Reliable riders...

The past few days Jake and I have been taking it easy and relaxing. I went to Katelin and Anthony's wedding and worked on my sailboat while Jake enjoyed mini season. The wedding was beautiful and fun. It was a three day eating and fun fest. I will post pictures when I get some. Jake got lots of lobster reaching his limit very easily. The scooters are still running strong, I am riding mine everyday, everywhere. I actually went to get in my car today to run some errands and it wouldn't start. The battery must be dead. So I jumped on the "more reliable than my car" scooter and buzzed around town running my errands. Is it worth getting rid of my car and fully devoting my gas money to my scooter? Seems like a good enough reason. My car is just a stagnant piece of metal right now. For the time being, Jake and I are just being overly anxious to hear back from Kymco. Jake said he is actually going to start to apply for real jobs.

Home sweet home...

After scooting from Gainsville to Orlando, we stayed at our friends house, Sara Jo and Jess. They took us out to The House of Blues in downtown Disney to eat. The food was amazing and filling. We came back and crashed in order to get an early start the next day. We left Orlando towards home at around 9am, not so early. We made it to Melbourne in good time. The scoot was long, straight, and flat. We split up for the first time in two weeks, Jake took US1 home and I took A1A to get lunch with Laurel. It was a sad moment taking separate ways, but I held back the tears. Now it's time to relax for a few days and enjoy Katelin and Anthony's wedding. It's nice being home again. I missed everyone here and the ease of sailboat living. The journey doesn't end where it began, we may be leaving for the Keys after the wedding.

Gainsviille!?

Seriously?! Gainsville!? The past two days have been all scootering. Yesterday we were in Columbia, South Carolina. We stayed with another buddy of Jake's. It seems like he has a buddy in every city. We arrived after dark in the rain. It was a cold and wet drive. Columbia has a bunch of history and the brick buildings are really old. We went out for pizza then came back and crashed. The next morning we got a not so early start and headed towards Georgia. After driving for a little and stopping for breakfast, we came up with the crazy idea of scooting all day and night towards Gainsville. That's what we did. The ride was super long, hard on the butt, and hot. There is nothing but crops and nothingness on 301. We made the best of the ride and made it in at around 11:30. We figured out that we scooted for 12 hours and over 350 miles. I am so amazed how the bikes are riding for these past few days. They haven't missed a beat. So today we plan to ride into Orlando and stay there for the night. I don't know if any small roads go into Orlando but we will figure it out.

Uh oh....

The party was awesome and so was the food. Of course, as usual, I over ate and over slip n' slided. I am pretty bruised up and sore but it was worth it. Unfortunately my "waterproof" camera is not really waterproof. I took some good photos but I cant upload them due to the fact that it has water inside. I opened the battery case and water poured out. Bummer! Other than that we had lots of fun. Jake gave his buddy Dave some I love Fl Catchin' a Buzz stickers and the next morning we saw that every car on the street had several on them. We left the party feeling really tired and just scooted all day. Arriving in North Carolina for the second time this trip we took a different way and ended up camping at Cliffs of the Neuse State Park. The trip was hotter than heck and sleeping last night wasn't any better, especially with two grown almost manly boys sharing a tent. Today we got an early start and have already got within 70 miles of our end destination for the day. It's nice getting an early start. The heat is still sleeping in but I'm sure he will be up soon. Now that my camera is kaput we will have to use Jake's pink camera.

Virginia Beach

Well we have been in Virginia for the last few days just hanging out with Jake's buddy Ben. The beaches here are really crowded with umbrellas and people as far as the eye can see. I bought a sweet tank top that was way too small, so I guess Laurel gets a new shirt. While in the Bahamas, Jake met some people from Virginia Beach. Yesterday we went over to their house and had a cookout. Today they are having an annual party called "Kegs and Crabs". We were going to turn around towards home today but we decided we couldn't miss something like that. The house is on the water with a pool and huge back yard. They set up a 75 foot slip n' slide, they are cooking crabs, and also roasting a pig. Oh man! I will post some photos of the event tomorrow.

Kitty Hawk

We did another scooter marathon yesterday, ending up in Kitty Hawk. The Out Banks is one of the nicest drives around with endless sand dunes. We swam at some beaches along the way and also took our 3rd ferry of the trip. We were going to stay at Oregon Inlet Campground but we decided not to because of it's unappealing setup. So we continued on to Kitty Hawk taking another ferry then ate some icecream while waiting for our "connection" to call us back. He eventually called us up and gave us his address. Baily's cousin Ben lives in a really nice family neighborhood with his wife, Val, and their three children, Ashley, Eli, and Matthew. Jake and I had a good time playing with the kids. I think I still have red welts from the all the nerf darts fired at me. They cooked tuna and chicken burritos for dinner and let us shower. We left our overly gracious hosts this morning towards Virginia Beach. Right now we are a few miles from Virginia Beach and just used Laurel's Panera gift cards she gave us. This may be the furthest north we go because of low funds and Katelin's wedding I need to be back home for on August 1st. I got a call from the Marketing Director, Rick, from Kymco USA and he was interested in using our story and tracking links. Who knows, maybe Kymco will help keep this epic trip going. You can click here to follow us via GPS.

