The Vegas Trip

I am finally getting some updating done. These pics are from the Las Vegas ride. Yeah, the gang ( by the way, the gang is down to just Steve and myself now as Doug sold his bike ) went to Vegas to help celebrate my birthday back in March. Steve and I rented a couple of Harleys and took off into the desert. The scenery was night and day different from what we are used to in Washington. I loved it!

On the way to Red Rock Canyon

Me and the purple machine

More from the Ocean Shores trip

Steve and the bikes waiting for the ferry to Kingston

On the road by the ocean

Just adding a pic to keep things up to date. This is from our trip to Ocean Shores. Details to follow.

We're not dead!!!

Yeah, well, I sorta slacked on the posting as the summer progressed.
I fully plan on posting about all our trips this year as soon as it warms up, and the sun comes out.

The Mountain Loop Highway

It was Saturday, the forecast....hot....real hot.....and time for a ride to the mountains!

Doug, Steve, and I headed out around 10:30 or so for a trip out the the Mountain Loop Highway, a road that heads out of Granite Falls and up into the Cascades. It follows the Stillaguamish River and is a route that used to be a train route that headed to Monte Cristo back when there was hopes for finding a fortune in gold up in them thar hills. Ok, enough history...let's ride!

The Verlot Info Center and espresso....ok no espresso :(

After leaving Granite Falls, the first stop was at the Verlot Info Center. You can purchase Parks passes here plus get some other info.

We left Verlot and headed up the road a while until we started following the Stillaguamish River. After a few miles, we found a great spot to stop and get some pics of the bikes.

Me looking cool and Doug striking a pose?

We motored further along, hitting some sweet winding roads for another 10 miles or so, going thru some cool microclimates where it went from hot to cold then back again...pretty refreshing and then eventually we hit the "end of the road."

That's snow blocking the way and piled along the road behind the bikes

We walked past the gate and into the snow, briefly and the decided to head back. I want to come back later in the summer when this road is open all the way....should make for a great ride. So on the way back, we stopped again for some more pics. There was a pulloff right by the river that made for a nice background.



That's the Stillaguamish River in the background

Cruising further back down the road, we decided to stop for a late lunch. We stopped at the Mountain View Inn, a pretty laid back looking place and an obvious stopping point for bikers on the highway. We walked in and it was pretty empty inside, but about 10 minutes later, we heard the rumble of Harley's outside. One of the waitresses looked outside and said "oh boy.....here they come.." Around 30 or so bikers came walking in, looking like the typical Harley biker types. The place suddenly got ral crowded. I made a comment to Steve.."I wonder how these guys all met...hmm....probable all work at the same accounting firm!" HAHAHAHA I kill myself sometimes...ok...sorry that was lame. Anyway......pics of the place and some of the bikes...






We'll definitely come back to this place. After eating, it was time to head for home as Steve had to get home to setup for a neighborhood BBQ at his house. We zoomed down the highway, out to Highway 9 and then back towards home. Another ride in the books.....

First ride to work

Last Thursday, Doug and I made our first trip down I-5 to work. We also had Steve along with us as he was heading to his Magnolia office for the day. It was foggy and there was a light mist that clung to our windshields, but overall, the trip was pretty uneventful.


Heading home was another story. We have some pretty steep hills to climb getting out of the city and decided to take Highway 99 out of the city instead. Big mistake! It took way too long, with the constant starting and stopping, plus it was frigging hot so it sucked being stopped. We finally decided to cut over and hop onto I-5 and took that the rest of the way home. Much better!

Good ol' Mike giving me the Good morning greeting

Friday we made the trip down I-5 once again. It was again uneventful.

I think Drew really needs that coffee...

That's Jim, my manager...we call Doug "Mini Jim"

And finally, we rode home on I-5 and we lived happily ever after....

Quest for Mototrcycle Insurance

Motorcycle insurance is not required in Washington. What you don't hear is something that I just learned in my MSF Motorcycle Safety class which is that if you do not have insurance and you are in an at fault accident, you can be required to post a $5,000 bond immediately. And if you don't the court can take necessary action to make you, including freezing your accounts.

After hearing that and knowing that accidents can happen first hand, I went on a quest to find the best insurance.

I of course did what every person would do. I called my insurance agent and they quoted me 300+ for the year. Not knowing anything about Motorcycle insurance I almost signed up but I didn't have my VIN cause I was at work. Later that day Jason told me that he go a quote from Progressive because his insurance didn't insure motorcycles and Progressive gave him a much better quote than my State Farm agent gave me. Of which I have only been with them for 15 years carrying a perfect record. So I started shopping.

In my research, Progressive kept coming back up. So I went to their site and they have a great tool that gives you a quick quote, has links to explain everything you are looking at, and provides 800 numbers to get help if you need it.

When I ran my quote and it was under 180 giving me more coverage than my agent offered. I then called my state Farm Agent and was told that the quote I had was the best they could do and they recommended that I buy from Progressive. hmmmm.

Later Jason ran a quote at Geico and it was in the 500+ range and their quoting tool took forever.

A friend of mine from my Safety class told me that her friend that works for Allstate said that sometimes they can match Progressive.

So needless to say I chose Progressive. And when I called them. I like dealing with people if I can. I asked why they were so much cheaper. He let me know that they are ranked #1 for motorcycle insurance, probably because of their pricing. I then tried to stump him and asked how they rank with auto and he said they are #3 with State Farm leading that pack.

A couple of things to think about.

Your insurance is ranked on several factors. Mainly your credit score, then driving record, then age and gender, then the size and style of the bike. Then smaller items like if you are married or own a home.

Some agencies allow the policy to be suspended if the policy is not needed. (this is good for fair weather riders) State Farm allowed this.

Progressive will not. They said their pricing is good because they know it will be in effect for a full year.

State Farm only considers your age, gender, and size of engine where Progressive takes more granular approach and rewards for making better choices.