We Love Our Wing

Only a few days later and already the map has changed! Today I found that GLMC had posted their 2016 Grand Tour theme info (“Americana”) so I immediately got to work finding places for us to visit. They’re doing things a little different this year which should be interesting.

We’ve done this tour for the past 3 years and usually there is a theme for which you need to find a business in a city that meets the requirements (ex: Z to A – city name had to start with Z or end with A, Double Down – city had to have double letters (not ee’s) in it’s name – like Lakewood or Puyallup). How many locations were available in your riding area was entirely dependent upon how many city names fit the theme.

This year things have changed up and there are two different routes to points (you need 25 points to finish). Route 1 is rider’s choice – there are 5 themes for “General Locations” and you can choose one example of each theme within each state.  The second route to points is a list of GLMC designated locations in each state. Those will be posted next month so expect another map update then.  In the meantime, I have started selecting General locations in WA and OR.  Below are the overall themes and my choices for WA:

Murals – While both Toppenish and Connell have towns filled with murals, I’m thinking of using the one in downtown Tacoma on the backside of the Rialto – it’s local and full of vibrant color.
County Courthouse – I’m in the process of choosing county courthouses which meet multiple criteria to ensure success – 1) Good looking, 2) In an area we’ll be visiting for another tour, and 3) According to Google Street view, we should have a decent opportunity to get a photo of the full building including parking for the motorcycle to be in the shot.
Veteran’s Memorial – Winged Victory Monument in Olympia. I would have liked to have used the WWII monument here in Tacoma but, unfortunately, it is not situated in away that allows for a quality photo which includes the motorcycle.
Race Track – Emerald Downs
Something Cool or Important to the Rider – This can be just about anything though they’d like an interesting story to go with it. I’ve chosen the Pearl Street Storage Units because that is where we bought our Wing.

Purple – Steeple Chase          Green – Wing WA          Light Blue – Oregon Airport Tour
Yellow – Dam Tour                  Red – GLMC Americana Grand Tour

You can see tour map location details through this link:
https://www.google.com/maps/d/edit?mid=zj7Eod_sShGk.klLEVhLfHAws&usp=sharing