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I thought I would explain my upcoming adventure as a few of you have asked. I know @Tym tried to explain it, but here is the story @Six30. In a nutshell we, my partner and I, are selling or giving away everything we own expect what we need on the adventure. Wrapping up over 20 years of a long chapter in life. This has been a dream for awhile and we have been working towards this for years now. With our dog passing over the holidays it meant that we can put the final pieces in place. The big stuff can go now, like the bikes, guitars, the big toys and such. Then we need to sell our little house and beautiful property. The housing market here is crazy right now. High prices and low inventory. We have paid for the place, so we can afford to retire early from work we dislike and travel for a few years. Still having enough to settle down again, when and if we decide too. Once everything is gone we will hit the road with the new adventure team of Gazoo, the 4Runner and our new canoe (still to be named). The idea is to just travel around Canada, with the North being the first destination. Artic Circle here I come!!!! Then the East Coast and beyond. Taking photos all along the way, and I hope to find the time to write as well. We have all the camping gear you could imagine, no need to be miserable out there....lol. But yes @XTreme there might lots of tent photos....lol Canada was practically built on the waterways in canoes, so I want to trace some of the heritage and history as well. I want to meet new people, see new places and learn lots of bushcraft. I am so very excited about this new adventure and scared of course, it is a big deal wrapping up a life you know so well for the unknown. I appreciate this forum very much as it allows me a place to share and almost clear my thoughts. I will try and keep it to my Grasshopper thread, as someone did wish for me to hit the door in my recent poll, don't want to get on people's nerves and all.....

9c and dry here but i'm too hungover to go anywhere

Exciting times!! Omg. Tomorrow morning I'm getting my hands on my GUIDE BIKE. Woop! You may recall my ambitions to transition from broke, unemployed vagrancy to slightly-less-broke, occassionally-employed vagrancy, by working with a company offering fabulous tours here in northern Thailand during the high season. Well, this is the bike I need to make that happen! For mixed and ordinary off-road tours, I have a KLX230 on its way from Bangkok right now... It will handle both off road and low-to-medium speed on-road, and will be perfect when my customers are riding KLXs and CRFs. For pure road tours I have the CBR, and for hard enduro I will (hopefully) have access to the Gas Gas EC300. I cannot wait to get my hands on this beautiful creature. It's brand new too - because basically all the second-hand KLXs up this end of the country have been absolutely rooted already. They're almost uniformly a bad investment second hand, because these mountains take no prisoners. So - a new bike - you can imagine how bad I'm going to feel the first time we fall down a mountain together. Here's a picture the transport guy sent to me:

@Grasshopper's Ride sounds a proper adventure , wish you and your other half all the best , lifes to short not to do stuff.

I will for sure share my adventures! The Clipper (Canadian Manufacture) Prospector (type of canoe) is a well known boat in these parts. A trusty craft for sure, they have a long history!

Sun is out, temps are 5deg c + and the bike is filthy from last weeks foray onto the cruddy winter roads. So, To the car wash we go. It only took me about an hour and a half to ride the 10 minute trip to the wash, but In my defence I took the scenic route I reversed this route Ok I didn't reverse the bike round this route, but the map shows the start and finish the wrong way round and gives it a clockwise direction. I rode it anticlockwise. Clear? to te north of Auxerre the countryside is more open than I normally ride, but that way the surfaces were pretty much dried by sun and wind whereas in the woods where I usually hide it would still be cold and damp. When I eventually got to the jetwash thingy it was bloody heaving, the continually sub zero temperatures we've had for the last few weeks have prevented any car washing activities so I guess I had just had the same idea as everybody else. There was an 8 carr queue for the 4 pressure washer bays and another 6 waiting for the 2 roller wash porticos. after about 2 minutes sat in line I realised that the 4th and farthest was bay had no one in it but that none of the cars could get past the first in line who was so close to bay n03 that he could no longer manouvre for bay 4...whilst I was deciding whether I could jump the queue or not, 2 police bikes came in, rode up alongside the line and straight into bay 4. Beat me to it the bastards was the phrase forming in my mind when I saw one of them walk out of the bay, point at me and wave me on around the queue of cars. As I pulled up behind them ( both their bikes in the bay side by side, the gendarme said to me, " if they're all fucking stupid enough to not work that out then they deserve to wait" A pair of blue liveried TDM's of the Gendarmerie, and a happy Tigrou. 100 od km's and 2 hours by the time I'd mucked about fuelling, taking photo's and hobnobbing with the poilce.

And it rained again early this morning! Just sick of this shit!

I've been to a few pubs where you get at least one of those sort of characters, but getting them all together must be heaven for people watching. I was sat at a pub table with a colleague for lunch whilst at work. Sitting on the next table was a dangerous looking bloke and an old man who I had not only seen occasionally at work (selling raffle tickets for a hospice usually), but also in every pub I ever went in. The old man was obviously the worse for wear. He may have been called Joe but it's been a few years so not certain. Anyway, a young police constable came in followed by a bloke pressing a red stained towel to his neck, they approached the table with the two men previously described sitting at it. The policeman addressed the dangerous looking bloke like giving evidence in court. "Excuse me sir, this gentleman alleges that you argued with him in this pub toilet and then done him in the neck with a knife. I must ask you to stay seated until my colleague comes in and searches the toilet where the said incident took place." The thug at the table says something like, "It wasn't me, I've been sat at this table all afternoon, ask him, he's been with me the whole time haven't you", this pointing at the old bloke. The old bloke shook his head vigorously and then stared down at what was left of his pint. Another copper came and spoke to the young constable who then arrested and handcuffed the thug and led him out of the pub. The old bloke then stood up and asked me if I was going to finish my desert. I was leaving anyway so I handed it over. As I left I saw him drinking the small amount of beer left in my glass as well.

