Less teeth, more wheels!

Today was an interesting day. I had my wisdom teeth pulled out, and we bought a motorcycle and sidecar. Not your typical Valentines weekend, that’s for sure! Here is the back story:

The reason we were in the market for a motorcycle and sidecar was I was planning on doing the Sister’s Centennial Ride. I heard about the Sister’s Centennial Ride from a friend on Facebook. It is a cross country trip that commemorates the 100 year anniversary of the Van Buren sisters, Augusta and Adeline, riding their motorcycles across the country in 1916.  These 2 sisters wanted to show the government/military that women could help the war effort by being dispatch riders in the military. So they drove across the country, on bikes and roads of 1916 quality.  I am currently reading the book Grace and Grit, that tells the tale as well as other amazing women of that era.  In 1915, Avis and Effie Hotchkiss ( a mother daughter duo) traveled from NY to SF on a Harley Davidson Motorcycle and sidecar.  So much awesomeness back then!

So, back to the ride.  I loved the idea, but just couldn’t imagine taking off 22 days from work and my family. My original plan was to join the ride somewhere closer to home, maybe Colorado, and just do the last part of it. But as time went on and I kept thinking about it, the whole point of the ride is to go across the whole country, honor these women who did something amazing 100 years ago, and to be part of something special. So I started to convince myself that maybe I would do the whole ride. Now I would just need to convince my husband.

So we were talking about it, and I expressed interest in doing the whole ride, but I was worried. Not only did I think my VFR wouldn’t be the most comfortable choice of bikes to go cross country, but “I don’t know what we are going to do with the kids for a whole month!? I am going to need to find a bunch of summer camps for them that have extended day care”. My husband said, “Why don’t you take the kids with you?” We had often talked about getting a motorcycle with a sidecar, but never tried that hard to find one. I joked many times that I could be that crazy mom in carpool that takes her kids to school in a sidecar! So what the heck! Let’s look for one.

On my very first search on Craigslist, I came across only a few ads that were good leads. I even came across an expired ad for a rig that seemed too good to be true. What did this have to do with my wisdom teeth? Well, this morning I had scheduled to get my wisdom teeth pulled out, and this was the day the seller was available for us to come look at the bike and sidecar. We were already feeling like we were going to buy this bike, because the price and the pictures seemed right. So away we went with my mouth full of gauze, before the pain meds wore off. Long story short, we are now the proud owners of a 2000 Honda Shadow with a Champion Sidecar and a trailer. Oh yeah, I have become that cool mom in carpool!

Now I am looking forward to an epic journey across the country with my 2 kids. We will meet new people, make new friends, and visit some amazing places along the way. My kids will get to see many parts of America, and I might sneak in some educational stuff too. I am sure this will be a trip we will never forget.