IDAA Spokane, Harley Motorcycle Ride Spokane to Burnaby

What a wonderful time I had at the Spokane IDAA. Of the some 25 I’ve attended this one is special especially because of the people.  I must have known a dozen or more incredible people I’ve spent close time with over the years. As I said to John, it really is like ‘Same time Next Year’.  “But without the sex,” he responded.  Yes without the sex. Indeed the sex and intimacy meeting in Al Anon was one of the best.  I really enjoyed a lot of AA. I’d come from the Internatioanl Conference in Vancouver and was immersed in principled and fellowship.  I loved the in depth discussion of the steps and spirituality.  I enjoyed the banquets.  Meals were great.The speakers were outstanding.  600 people. A whole lot of recovery.  I loved Art and his Son Jay doing the count and giving out the big book.  So good to see Marv.  A delight to see Herb and Brandon Dave after just seeing them at the Intrnational.  I loved seeing Madeleine at both. Her house and retirement and kayaking all sound divine and well deserved,  I really enjoyed John and Jennifer.  Akron Dave was the best.  I connected most with people from cyberdocs.  All theses little screen people full blown.  Cole,a magician, suddenly appearing full sized in all her glory caught me off guard.  I had the same feeling about Ben a face I see on Saturday morning suddenly full bodied.  Luna the service dog was regal, I missed my own pup thankful Laura was caring for him.  So many discussions about cats and dogs and all these friend I’ve known a quarter of century telling me their kids have finished college. How did we get so old. 

I loved sorting out my Motorcycle at Lone Wolf and Vintage enjoying the rides and the brakes from the Davenport Grand Hotel and Confernce Centre.  Spokane is such a beautiful city. I am so thankful for Tommie as she organized our dinner and I delighted in Elliott’s Neighbourhood kitchen.  Tommie is immersed in recovery in retirement and gives me hope for the future.  So many of us discussed hearing aids this time while others had acquired canes.  I didn’t feel alone and afraid. My colleagues are going before with courage and humor.  

The Saturday night speaker, Lithuanian, surgeon, psychiatrist, horse jumper, mother, amazed us with an extraordinary tale of suffering joy and resilience.  It’s so important to be among to the greats. I felt like I was at times among those who’d been on the space station.  Famous names and down to earth folk who were working programs to increase their love and care.  Two more friends had died and I recognized them when we had silence for those we’d lost. Adam made me laugh.  Corrine and Carole remain so beautiful.  I loved seeing Julie but missed the dance.  There were so many I’ve known nd shared with.  Charles, my psychiatrist friend warmed my heart with his wisdom.  In past meetings I’d made every psychiatry break out but this one I was focused on Dick’s early bird and the Cyberdocs.  Attitude of Gratitude.  There’s at least a dozen more I was close to but now they are just a swirl of love and joy.  I am so thankful to be sober and with a higher power and with others who work to be better each day.  It’s truly humbling to be among such greats and to feel their love and care.  I laughed so much and cried a little.

I left early Sunday, at 630 am.  I thanked God for keeping me safe on the ride down and was glad to be away praying all day to stay awake and live.  It was a magnificent ride among wheat fields and evergreens.  I find the Cascades a challenge just like coming into LA.  Curving high speed highways with racing trucks and cars crowding all round and intense attention.  I was so glad to be through and coasting into Seattle. Then up the well known number 5. Despite my Nexus Card being out of date the kindly customs waved mine through. It’s right on the computer and for a year now I’ve been waiting for Canada Post to sort out its strike threats and get me a new card.  I’m waiting on a bank card replacement.  So much for slow mail all much longer delays.  Yet humans who are kind and with it.  I was glad to be back in Canada. I love coming home.  Then I was home,’

Dog ecstatic, running in circles, jumping up and down, bringing me toys. I was glad I’d stopped and bought him a bone. I hugged my dearest friend Laura and was so glad to be back in my Thor Hurricane Home.  I drank several cokes and ginger ales.  Dehydrated. The ride had been hot.  I was glad to unload the leathers and get into shorts and t shirt.  Laying down on my couch in the air conditioning. Thank you God for keeping me alert and alive. Thank you God for such a wonderful conference. I even enjoyed the CME but mostly the people. I truly am blessed to know such angels.  Next year Chicago.  I am so thankful for this year.  It’s been such a rush returning from southern Californian, Fountain of Youth, then Harrisons’ and buy the Thor and driving the camper truck with Vespa to Ottawa and returning towing the motorboat.  Then taking the Thor to Sunshine Valley and returning for the international and motorcycling to Spokane and back.  All the while I’ve maintained my practice and continued to learn with audiobooks and study.  It’s a wonderful life thanks to God , sobriety, a design for living, and the love of friends. I’m normally fairly reclusive but these intense weeks with so many people celebrating life have been so rewarding. 

