Venture on a Vespa

Amerivespa Trip Day Seven: Pack up and Head Home

2009-07-05T18:53:00.000-07:00

So it's time to say goodbye to Amerivespa! After the excellent party last night many of us needed a good rest up this morning, so we opted out of the Santa Cruz ride in order to relax by the pool one last time! Then we had to get all our gear together to successfully pack all of our bikes into the back of the Penske truck. The 10 of us that stayed back all decided to get a late breakfast together at The Diner of Los Gatos, I had a great Eggs Bennie but didn't finish it all because I was still feeling a bit of a headache from too much beer and a few shots of Jaeger, and smoking a few beedies. I know, I know...I'm outta control! Anyway, it was all worth it. This entire trip was an adventure I will not forget, especially since I came on the trip to ride with a group of people that I didn't even know, and I ended up meeting quite a few quality people that I will be sure to see and hang out with at future rallies. If any of you ever come down to a Eugene rally you are more than welcome to crash on my couch or even my bed. Thanks guys for a great time! I hope to see you all at Amerivespa '10 in San Antonio, TX.

Total Miles for this trip: 887 miles Eugene, OR to Los Gatos, CA and everywhere in between!

Amerivespa Trip Day Six: Saratoga Springs

2009-07-05T11:44:00.000-07:00

This was the main day for relaxation, being social, and some partying. We had a nice morning that allowed some quality sleeping in time, then I had a nice breakfast with Jodie. We headed up to the Saratoga Springs resort for the rest of the day. It was a great location, lush with Astro-turf! There was free beer and wine all day, plenty of vendors with great gear, and even mojitos! The gymkhana was great fun, with only a few spills. The most exciting thing all night was the raffle for the GTS 300 that everyone had been anticipating. When they pulled the raffle ticket and called the number everyone got quiet for a few seconds, but then Eric called out that he won! I was so happy for him because he is one of the people in the group that I rode down with…what a lucky bastard! After that celebration we all headed back to the lodge for a few after party drinks that lasted early into the next morning! A Very Nice Day Indeed!

Amerivespa Trip Day Five: Amerivespa-Alice's Ride

2009-07-03T23:30:00.000-07:00

Today was laid back. We had the choice between four different group rides. We chose the Alice’s Restaurant/Self Guided Wine Tour ride. The ride up to Alice’s was mostly one that we had taken on the way into Los Gatos, so when we arrived at Alice’s Jodie, Rich and I decided to turn around and hit up San Jose for lunch and to find Rich a new jacket. We sped back in less than half the time it took us to get to Alice’s, then we went to Vespa San Jose where Rich picked up the jacket and Jodie and I got T-shirts. We asked the workers at Vespa where a good place to eat was, they guided us down the road to the Falafel Drive-Through, it was delicious! We all had the special of a large falafel and a Banana Milkshake. Yumm! This place was featured on Food Network and I can see why! Soon after we got there the shopping group rode in for the food as well. After that we decided to head back towards the lodge with a short detour to a liquor store for beverages that we could take poolside. We got the drinks, hit up our rooms, changed into bathing suits and jumped in the pool! It was excellent and the water felt soooo good after a long hot morning. I relaxed most of the afternoon, went to dinner with Wayne then got together again with our group in the parking lot before going to the night party and raffle. During this time the local firefighters dropped by in their engine to ask about our scoots, apparently a few of them are looking to buy some. They took pictures with Pedro, Sugarbears new baby, and everyone had a great time. I even got some stickers! Since Jodie had been drinking ever since I left the pool she was a bit tipsy so we opted to take a cab over to the party. We went there, chatted it up, listened to the local SKA band, and all in all had another fun night.

Amerivespa Trip Day Four: Santa Rosa, CA to San Francisco, CA to San Jose/Los Gatos, CA

