Mr. Man got a motorcycle the week he was discharged from the Navy. Rode it for several years back and forth to work and we would ride on the weekends. Loved it!! Now, it has been his dream for several years to get a Goldwing or Harley. He plans when he retires to get one and with tongue-in-cheek says he will get a sidecar for me. We plan on doing a lot of cross-country riding. We LOVE riding and plan on doing a lot more. I'll have to show Mr. Man this pic but I would guess to say that pink won't be his color of choice. LOL tisha, I think you are doing it right with the safety courses, proper protection, etc. A word of experienced advice, there are a lot of drivers out there that don't give a cycle driver the courtesy they should; i.e. if an 18-wheeler was headed for their car, they would give him a little respect; if a cycle is headed for their car, why should they? How much damage can that little cycle do to their car? I know this sounds cold but when we were riding I saw it so many, many times. About six weeks ago, I personally saw the exact scenerio unfold before my eyes as I was walking my granddaughter into dance class. A large utility truck turned right in the path of a 20-year-old young man on a cycle. To this day, I can't close my eyes without seeing what happened to this young man. It took them 4 hours to extricate his body. Sorry to sound so gorey. What I am saying is...WATCH OUT FOR EVERY OTHER DRIVER ON THE ROAD because there are a lot of them that WILL NOT be watching out for you.

Hi all, thanks for the advice and goodbyes and offers of help and all ... MAG is great -it'll be a lot for the Maine forum people to live up to! Especially since, as noted, Maine is a big state! (see way below, in the tangent zone, if you were wondering where in Maine i'm going) I'm not sure what the moving company's policy will be - i don't think any i spoke with gave me a flat out no for plants on the phone, like for legal/pest control reasons - i think at least some said if there's room, it's fine, but in this heat they won't take liability for plants' survival. i guess it'll be up to the driver. About getting stuff shipped ... I've never had much luck with getting anything to grow from bare-root, but then again haven't tried so many times ... dunno. not really close with neighbors or geographically close to any of you and just not sure i could get organized in the next weeek, espcially since i'm not so confident i could keep the planties alive once they were shipped to me bare-root. The stuff I would move isn't so special, really ... probably not at all what a more sophisticated gardener would be wanting to take - i'm just feeling stubborn (like, i've been trying to get lilacs the whole time we've been here in this house, since i think it's not quite a home without lilacs in late spring, and now the first one i got at a swap is maybe finally ready to bloom next year, maybe. and there's the one growing from a sucker my dad brought me from his house, which turns out grew from suckers from ones at my grandmother's house ... so that's kindof special ... though i could also just get another sucker from him which would be the much more rational thing to do; he'll only be 6 or 7 hours drive away) i've pretty much convinced myself to be ok leaving almost everything behind since -the yard we're going to doesn't have beds ready and i think is very different in general (i haven't actually seen it yet! ... just lots of pictures and descriptions) - definitely way shadier - -and i don't know what's there that i wouldn't want to accidentally destroy by digging up beds too early ... -and i have lots of seeds to start things from (including some from many of you - thank you!) ... -and also i've been trying to get lots of maryland natives for the yard here and they are probably much better off staying here in their nice native environment than trucking off to maine. and, up there i'll want more maine natives! [yes, i like to rationalize. :) ] but ... those plants that are already sitting around in pots just seem to be begging to come along ... and they wouldn't need to go right into beds there since they've been just in containers anyway [more rationalization]! and it wouldn't be hard to sneak a couple little bits of other basic starter-things into pots, pretending like they've already been there all summer ... but then again i don't want to just outright murder the plants if they really have no chance of surviving the truck ride. so ... i'll see what the movers say, i guess. more advice, etc. from you all still most welcome, of course! :) -libby location tangent: We're going to Trenton which is near Ellsworth (bigger/more likely to have been heard of) - right near Mt. Desert Island but on the mainland. Zone 5b, i believe. coastal "downeast" Maine, perhaps? stilly trying to figure out what different areas there are called. It is also near Blue Hill - we drove around there a lot and i think i saw a few nurseries in May when we were there exploring/househunting - (also saw listings for nurseries for sale along with houses tempting, for a moment, but sadly, i really do not have a very green thumb, so that would be a very bad idea) - really i should stay away from nurseries - too much temptation! though i have been holding onto the idea of being closer to green mountain transplants (if they're still in business in new location) - it'd still be 3 hours or so but would be between our place and my brother's - and they have stuff so cheap! cats tangent: yes, we will be driving straight through - my brother's house would be a good stopping point about 2/3 of the way there, but ... he has cats and we'll have the cats and none of them are necessarily so friendly to unfamiliar cats, plus they have tons of knick-knacks and one of my cats compulsively clears all surfaces of knick-knacks - it's quite a sport for him. and our cats absolutely do not tolerate being shut up in a room or anything - they're totally friendly (with people) and tolerant and easy-going (in a curious, explorer-minded sort of way) as long as they aren't shut up, especially not away from people. they're shelter cats ... i think that about maxed out their tolerance for being caged in. we will get and bring sedative pills from vet just in case but hope not to have to use them ... so far the cats are pretty ok on car rides as long as they're not in carriers. i know carriers are supposed to be safer but these cats freak out in them and drugging them unnecessarily doesn't seem like the best idea either - they both seem pretty sensitive to drugs (took quite a while for anaesthetic to totally wear off even after they came home from getting fixed; seemed a bit off for a few days after vaccinations and had bumps at injection site for a long time ... etc.). so will have carriers and drugs with us but only as plan B.

Funny stories about different transactions. Bill_h, I'm glad to read that in the Motor City, it's somewhat of a free-for-all. It just seems appropriate, being the home of the U.S. auto industry. One thing that can work well for selling a car -- if you're replacing it with a new or used car from a dealer -- is what dealers around here call a "courtesy trade." You and the buyer of your car agree on a price as usual, then you and your buyer go together to the dealer where you're buying your new car. The dealer shows your old car on the sales documents as a trade, with the value being the price the buyer is going to pay for it. This saves you on sales tax in many states. The buyer then purchases the car from the dealer for that price. I know of many dealers who will do this for free, as a service to the person buying the car from them. A few charge the buyer a standard "paperwork" fee. They're willing to do it even though they make no money on the sale of the trade because it can help you buy the new car, since the buyer is presumably giving you more for it than the dealer would have.

Celticmoon, Your post made me smile. And unfortunately riding on the back just isn't the same once you've been riding your own (but I agree with you wholeheartedly on the doing nothing & being close to your better half part). When I was pregnant my OB told me that I had to stop riding & I told her that I'd ride until my leathers didn't fit anymore. And that's exactly what I did. When the pants got to tight I switched to chaps but by the time I started my 6th month I was pressing too hard against the tank. I ride a Triumph Speed Triple & the sportbike riding position is definitely an issue. I know women that ride cruisers that kept on riding through their 8th month. I would always take mental inventory before I'd contemplate a ride & if I felt like I had the least bit of cotton headed pregnancy brain I'd skip it. We went to the International Motorcycle Show about a week before the baby was due & my husband got some pictures of me sitting on the bikes. It was hysterical, trying to reach around the belly to get to the handlebars. Since the baby was born (healthy, happy & none the worse for his prenatal bike rides) our riding has been curtailed drastically & I miss it so much. All of our vacations were motorcycle oriented, the majority of the time simply loading camping gear onto the back of the bikes & riding for a few hundred miles. The Speed Triple is a great bike but it's not a touring bike so I came up with numerous ways to stay comfortable (corrective underwear) for hours upon days in the saddle. My husband and I are obsessed with vintage British motorcycles so ours is a whole different level of insanity :-). Nina