One Year

Hard to believe that it has been one year since I bought Zedward the ZZR.  I have put 12,899 miles on the bike in one year.  Not too bad...

The Story of Zedward

I had been looking for a new motorcycle for about 4 months.  Shortly after the deer of Toledo tried to take me out on the Concours.  That is another story.   My friend Trubadore found Zedward on Craigslist and sent me the link.  He had been sending me a couple links a week but this one jumped out to me.  The only problem.  Zedward lived in Olympia, Washington.  I made the call up to South Sound Honda and talked to one of the sales staff about the bike but they would not hold it for me until the weekend.  I had him send me pictures, I checked several sources and found that this was a great bike.  I called back on Friday night and the ZZR had not sold yet.  I asked again if they would hold it for me as I would be making the 4 hour trek north to look at the bike on Saturday morning.  They said they would since it had not sold by 5pm on Friday night. Thanks to a few friends the journey went very smoothly.  Troubadour and Trobairitz came to my door early Saturday morning and took me to the Corvallis International Airport.

John--- is this the right way to Olympia?

Rick- Head North my Capitan!

Mt. St. Helens

I think Olympia is down there!

 My good friend John flew down from  Washington to pick me up and fly me up and fly me up to Olympia.  It was a beautiful Saturday morning and any opportunity for John to fly makes him a happy boy.  I called and asked if he was interested and of course he jumped at the opportunity.  The flight was quick, only a little more than an hour, and I was landing in the beautiful town of Olympia.

The kids checking out the plane

I was next picked up by another good friend, past staff member and avid motorcycle rider Cable and his two sons.  After poking around the airplane with the boys we headed over to South Sound Honda.  They had the ZZR setting out and ready to go on a test ride.

After some direction from Cable I took it out for a little spin on 101 and was immediately sold on the ZZR.  I went back to negotiate the sale and the immediately accepted the low offer that I made.  I wondered if there was something wrong for the motorcycle... New fluids, new rubber, a Corbin solo seat and smuggler tail as well as Muzzy pipes... I got a great deal.

After leaving the dealership, (Cable, the boys and I) headed out to lunch and then over to Cables house to look over the motorcycle before heading down the highway to Corvallis.

Everything looked great and it was an awesome day for a first ride.  I rode Zedward home and into my life.  It's been a great first year!

In My Bag

I'm getting excited.  Tonight is my last night in a hotel.  I have stayed at nine hotel/motels in the last three weeks as well as a couple of friends houses along the way.  I though I would take a moment to list out some of the items that I like to keep at hand to make the travels smooth.

These items are in no specific order but just items I like to have in my bag.

Ditty Bag
This is a great way to keep everything
organized in my messenger bag

Cable management straps
A must on every electrical cable, made with Velcro

My Droid Dock

My alarm clock holder and night light (NightClock app)

Mini Power Strip
The plugs are always behind the nightstand. UGGGG!

Snack Bar, Chop Sticks, Plastic Fork and napkins

In case you need a snack, stop for a salad, or need to pick up the plug from behind the bed (chopsticks)

Post It Notes and Butterfly Clips

 Post It notes are used to cover up LED lights in the room that glow so bright you can't sleep and the Butterfly clip is used to close window curtains to keep the parking lot lights out.  I also use the post-it notes to mark the hotel room door on the outside.  After the 4th hotel room... I can't remember if I am staying in room 203, 222, or 216 (all room numbers from this trip)

Flashlight in case the power goes out

 It doesn't happen often, but when it does, it is nice to have on hand.  Yes, I know I could also use my cell phone.

Ear Plugs

To keep the noise out.  If it isn't drunk people coming back from the Casino at 4am, it is the basketball practice happening in the room above mine or railroad trains going past your window.  Yes you can complain, but sometimes all they do is make more noise.

Items not pictured:  If I am driving and have room in the car, my polar fleece blanket (to keep warm at night) and a neck pillow, used to keep my head propped up while driving or used as a half donut to help relieve all the pains in the backside while sitting.

