Ted's Recap (or is that re-tread?)

Having asked others to write a word or two on their impressions of the trip, I guess I should get at it as well, eh?

Words cannot describe this trip. How can you summarize an entire month of travel, especially motorcycle travel. Carol and I often say that seeing the world from inside a car is like watching it on TV, whereas seeing it on a motorcycle is like watching it on IMAX.

And we saw so many things... the Badlands, Sturgis, Deadwood, Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, the Black Hills of South Dakota, Mount Evans (where Dave almost got off and killed me), the Continental Divide, twisty canyon roads that were beyond compare, the Petrified Forest, the Grand Canyon, the Mojave Desert, Pacific Coast highway, San Francisco, Vegas, Route 66, and on and on it goes... so many sights I'd only seen in National Geographic or in the movies... now I can say "I've been there!!".

The company of great friends, getting to know someone even better after 30 years ("no I didn't make the bed, that's just the way I sleep")... meeting new people every day... seems like when you are on a motorcycle (especially with Canadian flags), everyone says hi and where ya'll from?

We were so lucky. 29 days on the road, no injuries, no roadside breakdowns, and less than an hour of rain.

Best of all, I think, we all came home wanting more. No one tired of the road, no one sorry we went that far, everyone planning for the next big trip even before we got home from this one.

My favourite part? So hard to pick just one. If I had to, I'd say it was the people we met. They were all nice, bar none. Second choice? The road. I've been to BC and back, but never had such a high percentage of small twisty highways in such great shape. For a motorcyclist it was a dream trip. And on a new bike to boot! What a way to break it in.

Thanks everyone, for the best time ever. I'd do it again in a heartbeat :)

As promised, here's my favourite picture. It's me driving up Mount Evans with my jewels lodged firmly in my throat.