2009-07-03T10:04:00.000-07:00

I started this day off right, by finding a geocache! Which was good because I had been holding onto a travel bug for over a month, which is way longer than I should have had it. After that I had the breakfast of champions, a Monster energy drink and a Cinnabon (thanks to Vince’s wife who works for them)…talk about healthy eh! So after all that we hit the road again and this one was magical. We stopped at a couple of cute small towns as we worked our way towards San Francisco. We entered San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge. I’ve been over the Golden Gate many times but this was my first time by scoot and the feeling was indescribable! We stopped and took a few group photos and we all decided on one patch at the gift shop to document our crossing. We then cut through to South San Francisco which was great because I got to see a few familiar signs, including Geary, Balboa, and my namesake: PACHECO!! I even got a picture in motion of my sign, which I seem to do every time I’m here to see it. We continued on and headed out on 35 towards Half Moon Bay and finally connected with 9 which brought us into Los Gatos. Pulling into Los Gatos Lodge was so nice, especially knowing we could unpack our things for more than one night…that was a good and relaxing thought. Upon pulling into the driveway of the lodge Vince’s wife and a friend greeted us, clapping and yelling, waving the American Flag. It was SWEET!! Then once we were off the scoots, they came over and poured us champagne to celebrate our arrival…now that is a Mission Complete in the best of ways! We settled in a bit, then decided it was time to head over to the Agenda Lounge in downtown San Jose. Let me talk about a crazy drive! By the time we reached the lodge everyone’s GPS’ had died or were close to it and no one really felt like navigating by map cos we were all pretty tired, so we decided to follow RenoBob (Wayne) into town. We put the slower scoots up front and the faster in the rear so we could keep us all together. It was over 8 miles of craziness! RenoBob wanted to take the freeway, so we did! I didn’t have a problem with this but he was driving so far ahead that the little scoots were pushing hard to keep up, I think one girl on a Primavera was actually crying by the time we got to the lounge because the ride scared her so much. Once that was all better we checked in for the Meet and Greet and got our official Amerivespa Rally packs. As part of the pack you get a coupon for a free drink at the bar, but because we had ridden so far the guy handing them out said that we deserved two. I bet you can imagine the smile on our faces when we think of free alcohol =) The meet was good, and they raffled off one scooter. None of the Seattle folk won. Maybe tomorrow! The ride home was interesting. After the freeway mishap we decided to take the back roads back to the lodge. We took off and within the first five minutes we noticed that Jodie and the Scotts were missing from our group. Apparently we left too quickly and it being nighttime it was hard to see who was behind us. So James went back to look for them while we waited in the Ghetto, hoping not to get mugged. He came back after about ten minutes with no luck. So we proceeded on our way, getting lost ourselves a few times. Also during this fun voyage some douche bag almost hit me with his car because he decided it was his turn to go when myself and Uche were already half way through the intersection. Uche pulled up to me at the next light and gave me a thumbs up and told me that indeed it was the others guys fault and not ours. People really need to pay attention, I know it’s California and they drive how they want, but geez a little attention doesn’t hurt! In the end we finally made it back to the lodge, I had a beer with Uche and Kelly to wind down then I hit the bed. Today (Friday) will mark the first real day of Amerivespa for our group and I can’t wait to experience it!

The Stats:

Depart @ 1032AM; 9470 Miles; 69 degrees

Arrive @ 0628PM; 9619 Miles; 89 degrees

Total Mileage: 149 miles

Music:

Still no music via IPOD, but I did sing myself the Best of Catatonia and Sleeper, I even sang Home Means Nevada (the State Song) and The song from the Elephant Show… “skidamarinkeedinkidink, skidamarinkidoo, I love you….”

Amerivespa Trip Day Three: Eureka, CA to Santa Rosa, CA

2009-07-02T08:33:00.001-07:00

Day Three: Eureka, CA to Santa Rosa, CA 07/01/09

This was the longest ride so far. We were supposed to be on the road at 0830AM, but lately it’s been a trend to push back the start time. We were already leaving a little late this morning when we warmed up our scoots and did a few circles around the street after breakfast, this is when it happened my rear tire went instantly flat. At first I thought that this couldn’t be because I had just put a new rear tire on my Vespa less than 400 miles ago…everyone thought that it had just broken the bead because it wasn’t seated correctly. We soon learned that something had punctured the inner tread at a crazy angle which caused the quick deflation. Anyway, after about 15 minutes of discussion on whether to load my Vespa into the truck or take it to a shop to attempt to plug the puncture we chose the shop. This was an excellent idea!! One of the Eureka riders recommended North Coast Cycle (Phone # and Address below) because a members dad works there and they take their bikes there frequently during rallies etc… Anyway Sugarbear rode my semi-inflated gimp like Vespa to this shop. Sure enough they plugged the hole in no time and I was ready to get back on the road. I highly suggest that if anyone ever breaks down in this area to go to this shop, they are mainly a motorcycle shop but are very accommodating to scooters. Also, when I tried to pay him for fixing my tire he refused to take my money. That is a hospitality that you rarely see anymore, but I will surely return the favor if I can. In the end I got to Santa Rosa safely thanks to these guys…I won’t forget it! Other than that today was filled with some of the most beautiful scenery yet. We drove through the Valley of the Giants (Redwoods), Went through the drive-thru tree in Leggett, CA, took tons of twisties at speed along the 101 and 1. It was Amazing, that’s all I can say! Once we got to the Hilton Sonoma Hotel in Santa Rosa we used our free wine tasting vouchers to get our night started, then a few guys went and bought a ton of local wines and we had a BBQ. It was a great end to the day…and after all that wine we are lucky enough to have a late start tomorrow,10AM. Tomorrow we will arrive at Amerivespa, but before that we get to cross the Golden Gate Bridge and have a few more sightseeing expeditions along the way. Stay Tuned…