Final Tip of the trip:  If you have a room that smells, open up a package of coffee that the hotel provides in the room and set the bag in front of the heater vent, this will improve the smell of the room or absorb some of the odors.  Also works well for rental cars that have been smoked in.

Good night from The Dalles!

Deflated Pumpkins

  

This has been an interesting journey that is almost complete.  I have had the opportunity to meet some great prospective students, talk with faculty from several community colleges and meet other recruiters from other colleges and universities.  Best of all I have had the opportunity to reconnect with friends.  Last week at the Student Success and Retention Conference I reconnected with one of my first mentors from Western Oregon State College.

I also stopped to visit a good friend from Lewis & Clark and Portland State.  If was fun to see Gary and Merci and to meet their kids.  When I came out of their house I noticed pumpkins sitting outside their door.  Most times pumpkins are rotted when left out but these were deflated.

I guess this is what happens when pumpkins freeze for weeks and don't have an opportunity rot.  Here are a few other pics from the trip.

The Columbia -- smooth as glass

I - 84

Just a little snow on the Blue Mt. Pass

It's Thursday, I must be in Portland

Sunset Beach

Well I'm more than half way through the winter tour and so far so good.  I have stayed in 5 hotels in the last three weeks between hotels and friends houses I will be staying in 6 more places before I see my home again.  I have been to Bend and Prineville, prior post.  Last week I was in Roseburg, Eugene, Albany, and Salem.  This week I have visited Coos Bay, Newport, Tillamook and now I'm in Portland.  Next week I'm headed to the east with stops in Baker City, Ontario, back to Pendleton, The Dalles and Gresham before returning home.
I have met some great people along the way and had some fun adventures.  Last week I rode Johnny 5 (my Kawasaki Concours that is in the process of becoming a naked street fighter bike) to Lane Community College. I strapped my catalog travel case to the back and down the road I went. This week I rode again to Coos Bay via the Smith River Road.  I then returned home, spent the night and packed up Tedward the Trooper for the trip.

My Escorts to Coos Bay

Taking a break at Smith River Falls

Smith River Falls

Smith River Falls

Room View at The Mill Casino Lodge

 On Tuesday morning, I headed out for the trip to Newport.  First stop was to take a picture of the light house at Yaquina Head.  An perfect winter day at the coast.  Made for a great stop and recruiting at Oregon Coast Community College and a leisurely drive up the coast to Tillamook.

Newport 

 Not much to look at in Tillamook... except the Cheese Factory of course.  Several representatives from other university and I decided to start with appetisers and dessert at the Tillamook Cheese Factory.

Anyone up for Sqeeky Cheese?

Black Cherry Tillamook Ice Cream

 It is said that there are more cows than people in Tillamook County.  From the smell,  I would have to agree!

Room View from the Ashley Inn in Tillamook

 I spent Wednesday at Tillamook Bay Community College and then drove into Portland.

Aloft Hotel at Cascade Station PDX

 On the way into Portland, I heard the news that St. John's Honda was going out of business.  I made a stop to see if I could assist.  I left a little bit poorer but with some new gear for winter riding!

Can you see me now???

Gone Around the Bend

Weather, road closures and detours were the norm for the first trip of the year for Rick the Recruiter.  Thanks to a Facebook message from Trobairitz letting me know that Hwy 20 was closed at Cascadia due to a land slide I ventured south to Eugene and up Hwy 126.  I was amazed at the level of the river on the way over the Cascades.  Many of the boat landings and rest areas were either under water or close to being under water.  The trip over the mountains were uneventful and I made relatively good time.  It's always nice to escape to the east side of the Cascades where the sun shines 300 days out of the year.

Tedward the Trooper taking a break outside of Sisters

I met up for dinner with friends at the Deschutes Brewery.  Had a very good Ruben Sandwich and tasty half pint of Oregonian Beer.  10.5% alcohol and fruity (hint of Strawberry and 10 different Oregon Hops).

