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Friday, November 30, 2012

FNDR 11-30-12


First and foremost...Happy Birthday to my mother...She and I have both gotten older...mine was yesterday.  :)

We have had a bit of a cool spell here the day after Thanksgiving but other than a few colder days the weather has really been nice. We ride to Flat Tire Burgers in Bethany tonight. It is fairly small but we were able to push a few tables together and make room for the 11 we had tonight. I know Chuck and Tom had turkey burgers and everyone else but me, had burgers.  I had chicken nachos and they were piled high and very tasty! Everyone gave it a thumbs up.  I think the jalapeƱo buns were eaten by a few also, as they have several types of buns to choose from for your burger.   This was the first time for all of us and I think we could easily eat there again.

As we sit and finish our food, we smell something that smells really yummy. Seems the table next to us has ordered s'mores. Oh my, we will have to do that next time!

The weather was perfect or riding. Full moon ( I know it was on Thursday, but it is still very full) was awesome, and had a moon dog around it. Moisture is moving in....not rain, but just moisture in the air. Diana & Chris and Chuck & I go by "mole nation" and have our Friday night margarita. I had a birthday yesterday, and was ready to have a drink. This getting older isn't for sissy's you know. :).  As we come out of Mole Nation, the moisture I spoke about, was dew, and it had coated our seats on the bikes.   Was a chilly but really nice ride home.  Great evening!!!!


PS. We rode Ginger the Harley tonight. She has been in the shop for an oil leak that they assured us was non existence. So we thought we would put a few miles on her and check it out. Saturday Chuck took her out for a spin and he informs me that she IS leaking oil! How come we can ride a bike only 30-40 miles and it will leak but they can't find it. I really don't understand Harley techs. Chuck thinks they are just stringing us along until the warranty is up and they can wash their hands of it. We should have kept Pearl and never bought the 2011 we now have. Very disappointed in this bike! Guess we will attempt to take Miss Ginger back and see if they can find the source of the oil drip. More to come on this, I am sure.

Sunday, November 25, 2012

11/25/12. Just ridin!

We know winter is going to hit Oklahoma anytime now, and we want to enjoy as much of the great weather we are having, so we decide to ride west for a bit.   Diana & Chris are riding with us today.  We take I-40 and exit at Hinton. There is a casino there that has billboards all along the highway advertising a Rt 66 Roadhouse Restaurant that we need to try.

It is actually inside the Sugar Creek Casino, so we pull up and park the bikes.  We walk through the small but very clean casino and find the restaurant. They are having a buffet today so we opt to try it. The food was really very good. We finish with lunch and decide to walk back into the casino.

Diana & I figure we are here we might as well sign up for a players card and try our luck. The guys do the same and we all sit down in a row and proceed to spend our $10 free play. At this point I can't tell you who was winning or losing.  As for me, I was down to my last $1 and I hit $65 jackpot. Yes I did. Miss Unlucky finally got Lucky! I cashed out at that point. Not going to chance losing it. I can't speak for the others but I was a pretty happy girl.

We head back to the bikes and we get ready to take a ride back towards home. There is another casino across the street so we drive over to it to see what it looks like. Maybe next time we will check that one out. Several bikes pull into the sugar Creek Casino as we head back north.

The ride was great. The weather is really nice and just feels great to be out riding.
We ride through Roman nose State Park. Nothing exciting going on there.





As we pull into the small town of Okeene I see a very tall copper steeple looking thing in the air. I snap a couple of pictures as we zoom by. It is the St Anthony Catholic Church.  Amazing in this little town of just over 1000 there is such an impressive church.





We ride on to Hennessee and then thru Kingfisher.  Had to make a stop at the Atwood's as we drove thru Kingfisher.  I am a Atwoods-aholic.  I just love those stores.

We are getting close to losing day-light by the time we make the 3-4 junction.  We say our goodbyes to the Biggs, and get home just at dusk.  We had a great day, with at least one of us coming home a little richer than when we started out...LOL....Oh yes, I did!!!!   :)

Saturday, November 17, 2012

Emotions 11-17-12

This morning we get on Snow the Goldwing and take a ride to the cemetery where my dad is buried. It's been awhile since we visited him so guess today was as good as any to make a return visit.

My dad and where my mother will be buried 
I am not one that goes there often as he is in my heart every day but it was good to make the visit. It really flooded me with memories.

My dad served in WWII  



My daddy was a wonderful guy. No girl could have asked for any better. Being an only child, I was perfect in his eyes. I was his little princess. I can say I had a wonderful childhood and never missed not having siblings.  I am a very lucky girl to be able to say I had the best!!! I really do miss my dad. He could do anything, or at least in my eyes he could. I feel that my husband is a lot like my dad and I truly think that is the ultimate compliment to both of these guys. :)

We headed west on I-40 and the wind is blowing pretty hard out of the south. Was really nice to head south at Hinton. We get to Binger and head west again on 152. We get to Alfalfa, OK around noon. Chuck & I were the only ones in this small town cemetery. Was nice to look at the family members that share this spot of the world.  Names I remember from my childhood.




