January 11: Finished reading "132 Days-A Journey, A Journal and some Whiskey" by Mike Krabal, read this Kindle book on my iPhone 12. Krabal unsatisfied with his life, decided to make a cross country motorcycle ride from West Virginia on a 2003 Yamaha FZ1 (998 cc) that he named the Grey Goose. His total miles was over 17,000 for the round trip. I wrote a short review of the book on Amazon. Click here to read the review.
Click here for his blog.
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| Above: Cover of the Kindle book. |
January 15: Finished reading "Southwest by TWO-STROKE" by Brian Franzen, Michael Newlun & Jeffrey Ross, read this Kindle book on my iPhone 12. Interesting reading for me as a lot of the stories were about Arizona (e.g., Two-Strokes from Arizona to Canada), plus all the motorcycles I've owned had two-stroke engines. Most of these stories were written many years after they occurred, I was impressed with the details the authors could remember.
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| Above: Cover of the Kindle book. |
January 26: Finished reading "Against the Wind-A Motorcycle Ride" by Dale Arenson. Started this book on my iPhone 12 and finished on my 2008 Mac Pro. This ride, by a guy about 70 years old, was from Cordes Lake, Arizona to Canadian, Oklahoma for a reunion with his motorcycle club, He rode a 2007 Ultima chopper. I enjoyed reading about this guys trip. His total round trip was 16 days. He didn't mentioned his total miles but with with all the side trips and traffic problems I'm guessing 2,500 miles or more. Lots of excellent photos.
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| Above: Cover of the Kindle book. |
February 2: Finished reading "Solo-A Motorcycle Journey" by Pete FourWinds, read this Kindle book on my iPhone 12. An interesting short motorcycle trip report (9,500+ words, 25 Kindle pages, 11 chapters) by a 24-year old single man just discharged from the Navy in 1997, picks up his 1996 Kawasaki Vulcan 500 LTD motorcycle in San Diego, California and makes a 9-day ride (about 3,500 miles with side trips) back to his home town in Rockland, Massachusetts, next to Boston. The author reminded me of a composite of two guys I grew up with, Garland who was also in the Navy and Walter who also made several motorcycle road trips. The Kindle book was published in 2020 so I’m amazed that the author remembered so much about his 1997 trip. I enjoyed reading about this trip, even though it had no photos. The author referred to the ride as one of the greatest adventures of his life.
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| Above: Cover of the Kindle book. |
February 4: Finished reading "Chasing America" by Tracy Farr, read this Kindle book on my iPhone 12. The 53-year old author decided in 2015 he wanted to break the Guinness World Record for the Longest Journey by Motorcycle in a Single Country, which was set in 2013 by two guy riding 20,727 miles across China. He didn't break this record but did document his very interesting ride all over the United States. His motorcycle was a 2005 Honda Shadow VLX and already had 90,000 miles on it. He traveled 19,190 miles (7 legs) in 56 days and rode through 43 states. He started in his hometown in Paris, Texas. No photos in the book, but 208 posted at his flickr site.
His blog about his motorcycle journey can be found at:
http://www.thefarrplace.com/search/label/Chasing%20America.
208 photos from his journey can be found at:
https://www.flickr.com/photos/tracyfarr/albums/72157651897128817/
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| Above: Cover of the Kindle book. |
February 8: Finished reading the Kindle book "Oracle, Arizona and Beyond" by John Stuart Watkins. This book has nothing to do with motorcycle travels (the cover threw me), just a picture-story-book of places to visit, sites to see, and things to do in and around Oracle, Arizona. It’s possible that a future motorcycle ride on my part will take me through Oracle so I’ll keep some of this information in mind, perhaps a stop at the Oracle Patio Café, or maybe the Oracle Inn? The Florence Museum also seems interesting. I definitely want to do a motorcycle ride to Bisbee, Arizona which this book covers with a lot of information and photos.
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| Above: Cover of the Kindle book. |
February 24: Finished reading the Kindle book "An American Motorcycling Adventure" by John Ward on my iPhone 12. Written by a 60-year old man from England that ships his 13-year old 2002 Honda Deauville 650cc shaft-driven V-Twin motorcycle to Chicago, Illinois and starts a 13-week, 13,000 mile trip around the United States. Three years earlier he had undergone open heart surgery for a quadruple heart bypass. His trip is in 3 legs, the first leg is his solo ride from Chicago to San Francisco, California where he picks up his wife who flew in from England. The second leg is the ride with his wife as passenger from San Francisco across the US to Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada and then back to Houston, Texas where his wife caught a flight back to England, and the third leg is riding solo again from Houston through the southern states and up into the eastern states where he ends up shipping his bike from New Jersey back to England. A very interesting read, well written, lots of traveling information, and a few nice photos.
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| Above: Cover of the Kindle book. |
March 13: Finished reading the Kindle book "Ghosts in the Wind - In the Footsteps of Lewis & Clark" by Charles L Schiereck on my iPhone 12. About a a 68-year old man that makes a round-trip, cross-country motorcycle ride in 2018 starting in New Jersey to the the Pacific Ocean in Washington. He rode a 2017 Harley Davidson Freewheeler.
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| Above: Cover of the Kindle book. |
March 22: Started wearing Phonak Audeo Paradise P90-RT RIC Hearing aids. But returned them April 7 primarily due to poor support service. And the Phonak app didn't work properly and neither did the TV connector.
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| Above: Phonak P90 hearing aids. |
March 28: Finished reading the Kindle book "Ride On" by John Black on my iPhone 12. About a 72+ year old man from Poteau Oklahoma that makes 3 rides across North America on his 2017 Harley Davidson Ultra Classic LTD motorcycle. He did these rides over a period of 3 years (2017-2019) and covered a total of 49,470 miles.
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| Above: Cover of the Kindle book. |
May 24: Purchased a pair of Oticon More miniRITE T hearing aids from Hearing Health in Scottsdale.
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| Above: Oticon More miniRITE hearing aids. |
October 17: Just a news item of interest, as of Oct. 17, 2022 you can officially purchase over-the-counter hearing aids in stores and online, without needing to see a doctor, an audiologist, or a licensed hearing aid specialist.
October 27: Received 4th Pfizer (Bivalent) COVID-19 shot at Safeway. Plus got the yearly flu shot.
October 29: Finished reading the Kindle book "Let's Ride" by David Donaghe on my iPhone 12. The book consisted of three separate trips across the United States, from Barstow California to Alabama for annual meetings of his motorcycle club, during the years of 2017, 2018 and 2021. He was 59 years of age when he made his first cross-country ride. His first trip was on his 2008 Harley Davidson Road glide and his next two trips was on his 2014 Triumph Rocket Three. Interesting reading, lots of nice photos. In his book he writes “If riding a motorcycle across the country is something you would like to do then you will enjoy this book. Saddle up and Let’s Ride."
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| Above: Cover of the Kindle book. |
