Category: Uncategorized

I must say. People in this country can not drive! After 800 miles on the interstate, we came up with a plan. There will be a cell phone lane created on the Interstates. People will pay to drive in them. Said lane will have guard rails on both sides.  The “cell phone tax” will cover the use of public servants (police, EMT’s, firetrucks) to remove the injured from the lane.

The rest of us can proceed down the road with a new relief that swerving vehicles, manned by people having meaningless conversations, will be sequestered to their own lane.

Perhaps 22,000 miles of backroad travel made me very anxious on the Interstate. Regardless, I’m so thankful to be home.

We rushed back to Maine. The plan had been to explore Washington D.C. a little more and visit longer with friends in Charlottesville, VA. We all missed my dog, Marco Polo.

The final big bang happened at Scoot Richmond. I owe Chelsea many thanks, perhaps for many lifetimes to come. She has my unlimited devotion.

There were quite a few people there to celebrate with me; old friends of mine as well as many scooterists.  Even Matt was there, from D.C., the guy who rode the final mile with me.The real guests of honor were Scooter and Ed, of the Genuine Love Bus fame. Chelsea thought it would be a nice surprise for me to meet Genuine’s other roadwarriors. I chuckled because there is something just so great about a company having both Peace and Love on the road.

After having managed to narrowly miss Ed and Scooter all summer long, it was nice to meet the legends. Ed took over as event photographer, thankfully. I think he said, “stick a fork in  her, she’s done.” Hear, hear. I was so completely beat that I don’t remember most of the party or the interviews. Thankfully, Dave Mangano’s podcast interview turned out just fine. Even after 5 celebratory beverages. I loved that my old friends finally got the chance to catch up with my scooterist friends.

Audre, my scooter, will be shipped home to Maine. I’m already itching to ride. It was a sad goodbye.

The next day was spent with my best friend, Jessica, and her new hubbie Stephen. Then on to Mom’s house, so that I could get a lecture. She told me I looked like crap. My Mom is very sick and our time together right now means a lot to me, especially now that I’ve relocated to Maine.  Karen, who represents the Department of Peace, donated her Marriott rewards points to us.  This gave us good beds to catch up on sleep and a nice pool for refreshing splashes in between visits.

Before P.E.A.C.E Scooter I would spend once a month in costume for a ladies arm wrestling league-better known as CLAW. Proceeds raised during the two hour sports performance went to local charities. And we are talking about 2,000 buck-a-roos in 2 hours! It was cool to stand in the audience and watch the drama, while catching up with my many incredible C-ville friends. I guarantee you’ve never before seen anything like this action. Tragedy Ann won the match and proceeds went to Food not Bombs.

Before the match, we all got together with Team LaLaLa. I love them and feel fortunate that they are both my friends and bosses.
There is a lot of work ahead, as I rarely managed to get in 5 hours a week while on the road. Team LaLaLa wrote the code for The Second Road website, which hired me to talent scout bloggers who write about recovery. It’s a great project and I want to help them succeed. Lawrence also gave me my first real writing gig, on his website, The Art of the Possible. I will be blogging once a week about my views on the Peace movement.

On the way back to Maine, we stopped at Kings Dominion. At first this seemed like a brilliant idea, especially to help ease the burden of a 14 hour drive home. On all of us, but mostly the nine year old. It was a good time, but I woke up the next day feeling hit by a train. I felt old. The adrenalin rush from upside down, triple-helix curve, plummeting hill rollercoasters  was more than my body could stand after 98 days on a vibrating machine.

We arrived back in Maine just in time to see the first hot air balloons launch for the weekend festival.

Currently, my room is a vortex of boxes sent home, mail, gear and general chaos. There were many thoughtful letters waiting here for me-thank you to those who wrote and sent in donations. In the next week I’ve got some checks to write to the chosen non profits! I finally chose newdream.org as the environmental organization recipient.

Please check them out, they seem to really comprehend the links between improving quality of life, protecting the environment and promoting social justice.

So that’s the scoop. This is a week of organization and long dog walks. I’ve got some more updates on the way, so STAY TUNED!

