Getting there

This morning I have to get my gear to the support truck that's hauling things to Savannah for me.  I was wide awake at 5:00 and in my garage by 6:00 to go through everything one more time.  I feel like I've got a lot of stuff but somehow it fit into a much smaller space than I anticipated.  It makes me wonder if I've forgotten something.  I suppose that feeling will haunt me for awhile.

On the forums at Scooter Cannonball and Modern Vespa there is a lot of chatter among the riders.  I was just reading a post written by one of the veteran riders and was struck by the fact that she sounded just as amped up and giddy as us rookies.  It's not that I expected the vets to be blase and ho-hum about the whole thing, but maybe just more matter of fact and not displaying as much emotion.  But I don't think there's any way you can plot out and undertake a trip like this without getting excited.  It's a big freakin' deal.

The scooter for Bill Dog arrived from LA the other day.  When the driver opened the truck this is what I saw inside.

The wooden pallet that holds the scooter securely upright was smashed to splinters and when we got the case off I found the scooter lying on its side, which is generally not a good thing.  There was also a pretty big dent on the front of it.  The driver suggested that maybe I ought to refuse delivery.  I laughed and explained why I had to accept it.  As the rider of some oversized crotch rocket he was pretty impressed by the audacity of what we're about to do.  It's always nice when you can educate a motorcycle rider about what scooters are capable of.

Once I got the scoot off of the truck it started right up.  Whew!  And the dent?  Well...it turns out that it was there all along but no one had bothered to tell me.  If I'd known in advance it would have prevented me from shitting myself when I saw it.  Oh well.  It's here, it's running and it's beautiful.  Bill should be very happy with his new ride.