Riding Weather

The weather lately has been great! Temps getting down into low 70's, even 60's at night, hovering around 90 during day. Easing up on A/C and is great to ride in.

These past 2 weekends we have gone on a couple of rides. Well at least I did. We had one of our annual summer rides, the Bug Run, the evening of Sat 22. Darlene didn't ride for safety reasons - group riding at night and she has some difficult with night vision, so I did this one on my own with the chapter. IT was a great night, not too hot, but typically the bugs were few and far between, in fact this was probably the cleanest my bike has been after one of these runs. Aside from not qualifying for any prizes, not having completely bug splattered bike is not a bad thing.... In fact our ride from Jefferson the other weekend was much worse, and with very large bugs....

Now this weekend past, our "adversaries" from down the road, the North Texas HOG chapter, had their rain-rescheduled chapter fundraiser, the Stacked Deck poker run.
We decided to show en force, for a bunch of reasons, but to primarly encourage like attendance at our fund raising run, Pass The Pigs, in September. Just a friendly competition between friends, so to speak, to see who has the best turnout at each others event.

The Stacked Deck run was a good ride of about 100 miles. Personally it was a little too much interstate for my liking, I prefer the less stressful and less traveled FM roads, but a good time was had by all, and based on the attendance I think NT has a successful event.

We ended up at the Cottage Lounge in Dallas off Northwest Highway, definitely a biker bar and apparently a place that is friendly to the Scorpions MC. Saw one other patch member from the Warlocks from Florida.

Anyway a couple of shots from these rides.

New Trick

Double click on the image to get the full effect!




No animals were harmed during the creation of this image, and yes, we are cat owners.

Ghost busting

Well I guess we scared the ghosts, or else slept through them. We weren't in one of the haunted rooms however, so who knows. Previously we had stayed in the Excelsior hotel, where there are also rumored to be ghosts, this past weekend was at the Jefferson Hotel. Actually I had more vibe from this one than the Excelsior, so maybe there were ghosts?

We rode separate from the group as we wanted to take advantage of the trip east to collect some ABC points. We did get several and the route I planned had some unexpected happenings. Well not so much happenings but a few of the roads... When I planned the route I usually avoid Country Roads (CR designation) as they are often dirt roads. So in my planning I went on a couple of named roads, thinking they were either FM or SH roads. Well these roads; Dahlia, Hollyhock and Periwinkle, were none of these, however they were paved. Technically. They were about 1 and a half lanes at the widest, no markings, and were through the East Texas forests. Rolling and curvy, and while not in the best shape, there were not significant issues. Just had to take care and exercise caution. In total we rode between 15 and 20 miles on these roads. I have to look back at the map and see the alternate routes on FM roads to see what options we would have had.

The one disappointment on the trip was that it appears that someone has made off with the Uncertain road sign so we were unable to collect "U" this weekend as Uncertain, TX does not have a post office or other government building.

Jefferson is a fun old town that really caters to both tourists and bikers. We had a great time with our friends and lots of laughs at Auntie Skinners Riverboat Club.

Weekend miles were about 360 miles. I think I'm just about due for my next oil change and need to start thinking about brake fluid and fork oil...

East Texas Ghosts

Jefferson, TX is an old "port" (riverport) city in Texas. It has a fairly colorful history and is reputed to be one fo the more haunted towns in Texas.

It is also a very popular destination for motorcyclists. In East Texas, you have to travel through the Piney Woods to get to it, and is located just west of the only natural lake in Texas, Caddo Lake.

WE have been to Jefferson in the past, its a nice little town. Since we also do our ABC's of Touring, how can you avoid getting Uncertain, TX as the U city, just a few miles east.

Fishing Trip

Its been a busy couple of weeks, last weekend we took an extended 5 day weekend and took a family vacation down to the Schlitterbahn Resort in New Braunfels. In addition to the waterpark we were on the river so we tubed down the Comal river multiple times. We took one of the boys friends with us as well.

This past weekend we had a little party on Saturday and invited a bunch of our friends. It was a great success and a lot of fun. Of course we managed to finish up some more projects just in time, most notably the downstairs powder room, well almost finished, the baseboard still needs to be caulked...

