Quality time with Nomad & Family - Vacation 09'

[badnomad08]

It is that time of year again when people start taking family vacations and enjoying the great outdoors. This year should be a great time for my family and I. We (myself and my wife's grandfather) have planned a nice vacation and made it for the family and for ourselves (Motorcycle trip ). We will be leaving on Tuesday to head toward the Cherohala Skyway, the Tail of the Dragon, and the Blue Ridge Parkway. We will also be spending several days in Gatlinburg, TN enjoying the sites and the scenery along the way. It should be a great time for all of us. Best of all we don't set a strict schedule. We just pick a destination and get there when we get there. I hope everyone has a great "summer" and has some FUN/SAFE vacations . Ride Safe!!!

P.S.- Post your vacation plans for this year and let us know how it goes when you get back.

[watchman]

Liz and I normally plan vacations around motorcycle rallyies we want to attend. It used to be just the VROC rallies but now it is the KawaNOW and VROC rallies. We don't do big rallies like Sturgis, Daytona, etc. We usually try to add a trip in as we go to or return from the rally. Like this year we went down and rode the Natchaz Trace on the way to the South Central KawaNOW rally in Eureka Springs. And last year we took 20 days and rode to the VROC rally in Coo's Bay Oregon. We went through the Black Hills, Glaicer Park and Columbia River canyon on the way out and then the Oregon Coast highway, northern Red Woods and Crater Lake on the return.

Liz could not get time off so my friend Rick and I are riding out the KawaNOW rally at Custer SD. Liz and I are in the process of making plans to attend the Talimena ride this October and we will be at the VROC Reunion in Eureka Springs in September.

Nothing like spending quality family time on the bikes!

[superduty]

My wife and I leave for Lake Tahoe tomorrow morning. I'd planned to rent a H-D Ultra for a da and ride around the lake, but I see that there's a 40% chance of rain all week now. :(

[unwind2]

Hubie and I do a motorcycle trip every year of some sort of other. We've been on m/c trips with friends to New York, Americade....last year to the KawaNow Eastern rally in West Virginia and this year to Custer....YEAH.

But one of my favorites from the past was when our son who is in the Army flew home for a leave literally got off the plane from a 10 hour flight...hopped on one of the m/c's and went with his father and I on a trip to Canada.

Everybody enjoy your adventures and be safe. Happy summer!

[jesse]

Mine wouldn't be a vacation without the bike. I am plannning to visit friends in California, but am going thru the Dakotas, Wyoming, Montana, Idaho, Washington and Oregon to get there. Once there I will meet up with my wife and lay over and ride short trips with their friends for a couple of days and then head back home to Arkansas. It looks like about 6K + miles as planned. I can hardly wait, I only wish I could have worked out the dates to include Custer I know that will be fun.

[lw]

This year our family vacation will begin with the trip to Custer for the national rally, and after that concludes we'll continue on to Yellowstone & Grand Teton National Parks before swinging southward for the return to Houston,TX using the "throw a dart at the map" method to determine what we want to see/do. I have a total of 21 days before I have to be back at the plant. The 50-50 plan will determine the length of the trip. When half the vacation money is spent it will be time to start heading home.

This will be our second motorcycle vacation in a row, and I'm already in the convincing/planning stages for next year's.

[badnomad08]

Sorry for waiting so long to post, but u know what its like when you come back from vacation. Anyway, vacation went very well. One of the best things was that I seen 8 NOMADS along the way!!! I couldn't believe it. I seen the first one in Crossville, TN, then two in Sweetwater, TN, one in Cherokee, NC, one in Gatlinburg, TN, two in Sevierville, TN, and one in Cookeville, TN on the way home. I actually just seen one yesterday in town as well (Harrisburg, IL).

My bike did great along the way getting as high as 42mpg and the lowest was 36mpg, it didn't matter if we were on the interstate or over a mile high on the Cherohala skyway she did awesome. I think she ran the best at the high altitude, it probably was the thinner air causing her to richen up, but she sounded better and ran like a Champ!!! The ping just went away no matter how hard I twisted the throttle. She also sounded really good to me cruising down the interstate with the debaffled pipes around 80mph indicated, but even running that fast with the rpms up if I gave her just a bit to much throttle she would ping something awful. There is definitely a programmer in my future. This pinging crap has got to go!!!

Unfortunately when we got into Robbinsville, NC it was getting dark and we couldn't find a motel that we liked so we decided to go into Bryson City, NC and stayed there. The next morning we decided not to back track to the Tail of the Dragon like we had planned, so I can't say I have been on it. Even with that we had a great time, seen some great views and I rode about 1,000 miles over the trip.
Once we got into Gatlinburg, TN I parked the bike for a couple of days and we had a wonderful family vacation seeing the sites and going to the different attractions. I would definitely recommend this trip to anyone. There were plenty of curves, scenery, and lots of things to do. We are definitely going to go back. I also was able to pick up a universal vista cruise at a dealer along the way . Now I just need to take the time to put it on. The next day after we got home my right hand was killing me, but it was worth it. Ride Safe!!!