Scooters take men on journey

As the well-known song lyrics say, America is beautiful from sea to shining sea. And there’s nothing like a road trip to see that firsthand.

This summer, South Side resident Ken Larson, 71, and North Side resident Steve Neuman, 53, rode coast to coast on Yamaha VINO 125cc scooters, taking in the country’s varied beauty on winding highways and back roads. “Our motto,” said Larson, “was the smaller the road, the better, as long as it is paved.”

They started the trip Aug. 1 with their back tires in Puget Sound saltwater at Kayak Point and ended 28 days later with their front tires in the saltwater near the mouth of the James River near Newport News, Va.

Because the longtime friends had to travel light, each carrying a one-man tent, fleece sleeping bag, air mattress and four changes of clothes, they didn’t have room for food or cooking gear. Instead they ate at cafes and diners along the way. In some small towns, they said, the only place to eat was the local tavern. “We had both great and poor food,” said Larson, adding that they tried to sample local cuisine. “We tried to eat whatever the state boasts of.”

“We ate bison in Wyoming, beef in Nebraska, pork in Iowa, chicken gizzards in West Virginia and catfish in Illinois,” Neuman said.

The men had traveled together before, along with their wives, but on more traditional vacations, like cruises. For the cross-country trip, Larson spent almost four months planning by consulting atlases and researching towns and landmarks along the route. He compiled their expected itinerary into a detailed binder with maps, mileage, campgrounds and sites to see as they traveled. Because the scooter’s gas tanks only hold 1.2 gallons, enough to cover about 70 miles, gas stops were a critical part of the planning.

But the route wasn’t set in stone. “We decided we were going to stop if anything interested us,” said Larson.

Traveling almost 4,500 miles through 12 states, they visited national parks and monuments, historic landmarks and many, many small towns. Other than a planned weeklong stop in Des Moines, Iowa, about halfway through the trip, where their wives met up with them, the only deadline was getting to the Atlantic coast by Aug. 30 for their flight home. They shipped the scooters back.

Their daily average on the trip, said Larson, was 200 miles. The men camped most of the trip but stopped every third night at a motel to shower and do laundry.

Their biggest miscalculation, said Neuman, was planning for heat. “It was the coldest summer on record in the Midwest,” he said, describing how the first two weeks they hit thunderstorms almost every day and their lightweight clothes and sleeping bags didn’t keep them warm at night. “We prepared for 95-plus degrees and most days it was in the 60s.”

Everywhere they went, the scooters with out-of-state plates drew attention and people wanted to hear their story. “Being on a scooter is an instant conversation piece,” said Larson. From Montana on, he said, people would ask about their trip with incredulity.

Among the most interested were the many Harley riders they met coming from the annual rally in Sturgis, S.D. “They’d come over and laugh at us, but they were friendly,” said Neuman. The hog riders would wave and honk and usually showed respect that the men would attempt a coast-to-coast trip on scooters.

At one stop, said Larson, they met a man named Big who, with his leather chaps and tattoos, looked like a stereotypical tough biker. But after asking if they were really from Washington, Larson said “he treated us like Harley riders, telling us about the speed traps.” And even though they rode scooters, Big made them honorary members of the Booze Fighters Motorcycle club.

“I think of how many nice people I met going across this country,” said Larson. “It was the trip of a lifetime.”

“It renews your faith in mankind, how friendly people were,” said Neuman. “The people were fun. They made the trip.”

Of course, they also enjoyed the scenery, from the North Cascades Highway and Yellowstone to the Blue Ridge Mountains and miles of cornfields. “Everyplace has its own beauty,” said Neuman. “But it’s hard to beat the Northwest. I think we still live in the prettiest place in the U.S.”