[Bubba1]

Ms.Bubba and I made it home to Tucson yesterday. What a trip, about 7000 miles total, covering most of the West. WX was good for the most part, cool to cold once we were out of Texas and before we passed Bakersfield, CA on the way home. Rained a little in WY, MT, ID and a couple of times while we camped on the OR coast. The Frogg Toggs worked great so the rain was kinda nice.

I ended up changing tires in Oregon, they were not worn out yet but the Dunlop's did not handle rain well....the ride down US12 in Northern Idaho was not a lot of fun. After the tire change, Metzelers 880's, I had a completely different bike. I knew I should had done it before I started the trip but.....hate to throw away tires with a lot of wear left.

The bike was a champ and Ms.Bubba did great, she rode the throne and poked me in the ribs when she wanted something (the intercom went tango uniform). I would guess this was the best vacation I've ever had, ROT with friends to start, riding through some of my favorite places and visiting some of my old hang outs. BTW, I don't know if any of you have eaten in the 'Burger join in Jackson but I had forgotten about it until I walked by, it is still going strong and the hamburgers are still damn good. Yellowstone was a bust, just too many people to enjoy it. The ride after we left Yellowstone through Montana and down US12 to Eastern Washington made up for the disappointment of the Park. The only negative for that part of the trip was how poorly the Dunlop's handled rain.

Camping along the Oregon Coast was magical, the coast is beautiful, the State Parks are exceptional, it was just a great time. We walked the beaches during the day, had a campfire, wine and martinis every evening. Leaving there for Northern California and then home was tough. Once north of San Fransisco the horse headed to the barn syndrome took over and we rode hard for a couple of days. Once we crossed the California/Arizona border it was like Arizona was welcoming us home, it clouded over, the temperature fell from the high 90's low 100's to the mid 80's, the landscape changed from ugly desert to the beauty of the Arizona desert and even better I could let the hammer down. It sucks to have a 55 mph speed limit with California drivers zooming by, tailgating, and in general driving like Californians.