Landed in Santa Cruz

We had a great car ride down to Santa Cruz coming from Seattle. We took two days and spent the night in Weed, CA. At the College of the Siskiyous was a Disc Golf course that my son had always wanted to play. So we went out early, found the course and ran through the woods playing disc golf in the 36 degree morning air.

We arrived in Santa Cruz safely and I have not been able to connect to internet so far. Will blog more when I do.

It has been lovely weather so far, with a warm sunny day for Thanksgiving and too much turkey.

My Last Days in Seattle

Saturday the sun broke out and the rain quit for a few days. We had to get out for one last weekend ride. We got a call from our friend in West Seattle and decided to make that our destination for the day.

It had rained for a couple of weeks straight, and not just that misty Seattle rain. It had been a downpour every day and dark and dreary on top of that. Saturday was dry, warm and sunny.

We took the interstate over to West Seattle, which is a completely seperate town from Seattle. It is a lovely place with a small town feel, awesome views back towards the City and also views across the water to several islands.

Once we arrived at our friend's, we decided to stretch and take a nice walk down the hill to a wooded park with nice pathways and views through the trees. This park eventually ends at the Vashon Ferry dock.


We all had a nice walk, which did us all good to get outdoors and move around. We tend to be lazy sometimes and don't get enough healthy exercise.


We rode back home just before dark, which nowadays is close to 4:30pm. It was great to be out again on the road, even though it was getting chilly by the time we got home.


Today I had some last minute errands to run and the sun was out again. The rain is threatening to come back tomorrow and not end anytime soon. It was my last time to ride in the Seattle area before I leave for California.

I got the bike out and took off for the Post Office, a snack, and then just to ride. The sun felt warm and the wind lovely on my face. I thoroughly savored every moment of my ride, knowing it would be the last for quite a while. I had so much work to do at home getting ready for my trip that I couldn't stay out as long as I would have liked. I was very happy that I got one last ride in.

As I rode home and parked the Vulcan for the last time, I had a moment of sadness. She will be joining me in California as soon as possible, but not soon enough for me.

SANTA CRUZ HARLEY-DAVIDSON RIDES INTO SUNSET

I came across this article yesterday in the Santa Cruz Sentinel. It caught my eye and filled me with a sense of fear that it is only a glimpse of things to come.

A long standing Harley-Davidson dealer closed its doors this week because they couldn't make enough profit to pay the rent. That is a sad state of affairs. Because of the economic downturn people consider motorcycles as a luxury item. They are not selling anywhere.

Check out the Santa Cruz Sentinel article. It will give you a wake up call...

Vulcan In For Scheduled Maintenance

Since I am getting ready to move to California, I am beginning to find an urgency to wrap up loose ends before I leave. My time here in Seattle is running out and I am working right up until the week I leave.

Today I decided to take my '07 Vulcan in for it's scheduled 4000 mile maintenance. I have 4300 miles on it so far. The oil needed to be changed and a good overall check. I will be leaving the bike in Seattle for now, so I wanted it to be sweet and ready to ride when it finally moves down to CA. Hopefully I won't be without it for too long.

I can't say enough good things about the Lynnwood Cycle Barn. They have recently downsized their shop and moved into a smaller facility that is shared with the Seattle Harley-Davidson. I guess motorcycle sales have dropped off like all other businesses, so it was a necessary move.
Even so, this is a slow time of year for their service department and they got me right in when I called.

I dropped the bike off around noon, and just got a call that it is ready for me to pick up. It had only been 3 hours since I left it. The problem is that the rains have started and don't look like they will end for a few days. I think I will bite the bullet and put on my rain gear. I would rather pick up the Vulcan and have it sitting safely in my garage than in their shop.

So off I go to pick up my Vulcan. I have become attached to it and will be sad to leave it even for a short while. My husband has promised to ride it often enough to keep her in good shape.

After I move I will be living close to my brother, who has a nice Kawi Ninja. That should be fun to get the occasional ride fix out of my system!