Finally: A ride!

The motorcycle -- the BMW R1200GS -- finally has a valid license plate. The insurance, of course, still is still valid.The battery, on the other hand, was dead on when it arrived. After a bit of searching we found the charger and revived the battery.Yesterday, the license plate and the tab were picked up. (Random: "tab?" eh? What's the "tab?")After ensuring the tires were up to pressure and the lights all worked I took the bike around the block to do a systems check and all was working as expected.Ennie hopped on the back and we took off.It was the first time both of us were on the bike for over two years: since the Blue Ridge Parkway trip. We headed off to the North on I-5. When we got to Everett we took Route 2 through Leavenworth.Just to be clear, this town is kinda wacky.On one hand it had a sign along the lines of "Welcome to Bavaria!" The next sign on the road proudly proclaimed that this was an "All American Town." The entire town was faux German through and through. It was rather odd. This was compounded by the fact it was pushing 100 degrees which felt decidedly non-snowy like the decor would lend itself to.We followed route 97 south to get back to I-90. This was the best part of the ride by far. Nice and twisty and we didn't have anyone in front of us for much of the trip. The only downer was the flipped car right as we got onto the road.Now, conversely, the way back on I-90 was plain old hell.Stop-and-go.For no reason.There was nothing on the road on any of the slow-downs. Occasionally there was a broken-down... but that's all.Not once, but twice the temperature gauge went all the way to the triangle the indicates maximum allowable temperature. From looking around this means it got all the way up to 320°!  :shock:In theory though it doesn'tstart to break down until far beyond that.But I certainly got hot.All in all though, a good time was had by all!