 

Go ahead…buy a ticket. So far, the gamblin types have helped raise almost 9,000 buck- a- roos.
This is it. The one. Raffle rsults will be drawn live from Scoot Richmond, on 08/09/08, and posted the next day.
Prizes have grown throughout the week.
Much like my butt after 22k miles….
😉

Currently there is a Nano, 2 shirts and keychains in the pot.
As well as,
Leather Corazzo gloves (your choice in size, they will ship)

HCI vintage style helmet (your choice in color/size, they will ship)

San Francisco Scooter Girls Calendar (yes, 25% new, but those pics are 100% classy)

Messenger Bag, Scooterworks

Superhot 2stroke Buzz shirt that I totally want to keep for myself.

To enter:
www.peacescooter.com/raffles

*so far 5,600 has been raised STRICTLY for charitable donation.*

Rally in Scooter 92

Today I am heading out to Oberlin, OH. I used to live there so it will be neat to visit. It’s a long haul at 280 miles, but I’ve got all day to do it! In 40 miles I will be back on East Coast time, after three months away from it. Far out.

Ok, I’m going to *try* and present a photo an hour to you, for 15 hours out of the day.

This way you can experience the trip in small frames. How could I do such a thing? Fragmob. A website with live updates of photos! Yea. Technology can be cool. So, let’s say a reasonable goal is 15 photos a day. I’ll have to get used to it though and make sure my cellphone is always charged.
I started the first one with my laptop. Because right now, that’s what I’m doing. Using the laptop. Got it? Cool! Here’s to traveling along with the P.E.A.C.E ride! Yea!

Are you in Chicago? I’m in Chicago! We should talk.

peacescooter@gmail.com

I’m not here for long, but I will be a year older when I leave!!

Have you bought the winning ticket yet?? Or should I say, ONE OF the FOUR winning tickets? That’s right! There are FOUR prizes on the P.E.A.C.E Scooter Raffle this time around…

Alix has had her share of ups and downs this month, let’s give her a lift and fill her tank for the ride home.
She’s adding a prize every week until the gauge reaches $500.

Don’t forget, when you buy a ticket, 60% goes to four other Peace and Community organizations.

IT ONLY TAKES ONE TICKET TO WIN!
That means, so far $5 can get you ANY ONE of these prizes!!
Thank you to those who have bought tickets already. If for some reason you wish to only be entered for the first 3 prizes, please contact peacescooter@gmail.com and we will accommodate you.

NEW RAFFLE OPEN: JULY 7, 2008 4:01PM EST
How many tickets are left?

TOP PRIZE: 4GB IPOD NANO
Click on the image for details.

 

 

more prizes means more chances to win!

NEW PRIZE STARTING JULY 18:

GENUINE WORK SHIRT
RETAIL VALUE: $25 FROM SCOOTERWORKS
Click on the image for more details

Your choice P.E.A.C.E Scooter T-Shirt
(choose from 3 styles)

 

 

A pair of P.E.A.C.E Scooter Keychains
(street value: $5 each)

 

 

There is a new Raffle Gauge.

This time $500 in ticket sales fills the tank-Thank You!
Alix is on the home stretch and there are more prizes!
(Please allow at least 3 hours for the gauge to update after ticket purchase(s)-Thank You!) back to top

 

ONLY $5 per entry!!

Hey there! I’m trying to use the daylight, as out here, deer like to use the twilight. Best to motor on, but here is a video from yesterday.

I left my camera in Missoula. One thing I’ve learned about Big Sky Country is that nothing ever goes as planned here. So there’s no point stressing out. It was a late start anyways and so I had to stay put once I retrieved the camera. It’s Montana afterall. The deers come out in gangs and the evening light can make forests hard to pass.

It was a hundred mile ride, I got to test out the scoot-and her performance is MUCH better after simply changing the air filter. The handling still feels awry, probably getting used to the new fork.

I took a look at the schedule to see what this means for my time. I must have had a lot of coffee when I set it up. Wow. I have some trucking to do, but as long as there is no dawdling in North Dakota, I should be fine, just exhausted.

