Expedition Recovery

9/26/16 Sacramento, CA to San Jose, CA  144.1 miles Ridden  Today was the roughest yet.   Waking up in the hotel next to Cat and knowing she was leaving was incredibly tough, far more difficult than leaving the first time. We spent the morning together at the hotel and then took the rental car back to the airport and got picked up by Cat's mom.  We ended up buying the tools and hardware I needed to mount the tractor tubes (Cheapest source I could find) from Lowes and then going to drop Cat's mother off and borrow the car. Cat and I went back to Vera's for my bike and for me to install the new disposal as a thank you. All went smooth and I rode back to Cat's mom's place to work on the bike.  We ended up making one more trip out for supplies at the auto parts store but I was able to get both tool tubes mounted as well as the highway pegs installed. (Install Blog) It was all an emotional experience as the time wound down for Cat to leave...

9/11/16 Whitehorse, YT to Dease Lake, BC 682.4 kilometers, 424 Miles ridden. Morning started out slowly as I worked to get ready for departure. It was my first time repacking the bike and I shifted a few things around where they went to try to make for better access and balance. No real breakfast, just computer work to get everything prepped and then an egg salad sandwich and a chocolate milk at my fuel stop.  Got on the road later than I intended but mostly a smooth start. 36F when I started out. Ran into some GPS issues that left me wondering if  I was on the right route. Got directions from a hitch hiker and then figured a way around my GPS issue by rerouting to somewhere close to the border on the maps I had. It turns out my downloaded off-line GPS for my phone didn't have the Washington map loaded. Stopped to top up on fuel after just 135 kilometers just to be safe.  Had a great scone and a peach iced tea while I sat and typed on my phone to ...

9/6/16 North Pole, AK Like all great trips, this one started late too. I was supposed to leave today but as usual the VA didn't have things in order. My shot records still weren't ready after months of notice due to my provider quitting due to the bureaucracy and hurdles involved in trying to care for patients in the VA system. When he left, my order for a certified copy of my shot record so I could cross boarders when I reach South America got lost in the system. It forced me to go to the VA to handle it in person at the last minute. Then they couldn't even get them for me and I was forced to go and get them from the Army directly, which took about two minutes. What a joke. I was able to go and get all of my paperwork in order with UAF in regard to my classes and then did an impromptu presentation to the new crop of UAF Journalism students taking Writing for the News Media. It was nice to speak with the group and see that putting a spot light on PTSD, depressio...