Riding home from Redmond, Oregon - Day 16

Total Miles = 154

Libby, her family, and I all went our separate directions around 7:30 am. I was happy to snap a picture of her youngest on my bike! He looks like he is enjoying it. My trip from Madison to Chicago took longer than expected. It continued to rain the entire time until I reached the Des Plaines Oasis on the outskirts of Chicago. And then the traffic picked up and it got HOT. But do I really want to complain in my last post for my awesome trip. No! Let's sum up how awesome it was.

4, 488 total miles, 11 states (4 of them I had never been to before!), countless smiles and oohs and ahs.

Going home from Redmond, Oregon - Day 15

Total Miles = 353

So I thought today was my last day on the road, but the tornadoes in Southern Wisconsin had other plans for me. I knew I would encounter some rain today and put on rain gear just west of the Minnesota-Illinois border on I-94. The rain became so bad that it was difficult to see so I stopped in about 20 miles to wait out the storm at McDonald's (let's call this McD's #1). By chance, my dad and stepmom were traveling north on I-94 and our timing was just about perfect for meeting for lunch in Osseo, Wisconsin (at McD's #2). After lunch, I was on my way, but encountered black, nasty looking skies and pummeling rain. I exited in DeForest, WI and camped out at the Citgo station for a while - the home of the pink elephant!

I learned at the Citgo station that a tornado had been spotted about a mile away. The word was the tornado warning would lift at 6:00. I traveled down the road to McD's #3 to wait it out. I had also talked with my childhood friend, Libby, who lives in Madison. Being only 30 minutes north of Madison, I thought perhaps I would stay with her if the weather did not let up. Libby later called to tell me to wait until at least 7:30 pm to leave, as more tornado warnings were in effect. At that point, I made the decision to travel to Libby's as soon as the warnings were done. Around 8:30, I arrived at Libby's and caught up with her, her husband and two boys. I had not seen them in over a year and my had the two kids grown. It was great to catch up and I look at it as a blessing to have had this time with them. As I got ready for bed that night (the oldest son volunteered his room to me!), I noticed a map of the United States on the wall. I became curious. Now that I've hit some new states on this trip, how many states have I been to? Well, turns out I have been to 41 - only 9 more to go! It reminded me of a great t-shirt that Bob's BMW carries. It's called Keep Score and you check off the states and provinces you have ridden through as you do so.

Going home from Redmond, Oregon - Day 14

Total Miles = 532

I crossed in North Dakota fairly quickly into my ride. In doing so, the landscape changed quickly - going from a combination of rocky and open plains to "lumpy" hills and more green. A nice treat was viewing what I think were the Painted Canyon or North Dakotan Badlands in Theodore Roosevelt Park. Really beautiful. It looked like the Badlands in South Dakota only smaller and greener. Very cool. As I contemplated the sights, I got to thinking how grateful I am to live in a country that has such varied and breathtaking landscapes. Even some states have multiple climates and looks. Traveling by motorcycle allows me to see this first hand. After I crossed into Minnesota, the landscape changed again - more green, more farmland - less ranching, more growing - more trees - as you would expect Minnesota to look like. It was a fairly uneventful day on I-94. No rain, no weirdos (well, not too bad). Met some nice bikers from all over the country. I'm still loving my new windscreen. Stops for has were in Bismarck, ND, Jamestown, ND, Fargo, ND, Fergus Falls, MN and staying in St. Cloud, MN at the Quality Inn. I like Quality Inns. I've found that they are a good value and pretty nice. As a bonus, I arrived early enough to enjoy a beer and some dinner at the attached Old Chicago restaurant.

Ride To Work Day

Hi! I'm Katlin, one of the current Marketing Interns at VaVaVroom and today I'm guest blogging about this year's 18th annual Ride To Work Day taking place Monday, June 21, 2010. Riding motorcycles or scooters provides economic and environmental benefits, not to mention how fun and practical they are!

Ride your motorcycle or scooter on this day to demonstrate:

• The number of motorcyclists to the general public and to politicians.
• That motorcyclists are from all occupations and all walks of life.
• That motorcyclists can reduce traffic and parking congestion in large cities.
• That motorcycles are for transportation as well as recreation.
• That motorcycling is a social good.

So this year, reduce your environmental footprint, save money and fuel, and enjoy yourself, by making a point to ride your bike to work on June 21, and for the rest of the summer!

For more information, click here.

Photo Shoot at Ace Motorcycle and Scooter

Last week, VaVaVroom received a message from Motorcycle Product News Magazine (MPN) that we could send them some photos for an upcoming spread. We called our friends at Ace Motorcycle and Scooter at 1042 W. Jackson in Chicago to see if we could use their space for the photo shoot. They said "Sure, no problem!". Awesome. With little preparation, limited pick of models, and a budding photographer, we set out to take some rockin' pics. We took over 300 pictures. We share the best ones with you here.














I HEART Motorcycles long sleeve thermal and Viva Lacet tank














Ride tee from the Chopper Chic Collection. The Ride tee looks great on scooters too!














Talk Dirty to Me in a burnout tee and lettuce edge tee














Those Girls - Sport Bike Edition tank and Scooter tank in white