Now I’m back to my routine and looking forward to it. Thank you Jesus.  

Egomaniac with inferiority complex

I first heard that 28 years ago and thought that sums up my dilemma perfectly.  I also heard the words ‘incomprehensible demoralization’ and felt sympatico again.  Today I don’t feel the shame, anger, hurt or self pity I once did. I just had a lovely dinner with friends I’ve known decades.  I was simply thankful. Great food, great service, great company.  I am blessed.  

Thank you. 

IDAA Spokane 2025. To thine own self be true

I’m loving this conference, The Spokane Convention Center has great acoustics and is such a friendly place.  I’m staying in the Grand Hotel and it’s perfect,  I like the showers and bed and view. There’s a great tv I watched on night

The rest of the time has been going to CME meetings and recovery meetings. I just love all the friends I’ve come to know since my first meeting in Toronto 1998.  I miss Hank and do many other old guy and gal I came to know and be close to but have now passed on.  We call it the great meeting in the sky.  So many of my mentors have been 10 years older or so and now I’m older and it’s been a good life in recovery serving and being among the best of the best.

I’ve even had time to ride my motorcycle in town on errands. It’s also been fixed up, the break fluid and oil leak solved so I’m prepared and looking forward to the ride home. 

So happy to be among the cyberdoc group in person.  The banquets and food have been the best. 

It’s only just begun too

Thank you God, Thank you nous.  Thank you soul, Thank you heart. Thank you Imago Deo.  Thank you Jesus. Thank you Sam Shoemaker and Father Dowling, Thank you Carl Jung and Emerson. Thank you for all you have opened their eyes and looked to hope and possibility with resilient faith.  Thank you for IDAA.  

Tonight was the New comers banquet and another inspirational time. 

Next year Chicago,

Priest River, Idaho to Stevens Mountain Pass, Washington to Vancouver, Canada, Motorcycling.

