In a couple of days, I will be getting on a a suspiciously cheap (like about £200) Norwegian air flight to Seattle. When I get there, I’m being met at the airport by Steph, the very lovely guy who’s selling me the bike I’m going to ride and he’s driving my an hour north to his place in Anacortes, Washington.
Amazingly, not only is he selling me this beautiful bike that he custom built, he’s collecting me from the airport and putting me up for the night before I set off on my ride south. But get this – last week, he offered for him and his wife to ride with me down highway 101 for a couple of days – how frikkin’ awesome is that?
We spoke last night on the phone and it sounds like we can make it across the state line into Oregon on the first day before we find a motel or somewhere to hole up for the night. They’ll ride with me maybe a day longer and hopefully, I’ll be in San Francisco by the weekend at some point.
I’m completely bowled over by all of this. Here I am, some random Englishwoman off the internet and they’re offering to collect me, put me up for the night and ride with me – I’m blown away by their kindness and generosity. This is what I love about travelling and particularly travelling by motorcycle; the people you meet!
(That photo by the way – that’s my new DMD open face helmet and Biltwell goggles. Am I going to regret an open face helmet on the Pacific coast highway? Only time will tell…)