It’s hard leaving Missoula and all day it felt like another day after the day after planned departure. That’s how it goes sometimes. Funny that I’ve never left behind such a big piece of my gear-just phone chargers and USB cords.

All the keychains were mailed out today. More than half are spoken for now, THANKS. The new raffle is up, thanks to Daphne, so place your bids. This week features something for civilians and scooterists alike. ;)  All this action lately has helped bump up the fundraising but boy has it been WORK.  It’s kinda fun, but I wish there were more people involved-this two woman non-army thing makes life hectic. Without Daphne’s help on raffles I would be spending all my time behind the computer.

The holiday weekend made it difficult to fit in some of my plans. Like hanging out at the Jeanette Rankin Peace Center. Obama was in Butte, eating hotdogs and winning the starry eyes of Montanians on the Fourth. Everyone from the center was there. It’s a really neat place though. Yesterday I had a couple of hours in which I could do two things: visit the Peace center or volunteer. Basically, I could spend two hours talking about Peace with people who are obviously working hard at it OR go work hard at feeding the homeless. It was a hard call to make, but the volunteer work was rewarding.

It was so nice to serve people that I decided to fix up a big suppah tonight. I arrived BACK in town at 7:30 and somehow managed to load a ton of groceries in with all my gear. The feast was my special veggie tacos. We spent the night joking around and I sang a horrible rendition of Peace Train, substituting the key word, Scooter! It was a more memorable last night I suppose, but I hate goodbyes enough as it is.

Today I spoke with Matthew from Birmingham, Magic City Scooters. He gladly took some keychains off my hands and then asked about AmeriVespa. It’s THE scooter rally for those who don’t know. About 3/4 of the scoot population will be there. Which means it’s the ONE place I’m likely to see the most people I’ve met all gathered together.  That would be cool, so many people have contributed to this story. However, I feel as though it is too indulgent to take him up on his offer. I would rather that money go towards charity. That’s the cause this year, there is always next year….

Goodnight!

So I have 250 keychains.
That’s too many to carry around and I have too little time to sell them on an individual basis. But, they’re awesome and you can say you helped support the historical creation of a 22,000 mile Peace sign-the biggest Peace sign to date.

So the challenge is on. Today Scooterville Montana took 20 off my hands, at just $100. So, I’m going to post their logo here. Can you beat that amount? If so, I’ll post your logo, or your self created personal banner. I will have to charge you for shipping, but out of love for you, will drop the handling charge. For an idea, shipping ranges from 1.38 for 5 to $4.80 for 40.

It’s on baby, step up to the plate and have your logo featured here!  Thank you Scooterville, MT-not just for being lovable, but supporting Peace Scoot.

P.E.A.C.E Scooter takes more work than I ever thought it would. Not a bad thing and there’s really no way I could have known exactly what this would be like. Like today, I compiled a list and a letter, to be sent in mass to 1,000 people. I wrote to tell people that this is the final homestretch and I need support in many ways.

Brad wrote me back and what he wrote totally made my day. So thoughtful. Thanks Brad!

Alix,

Here’s something I’m doing that you may want to suggest to others. Every time I fill my scooter’s gas tank, I match the cost of the fill-up with cash in an envelope that will be sent to you (PayPal? prefer something else so no fee deductions). Been doing this for some time and I think I’m at about $40. I know it’s not a ton, but filling my scooter at twice the cost is still cheaper than filling my cage …. and it’s my way of “riding” with you.

Good luck and I really find what you are doing to be very inspiring.

Brad

Greeting friends, I hope there is joy in your lives. If you get the chance, I would love to hear from you. If you want to be removed from this list, let me know. There won’t be many more of these updates….

Most of you probably know that almost a year ago, I set out to make a dream come true. Now, with 19,500 miles on the scooter, I am just 3,200 miles away from home. Most importantly, I am 3,200 miles away from creating the largest Peace sign in history. I am writing to ask you all to PLEASE support P.E.A.C.E SCOOTER during the remaining 5 week homestretch.

Wow! I’ll be honest,  I’ve faced a lot of challenges in these 19,000 miles: hail, lightning, flash flooding, tornadoes, rain, temps from 40-106, antagonizers, breakdowns, road rage, spills, gravel roads, bad directions.  Your support, my conviction, and some gracious angels have made this distance possible.

