Donna and I had ridden two up on our motorcycle beginning in 1970 when we bought our Honda 750. I always had the best of times when I jumped on a motorcycle and took off for "parts unknown". After getting the 750, I told Donna that I had always wanted to ride to Lake Louise British Columbia. In keeping with her free spirit, she said " I'm ready when you are". We made that trip in 1971 and another to the Spokane Worlds fair in 1974. They were "spur of the moment" trips that were two of the greatest times of our lives. We had all of our gear on a small rack with bungee cords holding our tent and sleeping bags. This is when I was sure that I had found the most wonderful adventure loving woman ever.

When our two wonderful children were born, we mothballed the motorcycle until they were grown. Our vacations were plentiful and modest. We always included our entire family.

In 1997 the motorcycle "adventure of a lifetime" discussion began. We talked about it with friends around pool and barbeque parties. After a few drinks, everybody wanted to go also. One thing that they didn't realize is that we were SERIOUS. We bought a new 1997 Goldwing and started our two up adventures again with Chapter F of GWRRA in Burbank. The people in that group were great to be with and we began preparing ourselves for our "big ride".