Introducing...Dan's Super-Hot Girlfriend

Amanda here...y'all know, the super hot girlfriend in the stylish red leopard cardigan.  I would like to personally thank my sister, Mallory, for sharing that glamorous photo with Dan.  While I have outgrown my fancy sweater, Mallory still loves to indulge in the redneck tuxedo and curl her bangs. Moving on...I thought that I would jump in and make my first entry to the blog, from the passenger perspective. Here goes nothin...

In December of last year, Dan and I were sitting on the couch when he mentioned that he would like to take a trip.  I thought, "YES, he finally wants to take me to Costa Rica!!".  He then went on to say that he wanted to take his Ducati up to Alaska. While this wasn't exactly the vacation that I had in mind, this adventure seemed super cool, and I eventually got up the nerve to ask if I could come along. Dan agreed, and then made it his personal mission to make this the trip of a lifetime for both of us.  He spent countless hours researching ride reports, reading forums, researching routes, and outfitting his motorcycle with all the necessary gear.  He also made sure that I was going to be as safe and comfortable on this trip as possible...I can't wait to show y'all my stylish riding gear!

So, after months of preparation and anticipation, the final countdown has begun! Yesterday I washed all the dirty laundry that Dan told y'all about and started the packing process. Those of you that know me, know that I don't understand the idea of "packing light".  I like lots of options...cloths, shoes, jewelry, bags...you get the idea.  So when Dan showed me the bag that I would be allowed to pack in for 18 days, I thought he was joking. Somehow, I managed to make it work...I just pray that we find some laundry services along the way.  Dan wears the same t-shirts and pants every single day, so the small packing space didn't phase him.

Sadie is helping Dan map out our route! 

 Here's Dan with his Alaskan wardrobe! Sadie is nice and warm, but we still haven't figured out how to safely attach her side-car to the motorcycle, so she will have to stay in California with her auntie Sarah and grandma Shelley.  Dan's sister Sarah will watch over our precious Sadie for the first week, and then his mama Shelley will fly out to stay with her until I return home from Fairbanks! These ladies are THE BEST! We couldn't have planned this trip without knowing that Sadie would be taken care of by Sarah and Shelley! 

Thankfully, Dan has decided to pack more than one pair of underwear...and lots of wet wipes! 

Here is everything all rolled up in nifty air tight/water tight bags! 

Here it is! Our clothing allowance for 18 and 36 days, all packed tight into the vacuum bags that will fit into the side cases of the motorcycle! This is a personal victory for myself! 

Here is all of our camping gear. Tent, two sleeping bags, two sleeping pads, two camping pillows, and two little camping chairs. Most of this gear will go into a Wolfman dry-bag, and get strapped to the back of Rick's motorcycle after being shipped to Seattle. 

Here is a little preview of more camping supplies...and LOTS of mosquito repellant! 

And last, but not least, the electronics that will tag along on this adventure! 

As I write this entry, we are waiting in the lobby of Evolution Suspension as the Ducati gets a new 900 pound rear spring strong enough to accommodate two people over 6 feet tall and all this gear! 

This is the Evolution mascot...appropriately named, Mallory! Mallory has some pretty gnarly gas!

Eventually this will all fit onto the Ducati...we hope. 

Tonight I will work my last shift at work before we depart on our long-awaited Alaskan adventure.  I can't believe that it is finally here!! Dan will work one more shift on Thursday night, and then we will spend all day Friday packing, repacking, and repacking again! In three days we will put on our fancy riding gear, plant our asses on our fancy seat cushions, kiss Sadie goodbye, and wave farewell to San Francisco as we make our way to Lake Tahoe to spend a couple of days with my parents! I would be lying if I said that I haven't been nervous about the long hours and thousands of miles that I am about to spend on the back of this motorcycle, but my excitement totally outweighs my fear, and I am SO excited for this journey to being! T-minus 3 days.....!!!!!

Less than a week until takeoff...

DUDE!  I know my ass is going to hurt, I know I'm going to smell and I know you would rather go lay on the beach somewhere and sip on margaritas on your vacation.  Yeah, I'm riding my motorcycle to Alaska!

Moving along, I HATE reading stupid blogs where people ramble on and on...  So I'm going to try to keep these short and sweet.  The first few will be more words, less pictures but I plan to switch that once we hit the road. I've never blogged before and to tell you the truth, I hate throwing my life out on the internet.  I rarely update my "Facebook status" or post "selfies",  but so many people from work and other friends know about this upcoming trip that I wanted to use this to allow them, along with my family to keep tabs on my progress.  I'm sure I'll loosen up after a bit, but for now, I'll keep the color of my thong and my morning selfie to myself.

So today is memorial day and less than 5 days until takeoff.  I just finished 4 night shifts and have been reading every last ride report I could find on the net in my spare time.  My gear is scattered throughout my small apartment and the dirty clothes dresser is overflowing.  I have a few last things to get done this week and a couple more days of work until it's game time.

If you're just catching wind of this blog or even if you've heard me blabbing about my upcoming trip, let me catch you up real quick on what's to come.  36-ish days and 10,000+ miles on a 2013 Ducati Multistrada 1200.  I'll be riding 2up with my girlfriend Amanda from SF to Fairbanks where she will catch a flight back home.  From here, I'll be heading even further north to Prudhoe bay and the Arctic Ocean and then back down to California.  Here's a pictures of Amanda if you've never met her.  She's on the right, her sister's on the left.  Amanda is tall and has some kick ass style in clothes.  Huge props to her for taking on such an adventure on the back of my moto.   I can't wait to sing to her the entire way through our helmet intercoms!  I've been on a Madonna kick recently...

Amanda's co-worker and my moto buddy Rick will also be riding the entire trip with me.  Rick randomly responded to a forum post I put on BARF (bayarearidersforum.com) back in mid December of 2013 saying that I was looking for a riding buddy.  Rick responded and said he "loves to ride".  It's a good thing I posted this on the motorcycle riding forum, otherwise things would this would have been weird.  Quite a few responded to my post, but I don't think many others were really serious about making a real trip to Alaska.  Rick knows motorcycles, I don't.  I just like to ride.  I'll carry the tools, but if we need to use them, Rick will probably be the one telling me what I need to do to fix the problem (fingers crossed this doesn't happen).  Here's a picture of Rick (he's on the left).  He's old but has the maturity level of a 29 year old.  So this should be a sweet trip!

 

We will leave San Francisco on Friday or Saturday (May 29th or 30th) and plan to wiggle our way up to Alaska and finally top out at the Arctic Ocean at Prudhoe Bay, AK around July 18th.  I have planned the route to the top of the world, but I have not planned the route back.  Here's a picture of what the next couple weeks look like:  

HA! Shit, just kidding.  The next couple weeks better not look like this! (this was a late season september ride report I found on advrider.com  Sucks to be that guy....)  

Here's our "planned route":

I'm going to try to keep each blog post short.  I hated actually reading long posts so from now on, I will try to keep them frequent and short.   Time for bed.