Damn right.

Seemed normal to me.

Good luck and safe travels @Grasshopper's Ride that's going to be a hell of an experience when you get underway i do hope you check in here if you have time just to keep us updated looks like your canoe already has a name CLIPPER but a 16" prospector sounds like something you'd find in an Ann Summers catalog

Nice work Michelle. No doubt the short term pain will yield the.. yadda yadda All power to your elbow

That first scratch is easy to get but hard to accept, i spent yesterday blowing a large dent out of my exhaust and welding on a new mounting bracket on a bike that's 5 months old

I don't have a garage Pete and the temperatures all week have been steadily below freezing, the car washes all shut down and there's no point washing it in the dark at home. The only reason thee was an empty spot is coz the car drivers are thick as pigshit and from the end of the queue you can4t see if there's someone in the end bay or not, I hapenned to notice that rotary arm of the pressure washer that you can see above the walls wasn't moving... the gendarmes came past that end before turning in so obviously saw it was empty. They are TDM's. 900's i believe but the back end is adapted specifically to accomodate the Gendarme's equipement ( radio antenna, lights, pole light, fire extinguisher etc.

Just home after dinner with the neighbors. They treat me well, I left the air conditioning on to keep the place warm for my return, but the dates are setting in and becoming heavy. Tomorrow I shall find a reason for a short ride somewhere, and spend the rest of the day just enjoying the quiet.

And @XTreme’s lover.

It use to seem the same when I working, Monday to Friday ......weekend...shite.

The whole point of this journey is to blend into nature, I have made enough noise riding through the bush. That looks fun, but way too fast......I am going to be taking my sweet ass time at everything I do when I am on the road.....

Ah just beautiful @Grasshopper's Ride Gorgeous place I can imagine its a bit of a rip but what you're going to do floats my boat. Just brilliant. Thats a canoe and a half, my arms are aching at the sight of it Someone wished for you to hit the door in a recent poll? I must of missed that? But whatever, there are naysaying losers everywhere- apart from actually out there doing stuff so sod 'em! Enjoy! And take us with you! Look forward to the pics muchly.

We are hoping to be on the road by May

You'll need a new thread when this starts Michelle.....this is going to be epic! When do you think you're going to get everything done and be ready to hit the road?

funny that, I think I was doing about 140km/h by the time I had to brake for that first righ hander...

On my fucking head mainly Clive!

Pyromainia your new calling? Warmer than sea swimming.

Well there you have it! I found a new home for Bagheera today and said my good byes... . But so happy for the fast sale. I think he went to a good home. An interesting fella by the name of Rick. He didn't seem to mechanically inclined though, so I hope the bike doesn't give him too much trouble......seeing as it was a pain in the ass bike most of it's life.... He is a rider and has some adventures planned, so I was happy to see him so stoked. . This is Rick in India on a Bullet. All loaded up...... One last pic together.....See ya buddy.....

You're sitting in line with an empty spot available only for bikes? After 10 seconds waiting, cars forfeit their rights! Are those really TDMs? They look odd from the back. Nice smooth fields, I like those in France!

No and the look on her face when she climbed down and my mate lifted my trouser leg to show her my leg was priceless, she then gave me a huge smacker on the lips. Btw , who the feck is Sid ?

Enjoyed a beautiful sunrise this morning. There is something very fulfilling about starting your day with the sun.

And of course you replied, "Madame, we have not been formally introduced!"

racist!

Is that rust i spot on it

More than a few.

You're one of us now Michelle.....being a strange woman you fitted in perfectly from day one! What you say @Tym?

His other half could get him it for valentines.

It has to improve in the next month surely.?

So the rain in Spain doesn't fall mainly on the plaines?

Just based on spelling this is a fucked up month. 'bruary, wtf

Looks very clean there Michelle!

i reckon @Buckster is going to storm the ring in round 4 in his lycra leggings ,pull Eubanks shorts down give the other a fella a wedgy , then dive over the ropes into the crowd and make his escape.

I seem to be having an existential crisis in my reading habits and in some odd spirit of escapism am re reading the books I read as a child which all seem to be pre war or inter war adventure stories. All a little bit "Jeeves and Wooster" but mostly very well written. I haven't got desperate enough to re read my old copies of " Jennings" or " Biggles" but I just finished John Buchan's "The thirty nine steps" and have now started "The riddle of the sands" by Erskine Childers.

Good for girls or gingers.

just finished " The Yellow admiral" by Patrick O'Brian, the 17th in the Jack Aubry series popularised by the film "Master and Commander" based on the 1st of the series. just 2 more to go "The Hundred Days" and "Blue at the Mizzen". then I'll have finished the whole series for the 3rd or 4th time...