Chad is MVP of the trip (so far)

We stayed at Ocracoke Campground last night after getting off the ferry. We set up camp and started getting killed my mosquitoes so we decided to go into town to explore. When I went to start my scooter, nothing happened. I tried for a half hour or so and I still couldn't get it started. We took a tandem trip into town and left the scooter for the morning because of the mosquitoes. I woke up this morning and got to work. After taking the air filter off, the carburetor, and the fuel filter, I still couldn't get it going. Eventually we started drawing some attention around the camp and a gentleman named Chad came over to help. He pretty much asked if I had done everything I had already tried. He said "Let me show you a little trick" and held his hand on the intake. I turned the key and BAM!!! She fired right up. I thanked Chad at least 10,000 times then Jake and I set off again. I was up alot last night thinking how bad it would suck to end our trip on my account. The problem was a clogged fuel line.

Living the dream...

Wow! We have covered some distance in the past couple of days.We have been camping at state parks and just trying to relax. The scootering keeps getting better and better. The scenery is beautiful and the houses along the beach are all on stilts with no two alike. We keep taking side roads and back roads and thought we were getting pretty good at navigating until we found ourselves on a freeway for a breif second. Four lanes of traffic whizzing by you at 70 mph is pretty scary. We cooked some really good and cheap meals the past few nights. One being ham, rice and broccili, and corn for $2.20 each and the other being sausage, bowtie pasta, and green beans for $2.50 each. For breakfast today we were going to have some peaches but found a quarter inch hole in my backpack that a critter put his arm into and demolished 2 peaches, 1 banana, and a kiwi. Bummer! Right now we are on the Cedar Island to Ocracoke ferry heading to the Outer Banks which takes almost 2 hours. Our plan for tommorow is to scoot up the Outer Banks and camp along the way. Our buddy Jordan pulled through again with a yard for us to camp in in Kitty Hawk. Thanks Jordan!!!!

Charleston to Myrtle Beach

We arrived in Charleston and met up with Presley, Jordan's friend. She is a super cool and nice chick that didn't mind two strangers sleep on here couch and floor. She had some things to do so Jake and I went downtown and walked around for a bit. The town is really old with alot of beautiful architecture and homes. After that we took her VW bus over to Folly Beach and swam. The beach was pretty crowded and dirty but it felt good to swim and scrub the exhaust fumes off our faces. We went back to her place and she cooked us a tasty meal of chicken, rice, and veggies. Jake and I then went out to walk around the town to check out the night life. There are a ton of cool dives with plenty of people watching. We came back and went to bed early because Presley had to leave for the airport at 5am. The scooter ride to the airport was a breeze and she got there safe and sound. We said our goodbyes and thanked her for her hospitality. We went back to her place and slept a little more then woke up to hit the road again. We checked out a historical plantation house on the way up and took a guided tour. The house was built in the 1700's and most of the interior is still intact. It was a nice little break before setting out again. We stopped at a hole in the wall gas station and ate some boiled peanuts for lunch. Now we are in Myrtle Beach at Huntington Beach State Park setting up camp and preparing to cook some ham, rice, and corn for dinner. Our campsite is nice and shaded with the showers and beach near.

Hardeeville

There isn't much going on in Hardeeville besides lots of hotels and one restaurant. Jake and I ended up eating at that very restaurant, The Cripple Crab. A nice family ran it and served some really good southern food. I had a steak, hush puppies, and speckled butter beans. Jake had the same but with a sweet potato. After we ate we just came back to the room, pulled our bikes in and just relaxed. We just got word from our friend Jordan that we will have a place to stay in Charleston. Right now we are packing up and getting cleaned up to meet Jordan's friend, Presley in Charleston. Let's hope we make it...

Savannah

So after waking up to Jake pulling out my tent posts, we took showers and packed up. We kept following 17 through Georgia without any problems. Savannah was beautiful. We took the river road made of bricks and almost shook our scooters apart. I think everyone turned their head with that look we've grown used to seeing. We may have set our car train record of at least 50 cars. We ate lunch at a BBQ shack called JP Jones BBQ. They had some really good sweet tea and chicken sandwiches. There wasn't any free camping so we ended up finding a $30 hotel room in Hardeeville, SC with free WIFI and breakfast. It's nice having a first floor, you can pull your scooters right into the room. So until tomorrow, partyville in Hardeeville!!!

Good bye Jacksonville, hello Georgia!

