We have dreamed of taking trips on motorcycles for years. I remember just six months ago sitting at a hotel eating breakfast with my family and seeing a couple right outside with all their gear on and shifting around their luggage.  I just had to go to talk to them.  They were from Canada and were making a quick trip to New Orleans and back.  They were having a tough time with their heavy winter gear now that it was May in Louisiana and were trying to stuff it all in the bottom until they needed it again when they were back up North. I was just fascinated with them and what they were doing.

Even though I enjoyed every minute chatting with that couple, it was still not enough to convince me that we should ride Gabe’s motorcycle for trips.  We discussed it many times but a few things often stopped us from making the jump to do it.

• How would we pack?
• What if it rained? Was too cold? Or too hot?
• Would it be comfortable?
• Was this something we would want to do often since we could only ride together and the kids could not come with us?
• Would we really like it?

The opportunity finally came.  The boys were asked to go spend the weekend with our adult ‘adopted’ daughter and her husband.  And we had four days to decide what to do with our free weekend.

I always want to pick places we have never been before so I decided that we should travel to Memphis, Tennessee.  That would be about a five hour drive and seemed like a good location.  I found us an Air BnB, researched things to do, and received restaurant suggestions from my brother.  My job was easy.  Gabe had to order headphones for our helmets (so I can talk his ear off the entire trip) and determine which luggage system he would purchase for the bike.  When said items arrived, he was tasked with installing them.  And then once we were on the road, his job was to drive us and keep up alive. That was the most important duty of all.

On a Friday, right around noon, we were off.  We wanted to arrive before dark so we gave ourselves enough daylight to travel.

 

We made our first stop after about 45 minutes of traveling.  We needed to fuel our bodies and the motorcycle.  Of course those first minutes were super exciting!  An hour after that, we needed another rest.  During the next hour, I noticed Gabe stretching and moving his throttle hand.  It was getting tired from holding it in the same place.  He said it was fine but that he needed to rest it from time to time.  We usually stopped every hour or so.  We found nice rest areas and of course a Sonic for our favorite drink; sweet tea with lemonade.  But the drive was not very pretty. We passed through many small towns and most of them were quite trashy.  Other than that, the view was mostly mono crops and flat scenery.  I wasn’t very impressed.   And I noticed that my legs and rear was getting pretty tired and numb from sitting for so long.

Soon before dark, we made it safely to our destination.  We were welcomed by the owners, they gave us dinner suggestions, and we were on our way.  We walked to a nice restaurant, enjoyed our dinner, walked to a grocery store, and pick up a few items for our kitchen.

 

After a slow morning in our quaint Air BnB, we headed out for an adventure in Memphis.  We drove around a bit, found the famous Beale Street, and then our restaurant destination, The Rendezvous. We finally paid for parking in a garage, enjoyed our delicious lunch, and walked to Beale Street.  And although it is supposed to be a famous area, it did not do much to impress us.  We decided we would rather do a little motorcycle and motorcycle gear shopping instead.  With a big city like Memphis surely there were some great stores.

We found two different motorcycle shops; one didn’t have the types of bikes we were looking for, and the other had a couple of bikes to sit on.  We also found a motorcycle gear store.  Gabe had rain proof pants, but I did not.  It was forecasted to rain the following day so I needed something better than a pair of blue jeans.  We also found some padded seats and a cruise control switch for Gabe’s hand.

 

The next morning it was considerably colder but thankfully there was no rain.  We had our amazing outfits on and we felt dressed and ready to go.  But man was it cold and I learned quickly that it is really hard to warm up when you are sitting still on a motorcycle.

We picked a different way home with a little nicer view.  But it did not help the cold.  It was really tough to drive  ride in such cold weather.  41° degrees does not seem so bad when standing around, but when driving down the interstate, at typical interstate speeds, it is REALLY cold! I didn’t complain but I sure was miserable.  I rarely talked and if you know me that means that I am really cold.  It takes A LOT to keep me from talking! I was grateful anytime Gabe wanted to stop and take a break.

