Nov 30
Across the Sound – Destination: Phinney Bay Machine Works
A Date is set, a Co-Rider Confirmed – Arctic Expedition 2010 is Official
The World of The Department of Licensing
My Old Friend: Part 9 – The Rebirth of an XT
Ingenuity in the Pacific Northwest
Nov 29
I have a new section called “For Sale!” I think it is pretty self explanatory. I have both my 07 R6 street bike and my 07 R6 track bike currently listed in it.
I will use it to get rid of odds and ends I have laying around.
Check it out: http://micsadventure.com/?page_id=917
Waiting for the Ferry in Seattle - Taken with my Blackberry
For the last year or so, their has been a gentleman on a local forum I frequent (Pacific Northwest Riders) that I have been meaning to take the time to go and see.
Jim Whipple, and his wife Tamara, own a small machine shop located in Bremerton, Washington by the name of Phinney Bay Machine Works. Across the Puget Sound from Seattle, this small Naval town is an hour ferry ride from the Main terminal in Seattle.
I decided on Saturday, to send Jim a message to see if was at all opposed to my stopping by, to just take some time to watch him work and bs with him. He was completely open to it, and told me to come anytime so I let him know I would come over on Sunday if that was ok.
Last night I received a phone call from an acquaintance of mine, who I had met over this summer while him and his wife were passing through the Seattle area on a “around the state” tour of Washington.
Him and his wife had moved to Washington from Alaska, and were experiencing the sites on his Valkyrie.
So when I finished planning my route, I decided that I would shoot him an message to see if some of the area’s I was passing through, and the times that I had set aside seemed reasonable.
He messaged me back shortly after, wanting to set a time aside for that evening to talk. So last night he gave me a call and we discussed the route, the sights to see, the places to eat, and the date of departure. With all this decided, he agreed to come along, as he had been wanting to hit up Dawson for the Dust to Dawson (D2D), which I had just learned about from him, as well as another trip to Inuvik.
Nov 16
As I continue to do my route planning, and research of exactly where and what I want to see, I continue to discover points of interest that jump out at me.
My route has evolved from what seemed like simple jaunts between major points of interest, usually little towns along the way, to even more little points of interest of natural and man made wonders.
I sat down one night, and first tried to define what I wanted out of this trip, and where I wanted to go. I do not have the time to do both Inuvik and Prudhoe Bay without giving up some down time to actually enjoy the sites and locations we are passing through, and so a decision had to be made.
Palouse Falls, Washington
The Pacific Northwest is in my opinion, one of the greatest area’s of land mass in the world. Very few area’s in the world compare to the beauty of the Pacific Northwest, nor do they offer the diversity, nor environments that the Pacific Northwest does.
No matter where you live here, no matter where you go. There is always something magical near by.
Whether it be the Olympic Rain Forest of Western Washington, the Crater Lake of South Central Oregon, or the massive Hell’s Canyon in Idaho, there is something near, and something in between any destination that is sure to surprise you.
And just as well with our diverse geology, we have just as diverse of weather.
The dehydrator came in yesterday, which makes me very happy. I wanted to start making stuff right away with it, so what better foods to start off with than fruit and jerky?
Simple enough, so my roommate and I headed to the grocery store for a roast. We first hit up Fred Meyer.
No cheap roasts. Damn
So we head to Safeway.
Again, no luck. They had a couple bottom rounds, but at nearly 4 bucks a pound, I wasn’t going to even think of making Jerky with that. Not when knowing I can get a large roast from the Cash and Carry of much better quality for less.
In my continuing research for my trip planning I have focused on shelter. Now, I am by no means even slightly educated when it comes to tents. Anything camping really. So my research, criteria, and decisions were based on talking with more knowledgeable friends, taking note of their criteria, then picking out the most important features that appealed to me.
Shelter, along with food and water, is an important aspect of survival, so I figured I better spend some time researching tents.
I actually started researching tents awhile back, and come across a couple I thought fit the bill. Over the last week, I have continued to read sites, reviews, and peoples personal experiences.
Nov 5
There are so many thing that one needs to do a successful trip on 2 wheels. The most needed among those things, is well, the 2 wheels that will carry you, then everything else can be debated.
I’ve been spending a large amount of my free time with research. Research of pretty much everything one will need for an extended trip.
Being that this is my first true “Adventure” ride that I will take part in, I need a lot of supplies. And with needing supplies comes the age old question “Which one?”.
I have been researching everything from sleeping bags, tents, to even clothes and bags.
My latest bit of research got me looking into food supplies. Food and Water are two very important things one must need to survive!
Nov 5
I have finally got around to adding the “Adventures” page/tab for this blog! Hurray! It is called “Life’s A Breeze: The Adventures and Projects of Mic” after all.
I will populate the Adventures section with past rides that I can find old postings from other sites on, but for the time being, I currently have a page dedicated to my 2010 trip to the Arctic Circle.
The page will be updated as I continue to research, and prepare for my trip, until the day I set off. After that, updates will be blogged as internet service permits, then the section will be broken up into sections.
So go ahead and take a moment to read the “Why” of the trip, and a little background on why I am making such an effort to make it a reality.
Arctic Expedition 2010: Seattle to the Arctic Circle and Beyond