What a country! What scenery! What amazing conversations! What problems we face and triumphs we can celebrate! I have spoken with thousands of people; about Peace, our communities, our environment, our future.  Many of you who are receiving this letter have helped me along the way. Not only will it be the largest Peace sign created, it will be the best because of all the stories and people who have contributed.

The routes I have taken will be put in a wikipedia so that people can continue to walk or ride the Peace path for generations to come. There are almost daily contributions to the Wall of Peace; creating a community where we can appreciate perspectives.
Those routes have led me through many cultures and terrains; through obstacles and challenges-all met with reward. They have led to old and new friends, my extended family now stretches around the country. My hope was that you could follow along with me through photos, blogs, and video, to gain insight into our grand country.

I need your support now more than ever before. I’m begging you to think about Peace with me everyday for the next 5 weeks, to read along, join me if you can, and to spread the word loud and proud amongst your friends, even strangers.

My goal this summer is to raise just $1 per 1 mile driven. Despite rising prices, of everything it seems, can you spare a little donation to a great cause? In tribute, your name will be put on the Peace map. You are not just helping this project, at least 60% of the fundraising is going to four other great causes.

They are: The Peace Alliance, The Last Mile (hospice care), Scootin for a Cure (breast cancer research) and an Environmental organization. (TBA)
To keep it fun, there are donated prizes being raffled every week, just $5 a ticket. So far, we have raised at least $5,000, please help reach the $ 22,000 goal!

Another way to spread the word about the Peace ride is to buy a limited edition tshirt through www.scooterworks.com. There are three sweet designs and they are all printed on American Apparel shirts. And last but not least, KEYCHAINS.

I think that’s enough merch to give you plenty of options, and I really appreciate Genuine for providing them as a way to raise funds!
Our strength grows when we unite in thought and action. Together, we are making a difference. We are inspiring people to dig deep and shape history.
Imagine the ripple effect if each of you could donate and convince one or two more people in also sending just $10–less than the cost of the average trip to the movies.

Of course there are many other ways to help-I also need ground support!

• Can you place me in your blog roll for the next 5 weeks?
• Am I on your route? Check the calendar to see. Know of a good host/hostess? Ride a scooter or motorcycle?
• Want to ride along in this event?
• Can you join me in Washington D.C. at the end, to create a large human Peace sign?
• Know of an organization where I can volunteer or one that would love to know about the Peace ride?
• Can you send the paper a press release?

What started as a bizarre notion with little chance of happening has grown into an amazing journey. Again, a deep bow to you for your compassion and belief in this project!
I know great people!

Pointing two fingers in Peace,

Alix Bryan

It’s a weekend of Patriotism. Do you know your First Amendment? Trust me, Homeland Security lit it on fire and then lit it’s cigar with the little piece of paper. Here it is….

Hey everybody. I trust you are enjoying the long weekend. I personally rushed to make it to Missoula and rushing was hard, with all the holiday traffic. You know, all the people rushing to get somewhere to relax. Same here except I wasn’t out for blood. Thankfully I arrived safely and relaxing hasn’t been hard.

Thursday the ride totaled 350 miles. It wasn’t my longest distance covered but it was the longest day driving. I was on the road for 11 hours. Boy, I love the new GPS for navigation but NOT for keeping statistics. Like my actual mph-clocking in at a big average of 43 mph. Yowzers!  Sorry, I took no photos that day because my focus was set on making the long haul. Fortunately it doesn’t get dark here until 10pm; I made it just in the nick of time.

Friday I blissfully slept in; all nice and cozy in the guest bedroom. My friends here run the scooter shop and they decided to close for the weekend! That’s a bold, but admirable move in light of the scooter frenzy here in the States. After coffee, breakfast and catch up conversation we mounted our scooters and headed to the neighborhood jamboree.

It was at Fort Missoula, a historical area converted into green space for the public. At one point it served as an internment camp in WW2, holding Japanese and Italians prisoner. Wow, we’ve come a long way, huh?
There was a rummage sale, vendors, sno cones and water balloon tossing. Oh, and watermelon. Of course.

