Most of all I think I’ve learned not to make a big deal out of something unless I’m sure I’m going to do it. I was so excited about the idea of riding all over Oregon when I put the page up; now I’m like… meh.

This morning I rode from Moscow, out highway 8 (the Troy Highway). Turned right (south) along highway 3 at Deary, joined highway 12, east along the beautiful Clearwater River and then turned north again near Lewiston on highway 95 back into Moscow. Trip length: 95 miles.

I took my time. Got stopped a couple of times for construction crews. I waved at every passing motorcyclist regardless of what they were riding. That’s how it should be done.

Here’s an interactive Google map based on data from my GPS. You can click, drag, and zoom it right where it sits. Enjoy. Or don’t. I’m not doing this for you. =D

View Larger Map

Bliss.

[22:09] Second Life: There is an issue with a central server which is affecting approximately 1/16 of all Second Life residents. Affected residents are currently unable to login, and those who are already inworld may show as offline, and can expect to experience disruption of inworld services such as IM. Additionally 1/16th of all objects will currently not receive email, and 1/16th of all groups will not be able to use Group Chat. Please monitor the Grid Status Reports page, status.secondlifegrid.net, for updates as they become available.

That has to be the strangest technical note I’ve ever seen come across the grid.

TT and I have just flown in from Las Vegas (and boy are our arms tired). Ba-dum. Thank you. Thank you verra much. Try the veal. Don’t forget to tip the wait staff.

We spent most of our time on foot — which is our habit — so exploration of The Strip was limited by our endurance and the heat of the day. Fortunately it is possible to walk long stretches of the strip without ever setting foot outside. Unfortunately, everything inside looks pretty much the same. If you wanted to, you could spend all of your time indoors and have no clue as to the weather conditions (or time of day) outside. The experience can be surreal in a place that effectively never closes.

We love Vegas and, really, who can’t love a town with at least six shows all claiming to be the “sexiest topless review”? We love the glitz, the glamor, the smoke, the mirrors, the sellers, the buyers, the gawkers, the exhibitionists and, above all, the sea of humanity representing nearly every walk of life and every possible body shape (and gender). The ultra-sexy and the, well, not ultra-sexy, mingle in a (mostly) happy atmosphere where the anticipation of making a big “score” — definitions of “score” varying greatly — is the common denominator. Las Vegas is, for all intents and purposes, the Amsterdam of North America. Long may it live.

Our visit was decidedly mild by comparison to some of the folks around us. We placed a strict limit on how much we would hand over to the one-armed bandits and stuck to those limits. TT did surprisingly well at one of the slots and with our $18.45 winnings we purchased … a bottle of water. Floor drinks were free (although tipping the server is good form) so as long as we were chucking nickels and pennies at the machines we were well attended to.

We saw a few attractions this time around: The Titanic artifact museum was quite nice for those of us who like to walk and read; The Tut museum at Luxor was perhaps not all that wonderful, but admission was included in our holiday package so worth every penny we paid. We did quite a lot of “shopping” along the way. Our kind of shopping consists of looking at stuff, wondering who on earth could or would afford the stuff, and not buying anything. It passes the time, entertains and, best of all, doesn’t cost anything at all. (We seem to come down on the “experience” side of the experience/materialism continuum.)

Our favorite experience was a short cab ride away at Rio where we saw Penn & Teller perform their magic with their usual humor, clever banter (Penn) and creative expression (Teller). The show opened with a piano and upright bass group called the Mike Jones Duo. Mike, the pianist invited all of us to “come up on a stage in Las Vegas. Bring a friend or loved one to share in the Penn & Teller envelope signing experience.” The signed envelope played a role in one of their show illusions. If you have a chance to see this duo at one of the Penn & Teller shows, be sure to look closely at the bass player. He’s tall, has long hair and a goatee. You might see him again on stage as, you know, Penn. They performed the cup and ball trick, the shadow flower, a relatively new nail gun routine, a fire-eating sketch, the disappearing US flag trick, audience participation knife throwing, and a finale involving handguns and signed bullets. Afterward the two of them hung out in the lobby to meet, greet and sign autographs. If you even sort of like Penn & Teller from their television appearances or their Showtime program, “Bullsh*t,” this show is not to be missed. If you prefer topless dancers, as I mentioned before there are six “most sexy topless reviews” to choose from.