Right now Jake and I are in Somewhere, Georgia figuring out some free camping for tonight. We made it to Georgia yesterday and got a campsite at Crooked River State Park. The trip north was amazing. It started with us stopping 1 mile from Chris's because of a monsoon and lightening storm. We hung out under a Kangaroo gas station for a good 30 or 40 minutes until in cleared up. We took the river ferry over in Mayport, then followed A1A to Fernandina. We then got on 17 which goes north along 95. We followed that for a while and eventually followed signs to the park. It was a nice and clean park with hot showers and electricity to charge our phones. I think we are going to try and make it to South Carolina this evening.

Slowly but unsurely...

Jake and I left Daytona around 10am and made our way up A1A towards St. Augustine. It was a beautiful drive along the coast with not much traffic. We got there around lunch time and visited my cousins. Their reaction was like everyone elses, "Seriously?!". Yes, seriously. We took a dip in the ocean and then scooted on over to The Surf Station to see my buddy Matt Ollis. He keeps their website running and the board inventory stocked up. There is a really good taco and burrito stand in the parking lot which we ordered some fish and spinach burritos. So good! We said goodbye to Matt and continued up to Jacksonville. It was an easy scoot up to Jax and made it with plenty of time to swim in the ocean again and beat the afternoon storm. Our friend Chris with Catchin' a Buzz Fishing Co. let us stay at his house for the night. We had a good time hanging with some old friends, Kyle, Chris, and Ryan. Chris hooked us up with some stickers for our scooters and also a sweet "I Heart FL" Catchin' a Buzz tank top. Now we are packing up to head towards Georgia. Keep your fingers crossed!

On the road

We left around 10 am and made our way to Melbourne to eat lunch with Laurel. Just half a mile from Jake's we discovered his bike had a loose rotor screw. Then another half mile his backpack almost fell off. After those minor delays we took Babcock via Fellsmere to Melbourne. The ride was nice and smooth with nothing except stick marsh. We stopped at Brevard Scooter to get Jake's oil change. Afterward we had lunch with Laurel and continued our journey north. Only 30 minutes from Melbourne the rain came, so we had to stop at Jefferson Middle School for shelter. Some ladies came outside after hearing me play the mandolin. After the rain stopped we continued again. We stopped a few times to rest our behinds and to eat. We took A1A and US1 the entire way to Daytona. The Boston Whaler factory was on the way so we checked that out. Other than my awesome farmers tan we made it to Daytona unscathed. Now we are staying at Jake's buddy's place overlooking the beach on the 5th floor. Tomorrow we will make our way to Jacksonville.

The time has come...

We are finally leaving tomorrow around 9am. I have already put everything on my scooter: duffle bag, tent, mess kit, gas can, and camera gear. To my surprise everything I wanted to bring along is coming. A final addition of a mandolin should be fun. This should be an interesting trip, two guys, two scooters, and not much else. I feel as prepared as I can be. My new air filter and spark plug are installed. Our first stop will be Daytona for the night then Jacksonville. That's as far ahead as we planned. Tomorrow I will post a picture of us next to our loaded down hogs.

Biker Rally

It's kinda funny rolling up to a biker rally with a scooter and getting tons of stares. The kinda of stares that say "Technically he is a biker". I also think we parked next to the most expensive bike there. The rally was a short-lived 10 minute walk around before we both were over the karaoke band playing the B-52s.

On another note, Jake got his passport in the mail today, so he will be going to the Bahamas. The scooter road trip should officially start when he gets back around July 9th. Until then I will keep gathering my supplies and gear, repair my seat, and spend the 4th of July in Sebastian with friends and family.

Check up

Although we are sort of winging it with no real preparation or planning, I think there are a few critical things that need to be done, like making sure my 2002 Kymco People 50 could make the distance. I brought "Freeda" into Tropical Scooters of Vero Beach for a check up. To my delight, nothing was wrong. All that was done was a idle screw adjustment and some added tire pressure. They actually told me that they just sold a used People 50 with 22,000 miles on it! Holy smokes! I also ordered a new DOT approved helmet because mine wouldn't even be approved for a pillow fight.

49cc scooters, tank tops, no money, and two unemployed boys.

I have enough space to hold a poncho, a toothbrush, a tank top, some baggies, and a pair of flip flops. That's pretty much what I am bringing with me on Jake and I's trip around the US, on 49cc scooters.

This dream sort of started as a joke, as does most crazy adventures. "We should take my scooter tandem to Gainsville" Jake says. I told him I was down to do it. Then it kind of morphed into me buying a scooter from craigslist and a week and a half till we leave to attempt a US circle. Uhhh....WTF!

We are either leaving on July 1st or July 9th, depending on Jake's Bahamas/passport situation. We don't really have a goal for the trip besides the usual of not to die. We do however know that we get 70ish miles per gallon from our one gallon tanks, our top speed is 40 mph, and we are going to be flipping a coin whenever faced with forks. I'll be posting photos as much as possible and you can also track our trip here.