 

We look happy in these photos but let me tell you that being cold is not something that we like.  And at one point I felt so cold that I wanted to cry.  I asked Gabe to let us listen to an audio book and that helped take my mind off the cold.  I was glad that as soon as we got to our home we were alone and could stand in the shower until we could get warm again.

Finally, after all that, we decided that riding down the interstate to the next location, at reasonably the same speed, with just a regular view, is really not for us.  I don’t see us doing a trip like that again.  We discussed that we prefer riding trails, enjoy mostly scenic views, and being able to adjust speeds and our movements.  But you never know until you try and thankfully nothing was bought that we cannot use again (except maybe the luggage holders but we can easily sell those).

I am happy to ride on the bike with Gabe around town for date nights.  I am even happier riding on my own bike in the woods.  But I think long distance riding is just not for us.  But ask me again when the weather is nice and warm and I just might have a different opinion.

 

 

We found a place about an hour from home and we thought taking day trips would be fun.  The Kisatchie National Forest is located in many areas throughout Louisiana but the place that we have visited twice is located near Pollock.

https://www.fs.usda.gov/activity/kisatchie/recreation/ohv

The Hickman trail runs all along past an abandoned military community.  You can see traces of it everywhere.  We had a blast and I hope we get to visit it again soon.

Fill your life with adventures, not things. Have stories to tell not stuff to show.

940 Saturdays are the number of Saturdays that you will have with your child from birth until their 18th birthday.  That doesn’t seem like many days, does it? And so what are you going to do about that?

For us, when we started having kids, we were working hard just to pay bills, only to do the same thing again the next month.  And we hated it.  We felt trapped and we saw no way out.

But then we went on a trip in a 30 foot RV and our lives were forever changed.  We realized we were happy in 280 square feett of space with 4 boys under the age of 6 and we started working on ways to minimize, get rid of stuff, and live more simply.  I joined every group that I could find that would help encourage me and I spent every spare minute working on our goal; even in the middle of diapers, baby toys, and chaos.

It took us 18 months to sell almost everything we owned (or that owned us), and although we are now back to living in a home again (after a 4 year adventure through the United States, Bolivia, and Peru), our way of thinking and spending money will never be the same.

Here is what we know:

• We know that we will have to constantly fight traditions, safety nets, the opinions of others, and even sometimes the opinions of our own children.
• We know that we want to show our children to love people more than possessions.
• We know that we want our children to value their relationship with their parents and siblings as more important than any other relationship they could have (until they are married, of course).
• We know that we want our children to see a different way of making money, by working smarter rather than harder, so they can have time for their own adventures someday.
• We know that this is not for everyone and we do not expect other families to live as we do.
• We know that this may be hard and that at any time one of us will want to quit, and when that happens we will have family discussion to see if this is still the right fit for our family.

And most importantly we know that we love being on dirt bikes with our kids, having the thrill of adventure to chat about, and seeing the look on all of our faces after a fun day together; just the 6 of us!

The story isn’t complete if I only tell my side so I asked Gabe if he would share his motorcycle story too.  Thanks, Gabe, for contributing because none of this would be a reality without you.

I remember purchasing my first dirt bike when I was 17.  It wasn’t street legal so I would jump on the train tracks near my house and ride to just about anywhere I wanted in town.

Then I decided I would purchase a street legal bike, a Honda hawk.  I rode it everywhere.  I loved going fast, and how cheap it was to fill up the tank.

When I met Marci, one of the first things we did together was ride on my motorcycle, even before our first date, when we were just friends.  But then after we started dating we rode together often.  I remember one time needing to drop off my boss’ car for work and riding home on the motorcycle in the pouring rain. She always loved an opportunity to ride with me.

After we got married, I even convinced Marci to let me park the bike in the kitchen because the neighborhood did not seem safe to leave it outside at night. I wish I had a photo of that.  A few years later we both got busy with work and accumulating stuff. A motorcycle didn’t fit our lifestyle anymore, so I sold it.

When we moved to Bolivia, I noticed everybody rode motorcycles.  So naturally we got bikes.  We rode them everywhere.  Used them as trucks, hauling our kids around, date nights, etc. I even put (2) 90 pound bags of cement on the back of my 125 dirt bike!