Sunday was a day of rest, literally. I did a couple of pre-rides, wanted to do the bug run but it looks very similiar to past years and would have taken another couple of hours in the heat. As it was I was on the bike about 2 hours or so and ready to hit the pool when I got back. Around supper I asked the boys if they wanted to go fishing and they were all game so we took off to drown some worms and hopefully catch some mighty panfish. Well we had some fun and some luck. Everybody caught some, and they were plentiful, which was good as they weren't very big!




Of course some were a bit bigger than others....

The end is near.....

Of my honey-do list that is. Well, before I get carried away, its doesn't really have an end, as its a perpetual list but it is reducing to a more manageable number of items now.

Landscaping - done, short retaining wall in front, soil/fill, sods - check
Attic ladder - installed and trim installed.
Antique (well old anyway) Stained glass windows - hung
Front porch lights - installed and caulked.
Back porch light - installed and caulked
Motion detector light at garage - installed and tested
Soaker hoses around front of house
countless bags/boxes of shredding, trash, goodwill, etc
Painting of trim

I know we did more stuff this weekend.....

Sportster case

B&W conversion of a shot taken in Bricktown during OKC National HOG Rally.

Catching up.

Busy, busy. OKC National HOG Rally was almost 2 weeks ago. I posted a bit about my trip on Route 66 but never posted anything about the Rally. Of course I had other things on my mind last weekend with installing attic ladder and cleaning out attic in 120F temps, having the alternator my truck go, and our hot water heater, as well as some landscaping in the slight rain on Sunday. Thankfully it did rain actually, as the temps stayed around 80F. By the way today is forecast to be at 103F and its 90F at 10 am already.

Anyway back to the trip. I took Friday afternoon off after all my meetings and hit the road about 1 pm for a 3.5 hour roll on up the highway to Oklahoma City. Except for the construction I made very good time and kept very well hydrated in the high temps. Hooked up with Darlene in her car at the dealership just outside the city, after we sorted out the wrong (former location) directions I gave her. Then we headed off to the rally site and hung out for a while and caught Le-Ann Rimes in concert. I'm not a fan, just don't know her music, not what I typically listen to, and was very pleasantly surprised. We headed back to the hotel and spent some time with our friends in a great room - special thanks to Carla and Tee.

Saturday morning after the HOG parade, a group of us took off to the other Dealership and then back to the rally site for a few hours. It really started heating up and by the time Kansas took the outdoor stage at 1PM it was getting pretty much unbearable. Which is too bad as they sounded awesome. A bit later we headed back to the hotel. The rally site was pretty good and we saw a lot of our friends from the Chapter, several of which who had ridden up that morning and were heading back in the afternoon. Call me crazy but 7+ hours riding in high temps... no thanks, glad we had a room.

After we got back to the hotel and spent some time in the pool we all went out to Bricktown, had a bite to eat and checked out Bikes and Bricks. It was pretty awesome and complemented the HOG rally very well.

Sunday morning we awoke to passing rain and cool temps. The group took off down 35 and I tool a solo route north to hit Route 66.

Here's a few pictures from the weekend activities.

Bricktown

Get your kicks on Route 66

Returning home from Oklahoma City for the National HOG rally, I wanted to take in a bit of Route 66, since I was so close. I have been on a couple of other sections, Amarillo in TX, and Kingman, AZ. So, head north in Oklahoma to go to Texas....

Most of the landmarks are long since gone but there are a few sights still to see. I hit the route in Edmond OK and headed East to Stroud before heading south on 377. I will have to watch the movie Cars again to catch up on my Route 66 lore.

HOG OKC

This weekend is the 26th annual National HOG rally. Last year we rode up to Milwaukee for the 25th, which coincided with the 105th anniversary of Harley-Davidson. Massive Party. This year the rally is much closer to home, in Oklahoma City. It will be a much smaller scale but is still shaping up to be a fairly significant rally. Lots of folks from the chapter appear to be going but for the most part everyone has made their own arrangements for lodging so I'm sure we will be running into everyone at the rally site and in Bricktown.

I'm heading up this afternoon, in the heat of the day, with temps in or near triple digits, oh joy.... But on that note I will be taking interstate to get there quickly. Theres a couple of dealerships in the area that are having some activities related to the rally so I may check them out on the way.

