26 days to go.

How to have a heart attack. A week ago I was told by the shipper that my bike would be picked up from the local Harley dealer between  the 28th and 30th of June so being cautious I rode it in on the 26th. Then over the next few days the pickup changed by email to the 2nd, 4th, 7th and 9th July. They also informed me that it would take 21 days to deliver the bike to LA! Thinking the bike would be eight days late I called to say (very forcefully) that it must arrive on or before the 23rd. The shipper said calmly it would be no problem. Have you ever had that said just before they say oops?

I will hear from the shipper on Monday if they will guarantee delivery but the only real alternative is to ride the bike to LA myself and in doing so losing my air ticket, extra cost of hotels, fuel wear and tear etc. I would have to leave on July 16th and it would take 5 days of very hard riding. I would rather have that than my son Ross telling me "But dad you yelled at me about the my bike arriving on time so many times and you screwed up" Well fingers and  toes are crossed.

30 days to go!!

The trip is now a reality. Peter Puffin tried to catch a lift. My bike is at the dealers for shipping.  Ross' bike is on the ocean.  

34 days, 10 hours and 11 minutes to go.

One more hotel to book between LA and Sturgis and I'm done for part one of the trip. My friends who are joining us from Syracuse are booking the hotels between Sturgis and Syracuse for all eight of us. The guys are flying into Salt Lake City from Syracuse. They will have their bikes shipped out in mid July and then have a two day ride to Sturgis.

The planning on the Syracuse to Maine portion of the trip will be planned over the next week. The big question is how hard we ride on this part. Generally we try to ride 300 to 400 miles per day. The trip to Maine is 400 miles and we have to be in Maine in the morning because the boat to the Puffin colony leaves at 10am. This planned three day segment might stretch to four days as we want to stop in the Adirondacks. Most of you will know Lake Placid was the site of the 1980 Winter Olmpics. The area around Lake Placid is 6.1 million acres of which 43% is state owned and 57% private.
Ross' bike is now on the boat from Sydney and my bike leaves for LA next week by truck. Ross' two friends are buying their bikes in L.A. the day after they arrive. Motorbikes in the U.S.A. are half the price they are in Australia so the plan is to either to ship them home or to sell them in Syracuse after the trip.

Don't forget to log onto http://www.puffinmagic.org.au to find out about James Gribble and how you can donate. Also follow Puffin Across America at https://www.facebook.com/PuffinUSA