Welcome to the Two Wheeled Texans community! 
Feel free to hang out and lurk as long as you like. However, we would like to encourage you to 
Hello All! Thought the best place to start this off was at a forum with some fellow Texans. I've been planning a journey since February to honor my late grandfather, 'PawPaw', his life, what he stood for, the wild untamed places in America he taught me to appreciate, and the ride he took nearly 4 decades across North America. This has been on my mind since I was 18, and I kept putting it off year after year until it was too late and he passed 2 years ago. Since then, I've been doing a lot of thinking and re-evaluating what is important and trying to figure out what the **** the purpose of all this is.
Had been out of the saddle for nearly 7 years before I finally came across a note my grandfather wrote to me and realized what I was going to do. First bike I learned to ride was my dad's K75 BMW when I was 16, before moving on to a lot of high speed and steep traffic fines on crotch rockets in my 20's. Hung it up after a few too-close calls in '05 and have missed the open road ever since.
Before he died, my grandfather wrote to me more than 40 places he lived, and worked, and served in his life and during World War 2. I'm going to visit all those that are in North America, and also follow his general route West, up into Canada, and back again.
He taught me how to appreciate the wild, to still hunt, to work hard, to be a man. After he passed, the more those memories returned to me of his lessons, the more dissatisfied I became with where I was and what I had become.
After I got the third 'promotion' in a year with triple the hours and no pay raise I said **** this, quit my job, sold everything, and bought a BMW R1200 GSA out in North Carolina and drove it back home. It was the first time I felt alive in years.
I'm leaving it all behind, at least for awhile, to try to figure out what the **** I can find that has purpose, and try to find myself again, and the things my Grandfather taught me. A motorcycle on the empty road chasing the sun down has always brought me solace, so that is where I figured I should start.
The Ride commences this Thursday, June 7th at a memorial our family built for my Grandfather, and will end 20,000 miles, 3 1/2 months, 19 states, and 2 Canadian provinces later back in Port Arthur, TX at his final resting place.
Here's a map of the waypoints I'll be going through:
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid...6378,86.572266
Stop by www.tributeride.com if you'd like to follow the journey or take part. Will be documenting the journey with photos, video, and journal entries along the way. As he was a war veteran, strong father, and patriarch to 3 generations of McGee's, I felt it appropriate to include two small private charities: childadvocates.org and helpingahero.org as fitting beneficiaries of my tribute to this great man.
Going through Austin for the ROT rally on the way out of Texas this weekend. If you see me, stop on by and say hi.
Cheers,
Sean
Had been out of the saddle for nearly 7 years before I finally came across a note my grandfather wrote to me and realized what I was going to do. First bike I learned to ride was my dad's K75 BMW when I was 16, before moving on to a lot of high speed and steep traffic fines on crotch rockets in my 20's. Hung it up after a few too-close calls in '05 and have missed the open road ever since.
Before he died, my grandfather wrote to me more than 40 places he lived, and worked, and served in his life and during World War 2. I'm going to visit all those that are in North America, and also follow his general route West, up into Canada, and back again.
He taught me how to appreciate the wild, to still hunt, to work hard, to be a man. After he passed, the more those memories returned to me of his lessons, the more dissatisfied I became with where I was and what I had become.
After I got the third 'promotion' in a year with triple the hours and no pay raise I said **** this, quit my job, sold everything, and bought a BMW R1200 GSA out in North Carolina and drove it back home. It was the first time I felt alive in years.
I'm leaving it all behind, at least for awhile, to try to figure out what the **** I can find that has purpose, and try to find myself again, and the things my Grandfather taught me. A motorcycle on the empty road chasing the sun down has always brought me solace, so that is where I figured I should start.
The Ride commences this Thursday, June 7th at a memorial our family built for my Grandfather, and will end 20,000 miles, 3 1/2 months, 19 states, and 2 Canadian provinces later back in Port Arthur, TX at his final resting place.
Here's a map of the waypoints I'll be going through:
https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid...6378,86.572266
Stop by www.tributeride.com if you'd like to follow the journey or take part. Will be documenting the journey with photos, video, and journal entries along the way. As he was a war veteran, strong father, and patriarch to 3 generations of McGee's, I felt it appropriate to include two small private charities: childadvocates.org and helpingahero.org as fitting beneficiaries of my tribute to this great man.
Going through Austin for the ROT rally on the way out of Texas this weekend. If you see me, stop on by and say hi.
Cheers,
Sean
Sounds awesome. You are fortunate to be able to make such a journey! I hope it goes well for you and you learn a lot about your grandfather and yourself in the process. If you run into any difficulty on the trip, be sure to post up here or maybe on Advrider.com. Between both sites I have little doubt we can find people to help you wherever you may be 