Around the end of January, 2000, I saw a note on the Message Board at the Gold Wing Road Riders Association web site about someone planning a motorcycle trip from North Carolina to Seattle and back. My first thought was that it sounded like a good excuse to take a long trip and to see my mom and my sister near Seattle.
I responded by email that I was interested, but I didn't know whether I could afford a trip of that length. It turned out that Gordon Booth, who posted the message, also lived here in Asheville, North Carolina.
Some time later, I was at Schroader's Honda in Hendersonville, and I mentioned the possibility of the Seattle trip to Catherine Schroader. She asked who the other person was, and I told her. She said the name sounded familiar and, after a moment's research, told me his new Red 2000 Goldwing Aspencade was on order and should arrive very soon.
Gordon and I still hadn't met face-to-face, but when he next visited Schroader's, Catherine told him she thought the two of us would be compatible for a trip of that length.
Gordon took the hint and arranged to meed me for lunch. We thought it could work, so we took a few afternoon rides in the Carolinas and Tennessee to test our theory. Gordon rode his Honda Pacific Coast until his new Goldwing finally arrived. Once he had his Goldwing, though, he rode it almost exclusively to get accustomed to it. We did a couple of all-day rides, and one overnight ride to Fayetteville, North Carolina. So far, so good.
Meanwhile, I finished my part of the database and web page programming project I had been working on, so I had plenty of free time. My wonderful wife, Melody, and I worked out a budget and figured we could actually afford to finance the trip, so I just put off looking for new employment for a little while. Unfortunately, Melody couldn't possibly accumulate enough vacation time for a trip of at least four weeks. She says this is my one big chance to go riding that far until she can somehow go with me.
I bought some new camping gear, a new motorcycle jacket, and had new tires put on my Goldwing. I practiced packing my bike, and then I was ready. Gordon and I rode out of Asheville for points west on Monday, June 19, 2000.
When I built this trip report, I included internet links to many of the places we visited. I've tried to supply links to "official" web sites wherever I can, though others may certainly exist. For national parks, for example, I've chosen the links from the National Park Service web site.
If you notice any errors, please send me an email.