The Stats:

Depart Eureka, CA @ 0958AM; 9220 Miles; 60 degrees

Arrive Santa Rosa, CA @ 0738PM; 9467 Miles; 77 degrees

Total Mileage: 247 Miles

North Coast Cycle 707-845-3653 516A West 15^th St., Eureka, CA 95501

Music:

No Playlist Today because my battery is dead! However, I did make up a crap load of songs to sing/scream to myself along the way.

I'm going to try to find a geocache or two before we leave this morning!

Amerivespa Trip Day Two: Coos Bay, OR to Eureka, CA

2009-06-30T22:49:00.000-07:00

To track our progress as we ride down US 101 to Amerivespa go to www.scooterinsanity.org

Then click on “Track The Ride” It is usually updated at least once an hour when we’re on the road!

Today was a long and beautiful drive from Coos Bay to Eureka. It started with a bit of a scare. While rolling one of the Vespas out of the truck it fell off the ramp and onto Vince, the Good news is the scoot is alright because he broke its fall. The bad news, well I’m not so sure yet. He went to the hospital as soon as we got into Eureka, I saw him ride by with crutches on his scooter so I’ll try to find out in the morning what happened exactly. The weather was pretty nice along the entire route, but as we drove through Brookings the temperature jumped up almost 20 degrees, it was brutally hot! There was a lot of nice scenery today, we drove through the redwood forests, saw the giant Paul Bunyon and Babe the Blue Ox, and saw the traffic stopping roadside attraction of 20 or so Elk of all and ages. There were no breakdowns today that I know of. Once we got into town, we headed up to the pool where a couple guys had a bit of alcohol waiting for us =) Later we headed to the Lost Coast Brewery where we met up with a few scooterists from here in Eureka, they will meet up with us in Los Gatos. There was also one guy that just noticed our scooters out front and came in to say hello. He is riding to Amerivespa from Victoria, Canada. It kind of makes our journey seem like a joyride! Anyway, we had a decent meal, a few tasty beverages and now I’m back at the hotel and knackered! A few of the girls decided to hit the hot tub ten minutes before it closed just to relax even if just for the moment. I may try to get in one tomorrow in Santa Rosa, my muscles aren’t sore yet but I’m mentally drained and could use a good soak! It’s 11pm, and I’m almost ready to clock out. We’re going to be back on the road by 830am…Wine Country here we come!!

The Stats: 06/30/09

Depart Coos Bay, OR @ 1000AM; 8980 Miles; 64 degrees

Arrive Eureka, CA @ 0634PM; 9220 Miles; 75 degrees

TOTAL= 240 Miles

Music Highlights: 78 Songs

Today was my Listen to all the music you’ve gotten but haven’t really had a chance to fully appreciate day! Albums included:

Blue October: Approaching Normal

Ra Ra Riot: The Rhumb Line

Elizabeth & The Catapult: Taller Children

Regina Spektor: Far

Edna Swap: S/T

Griffin House: Flying Upside Down

Margot & the Nuclear So and So’s: Not Animal

K.S. Rhoads: Dead Language

Ida Maria: Fortress Round My Heart

After listening to all of these artists and liking pretty much most of what I’ve heard, I’ve decided that I love: K.S. Rhoads and Griffin House, especially the songs:

+Send a Ship, Could This Be Love, and Dark Hotel by K.S. Rhoads

+The Guy That Say Goodbye To You Is Out Of His Mind, Better Than Love by Griffin House

No Geocaches today, Just Beer!!