After we moved back to the states I bought a street bike again.  A few weeks later I laid it down on a country road and got a few scratches.  Riding in the states was completely different than in South America.  Everybody here is in a hurry! People are constantly cutting you off, everybody is on their phones, no one has a clue what is going on around them.   Asher (10 at the time) and I were on our way to town on the bike one day and we were coming around a curve. A car was in a hurry and tried to pass a logging truck and almost ran us off the road.  And her excuse was that she was late for a dentist appointment. After that, I had enough of riding a bike on the roads here in the U.S. It was just too dangerous.

Then we got some dirt bikes.  A friend that we had become close to while living in Bolivia was currently in the States for over a year working.  He bought a CRF450X for himself and a CRF50F for his kids.  When he was ready to return to Bolivia, he asked if I wanted to buy his bikes.  Smart man!

I really love riding dirt bikes with the boys, exploring trails together, and being outdoors.  There are no crazy drivers to worry about.  When we first started riding dirt bikes Mason was too little to ride his own so he rode on my bike in front of me and held on for dear life to the handlebars in front of me.  He loved it!

Now we all have our own bikes and enjoy riding together.

Riding motor bikes together has been a big dream for us as long as I can remember.

It all started for me because my daddy was a dirt bike racer.  He died when I was three so I did not get to experience his adventures, but plenty of stories have been told about how good of a rider he was.

I met Gabe in the fall of 1994 and when I found out he rode a motorcycle, WELL THAT WAS THE END OF THAT!  He should have known I was HIS after our first date.  He needed to attend a play for school credit.  After dinner and the play he asked if I wanted to do anything else and I said that I wanted to get on his motorcycle and go riding!  Oh how I wish I could find some of those old pictures (that was over 23 years ago)!

We rode his motorcycle as often as we could.  And we were down right stupid.  Gabe would drive so fast and weave in and out of traffic like a maniac.  I would scream at the top of my lungs all the while enjoying every single moment.  I look back now and I cannot believe we are still alive! But boy it was FUN!

But then we had to get ‘real jobs’ and we chose to join the great American rat race and Gabe sold his bike for a real vehicle, a truck.  Thankfully, the love of motorcycles never left either of us.

Long story short, we had four boys and we quickly saw how fast these boys were growing up and the time was flying right by us.  We decided to leave the rat race behind and take advantage of every single moment that we had left.  Part of our adventures landed us in a small village called Ixiamas, in the country of Bolivia.  During our 1.5 years of living there, we enjoyed the fact that almost everyone used motorcycles to get around.  We purchased two bikes, Gabe bought a Honda XR125  and I got a mo-ped (does that even count), and this is where I learned to ride.

 

Upon returning to the United States, Gabe purchased a street bike (Suzuki V-Strom 650) and would use it from time to time.  The streets in the States are different than they are in South America.  People ride and drive differently and it seemed quite risky to hop back into this society on a motorcycle.  After a few scary confrontations with other motorist, Gabe decided he was going to sell his street bike and be done with that. I certainly did not want him to do that.  Thankfully he ended up just parking it on the side of the house and ignoring it for over a year.

Well, things have a way of working out as they should.  A friend was selling his dirt bike, a CRF450X and a CRF50F and asked us if we would like to buy them.  Gabe jumped on it and when they arrived all the boys had a blast driving the small dirt bike.

One thing led to another and here we are today with all our dirt bikes, street bikes, and dual sport bikes.

 

Yes, that is Gabe with Mason catching a sweet jump! Mason loved it.

I don’t know what the future holds but I know that I like motorcycling together. Back in 2009, we made a plan to spend as much time together (because we realized how short 18 years is going to be with each of these kiddos).  We decided to become extremely purposeful and think through slowly and carefully each step we take as a family.  We decided we would judge each opportunity that comes our way to determine if it is the best thing for our family and fit our personal goals.  And every time we get on those bikes and ride, I am once again so very grateful for the opportunity to spend so much quality time with our children.  It is a gift that I try daily to appreciate.

I want to journal our motorcycle adventures as a family while it is happening because if I wait, I know all these fresh feelings will disappear.  I hope you will enjoy coming along beside me.

-Marci