Motorcycle Vagabonds Ride Another Road Pickle

Our Road Pickle 3 Map for 2015. It's a rough outline, but these are stops we hope to make.

The downside to being motorcycle vagabonds is that after a few months in one place, we become stir crazy. Many people would wonder how two people would want to leave a city as beautiful as San Diego, but once you get that touring in your blood, it's pretty addictive.

We've decided to leave February 28 and head for Arizona for the month of March. We'll spend some time in Tucson and then head to Phoenix for Arizona Bike Week from March 25 - 29. Of course we'll see Arizona Harley Dude while we are there! The folks at Indian Motorcycles were kind enough to let me keep the Indian Scout until after Bike Week, so we'll head to Redlands, CA to return it before heading up the West Coast over Spring. We are hoping to meet up with Trobairitz and Troubadour in Corvalis, OR on our way north.

By May 1 we should be in Seattle, WA for a couple of weeks. Steve's Dad Dix passed away in 2012 and is buried there and Steve hasn't been to his grave yet, so we wanted to make a point of visiting him. We have a few friends to see in Washington, Idaho, and Wyoming before we head to Colorado.

After Colorado we'll be making a beeline for Montana and North Dakota. I've never ridden in either state but I believe Steve has been to Montana. We are both really excited to see some new countryside at the best time of year to visit there. I imagine that the weather will be humid and hot, just as it was when we visited Minnesota in 2013, but that's only a guess.

After watching the movie Fargo about 15 times since it's release, I have this weird fascination with visiting the statue of Paul Bunyan in Brainerd, MN. I'm actually hoping we can make good enough time to spend at least 10 days in Fargo, ND and really get a feel for the city. Not only have I never ridden a motorcycle in North Dakota, but I've never stepped foot in that state. The eerie sense I got from the film didn't seem to match up with the folks I met in Minnesota when we visited, yet I'm still seriously Hellbent on going to Fargo and having a look-see for myself. I have also come to learn that there are a number of Paul Bunyan statues in the northern states, so I'd like to see as many as I can. Call me a silly tourist, but I love those roadside attractions!

Our friends and clients Igor and Ana live just outside of St. Paul, MN so we are hoping to visit them again. Moto-Blogger Lucky was kind enough to take us to Carbone's when we visited him in St. Paul in 2013 so I'm aiming to get some more of that pizza, which was indeed, some of the best pizza I've ever had.

While in Minnesota we plan to find the headwaters of the Mississippi and head south along the Great River Road. Now neither Steve or I know anything about this road, but we've heard it's quite an amazing ride, filled with quaint little towns with antique shops and a boatload of history. It was really my idea to ride this road after hearing some RV'ers talk about it in the Yuma Quartermaster's Station. We shall ride from Minnesota to St. Louis, MO, another state we've never ridden and cross into Oklahoma. My niece lives in Tulsa so we hope to visit with her and her three daughters.

From Tulsa it's down into Texas to see family and friends! The goal is to get all the way down to Houston and at some point, meet up with Curt Carter of Live Free Ride Hard Be Happy. By that time it should be heading into September and we'll start making our way along the southern U.S. border back to San Diego for another winter.

Somewhere along the way we should be receiving ScooterBob, a wooden motor scooter that is traveling the world in the company of moto-bloggers. ScooterBob belonged to moto-blogger Bob Skoot who passed away in his sleep while traveling in Nashville, TN last year. Many bloggers have taken ScooterBob on their travels and we are really pleased to have the opportunity to do so as well.

We have a long trek ahead and my throttle hand is already itching! I can't wait to see what new adventure awaits us in the Church of Asphalt from my Leather Pew.