Honor Rally Ride!: Adventure #1: fall 2008

the beginning:

As Dan neared his 50th birthday and contemplated what he most wanted, he came up with an interesting idea. He would love it if someone in the family would get their motorcycle endorsement so he would have a companion to ride the roads. To that end, he signed us all (Ann....and the three teenagers aged 17, 18 and 19) up for a weekend motorcycle class. We had to travel to Astoria, Oregon for the 2 day class and on Sunday night we would return home for Dan's 50th birthday party.

After hours of class time and riding practice we returned to the party with three endorsements and.......yes,.... Ann FLUNKED!

(ok, it wasn't entirely my fault.....I blame my oldest, Joe. He leaned over to me just before the riding test and said, "hey, Mom, don't think of them as orange cones you have to swerve around. Think of them as little puppies you have to avoid!" Well, as it turned out, I ran over every puppy on the course!)

So Dan went out that week and bought a Honda Rebel 250 for the kids to ride and for me to practice. Six weeks later, my youngest, Jensen, had to ride the Rebel to the testing facility for me to re-take my test. I passed (YAY!) and she had to ride it home again (I had to go to DMV to get my license endorsed.)

The rest is history. After 10 months of experience around the Portland area, we were ready for our first big road trip.

(see photos of Ann and Dan Adventure #1: we left Portland on labor day weekend 2008. Oregon-Idaho-Montana-Wyoming-Colorado-Utah-Nevada-California-Oregon in six weeks)

Honor Rally Ride!

Motorcycle Adventure #1

Sunday, July 11, 2010

Adventure #1