I spotted something on a leash across the way. What could it be? Closer inspection cleared it up-BOBCATS. These people paid $1500 each for a brother and sister set of BOBCATS. Sure, they were adorable and I know they will be raised with love. BUT, these animals just aren’t’ supposed to be domesticated. $3,000 to have big cats. I joked they were the first people I know to have “Beware of Cats” signs on their door. Turns out they DO have one!

I was encouraged to approach the local Republican celebrity, who is fond of hoop skirts. She was in full Fourth of July regalia, so I took her photo. THen I asked her to define Peace for me. She dashed off after taking a postcard, saying she’ll leave her definition here. We took some scenic rides around the town and then went home to grab our swimsuits.

Next adventure was a BBQ with Nancy and Gary’s long time friends. Not just any ol’ BBQ or any ol’ house. Paul and Jeannie enjoy creating community. There were a lot of hip adults, pets and cool youngsters  running around; drinking, eating, strumming guitars, swimming and lighting fireworks. There was a hot tub also, very nice on my sore muscles.

Paul and Jeannie were amazing hosts. They have a lot of money but aren’t pretentious at all; they are very loving and welcoming. Thanks! They love celebration and this very tight, cool group of lifelong friends extended their circle to me. There was a lot of delicious food, beer and brownie sundaes. And lots of fireworks.

I’m just not fond of fireworks. They’re noisy, stinky and leave lots of trash in their wake. I think the last thing we need in America is drunk people playing with explosives. That’s just not how I choose to celebrate the myth of Independence. Despite the cautious parental guidance, there were incidences. Heart raising, stomach dropping close calls.

Let’s see. The Jack Russell apparently likes to attack the fireworks. He escaped the house and was suddenly running for the sizzling, flame spewing firework. I couldn’t look away, but wanted to. Paul risked his skin trying to get the dog. Everyone is screaming. He never actually got the dog away, but through a series of frantic dance moves, managed to avoid disaster. The firework shot into the crowd but miraculously hit the container of salsa, popping a hole in it and burning the pocketbook nearby. Saved by salsa.

I talked to Todd for awhile( I think-but I’m TERRIBLE with names) who is a helicopter firefighter. I was expressing how recently I’ve started getting this weird feeling; anxiety. I’m definitely a more confident rider now, after 19,000 mils, but I’m not cocky. Since I’ve started the homestretch though, I’ve experienced a nervousness that I never even had as a new rider. He said that firefighter pilots call it, “get-there-itis.”

He says it’s the feeling near the end that’s due to everything going right and therefore the mind gets an anxiety that in the last moments something will go wrong. He said he’s always more cautious on his last shift. Good advice.

After the Grand Finale, put on by Paul and Austin,  everyone headed home. It was one of my better Fourths. I slept in yet again today. Then I headed out to the Farmer’s Market to hang out with all the cool Missoulians. I really like this town, even though I don’t think I could stand to be so landlocked. It’s very progressive and not pretentious in the slightest. This is the last bubble of West Coast mentality that I will experience. From here on out it will be desolate with small conservative towns peppering the route. Fargo is the next big town I hit.

I decided to set up a table with P.E.A.C.E SCOOTER keychains. I sold 12 and had lots of neat conversations. I’m happy, sunburned and glad to be here. Everyone wants to help out! I went by Rockin Rudy’s to see the piece of the Peace sign they salvaged from the mountain. Years ago, a bunch of hippies made a massive concrete peace sign and carried it up the mountain. It could be seen from anywhere in the town. Qwest, bad guys, eventually took it down. I went to the cool record store to see it. Inside there was also another shrine-to Elvis. Cool place.

Tonight we are going to the drive in-to see O Brother Where Art Thou. You go have fun too!

Lookie here at how you can help support P.E.A.C.E AND keep your keys together:

Don’t forget, you can clicky click on photos and go to the bigger sizes! YA!

The first thing I touched this morning was a dead cat. Ralph.

Ralph fell off the ledge today from the 25th floor.