Oklahoma City is directly on the map with regards to Route 66 History. On my trip home on Sunday I hope to partake in some of this history with an extended route home.

Got my camera ready, hope to get some good and fun shots this weekend!

Wrap up

So after riding the Dragon we stopped back in the Deal's Gap for a store and to check out all the t-shirts and writings on the ceiling. Almost ready to go, and the sky's opened up again, hard, for about 45 minutes, so we wait that out until it slows down enough to head back out. This time we are going to take a bit of a detour as we are in a dry county and the nearest beer for purchase is about 15-20 miles away, on Highway 28 in Fontana Village. The ride to the beer store was awesome as it was along the river and there was a thick fog rolling along the river, we kept riding in and out of this fog and stopped at a pull off just before the road crossed the river.




Back on the road and more rain starts up and finally lets up just before we get back to the room and the others. We hang out with the group, exchanging lies and eating pizza for the rest of the night.



The next morning Darlene and I head out on the southern path and do the Cherohala Skyway, some of the others get their first opportunity to to the Dragon and take the northern route headed home. Carla and Tee stick around for another day riding with Family.



Long day this one, we want to make Memphis and decide to go further. Our route turned out to be a wise choice after a leisurely start as we had a couple of light sprinkles along the way that barely got our windshields wet. We run into Michael and Loyce in Arkansas where we stopped for gas and possible hotel, we decide to go another hour or so, but Michael and Loyce stay put. After 590 miles and 13.5 hours on the road we stop for the night, the rest of the crew are about 30 miles further in Little Rock.

A few more ABC points along the way and we arrive home mid afternoon on Saturday, just in time to rest up for the return to work on Monday.

Finally!

About time I get back to finishing my posting!!! If only I can remember the details...

So we left Charleston, and continued along the coast, stopping in Myrtle Beach. Carla had spent time here in her past. So we stopped for lunch and checked out the scene. Interestingly the recent rally has had some controversy so the locals were quite happy to see us.






After leaving Myrtle beach we continued onto Anderson SC. A bit of rain along the way, yet another rainsuit decision (good call....). We hooked up with Carla's famil and called it an early night as we were anxious to ride the tail of the Dragon the next day.

Darlene and I were on a mission so we headed off on our own while the rest of the crew checked out Terry's shop and hit the dealership. We had some great roads on the way into Robbinsville, NC,



and picked up some State markers for our ABCs and arrived dry at the Two Wheel Inn about 11:15 am. Got settled in, checked our bearings and fired up the bikes and pointed them to Deal's Gap. Whats this? Rain? Sure enough so we stop and suit up and ride through torrential rain into Deal's Gap. By the time we ride the 11 miles or so the rain eventually stops. We pick up our souvenirs and decide to have a shorter route, and do the Dragon twice since there rain forecast for the remainder of the day. Darlene of course makes yet another new friend.



and we get a shot of the "Tree of Shame"



So we do the Dragon, but have to do it very cautiously as the roads are wet, and yes it starts raining again as we are riding. Lots of Photographers, and the trick is to remember your training, look into where you are going, not at the photographers or that is where your bike will go...

more to come...

Road trip update part 2

Pending..... haven't had time to summarize and select the right pictures, will hopefully do over the next couple of days...

Road Trip Memories

So many pictures, so many memories, how does one summarize.... Haven't a clue.

Lets see, day 1 and 2, basically get to destination. Hmmm what happened, oh yeah, rain! But the best thing of course was our riding friends.

Day 2 - down for the night - Perry, GA

Day 3 - Hilton Head Island, rest stop and luggage repair.

Come day 4, we had 2 nights in Mount Pleasant, just east of Charleston, SC. Time to relax. We did a variety of things, some as groups and some as smaller groups. Activities included Boone Hall Plantation, carriage tour of Historic Charleston, swimming in the Atlantic Ocean at the Isle of Palms Beach, as well as the typical eating and drinking and other touring, in the appropriate orders of course.

Day 4 - Riding around Charleston.

Day 4 - Historic Charleston area sights.

Day 4 - Isle of Palms Beach

Halfway point, more to follow.....