3 short days - Saturday March 8th, 2014

I started off the day by taking my Grandson David to Aqua-Tots at the Burlington County College pool. That took up a good portion of my morning. Once we got home I started in on several other projects. I finally finished painting the mirror for the Sentra. I'll get that installed tomorrow. I also got the trash collected and made a dump run.
Next I started in on cleaning the bike. The ground was really wet so I had to throw down a ground pad which didn't help much. I pretty much finished up the cleaning and waxing although I would have liked to cleaned a little deeper. I will definitely be revisiting the rims and the engine. While reinstalling the side panels I found that one of the rubber grommets was missing. I added a visit to the Harley dealer to the list of errands I would have to run next.
I gathered up my cleaning supplies, put on my riding clothes and took off to run my errands. First I went to the bank to turn in my coins for vacation. I think the Penny Arcade ripped me off (Chris swears it always does) so I will be calling them today to lodge a complaint. Next it was off to the Harley dealer. I tried to purchase the rubber grommet but they were all out. It's an inexpensive, common part. I ordered two. This is why I like Brian's HD better. I rode back to Browns Mills to pick up a prescription for Barbara then made a required stop at Rita's to visit with Fred and have a Blendini. I finished my ride by taking the long way home.
Once home I put the bike back in the trailer, finished cleaning up outside and moved inside to complete more projects. Since my lazy daughter didn't complete any of the work she was supposed to it put me behind.
Tomorrow is going to be a very busy day!

4 days away...where's the time going?

I feel like I still have so much to do and not enough time to do it. I had all day and only got two things out of 16 done on my list. It didn't help that little David kept me busy all afternoon...but that's ok. Tonight I hope to catch up after I return from the doctors. I do have to run a few errands on the way home but that shouldn't slow me down too much. I have to pick up wire hangers. Where do you get wire hangers? They are the only ones that fit in the hanging luggage. At least I have 90% of my clothes together. The hard part that's left will be picking out ties. I usually bring twice as many as I need just so I can change my mind. You sure need alot of clothes on an 11 day cruise.

5 days left and lots to do

I'm not really going to be able to make any progress with the bike or trailer until the weekend, when the temps warm up. My focus right now is getting my clothes and other stuff together so that I can get packed before the last minute.

6 days...6days..it's coming up too fast ;)

I can't believe the cruise is less than a week away. Time to get the Jeep and trailer ready. The trailer has a light out; the right side fender clearance light. It's under warranty until the beginning of May but I don't have the time to drive it down to the dealer right now. I'm going to see if it's a simple fix like a loose connection. It's a double LED light and they're both out so I'm sure it's just a connection problem. Otherwise the trailer is ready to go. I just have to relocate it so that I can hook it up. I can move it by hand when the bike's not in it.
The Jeep is another story. There's a nail in the back left tire, close to the edge of the tread which means it may not be repairable...which means a new tire. The right front also has a slow leak which means it too may have a nail in it somewhere. Actually it means a new set of tires since they're all way past replacement anyway. I also have to do an oil change...a 15 minute job.
The weather outlook for Saturday keeps improving, with the forecast being 54 and sunny. I should be able to go for a ride, install the horn and finish cleaning the bike. For the final cleaning I'll spray it down with S-100, wash it off with the hose and blow it dry with the leaf blower. The S-100 should be able to help clean and de-grease the hard to reach parts and the hose will spray it out...the leaf blower will blow it dry leaving no water marks. Then it will be into the trailer and secure it for the trip.

7 days...a week away

It's super cold this morning. I'm really looking forward to some of that tropical weather.
It looks like it's going to be Plan B for getting to the ship. There's a Dunkin' Donuts close to the port. We're going to trailer the bikes there and unload them. The girls will stay at the Dunkin' Donuts and watch the bikes while Dave and I take the trucks and trailers back to the house and get the car full of the luggage. We'll go back to the Dunlin' Donuts where the girls will take the car to the port and Dave and I will ride the bikes there; a short ride.

I still have a little work to do to the bike. Friday and Saturday might be just warm enough to finish up
without freezing my fingers off. I did bring the saddlebags and side panel inside to clean and wax but there's more. The biggest and hardest job left is to clean and polish the rear wheel. It's really dirty and needs a good polishing. I'd like to try to remove some of the rust from the front rotors too. The dashboard and inside of the fairing needs a good going over too. Then it's time to revisit the engine and transmission to try to finish as much of the hard to reach places as possible. If there's time I hope to get the new horn installed.

8 Days To Go

I'm starting to get nervous. Only eight days to go until the cruise; seven if you consider that we're leaving the night before to stay with David & Annette. The long range weather doesn't look good for riding to the ship. I don't mind the sub-zero wind chills that we would have to endure for the short ride to the port but David doesn't like the thought at all. That and the awful condition of the roads. Today I'll call David and we'll work on plan B.

9 Days To Go...we're into the single digits

I spent almost two hours out in the cold yesterday, cleaning the bike. My fingertips are split from the drying effect of the cleaning compounds. It's definately not coming as clean as I'd like but it will have to do. I guess I've covered about 90% of the bike, except for the saddlebags and a side cover. I brought these inside to clean...where it's warm. One of the few areas left is the rear wheel. It's a real bitch to get at but the rim really, really needs to be cleaned. I hope to get to it today, before the weather turns. We're supposed to get about 8" of snow tomorrow. I watch the weather alot these days, especially the long range forecast. As of rright now, our departure day, Tuesday March 11th, is predicted to be 43 degrees and sunny. What that means it's good enough to ride from the Lissy's house to the ship. If we can ride to the ship we don't have to pay for parking for the trucks and trailers!!! Lately that's the best news I've had. Of course the day before is supposed to be 38 degrees with snow. That means there may be a chance of some black ice and some slop left on the roads to dirty up our nice clean bikes. I'm packing a cleaning kit for shipboard use...some plexus, a damp cloth or two and a few polishing cloths.