(8) Last Minute Items

Neil flew down to Portland on June 22nd. We put both motorcycles in a storage unit in Vancouver, packed my household items in a UHaul, put the car on a trailer and drove down to the house in Bullhead City. So I’m officially moved out of Washington. Neil is back in Alaska and I’m headed out to spend a couple weeks with John at the farm in Wisconsin now.

I fly back to Portland on July 13 and Neil comes in on the 14th. We’ll leave Vancouver on the 15th of July for a short day down to Newport, OR to see my sister and my 99 year old mother. First official post of the trip will be on the 16th as we start our ride to Colorado for the off-road riding class.

There are still a couple of things on the list to do before we leave. Both Neil and I have to purchase medical evacuation insurance so we will be flown back to the US in the event of a serious medical emergency. We both need to purchase medical insurance that will pay while we are out of the country. Both our insurances require us to pay up front when out of the country and then submit claims for reimbursement when we are home. I think it will be best if we have insurance that will pay while we are out of the country for major issues.

Neil registered his bike in Alaska. I have his plate and will put it on his bike when I get back to Vancouver. My bike turned in to a bit of a “cluster”. My bike is registered in Washington. They only issue 1 year registrations and mine might expire while we are gone, depending on how long the trip takes. I cannot renew it until 6 months before expiration. By that time we will be on the road. UGH!

So, while in Arizona I got an AZ drivers license, motorcycle title and registration for the bike. Only problem there is that all those things are mailed to me. The plan du jour now is to head directly to the AZ house as soon as we are done with the riding class (well, except for a day stop in Page, AZ to tour Antelope Canyon on the way) and pick all that up then go back north to do the US part of the trip before ending up back at the AZ house by August 22nd. Neil will be flying back to Alaska then to go to a concert at the Alaska State Fair for a long weekend (an early birthday present from his girlfriend) and John will fly down from Wisconsin for a few days to see me before Neil and I meet back up again to head into Mexico around Labor Day.

Whew!!