Amerivespa Trip Day One: Eugene to Coos Bay

2009-06-29T22:29:00.002-07:00

Today was a relatively easy day. The weather was nice the entire drive to Coos Bay but the wind was relentless once I hit Florence and headed south. For pretty much the entire drive all I could think about was breakfast, so every time that I passed through whatever coastal town came up next I had a keen eye for the breakfast spots. I found one that looked promising but oddly enough they are closed on Mondays. I think that is lame,....people eat on Mondays!! I know I do. Anyway I ended up going to the Pancake Mill in North Bend, OR which is only a mile or two north of the Red Lion that we are spending the night at. I'm not normally a biscuits and gravy person, but today it sounded so right! I ate those biscuits like they were going out of style. But today was also a day of reoccurring weird cravings. I don't know how many times I thought to myself,...I could really go for Fish and Chips! This is just stupid of me because I know that fish, no matter how it is cooked, tastes horrible to me. Still, for some reason whenever I hear or see the words, Fish and Chips, I imagine them being the tastiest treats ever...and i want to order them, but i realize that would be a huge disappointment for me. Anyway, moving on... I arrived at the hotel around 2:30PM, took a little break and a nice warm shower. Once I was done the Seattle scooter crew was still nowhere in sight, so I decided to hit the Indian Casino up for a little action and beer. $40 and One Corona Later I headed back to the hotel. Still no Seattle riders. By this time it was after 6:30pm and I wanted dinner...i headed to the hotels sports bar and ordered a beer (Drifter) and a burger. About half way through my beer all the Settle people made their grand appearance. They apparently had a few mechanical issues along the way to sort out. They all ended up at the sports bar with its unsurprisingly mediocre food but decent beer and conversation. All in all it was a great night. I'm back at the hotel room now with Jodie and we are both working on blogging for the day followed by a nice sleep, hopefully! Tomorrow we should be up and out by 9am. But probably not. We will head to Eureka and drive through the beautiful Redwood forest. It should be amazing.

The Stats:

6/29/09

Depart Eugene @ 1101AM; 8872 Miles; 69 degrees

Arrive Coos Bay @ 0220PM; 8977 Miles; 71 degrees

TOTAL= 105 Miles

Music Highlights:

38 Songs

Top 16 Songs:

Rachael Yamagata- 1963

Tegan & Sara- Walking With A Ghost

Jeremy Fisher- Fall For Anything

Sleeper- What Do I Do Now?

Eleanor McEvoy- Seasoned Love

Sleeper- Shrinkwrapped

Louis Jordan- I Like Em Fat Like That

Cat Power- Love&Communication

The Last Great Liar- Heroes

Fefe Dobson- Everything

Catatonia- Fuel

Ani DiFranco Smiling Underneath

Big Daddy Kane/Morcheeba- What's Your Name

Alice Peacock- Who I Am

Sugababes- Push The Button

Lucinda Williams- Steal Your Love

2 Geocaches Found

Amerivespa- Getting on The Road

2009-06-17T23:42:00.000-07:00

Amerivespa, the rally of rallies begins July 2 and runs through the 4th of July weekend. This year Amerivespa takes place in San Jose, CA/Los Gatos, CA, but the fun will really begin days ahead of the main festivities.

On Monday June 29th I will meet up with a group from the VCOA (Vespa Club Of America) who are riding from Seattle. I will join them in Coos Bay, OR. This first day should be a breeze since Coos Bay is only a 105 mile drive from home, about a two and a half hour ride. Thats about the same distance as going to Portland, OR, the only difference is more traffic and windier roads to get me there. Once in Coos Bay I will get to meet my roomie Jodie! I will be bunking with her three nights as we drive down the coast in Oregon and California. I'm really looking forward to meeting her, she also drives a GTS. We've been chatting online a bit this last week and I get the impression that we will have an excellent trip and hopefully I'll come away with a few new friends and a memorable experience.

Day Two is a ride from Coos Bay, OR to Eureka, CA at roughly 215 miles. 4-5-1/2 hours riding time. This will be a decent ride, and it leaves plenty of time to relax and have a nice evening to get to know my new travelling companions.

Day Three will take us from Eureka, CA to Santa Rosa, CA at roughly 216 miles. This time only about 4 hours because the roads are straighter and speed may be a little faster. By this day I think we should be in the scooter rally spirit, maybe finish off the night with a tasty beverage or three??

Day Four brings us to the end of travelling and the beginning of what we came for, Amerivespa!! We will drive from Santa Rosa, CA to Los Gatos, CA at roughly 110 miles. About 2-1/2 hours riding time. We will be headed to the Los Gatos Lodge where most of the rally attendees will be staying during the events. Once here I will switch roomies and bunk with Reno Bob aka Wayne! This should be fun because I grew up in Reno and lived there up until a bit over 2-1/2 years ago. He seems like a really nice guy, and his wife gave him her blessing to share his room with a young female. Apparently she didn't care that he would be sharing sleeping quarters with a lady...all that mattered to her was that he makes sure I pay my half of the hotel room bill. I promise I will!!!

