Day One on The Road

Thursday 29th August:-

Well a reluctant 9am start saw us all head to Big Sky Harley Davidson to pick up our bikes and as per usual the dealership didnt have anything ready. An hour later of filling out paperwork our bikes were presented to us. yep...Remember the hard time you got Colby for having a "pink 'bike...Well this year its Rogers turn ...A nice pink Triglide! Back to the motel we went to pack up and fit up the deer whistle Wayne had kindly lent lent us and wire up Ipods etc. At about 1pm we headed off to St Mary in Glacier National Park. As usual we were presented with the stunning scenery of the rockies although the snow content was considerably less this year. Arrival at St Mary was around dinner time. We had a booking for a TeePee and a standard room which we drew names out of a hat for. Roger and myself won that so it was off to bed...Just off to sleep and then a Bear Attack!...Yep it was Gel and Graham playing up making all the noises of a bear and pawing at our tent. back to sleep at last and prepare for our trip to Canada the next morning.

The Trip Over

Well here we are day 8 into our trip and its the first real chance Ive had to submit to the blog. Our days our long and tiring...usually a 6.30am get up and pack...on the road by 7.30am and ride until around 5pm. By this time we are generally quite shagged and hence the delay in doing this...Ive been getting flack at this end to send you guys some updates so here we go!

Wednesday 28th August:-
We all arrived at Gisborne Airport armed in our T shirts ready for the trip over.....Twenty Eight hours later we arrived in Great Falls Montana at 11.30pm having flown via San Francisco and Denver...Our T Shirts really were getting some attention throughout the trip!
We were kindly met at the airport by our friend "OX" who is a Kiwi living in Gt Falls. I got the usual stick about how much crap I'd bought and however was I going to fit it all on the bike! (Anyway that poor bugger is getting married the following Saturday). Well by 12pm we were checked in and bed bound totatally exhausted.

Tickets are Ready....

Hi guys ..If you havnt picked up your tickets they are ready at Holiday Shop. Dawson requires a passport copy for Therese and Janine.
Cheers Scotty.

Hog membership...

Just a note to remind you guys to check if your Hog membership is up to date. If not you will not be eligible for the 2010 Sturgis pin and complimentary drinks and eats at the Harley Davidson Pavillion in Rapid City, South Dakota.

Something to consider....

Over the last three weeks we have experienced some highs and lows with the NZ dollar. It has ranged from 66c to 72c. Who knows what it will do duing our trip. Today I looked at the rate and its running at .7232 the highest its been for a while. I rang Big Sky Harley Davidson today in Montana (406-205-4807) and asked them to put through the bike hire on my credit card. It may well be worth you guys doing that. (Check the FX calculater on the blog site when you go to do this) Lets hope they remember to put my card through immediately...As we all know it takes a while to do things in Montana.....

Bad News!

Message from Dawson at travel agent as follows.....

have had a look at the baggage allowances on United within the States and it looks as though there is a charge.
Details as follows.
U.S./Canada checked baggage

Below is the checked baggage policy for United Economy® travel wholly within the 50 United States, Puerto Rico, the U.S. Virgin Islands and Canada.

Frequently Asked Questions

This policy has been revised, effective for tickets purchased on or after January 14, 2010. Fees for first and second checked bags have changed. There is still a discount for checked bag fees paid through EasyCheck-in Online® at united.com.

If you are traveling on an Economy ticket or an Economy award ticket, please see the information below regarding checked baggage fees that may apply.

Please note that there are some fee exceptions. All fees shown below are in U.S. dollars unless otherwise specified.

For customers who are not exempt, first and second bag fees (each way) when paid at the airport are as follows:

If you purchased your ticket(s)
Before Jan 14th 2010
$20 first bag
$30 second bag

After Jan 14th 2010
First Bag $25
Sec bag $35

Then the following fees will apply for bags checked at the airport

Baggage fees are per person and for a single direction of travel. United offers a discount if you check your bags via EasyCheck-in Online® at united.com within 24 hours of your flight. The amount of the discount percentage is subject to change without notice.

Baggage fee exceptions
You are exempt from the above fees for checking your first two bags on flights operated by United, United Express and Star Alliance partner carriers if you are:

traveling in United First® or United Business®;
a Global ServicesSM, Mileage Plus 1K®, Premier Executive®, Premier® or Premier Associate® member;
a Star Alliance® Gold or Silver member; or
U.S. military personnel (or a dependent) who is either active or traveling on leave in conjunction with a permanent change of station (military ID required)

It looks as thought the international baggage allowance will not apply to the domestic flights as separate tickets.

There was no thru fare to Great Falls using the cheap Air NZ fare we had.

Koru Club Membership Cards

The Koru Club Membership cards for our flight were issued today...Did you get yours guys? If not let me know and Ill check with Dawson.