Low CC touring commences...

Hey Milk, you got a pair of big brass ones, your riding partner too.
Best of luck and yeah take tons of pics
Ride safe and keep the rubber side down and the uh, green side up

Wish I could do that trip. You guys have fun and be safe.Post as much as you can.

...and were planning on finding somewhere to stay for the night between there and Flagstaff. The adventure begins...

(the wife)

I'll try and get a better link going for the map in the future.

how was there ride up there? I am hoping they didn't have anyone trying to run them off the road. Do you know how slow there scooter went up some of the longer hills? Glad they made it. please keep us posed as I am going to check in as often as i can to see how things are going.

Guess it was fairly slow up the hill, and leaving town with all the holiday SUV travelers wasn't the best, but they made it safe, found a campsite last night, and are in Flagstaff now for some food. I think he'll sneak on some interwebs here shortly and update you folks with some pics.

Day 1, May 27 2011
So we have made it out on the road! Woohoo!



(Just getting ready to hit the road.)

Dean’s charging problem on the battery seems to have “magically” fixed itself. I suspect the magic was in the fact that it had a low initial charge and the scoot just needed to be driven a bit. Both scoots are running nicely.

I chose at the last minute to ditch the spare tire. This is an all road trip, and I didn’t want to wear a backpack for the whole run. So, after running around for the last few odds and ends, and verifying all is good, and stopping by wife’s work to get a proper goodbye from her, we finally really hit the road around 1:30 or 2 PM. So the 300 mile day was not a possibility, but we made a nice 130 or so, and are stopped at 7 PM in a cool free campground I knew of just past where we turned on to Lake Mary road from the 87.


Let me just make mention of a fact we didn’t realize until every damn SUV in Phoenix pulling a trailer full of 4 wheelers and dirt bikes or an RV started climbing up our asses. We left at 2 PM on the beginning of Labor Day weekend, heading north in Arizona. Same as EVERYONE ELSE IN THE STATE. Now this was fine in the 2 lanes each way part.



But when we got north of Payson, well. A few drivers had choice words for our slow climb. However….this is a beautiful length of roadway to ride in. As the sun is setting, and it starts to get cool from the Phoenix heat, I was able to settle into happy ride mode for the first time. That spot where you just forget you are riding.

We did choose to stop in Payson for a bite to eat. This was Dean’s first time on the highway ever, and I think he might be hooked on this 2 wheeled vehicle idea.



MMMMMMM! PIE!





So yeah....north out of Payson as described above. But found this lovely little camp spot. And free. Did I mention FREE?





We checked in with Frank just a bit ago here at the campground. Gave us the low down and the rules. Real nice guy, and offered us some fire to heat up food if we need too. We aren’t carrying heat. Just water and snacks.



I didn’t snap too many pics of this first leg. I have driven this run several times, and it didn’t occur to me others might want to see it until it was too late. Also trying to figure out how I’m gonna snap photos on my camera phone while driving. I didn’t bring a point and shoot of any variety….cause I don’t own one. Let’s see if I can develop some artistry with this mediocre (at best) camera.







Our enterprise has begun. So damn excited to be doing it finally.

Be safe all.

Well done guys just goes to prove that riding a smaller 2 wheeler turns any trip into a mini-adventure.

Last year 6 of us headed out from merry old England to Spain on 125 step through Hondas, 1000 miles outbound and the same to get home again. It had to be done in 8 days as this was all the time we had.

The memories will last forever.

Unfrickin real! I love it..... Keep it coming...

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?doflg=ptm&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=208424575230135491160.0004a44d49cbe62d0e200&ll=34.560859,-109.835815&spn=2.334172,4.916382&z=8

It was pretty windy out of Flag and up through Monument Valley, but they found a campground in Bluff, UT to hang out for the night.

230 miles in one day.

Sounds like a great start to a great trip. Stay safe and lets see we they make it to today. Also thank you to the wife for keeping us up to date,

Keep them posts coming.

Day 2
May 28, 2011
50 Miles south of Flagstaff to Bluff, UT

So we woke up with the sunlight to a beautiful day south of Flag. Our day started off like this:



and this:



(Like Hallelujah in the big sky country....)





And we got up to Flag, where I snagged a little internet at this lovely coffee shop to post yesterdays post:



Running down the hill out of Flag heading north:





However, once we got north out of Flagstaff up the 89, this day quickly became the "Crosswinds Tour". So so windy all the rest of the day. I blame it on Dean. He casually said the night before "Wouldn't it be great if all the weather the rest of the trip was as awesome as today?". His fault. Entirely.

