These pages describe an 11 day ride on “Bear,” my 1998 Kawasaki Concours. I took the ride in September 1998 and it covered about 6,000 miles and parts of 14 states. I went looking for beauty and peace of mind. I found both .. . and a sore butt. Rick Hall, a fellow COG'ger, and keeper of the COG pages, joined me for a couple of days and a couple thousand miles. I had jokingly asked him to meet me in Montana. He said he’d be there and there he was ... . he and his trusty scoot, “Sam.”
This is a shot of my smiling puss at Crater Lake National Park in south central Oregon. A rider at Bear Tooth Pass saw the load I was carrying and asked if I had forgotten anything. I 'spose he'd never seen a high speed spoiler like mine.
I like riding more than reading. Some of the trip logs I’ve (half) read are labors of love for the author and trials by fire for the reader. I’ll try to keep this in mind and not to churn out a long string of pointless drivel to entertain me at your expense. Drop me a line if you have a correction or a suggestion. I’m no Hemingway and I can use the help.
My itinerary went something like this:
* September 3 - Kansas City, Missouri, to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, via THE SLAB* September 4 - Sioux Falls to Ashland, Montana, via the Bad Lands
* September 5 - Ashland to Conrad, Montana, via Bear Tooth Pass
* September 6 - Conrad to US-12 in Idaho, via Glacier Nat’l Park and Lolo Pass
* September 7 - The wilds of Idaho to Pacific City, Oregon, via the Columbia River
* September 8 - Pacific City to Ashland Oregon, via the Oregon Coast and Crater Lake
* September 9 - Ashland to Seaside, California, via Rt.96 and the coastal highway
* September 10 - Seaside to Long Beach, California, via the coastal highway
* September 12 - Long Beach to San Diego, via THE SLAB
* September 13 - San Diego to Barstow, California, via THE SLAB
* September 14 - Barstow to the Colorado/Kansas Border, via THE SLAB
* September 15 - Colorado/Kansas Border to Kansas City, via THE SLAB
I’ve divided the trip into 8 installments. The first one starts right here.Me? I’m raring to go again ...
kzzzkc@kc.rr.com
Steve Roberts || Kansas City, Missouri
