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Donkey washed and up on the ramp now for some love

On the second day of the real trip, we kept heading north into Scotland. First stop was Hadrian's Wall: Coming from a relatively young country, it has always been exciting to me to see all those places only read about in school. Its even more interesting to hear the true story from the locals to see how it jives with our school books. One thing the books dont mention is that the wall keeps all the midges in the north . I have to say, I loved the English countryside and back roads, but it was Scotland that has really stuck in my mind. I've always liked places that are sparsely populated as the people tend to be friendlier and the scenery more intense. Scotland didnt disappoint (England really didnt either) Crossing into Scotland: Coffee stop: Got to talking to a lady rider in the plaza. Bikes have a tendency to break down communication barriers. You get to find out those great motorcycle roads! Some other travelers we crossed paths on: Our buddy, Chris, kept the wick turned up so there arent many pics along the way, just when we stopped for coffee or the night. This night's BnB: As you can tell, the weather continued to stay nice! (i'm going to have to pick his brain to get the route info and which towns we stayed in. will update these when i get that)

By the end of the day, we had made it to Hagg's Bank Bunkhouse, where we met Danny Taylor, the owner. Great guy, for an Irishman! The man rides the hell out of a GoldWing, too! Danny runs a great biker friendly hostel/campground. The last couple of years he has also been hosting March Moto Madness for those brave and willing enough to chance snow. His place is an ol mill that he has remodeled into a multi-room bunkhouse, with kitchen and shower rooms. His pride in his own handiwork shows the quality of the place. While we were there, he was busy fighting city hall to come back and fix their shoddy road works. Great man, Danny! We cant wait to go back and see him again, or get him to the US. The meals were on another level, too:

No … he would have to own a Harley to be that

Chain looking good again and new rear pads fitted, I’ll start on the front end tomorrow

We got slowed down again by some snow but we are heading to Sudbury today. Then one more day and we are in Quebec. . Excited as I have never been, but nervous about my French speaking. I’ll just smile lots, seems to work…..

Sunny and 32F / 0C yesterday and i wake up to 10F / -13C and 10 inches of new snow today. I'll be outside shoveling if you need me....

My girl's now 27 and still gets in boxes.

Get a bigger grill.

who cares....

I'm told this is dogs passing and collecting smells, why did my black lab do this in other dogs poo.

You'd know.

Finally managed to get out for a walk today with the Dear Boy. Been off the treadmill for 19 days and not feeling that good. Eating too much crap and inactivity are not good for your waistline or mental health. Combination of Christmas, work and gout just took me away from the right path. But today was the first day of the new regime back on it as both Odie and I need to shed the Christmas chub. Only managed 5.5 k but start small and often will make it sustainable. Anyway we went to Parbados did the community fields then a full circle of the beach. Noticed that the rivers are full shame the reservoirs down here aren’t. Something wrong somewhere.

Vaccine must be working then.

I found a great site for W7 fans, how to get it all fancied up.

no he wouldn't of even got as far as Baza

Yes of course you have Rich! And probably circumnavigated the globe twice before breakfast. What you reckon @Six30?

"Hey you kids - get off my lawn!" Not much of a "lawn" really as grass doesn't grow up here. Couple of the neighborhood kids in our back yard ...

Wife's bike looking stylish without me in the pic, fucking it all up ...

Nice enough day here today but getting ready for 10"+ of snow tonight. And our street just finally got cleared, too....

Went ice skating with some mates yesterday at one of those temporary rinks they set up at Christmas, just getting over my own personal cold so still a bit bunged up like you all seem to be. Now I am sure that ice skates used to have a small serrated bit at the front of the blade, but the ones they have given me the last few times don't seem to have it and I struggle to get going properly until about 15 minutes in, or maybe it's just age. I managed 40 minutes upright with people falling over in front of me and occasionally behind me, which is when you speed up so they don't grab you and pull you down. My mate's daughter was having a bit of trouble so asked to hold my hand which was okay as long as I kept telling her to keep her nose over the ice or go over backwards, she'd already fallen over twice up till that point. When they called every body off we were about 3 yards from the exit gate when she went over whilst still attached to me and that pulled me over as well. Of course, break a hip at my age and it's curtains innit. Worst bit was I now had a soaking wet arse for the rest of the day, I looked like I'd pissed myself from behind!

Yeah, that Roadrunner dude is a c*nt

One for six.

All shit pictures … cunts

This is circa 2007 at Rhayader. It was a KTM UK forum weekend ride, probably one of the hardest days I ever rode on the Orange beast but she took it all in her stride

Arrived at the hotel after dark - the view was better the next morning ...

Hauling ass across the desert is one of my favorite things; cruising along at 100+ mph with no traffic is just fantastic ...

Enough fuckin' around, it's getting late again an d we need to get humping for a hotel. Naturally, the weather popped up again and we took refuge from the lightning strikes in an old, abandoned gas station in the middle of nowhere ...

Garmin thinks I'm in the water ..

A bit desolate ..

Riding to the docks

That's a boat dock across the valley - no longer in water ...

Lake Powell in the background. Same spot with 20 years difference between the pics. The Lake will be gone soon ...

.....

Now it looks like we're on Mars. Not a soul around to bother us ....

100 more miles and we're back into the red rock - lots of it ...

Further east and the landscape changes. Now we're into a n area full of diatomaceous Earth - loosely packed but not sandy. Kinda weird and Moon-like ...

Some ancient drawings on the cliffs outside of town . These are all over the southwest and amaze me for some reason.

Up at sunrise and headed to Moab. Hotel looked okay on the outside, but inside was a different story ...

We streak for the hotel but arrive after dark. Shitty Mexican food for dinner with some beers and we're good...

The rain falls, but evaporates so fast that you never really get wet ...

It's starting to get late and weather is rolling in on us again ...

Our private racetrack awaits ...

Back into Utah and the reason we came here - to ride some curves ...