Monday was spent recruiting at Central Oregon Community College, a trip to Prineville to talk high school administrators and community members about Ecampus opportunities and requirements of being an online learner.   The weather started turning bad so I headed out.  The webcams looked really bad on the Santiam Pass so I headed south to Willamette Pass where the roads were clear.  I left Prineville at 6pm and arrived home at 11pm.  A long drive around.

Butterbeer in Hogsmead and a Ride on an ST1300 in Florida

Discovered a lost Blog Post from back in November.

So my final trip of the fall for conferences was to Orlando Florida for the SLOAN - C Annual conference and to Tampa for a workshop on appreciative advising.  Both conferences were great and I came back with several new ideas for work.  While in Florida I took a few opportunities to explore. This year I opted not to visit Disney World.  Last year, I went scuba diving at Epcot's Dive Quest.  This is a great experience where you get to go behind the scenes at EPCOT and scuba dive in the aquarium.

This year a couple colleagues and I went to Universal Orlando to experience the world of Harry Potter, Hogsmead and Hogwarts.

While in Hogsmeade we tried Butterbeer.  If you have not read the books this is a drink that many in the wizarding world drink.  This concoction tastes like butterscotch cream soda with a light marshmellow cream head.

We also went on the three rides in Hogwartz.  The Dragons Challenge is a very fast feet dangling roller coaster race.  The Flight of the Hippogriff is a kids roller coster.  The big ride is Harry Potter and the Forbidden Journey  provides a tour of Hogwarts Castle and a ride on a combo motion simulator movie with live action plots mixed in between.  The ride was well worth the trip.  Also included in Hogsmeade is the Three Broomsticks, Zonko's Joke Shop, Honneydukes Candy Shop, as well as both Dervish and Banges clothing store and Olivanders Wand shop.


In between conferences in Florida I rented an ST1300 for a day and went for a ride.  Not planning too far in advance I rented from Eagle Rider and was fortunate to not rent a Harley.  I had 26 hours on a 24 hour contract. (The advantage of renting on the weekend changing from day light savings time to standard time)  I got an extra hour which of course I used.  My first plan was to ride to both the Atlantic and Gulf coasts but didn't quite make it.  I did however make it out to the Kennedy Space Center.

I made it to the Atlantic Ocean and rode up the coast to Daytona Beach.  Of course being from Oregon and it being November, I thought for sure it would be warm.  Temps were in the upper 60's when I left but by the time I got to Daytona Beach the temps dropped down into the 40's.  My jeans, polar fleece vest and leather jacket were no match for the cold.  I stopped in a tee shirt shop, picked up a hoody and two more tee shirts and with several layers rode back to Orlando.  I also stopped at a mega store for hand warmers for my pockets.  Of course, it's Florida, they don't need any stinking hand warmers.  But since the Florida population is made up of senior citizens, they had plenty of Thermacare Heat Wraps.  Oh, the wonders of the heat wrap. If you have not used one while riding.  I highly recommend it. The last 8 hours of riding the temps started out in the upper 30's and warmed up into the 60's by the time I turned in the motorcycle.  26 hours... 650 miles.  Not too bad!

Gearing Up for Travel Season (The Winter Edition)

Every year my job takes me on a tour of the states community colleges to encourage students to consider going to Oregon's Land Grant institution.  Now I could sit here and tell you about the wonders of the Morrill Act and how this guy named John Morrill came up with this idea about giving each state land to create universities for the people.  But you knew that, right.  One of the goals of a land grant institutions is to serve the people of the state. So in that light, I take to the road every winter to "serve the people of the state".  This year I will visit twelve community colleges in four weeks.  From Bend to Roseburg, Coos Bay to Ontario, I will put about 2000 miles on Tedward the Trooper this year.  Along the way I will get to reconnect with old friends and make new ones.  I will be exploring the finer hotels of the state and indulging in the adventures the state has to offer.

Week 1 will be to Bend and Central Oregon Community College, OSU's Cascade Campus and to Prineville and OSU's new Open Campus.


Week one planned route