Coming back from Sturges Motorcycle Rally, I left Priest River in the morning after sleeping on the side of the road in the all night thunder and lightning storm.
My clutch was tight so I headed down to Spokane's Lone Wolf Harley Dealership where they have a really great service department. They'd fixed my bike on the way out.  Sure enough they solved things again, adjusting the clutch and solving my problem of slippage.  Only $140 dollars and job done in an hour an a half.  I had coffee and donuts while I waited.
Then I headed out on the incredible I90 freeway. It was a hot day.  Dry and hot. I realized I wouldn't be having much more of this kind of breathable air after I hit the coast.  Lots of deep breaths.  Still with so little sleep the night before because of the storm and camping on the road, I had to pull off at every rest stop to lie down and try and catch a little zzzz's.  I was drinking red bull and double shots of starbucks but this is only a temporary solution.
At Moses Lake I finally found a Doobie Brothers CD. Having seen and heard them at Sturges I really wanted to listen to them on the ride. Steppenwolf had been entertaining me until then. Now I enjoyed 'Taking it to the Street' travelling along the road at 85 mph.
The beauty of freeways is the roads are great and the speed is great but it's hard to stay awake. I decided to take the backroad through the mountains bypassing the Seattle traffic and coming out at Seattle. I was glad I did. Beautful grape growing country all through these hills and mountains.  Truly spectacular. Quincy is an amazing town.
I stopped at Rock Island for a BLT sandwich and salad. There was a fire on the mountain side and bucket helicopters were trying to put it out.  Must have been from the lightening the night before.  Everyone along the way was talking about that storm.
I was really surprised at the size of Wenatchee. I'd never heard of it so it was just a name on a map before I came into this little city.  Right in the middle of wonderland with lakes and streams and mountains and everything a body could want in a town. I was tempted to stay but all day I'd been thinking of Gilbert my cockapoo companion waiting to see his human at home.  I actually thought I could make it through to Vancouver that day.
Then there was Ellensberg. What a beautiful tourist town with all the Bavarian architecture and painting. I thought I was in Germany. I regular little American alps.  Again I thought of stopping as there were so many fine hotels but instead I pushed on.  In future I should stop when I think of it.
This clip I made of the Stevens Mountain Pass is the ride up to the pass. It was truly beautiful country and great riding. A biker's delight. Lots of slow winding turns and beautiful scenery.
The problem occurred at the top of the mountain as we came over to the West Coast rain forest side. I just had time to zip on my jacket to my the webbing of my HD Switchback gear. That's when the storm hit.  Big big rain and lots of it. Then over the top it was pea soup fog. I couldn't see a bike length in front of me so was down to 20 km.
Another motorcyclist, obviously blind, and a blind car driver wanted to go ahead of me and I was glad to let them pass.  They obviously couldn't see what horrible conditions we were in so let them clear the way.  I just struggled to continue on at 20 km/hr , surprised when I saw lights coming at me at a crawl in the other lane.  Finally the fog cleared a bit so visibility was better. Then I had to keep pulling over to let locals continue at 45 mph.  I was doing maybe 35 mph on the way down.  It was exciting and of course I thought not only about the cars but about the animals that might be lost in this weather and dart across the road.
Without the storm and fog this would be one of the prettiest rides. I was really glad at Gold Bar to take a motel room, get some dinner from the Hacienda and then collapse exhausted from all the concentration and horror of the last hour riding. The whole  area along was resorts and cabins and outdoors sports activities. I imagine it's a kind of Whistler Blackhomb area for Washington. Real outdoor adventure area.
The next days drive back to Vancouver Canada was uneventful.  I was on a route I knew well.  Grey with light rain at times.  Great folk at the border crossing, friendly and welcoming. I was glad to be back home.
I was so thankful to be alive and well and to find my home all clean and tidy. Took a while to find my Mazda Miata keys. I was happy to have parked and unloaded the motorcycle.
Vancouver is the most dangerous city to drive in. Nobody uses their signals for change and street people wander out in the road everywhere. I kept thinking that Justin Troudeau wants to legalize marijuana. Well, let him drive around this city for a few days and see if he wants more stoned people on the road.  There was more drunken stoned behaviour on the streets of Vancouver than at the Sturgis Motorcycle Rally.  Compared to every city I drove through on the trip Vancouver was by far the most dangerous driving. Hence I was glad to get off my motorcycle. After more than 5000 km riding it over the last 2 weeks I remembered why I don't like riding my motorcycle in Vancouver.
So I was glad to get in the Miata once I found the keys.  Driving over to Joannes was just fine.  Top down. The sun out.  Loved Vancouver again.  Joanne's in Burnaby and Gilbert was ecstatic to see me.  Lots of barking and circling and barking and circling and giving me toys and generally dog propelled by wagging tail behaviour. I was sure glad to see him too.  Joanne is great.
Gilbert was back in the co pilot seat and we were reunited.  A walk down Commercial with a lamb kebab (shared) dinner at the Greek restaurant then lots of ball throwing and fetching restored us to old times.
Glad to be home. Hallelujah. Thank you Lord.
 

Spokane - on motorcycle

This is the editted version of the video I made and published earlier. I've taken out the stops where I was standing waiting for lights to change.  The down side of this is the Steve Bell music in the background isn't as clear.  I really did enjoy listening to Steve Bell.  So inspiring and uplifting.  The video is perkier and only 5 minutes as opposed to more than twice that long.  It's a better view of the city too.  I'm learning about Mac's Imovie editting program and the Hero3 camera.  I loved riding around the beautiful city of Spokane Sunday on my Harley Electraglide.

Spokane = downtown motorcycling Sunday drive

I enjoyed motorcycling about Spokane for a Sunday drive listening to Steve Bell on the Harley Davidson Electraglide motorcycle. I was wearing the Hero 3 camera mounted on my helmut.

Motorcycling Washington

Jan 20, 2013

I’ve woken as usual at 6:30, the  sun streaming in my window.  I’m at Summit Inn in the Mount Baker Snoqualmie National Forest.  I loved the smells of the forest last night driving here.