Most of our time was spent at the south end of the strip but we made our way north. We visited: Mandalay Bay, Luxor (where we stayed), the Tropicana, Excalibur, New York, New York, MGM Grand, Planet Hollywood and the Miracle Mile shops, Bellagio, Paris, the Venetian, Bally’s, Bill’s Gamblin’ Hall, O’Sheas, Ceasars Palace and the Forum shops, the Mirage, and part of Wynn. Keep in mind we did this all on foot over the course of a day. I walked TT’s legs off but both of us were dead tired that evening. In Vegas, you can take a nap, sleep off whatever it was you just over-did, and go back at it in the middle of the morning. You’ll never know the difference.

There’s an enormous construction project going on in the middle of the strip called City Center. It will include 8,000 rooms, a hospital, and of course more shops. This little 18 million-square-foot development set MGM (the publicly traded mob) back a measly $8.9 Billion (with a B).

We didn’t spy any celebrities other than the ones we paid to see — Carrot Top has his image plastered over every flat surface (and some curved ones) at Luxor — but we did see Elvis! Yes, he’s alive and well and, just like Santa, he’s able to be in many places at once. As we were coming out of the Tropicana we saw an Elvis helping a newly wed couple disembark from a classic 1950′s car (that’s the best I can do… it had fins). A show girl in full plumage was walking down The Strip holding on to her head feathers in the wind and heat. We saw wax representations of the Blue Man Group near Madame Tussaud’s — they were holding disturbingly still. A group of obviously inebriated men were asking a taxi wrangler for directions to the Ba-Da-Bing which, if I understand things correctly, is a dinner theater show, not a strip club a la Sopranos. I hope they weren’t disappointed when they arrived. We didn’t see Cher (thank goodness) but we did see some of her costumes displayed outside the theater at Ceasars Palace. We think Cher is our generation’s Liberace — just female and, we presume, heterosexual. Paris and the Palazzo were happily mime-free but there was a woman in white face, dressed in completely white Renaissance garb standing perfectly still in the middle of the shops. We tipped her a couple of bucks to stay that way.

If we had stayed another day we would have seen Circus Circus, the Riviera, the LV Hilton, Fremont Street, Stratosphere and maybe taken one of the many available helicopter tours. Next time we’ll stay at the north end and work our way south. …and there will be a next time.

Viva Las Vegas!

At least two of you were looking forward to this. The GT08 Tour Book arrived yesterday and I’ve begun putting everything in place here to record my adventures as they unfold. Don’t miss a single, exciting episode! And don’t expecting anything significant to happen for the next few weeks. We’ve still got some snow in them thar hills.

Click the “Grand Tour 2008″ tab at the top of the blog to see what’s up. I’ve been pretty busy… and I haven’t gone anywhere yet.

I took a quick ride out to Troy, Idaho today. The weather was clear, dry and 40 degrees. Thank goodness for heated handgrips and multiple layers of clothing. STraddle performed wonderfully and I was able to reacquaint myself with her sounds, smells and loving vibrations… I’m talking about the bike, pervs! [It took the doctors two hours just to get the smile off of his face.]

While I was in Troy I snapped this pic of STraddle and also a pic of me next to one of the town signs. The latter was absolutely perfect except that I was in it and I happen to look like a hedgehog right now. I seriously need to shave… everywhere. Too much information? Yeah, that’s what I was striving for.

I’m patiently (?) waiting for the Grand Tour tour book to arrive. The tour officially begins on April 1 but maybe that’s all part of some elaborate April fool’s joke. Still waiting.

UPDATE: I just had to geekify it a bit more. Here’s a Google Map showing the route derived from GPS track data.

View Larger Map

I dusted her off, checked the fluids, and turned her over. The motorcycle is running great too!

Obviously she’ll need some maintenance before I take her out for reals (the motorcycle; I’m talking about the motorcycle), but everything seems to be in good order. I need to figure out why the brake lights on the GiVi cargo bag aren’t activating, but I suspect it’s just a loose wire under the seat (the motorcycle seat, not mine.)

Woot!

Oh… but it looks fun! Motorcycling just isn’t dangerous enough.

MOSCOW, Idaho (AP) — A carnival worker who hit a telephone pole with his SUV blamed the crash on two friends having sex in the back seat.

Someone could make some pretty funny jokes out of this story if one were so inclined. I’m too mature to make any quips about “pole” or “driving” or “back seat driving,” …or “autoerotocism,” …or “back row of class at two lane university,” etc. Nope, not me.

According to a probable cause affidavit, he said the movement caused the SUV to become “tippy” and he lost control of it.

Apparently we’ve got ourselves a pair of Olympic-class passionistas in town if they managed to upset an SUV. 20/20 should do a report on the safety hazards of sex in an SUV. Could this happen to you?!