At 5:30 am I woke up to people talking loudly. I asked them to talk in the other room.
I didn’t know they were talking about Ralph. I got up, went to the bathroom. Chad, sitting at his computer, in the faint sunrise light, points to Ralph. “The cat fell, he’s dead.”

Honestly, I thought he was messing with me. It was 5:30 am, afterall. I just barely knew where I was.

No one said, “Hey, we are talking loudly because we just brought our dead cat upstairs.” Ralph appeared to be stretched out, snoozing contentedly.

At 9:00am I see the cat looks, eerily, exactly the same. So I reach down to stroke him and the early morning snippets come back to me. I say, “Hey something is wrong with Ralph.”
Shaun say, “Yes, Yes we told you that.”
Oh Lord. I feel like a jerk.

Well, he did fall. I came home at 1:30pm from the Pride Festival. Chad is trying to process that he lost his favorite cat. Ralph is still in the living room

It was clearly time to act.
I call two emergency vets. Chad wants Ralph buried in his birthplace-Georgia.
Problematic. The vets insist on cremation. This is not going to happen.
I decide to call a funeral home.
I ask the nice lady, “So, how do you handle a body? Like, if your Aunt dies while you are on vacation, how do you get her home? Our pet died and we want to ship it back home.”
She explains it must be embalmed and to call a taxidermist. She also emphasized that toxicity and decomposition are factors we should handle immediately. I give Chad the options I’ve come up with so far.
So, we head out to buy a cooler and some dry ice. Ralph is now on his way to the great outdoors.

From the Atlantic to the Pacific-Ralph, may mice everywhere be yours for the catching and Ralph-may you also have eternal catnip…..

Congratulations to “Mikie Taps” from Seattle, WA–

You have SX Appeal!!

AND CONGRATULATIONS TO ALIX–FRIDAY MAKES 8 WEEKS ON THE ROAD SCOOTIN’ FOR PEACE! (in 2008)

FOR A GRAND TOTAL OF 21 WEEKS SO FAR!!
RIDE STEADY AND CONGRATULATIONS ON ANOTHER STATE LINE!!

Thank you to everyone who participated in the Top Case Raffle. The raffle raised a grand total of $290.00—The $250 goal was met just 5 days and 2 hours after opening the raffle! We didn’t even have time to give a day’s notice that it was closing–you guys really pulled through! Thanks!

The math on the Raffle proceeds:

TOTAL RAISED FOR PEACE, ENVIRONMENT & COMMUNITY MINDED ORGANIZATIONS (from this raffle): $290.00

Peace Alliance: $73.00

The Last Mile: $14.00

Scootin’ For a Cure: $14.00

An Environmental Org TBA: $73

P.E.A.C.E Scooter Support: $116

THANK YOU!

A couple of blogs ago I mentioned that a strange man in a van tried to get me to stop. Stop for an unknown person, on a road that’s considered dangerous, which runs along the Mexico border.

Despite the fact that most things people say are dangerous turn out to be not as menacing-I was still NOT going to stop for this guy.

Late the next night I received an email from Drew, a couchsurfing host. He lives in Bisbee, AZ and I had contacted him for lodging while in town. Because he would be out of town, he referred me to someone else, Mo and Paxon, who did wind up being my lovely hosts.

It turns out, against all reasonable odds, that Drew was the man on the desolate byway, flagging me down and scaring me out of my pants.

His email:

” Alix-
Why didn’t you stop for me? I was chasing you down
waving, honking and flashing my lights on the highway
outside of El Paso. You looked right at me. I was
driving the white van. I even passed you and tried
slowing down!!
Well, enjoy your trip..”

That’s just strange enough luck that I might consider buying a lottery ticket!

Hey y’all. Raffle drawing date is extended. I won’t be drawing the winners until the pot reaches at least close to  the amount of the prize.
Contributions jumped up yesterday, so now we are HALFWAY! Yee-haw. Don’t forget, this nice NEW bag was generously donated and Timbuk 2 will ship it directly to you. Run fast to let your friends and family know, too.
https://peacescooter.com/raffles

$5 clams is what? A Guiness at most bars? A pack of smokes? A tank of gas?
A patch? A dozen eggs plus tax? A combo meal? Two new Sharpie markers? Box of tampons?