I’d been caught up in the tail end of rush hour traffic after picking up my Electraglide motorcycle from Trev Dealey.  I’d had an alarm put on the bike, new grips, the fluids changed and brakes fixed. The ABS problem never was solved so I’m going along without that.  

The hand grips are spectacular and the alarm is comforting.  Comes with a fob that will be set off in the room if someone is trying to take the bike outside.  I also got a switchback jacket which breaks down into three parts, with one just netting and armor, one with netting and liner and one with full jacket zippered onto the netting.  I used all three choices driving down last night. At first it was so hot I was thankful of the netting then as it cooled off with night I increased the layers till I was wearing the full jacket and loving the warmth.  

The handle grips with the little tag that allows me to manage speed with my palm rather than by grip is terrific.

I stopped at London Drugs on Broadway to pick up a little audiocable connector. This allowed me to connect my IPOD to the stereo in the Harley. I hadn’t found anything on the radio and was really thankful to have 10th Avenue playing as I headed out of town.  

Just a beautiful drive to the border where there was no line up. I showed the young guy my passport and he waved me on wishing me a good ride.  

Then I was bombing down the I5.  That is such a great riding highway.  I turned off at a Casino gas station just north of Maryville for a fill up and got directions to the 9 south to #2 highway to Spokane.  At Maryville though I headed back to the I5 in hope of finding a  place to stay the night.  At the Best Western Tulalip the delightful girl said she had no vacancy and had been calling around all evening only to find there was no vacancy between Seattle and Bellingham.  I’d found that before on a weekend.  It’s a popular vacation stretch.

Fortified with Starbucks cold americano coffee “two shots” in a can I headed on.  It was pretty exciting doing the freeway through Seattle to finding the I90.  I stopped for gas and had a Macdonald’s burger with fries.  That’s when I was cold and zipped in the rest of the jacket making it cozy warm.

No vacancy at the next three places I checks, other motels with no vacancy signs.  

I almost decided to camp near the summit here feeling really tired.The gravel road turned me off though with a bike I couldn’t pick up if I dumped it.  Back on the freeway I headed up to the Summit where there was a sign for Summitt Inn. There was a great nearly full moon all the way along with bright stars and forest smells all around.

I’d been reading Proof of Heaven, by Alexander, the neurosurgeon who had gram negative meningitis and a near death experience at the Macdonalds on my Iphone Kindle. It’s just so moving.

I was really thankful to find this Inn and now I’m going to shower and get out on the road again. I’ve 250 miles to go to Spokane and would like to get there by the afternoon when the Harley dealership is still open.  

Jan. 20, 2013

I'm exhausted happily in the luxurious Mirabeau Park Hotel and Convention Centre, Spokane Washington. I've been eating great steak brought by room service. My motorcycle is down below the room in the parking lot. It's alarmed. I was at Lone Wolf Harley Davidson Dealer earlier today. It was a 250 mile ride.  I recorded a bit of it on the Hero 3.  I enjoyed a few of the rest stops. At Moses Lake I decided to drive into town. I vaguely thought of having breakfast and found the Alano Club by surprise. A god moment. Good folk. I definitely needed 'soul food'.  

I enjoyed listening to Steve Bell's music. I was even dancing in the seat when I put on Joni Mitchell's song Carrie. Reminded me I'd been near where she wrote that upbeat song in Crete.  
It's really critical that one stays focus motorcycling especially on the long flats.  Still I think. I reflect. Mostly I'm focussed on the road, looking about a bit at the surroundings, watching out for cars passing.  Today I thought about all the girls I'd know. They really were all perfect angels. Life is sacred and definitely the girls are an example of angels on earth. I'm very grateful for my family and friends too.  Lots of great guys in my life too. I've been really blessed.  I'm very thankful. It's hard not to be grateful when life finds you barrelling across Washington on a great sunny hot day on a great motorcycle. 
 I loved the prairies and wheat and corn fields.  Great variety of dry summer territory.  I'm enjoying the ride. Morning the temperature was great but by the afternoon it was really hot.  I was glad to get into Spokane.  250 miles. I left Summit Hotel at 730 am and took an hour off arriving in Spokane at 2 30 pm.  The plan is to do 500 miles in a day. I'm working up to it.  Great terrain.  Great Harley.  Fun summer riding.