Hello everyone!  My name is Boone, and I would like to share a little bit about myself for anyone who cares to read.  I am, and have always been, fascinated by anything on two wheels.  I started riding bicycles at an early age, and picked it up right away.  Heck, I didn’t even need training wheels.  One push from my mom on the neighbor’s bike and I was off, and I have been riding in some form or another ever since.

As I started to get a little bit older, I realized that being on an open two-wheeler was the best way to see the sights.  When I was in eighth grade, I spent countless hours scheming and mapping out routes to ride my bicycle across the country.  At the age of fourteen, I was going on 250 mile weekend long organized rides and loving it!  I couldn’t get enough of being out in the open and taking in all the sights and sounds of the world around me.  I began racing road bikes about that time, and had such an amazing time traveling around to all the different races, riding in new places and meeting some amazing people.  But as I got into my later teens, this all slowly came to an end as I also got my drivers license and discovered the wonders of the automobile.  When I got my drivers license, I kept up with riding and racing for a while, but I had been so obsessed with it all that by the time I turned eighteen, I had become burnt out, so I stopped riding.  I would still ride to work or take a short leisurely stroll around town, but it just wasn’t the same for me.

Flash forward about fifteen years:  My girlfriend Denise and I had wandered down to a local pet fair to check things out.  There is a great organization in our community that raises money to buy food for the pets of needy families.  We are both pet lovers, so when we found out they were holding a raffle, it was no big deal to spring twenty dollars for tickets.  I didn’t even realize what they were giving away until I got a phone call about a month later.  I was informed that I had won the grand prize, which was a 50cc Schwinn scooter.  I wasn’t sure what to think about this.  Scooters were kind of… well to be honest, girly.  But when it arrived, I took it out and rode it around, and had a lot of fun with it.  Imagine a big guy like me riding this dainty little scooter around.  I rode that poor little thing to work every day until the snow fell and I finally had to put it away.  While I wasn’t sure what to think about it right away, I would later realize that this free little scooter changed my life.

The next February I was helping a friend move out of his house.  Sitting in his garage was a sporty red bike, sitting off to the side.  I asked him about it as I knew he didn’t ride.  He said that it belonged to his foster brother, who was no longer around.  He then told me that it was probably going to stay with the house, unless I wanted it.  Of course, I jumped all over that opportunity, not even knowing for sure what the bike was.  A few days later I took possession of the bike and began working on it.  It turned out to be a 1997 Kawasaki Ninja 250.  Some friends had originally thought the engine was seized up, but I was able to nurse it back to health with a good carb cleaning and a new battery.

Once I got this bike up and running, things were all different.  The scooter was no longer my priority.  It was all about this motorcycle now.  I wanted to learn how to ride it, and ride it properly.  I signed up for the MSF safety class and passed with flying colors.  A few days later, I had my endorsement and was off and running.  That year, I put over 6,000 miles on that little 250.  I wore out at least one set of tires as well as a chain and various other parts.  But I was able to take that bike on some pretty fun rides, and had no problems traveling around the state.  This is the bike that really got me into motorcycling.  The only problem was that I knew the short day-long rides that the 250 could take me on were never going to be enough to entertain my love of riding and sense of adventure.

My next purchase happened the following spring. I began a new job, and my manager was a fairly avid motorcyclist. He had a Honda ST1100 that he wanted to sell. At first I thought this was a somewhat ugly machine, but when I hopped on and took it for a spin, I realized this was the perfect bike for me! It had the power to go wherever I wanted to, it had bags, and it had the most comfortable touring seat I have ever ridden on! I bought the bike and began riding all over. I was now able to take some more serious trips and ride with other riders. I began riding with other groups of riders in Missoula and other parts of the country, taking amazing trips across Montana and experiencing roads that are legendary throughout the country. I had the opportunity to rode over Beartooth Pass, and have riding US Highway 12 into Idaho more times than I can count. But the most amazing trip of all was to come that fall.

I was tasked with traveling to a conference in San Francisco for a week. This was right around the Labor Day holiday, and I thought what better way to get there than on bike. So after convincing my employer that they should let me ride, and convincing my girlfriend that I would be fine, I set off. During the trip, I got to experience some of the most fantastic scenery I have ever seen, including Yosemite National Park and a great length of the Pacific Coast from Monterey, CA all the way up to northern Oregon. This was by far the most fantastic trip of my life, and I knew that I had found my true passion.

Over the winter I had a lot of time to reflect on the style of riding I wanted to do and where I wanted to ride to. An autumn accident left me bikeless, so all I could really do was daydream and plan on where I wanted to ride to and what kind of ride I was going to get there on. I finally decided on a Harley Road King as it fit my riding style almost perfectly, and in the Spring of 2010 I got one. And while doing all of this day dreaming, I came up with the ultimate riding plan.

Since I like going on long scenic rides and love the outdoors, why not ride through all of the National Parks in the lower 48 states? My goal now is to visit every National Park that I can get to by motorcycle (there are 2 that I cannot) within the next five years. This plan is going to be a stretch, especially with work and finances to juggle, but I cannot think of a better goal or a better journey. And now, with this blog, you can come along on this spectacular adventure.