I would have snapped more photos of the run to Tuba City and Kayenta, but the would have all looked like this:



Some inner dialogue:

<iframe frameborder="0" scrolling="no" width="640" height="524" src="https://api.smugmug.com/services/embed/3745183817_Fh259hC?width=640&height=524&albumId=46187098&albumKey=pmTJ4m"></iframe>

So yeah, made it to Kayenta, fueled up, and headed up the 163 through Monument Valley. I did a little research last night. Turns out Monument Valley is named incorrectly. The original Latin was Valleyus Monumentus, which more accurately translates as "Valley of the Ever Changing Crosswinds of Death". Pretty sure we were taking 50 MPH gusts through here today. Quite a few butt pinching moments. We would have stopped fro a few more photos, but I couldn't get my seat out of my ass.

Here's what I got:





(no, really, I'm having fun.)



I had high hopes this one would turn out better than it did, but here it is anyways:



Then we got clear of Valley of the Winds of Death and made our way across the San Jose River:





Up past Mexican Hat and into Bluff UT. All told, about 280 miles.

I just wanna say, I am very happy we put the highway pegs on these rides. It really makes for A. a very comfortable ride and B. an extreme rise in the controllability and handling. It really is easier to keep them going where we want when we aren't hunched up in the in the usual scooter position. Trip would have been impossible without them, and the drybags that double as backrests. Our daily distances won't be hard to achieve.

So, stopped into Bluff and got a campsite at the Cadillac Ranch RV park. I highly recommend this place. Good site, with bathroom and shower (OOOH Blessed Shower), and free wifi. For 16 bucks. Can't beat that. Its right in town, and just down the street from a good cafe/diner underneath these rocks:



where we had a few of these beers:



Then back to our site for Blessed Shower, some mapping for tomorrow, and sleeep.

So, we are looking at trying for 320 ish miles tomorrow up to Roosevelt UT. Not sure if we'll make it. There is a stretch where 191 is also I-70. And the path around this is challeging at best. Looks like we might be slab dwellers for about 2 miles......scaaary.

I have had the song America by Simon and Garfunkel randomly running through my head most of this trip. It really feels like we get to actually see something. And I like doing it on the scoots, even as opposed to some other motorcycle. The experience is just...different. Feels like we are actually SEEEING. Can't put my finger on it yet.

Random shit Dean has said:
-"it was raining as to drown a frog"
-"there's nothing better than food when you're hungry"
-"my mouth tastes like a monkey slept in it"

Be safe all.

...and that is one of the excellent reasons to have Dean with you on this trip...can't wait to see if "Frank" or "Jeremiah" have any notable quotations.

Wishing you heaps of fun. You've bitten off quite a lot--300 mile days? With a max speed of 50 mph? Looooong days. I hope it still leaves you some time to find the Magic of the Road!

Questor and I are in Idaho Falls, too, if you need a place to crash.

~MAG

This is turning out to be a great read and cant wait for the update tonight. Hope everything is going good and your body is holding out ok. how are the scooters running now. be safe and enjoy.

Stay safe and keep us posted. Makes me wish I were out there with you.

http://maps.google.com/maps/ms?doflg=ptm&ie=UTF8&msa=0&msid=208424575230135491160.0004a44d49cbe62d0e200&ll=40.90521,-110.258789&spn=4.284305,9.832764&z=7

Apparently having to travel on a scoot in the I-17 for 20 or so miles was not fun, and it's still windy as hell, but they made it another 270ish miles today. I'm sure a more interesting post will follow.

Three cheers for you MrsMilk - for the support and encouragement you have given to your sweetie...Now, as the wife of an ADVRider myself, I have to ask - have you done any touring yourself? I hope so...

In the meantime, glad to see you filling in the gaps for us avid readers of the MilkMan's tour...

Cheers...

Wish I had found this thread sooner... I would have warned the guys to bring some warm clothes as well. We've barely tipped 70 degrees here in Northern UT this year.

I'm hoping the guys aren't planning to head up 150 into WY. Looks like that may be the plan, based on where they stopped tonight. It's a beautiful trip up the Mirror Lake Highway (S.R. 150), however, I'm quite sure the road is still not open over the pass. The SnoTel site reports 87" of snow on the ground at Trial Lake!

Sounds like quite an adventure! Glad you decided to share it with us.

Stay safe guys, and keep us updated!