Some great people agreed to support the fund raising (for donation to non profits) by donating prizes. These run for the next 10 weeks. The sooner this raffle closes, the sooner I put up a new one, thanks to them!

That means you will be seeing a lot of these posts, so lots of love-and remember, it’s for a good cause. 😀

Quite frequently I see debate amongst Folks in scooter forums about the pros/cons of having a windscreen. Almost once a day.
Folks, no crosswind has ever outweighed the advantage of having my windscreen. It keeps me safe from wind exhaustion and mostly helps save on gas. And just look out how many bugs it has killed! If you are a bug sympathizer, the windscreen is not for you.

Oh, and it has been cleaned 3x since the trip started!

Burning rubber, I left Jackson at 1pm, but not without a deep look into my Dad’s eyes. It brought chills to my skin.

The drive was estimated by Google to be 5 hours. I added 2 to that, but much to my surprise, reached Hwy 11 in just 3.5 hours! Hwy 11 is in Slidell and this is where I called Rich, who kindly offered to ride me into the city. This always feels so proper, I love it. Only two other people have done this before, although many ride out of town with me. I had a 5 mile ride over the bridge and it was so gorgeous. This time I was prepared for steel grate bridges.

I beat Rich to the destination spot and sat in the afternoon sun. The ride into NOLA was just so smooth, like a hot knife cutting butter-right as rain. Last year I ran into many complications-storms, bridge out, road signs missing. I was exhausted and on edge when I finally arrived. Having a host escort me into town has made all the difference. Many thanks to the scooter community, yet again. The buzz has been going on the forums: I have been housed, given a tour and will soon be meeting scooterists at a pub.

Rich put some grub in my stomach last night. We had great conversation over my 2 beers and breakfast sandwich. It was the only food I had all day-as the food at the shelter wasn’t something I would want my dog to eat. It broke my heart. Rich has the Bayou Monster Scooter, check out the croc seat.

He then led me over to my host’s house. Alan is a Brit, an iconic MOD scooter. In classic fashion, he tells a story like only a Brit can. We sat on the porch drinking chianti and exchanging our stories, his more interesting, until about midnight.
Right now as I write this, my skin is sunburned from an afternoon touring the city. We stopped by Big Easy Scooters and wound up dining with the guys. A guy at the table next to us ragged on me for ordering a salad, but I’ve been craving my greens. He insisted I have the bbq shrimp poboy.

After lunch we went to the West Bank. I have sat by the Mississippi many times, by Jackson Square, and stared out at the West Bank. Thinking, “wonder what that’s like,” but never venturing over on the ferry. I want to move there eventually, it is amazing.

We stopped for a beer and then came back over. Alan kept saying that the ferry is romantic, not with any inclination for me. It is though. After docking we toured the French Quarter. He dropped me off and went to wake his wife up. We will reconvene shortly, for a night at a local Irish Pub.

Johnny Nomad has agreed to host me the next few nights. It turns out the we met last year, at a bar, and he bought me a beer. I’ve dropped my stuff off there already and it is a lovely house, uptown. Really welcoming space, I’m very lucky.

Tomorrow, from 10-6 I will volunteer with The Green Project. I will have a lot more to tell you then and later will post photos of today’s sightseeing, but I am without my usb cord right now.

Peace!

Oh I love these raffles! This one wasn’t very active at first, but close to the finishing line a bunch of people entered! Thanks everybody for helping to raise $130 this week. However, this week we have a Timbuk2 messenger bag,donated at $150 value, that scooterists, SUV drivers, bicyclists, and pedestrians alike will LOVE. Let your friends and family know, and help beat the money raised this week. We can do it! Isn’t it awesome?!!!

The golden ticket winners are:

Stebel Nautilus Horn: Shane
If your neighborhood didn’t know you were there, they will now! Enjoy! And thanks for buying 10 tickets, it obviously upped your odds!

Vespa Pint Glass: Ryan H.
Whatever your fancy is, drink more of it in style! Hey Buddy, let me know if you would prefer a Stella or Buddy one.

New Prize: