I also had the fun of using an air mile ticket to fly from Chicago to Long Beach, CA. then to ride the bike home to Chicago by way of San Diego, Las Vegas, Utah, and Colorado. While that cost me a little wear and tear, gasoline and hotels (except in San Diego and Las Vegas where I have friends and relatives). I got a chance to learn the bike better and have a great time.
BTW: the Long Beach BMW people weren't that bright about C 650 GTs. The salesman insisted on demonstrating how everything worked on the bike and broke the gas cap cover by opening the seat and gas cap cover at the same time. My red C 650 GT is one of the very few that has a black gas cap filler cover due to their having to replace it with the soft shell 2014 cover.