What could be more exciting than a cross county adventure? Perhaps a cross country adventure on a vintage Italian motorcycle with an equally vintage English sidecar.
This journey actually started in 1985 when I purchased my first Moto Guzzi, a severely neglected 1972 Ambassador. That led me to join the Moto Guzzi National Owners Club, MGNOC. And that led, ultimately, to me meeting Don, the MGNOC Northern California Rep, on a trip to California. I called him, we went riding and our friendship took off from there.
Don, Lee and Bubba on a previous outing.
Moto Guzzi people are great people!
Adventures With Bubba 
Ready to be the navigator in this journey! And as requested, we will wander down roads we have never taken before, have great adventures, and I will never ask for directions!
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I will never ask for directions! So manly, John.
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Nice talking to you… Will see you tomorrow…. Oh I guess I found the comment section…..
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So very excited for your adventure. May the road be smooth and lead you to wonderful places. Love Td
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Looking forward to some photos of your trip.
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Like the we’ll see attitude….. Hope you have fun traveling today, and not well you know…..
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Hello everyone, We rode from Davis CA to Alturas CA today via the spectacular Feather River Canyon/Route 70 and are safe and sound in our bed for the night. John and Bubba are a team now. What a wonderful day!!!
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Lee don’t read the map upside down and end up on the west coast at the end of your trip!
Have a great adventure you two and keep living in the moment, the eternal wonderful NOW!!!!
Love yas:)
Jeff and Jodi
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Lee if you do ask for directions maybe ask someone who doesn’t appear quite right.
That way you’ll have a better chance of getting where you’re going.
Sound advice:)
Jeff and Jodi
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Great pictures from yesterday! Is there any way to enable comments on each blog post? Anyway…your breakfast yesterday morning gave me a stomach ache just looking at it! : )
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really nice pic of the two of you on Sept 7th
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I can emphatically state that watching John in action (and more specifically, watching him produce forward motion in more or less and eastbound direction every day) is a sight I am proud to behold! Besides his undeniable talents in keeping Bubba keepin’ on, he has tackled each mechanical challenge with quiet authority, grace and faith. I have always felt that John was the right person to be next to when bad stuff comes down, and this adventure has only fortified that belief. We are modern day pioneers in reverse. Onward!
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I just finished reading day 11. For some reason I’m very hungry! I loved the photos of WY and SD. Maybe some day Jeff and I will see the sights in person. Now I have to read the adventures of day 12. Continued safe travels!
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Chops to John “The Fixer” for your ability to fix things and get out of trouble.
You guys have had a lot to overcome.
Your food talk makes me hungry:)
I follow you at night and don’t eat suppers.
That bike and sidecar is really awesome looking!!!
Remember Hillbilly Henge Mecca of exotic machines awaits:)
However Todd already graced it with old Jag and serious race car driving amongst the rubber monoliths. I had my legs stiff like boards and almost crapped my pants!!
Man he can drive like a PRO!!!!
Please consider telling of Adventures of Bubba at HAfunland’s “Home Grown Poets and Story Tellers” this Sat noon till 1:30 pm.
Folks would love to hear the tales…
Keep safe:)
Jeff and Jodi
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Dirty hair, dirty clothes, ice cream for dinner, budget hotels with grey towels and questionable bed linens, figuring out routes well after midnight until I can’t see the print anymore, bike parts in the room…I can now play my dream role for another few precious days…trash biker chick! Awesome!!!
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Sounds like…fun? I hope you have a wonderful last few days on your trip. Be safe.
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Hope your getting past the electrical issue? So sorry for your trials.
Love:)
Jeff and Jodi
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Keep going with your bush mechanic skills!! Very impressed with your abilities and grit to not quit. WTFreak is causing the trouble? I thought for sure you had it with the new voltage regulator. Good luck and glad you’re a skilled bush mechanic!!
Love:)
J+J
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Once had a Opel Cadet , my first car passed down to me by 5 family members. The key would turn ever so slightly momentarily when already traveling down the road engaging the starter which would blow out electronic fuses and the voltage regulator. Never knew it was momentarily engaging the starter. Put a weight on the opposite side of the key and no more problem. It would produce a burst of voltage well above a 12 volt system. Probably not the culprit but thought I would send in case. I nearly ran over Todd one night over 40 years ago with that car:) Lee make sure the bed sheets are fresh and don’t smell funny:)
Good luck:) J+J
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Oh my!!!
Thank you for passing on your link, John. A test of one couples mettle. . . and of course Bubba’s, spelled differently. Your pictures are wonderful because the routing, preplanned or otherwise, made them so.
Easy for me to say; I love your journey together; a kind of forced march on occasion, but still meeting every challenge. Once @ home your vacation should begin and end, w/much less stress.
I truly enjoyed catching up this a.m. At this point Bubba may be running @ his finest, no? XOXO, B~
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Today we are in fact 2,222 miles from our starting point accordingly to GPS! Our last couple days on the road begin with more beautiful sunshine, John wrenching on Bubba, and the battery charging next to me in the room as I check out our route to the Finger Lakes, my home of many years. I will surely miss these days when they are soon gone, even sitting in the sometimes blistering “can”! I told John last night that for the last 2000 miles, virtually every man who spied him wanted to be him. And maybe 2 to 3 women wanted to be me 😉 I have loved these days, and I got to share this adventure of a lifetime with my love of a lifetime, so what could be better than this!
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Glad you two had the brave adventure of a lifetime:)
It definitely showed your grit under adversity.
I was pondering my flunking of my motorcycle drivers test yesterday.
The ironic paradox of the motorcycle age. Jodi and I have worked for 8 months straight , 7 days a week due to financial reasons brought on by being entrepreneurs , running a contractor business and trying to establish HAfunland for way past when we are gone hopefully. Recently we sold our ol 57 Willys to buy an old cheap bike and longed to ride it. WHY? To get away from our life of incessant work and stress. For the adventure, for the dopamine rush. Conversely as dopamine rises serotonin falls. Serotonin makes one have deep feelings of peace and contentment. SO I was bumped I flunked the test and ironically all I had to do was sit quiet and meditate. And then I would of been in a quiet bliss… Hahahaaa Being human is crazy business all the way around:)
Keep heading north to Motto Guzzi Mecca HAfunalnd and come hungry!
We want you when here to relax and enjoy every thing.
We are glad you have each other and have enjoyed an immense adventure!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Keep safe:)
Love:)
Jeff and Jodi
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The change in the people and landscape was palpable as we approached the PA border and now that we are coming into the Southern Tier of NY where I grew up for a couple decades. I have traveled all over the world, but the beauty of the hills and hollers of my Appalachia home remain deeply imbedded in my psyche. I will always just be a girl from Elmira. I am home!
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Just crossed into NY by Corning and I can’t stop taking pictures of the jaw dropping beauty of the green hills and hollers of my youth. Beautiful COUNTRY and warm country folk! It’s great to be home!
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Your ALWAYS home here!!!
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Congratulations on making your trip and achieving your goal which you worked so hard for. I know that this must be bittersweet for Don but Bubba will be given new life, good use, and I hope that you will enjoy him for many years to come.
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It’s sunny in Vallejo. Can we do it again?
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Working on a trial but wish I was on a ROAD TRIP WITH YOU!!!!!
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Would be wonderful.
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In the middle of a pandemic, the world is on fire with strife and injustice. The halcyon days of travels with Bubba, meeting so many new people in new places, seem like a dream. I pray for the world and that the dream returns, for us and for all. Love my motorcycle man.
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A great story John and Lee! I read a couple of chapters each day with my morning coffee? McGiver has nothing on you!! Great teamwork!!
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