reasons - but the bottom line is I can NOT afford to get hurt again. As such there are mutiple possibilites regarding fuel and a few other things - I'll take my 2006 TE250 with knobbies & stock tank and might take a short night ride, but no high speed desert. There may be some bike swapping going back and forth as needed. I think the best way to summarize is - George & Mike have these types of things dialed in, they have been doing this for a long time.
I've never ridden a bike in Baja but have other experience regarding tightly timed trips. 'Sleep' is a magic elixir that prevents many many problems when making judgments and doing physical activities. Starting the ride well rested would be a good thing, and my understanding is the Sat & Sun rides will start early in the mornings. Just thought I'd say that.
Mike, Add F2G and I to the list officially! Just got off the phone with him and we've both got things solid for this trip! Chance of a lifetime. Did I mention we're just a tad excited 'bout this?
WOO HOOOO! Welcome to our Husky bros from the land of roots and mud and salmon! Meet you at Georges shop, OR follow us down, OR park your truck in the Bay Area and jump in the truck with Coffee, Woodschick, etc. Your choice. Get the HID from Trailtech, and we can do a night ride Friday night when we get there.
Dude, if you saw me ride just during the day you'd retract that statement, LOL. Good times ready to be had regardless!
Well, guess it's time to start prepping the bike for the ride......... Going to reinstall the stock knobbie with half tread left flipped around with sharp edges doing the work, install my last new moose air filter, put an HD tube in the front, replace my busted up front/rear fenders, change oil/filter, get seat redone for sitting comfort. Anything else? Haven't had any other issues with the 'ole girl outside of the operator Did I mention we're just a little excited 'bout this event Part of the draw to this ride will be meeting all you "southerners" we've only met here and TT. Will be quite an honor to ride in your company......Ok, enough of the bleary eyed happy drivel......
Well, F2G just worked his ass off driving for the Seattle Metro Public Transportation system to specifically get the time off for this ride while being in a junior position. I just had to request leave from my boss's in the Army to go out of country in an area not known for its hospitality toward U.S. citizens at this moment in time, and we're once again starting to prepare for another deployment early next year. Lot's of questions from my higher ups, but with Mike's info and timely notification of this ride, we've made things come together. Chance of a lifetime for both of us
You 2 are going to extreme lengths to go on this trip! The ride is fairly well defined at this point - certainly the dates, locations, etc are. Now all that needs to be done is to finalize the time you 2 will be driving through this area and who is going with whom from here down to San Felipe Friday night. Might make sense to avoid the LA area, might make sense to meet at Georges shop... dunno. It would be good to get all that worked out this month though.