The fun will end July 5th, but not before a bunch of scooters are raffled off ( I think they are up to 8 now). I'm still deciding how I'll get home. Should I fly or save money and take the train...I may not decide until i'm on the way down. I'll fly by the seat of my pants and make that decision when I have a clearer idea of how things are going.

That's all for now...at least that I can predict! Look for more from me once I'm on the road. I hope to update this blog at the end of each days ride.

Is it go time?

2008-06-19T10:30:00.000-07:00

With only 83 days until Cannonball begins I am faced with the decision of whether I should try to stay in it. As of May 29th I was laid off from the county due to budget cuts and unless I can find something else decent enough soon, I may just have to pull out and try again in 2010. Ive given myself until the end of July to decide, and believe me this is the last thing I want to do, I have been looking forward to the Cannonball for over a year so its going to be really frustrating if it doesn't happen.
On another note, I have been riding my Vespa around as much as possible and now my breaks are squeaking...just one more thing to add to the list of things to fix. Ive got another 1000 miles 'til the next service is due which I figure should be easy enough to pick up between now and early August and that way I can get everything repaired all at once and still have 3 or 4 weeks to make sure everything is running smoothly.
I picked up a Garmin Zumo 450 a few months back but I still need to learn its ways before the trip. The one thing that I haven't gotten yet is a tour tank. It seems like everyone else that's going has one (or something similar), I would like one as well but budgeting kinda sucks. Anyway, time for me to go to the forum and round up a potential roomie for the trip! Ciao!!

Dogs For the Deaf

2008-04-10T21:48:00.000-07:00

I have finally decided on a charity for the 2008 Cannonball, Dogs For the Deaf. I have more than a few reasons for choosing this organization:

(1) I wanted to support something within the state. Dogs for the Deaf is located in Central Point, OR.

(2) I have been actively learning sign language and d/Deaf culture for the past year and I have absolutely loved every bit of it. I have been able to use sign on occasion to communicate with people who have come to my work, and it has been rewarding to see how they have reacted just knowing that I am attempting to communicate with them by using their own language. In order for me to give something back to the d/Deaf community I wanted to help raise money for this organization.

(3) Dogs for the Deaf not only trains Hearing Dogs, but they also train dogs as senior companions, or just your next best friend. They also adopt special needs dogs to place them in homes where they will receive the proper care and attention required.

(4) All dogs that are trained at Dogs for the Deaf have been rescued from shelters all over the state of Oregon. If a dog does not complete the training to become a hearing dog they will not be returned to a shelter, instead they will be given as a companion dog to a deserving family.

I will be collecting money through the CHIPIN block at the top of this page until September 11, 2008. It costs $5,000 to train one Hearing Dog, it would be fantastic if we can raise that amount! When the Cannonball concludes I will give all donations to Dogs For the Deaf.

Check it out for yourself: www.dogsforthedeaf.org

Their mission statement: Rescuing and professionally training dogs to assist people and enhance their lives, maintaining a lifelong commitment to all dogs we rescue and all teams we serve.

Gear

2008-04-07T12:49:00.000-07:00

I started a list of things that I think would be helpful to have along during the trip, check it out http://froogle.google.com/shoppinglist?b=1 If there is something I'm forgetting or that could be better let me know.

I am also planning to purchase a Tourtank, www.tourtank.com so that I wont have to stop and fuel up as much and also because some stretches of road may go without fuel stations longer than others.

Yesterday I did a little shopping at REI and had a few more ideas, I bought a light that I can attach to the mirror or handlebar so I can do a bit of map reading or whatever at night! I also bought a very compact bicycle pump, I'm also on the look out for a decent tire repair kit to help me limp to the nearest exit if needed. Once I start getting a few more things together, I will try to post pictures showing the new additions. Right now I have a lovely Corbin Seat that I'm sure will make the long days a bit easier on my bottom.

The beginning...

2008-04-03T14:49:00.000-07:00

In planning for a cross country trip, where do you begin? I have so many things that I want to do or that I am already trying to do, running over and over through my head. I am trying to organize getting a sponsor(s), working on finding a charity that fits what riding a Vespa promotes, making lists of equipment I will need, what to pack, what I WANT, and putting it all together to figure out how much this will cost me.

I am probably over thinking a lot of it as this will be my first Cannonball run, but I really don’t want to be caught with my pants down in the middle of America, lost and confused!! So I am trying to gleam advice from those that have ridden in previous cannonballs in the hope that everything will go smoothly enough.

I have a lot of research to do, lists to make, and resources to procure.... does anyone have thoughts to help me start off in the right direction?