Grandparents 
I was able to find my dads two sisters.  They were quite young when they passed. Got me to thinking about all the stories and lives that all these people have had. Sometimes we get so busy with the hustle and bustle of daily living and forget to stop and smell the roses. I think that is what is so nice about getting on the bike and riding. Gives a guy a chance to relax.

I appreciate very much that my husband brought me here today. It was a nice chance for me to reflect on a lifetime that I hold in that special place in your heart.

Life is short and we have to make the best of it. Sometimes it's good and sometimes it bad but we have to keep on plugging along. Enjoy the roses along the way. :)
Dad's sister that died at 2 months old. 

Dad's little sister that was only 2 when she passed 


 This song reflects this day for me.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E5DdfgsJ-5c&sns=em

Friday, November 16, 2012

FNDR 11-16-12 Applebee's

Well, the dinner ride for tonight was at Applebee's at I-40 and McArthur, and I thought we were going to own the restaurant again, as it looked like we was going to have a full house.  Chuck & I get there a little early, so I could get us a table, and as we pull into the restaurant, I start getting a lot of pings on my phone.  Looks like there has been a lot of things going on that people were not going to be able to make it after all.

I ended up taking our table for 14-16 down to 8.  We didn't even need that, we had 6 tonight.  Diana & Chris, and Jennifer & Steve were there.  We had a really good meal, and enjoyed the company.

That is what I love about this group of friends, we never know if we will have 18 like last week, or 4....Just enough to keep our little group interesting.  I know we are getting into the holiday season, and it is going to be more difficult for everyone to show up, but I know they are thinking of us anyway.    :)

Next week is Thanksgiving, and I can't believe it is already here.  Thinking we might consider Mexican Food for next Friday night, since we will all probably be very tired of turkey by then.

For the ones we didn't get to see tonight, Chuck & I would like to wish you and your families a wonderful Thanksgiving....We all have so many things to be "thankfull" for and I think having such a wonderful group of friends like you is one of them.  We are a very lucky group!!!

See you soon!!!

Friday, November 9, 2012

FNDR 11-9-12 Baluu's

Well, I am thinking that everyone was ready to eat at one of my favorite places, cause we had 18 people show up for our Friday Night Dinner Ride.

We rode because the weather was really nice. Ginger was our mode of transportation tonight.  Was fun to get back on the Harley after riding the Gold Wing for our 5 day trip to Galveston.   The wind has been howling for the past few days, but hey, we do live in Oklahoma!  We get there around 6:15 and Keven & Wendy are already there!  Was really great to see those guys.  Seems that Keven has taken a job with Walmart for some extra money, and I have to say, he had me laughing quite a bit with all his stories about being a checker at a store on the South side of Oklahoma City.

We had a full house tonight.  I kept getting text telling me that different peoples were on their way.  Mark brought his wife Donna tonight.  I am hoping she enjoyed our crazy group and will do it again soon.

The food, well, what can I say, it was a good as ever.  Mai & Kong can really make some good stuff.  We had a wonderful time with the group, and glad everyone could make it.  Elinda & Don made it also, and then it was the regulars, you know, Diana, Chris, Allen, Doreen, Brandon, Joey, and Chuck & I.  Steve and Jennifer were also able to get away for a bit.  Like I said, we had a full house.  Makes me happy when that happens.  Tom & Seda came by to see us, but didn't eat.

Great evening with great people.  Thanks to all who participated....   :)

Side note:  Got our new I-Phone 5's and have them up and running.  Really excited to get Siri, since mine was a 4 and I didn't have her on it.  Love the phone, but hey, it is an I-Phone after all, and anyone that knows me, knows I love my I-Phone!!!  Our son listed the old 4's on E-bay, and put a "buy it now" price of $260.  Within 1 minute, he had all kinds of offers, and by 3 minutes, a guy in Florida had bought them both.  Well, I guess that was pretty effortless!!!  Paid for the new ones!!!  My kind of trade!  Good deal for all the way I look at it.


Side note #2....We were out of town for Halloween this year, but I did get to see the grand babies pic for Halloween.  Just had to share!!!!!   Love em!!!




Until the next post...Later!!!!

Sunday, November 4, 2012

Lone Star Bike Rally (Day 5) 11-4-12

The skies as we head out this morning 
11-4-12 (Day 5)

Breakfast at 6am, and then we are saying goodbye to Galveston.  The trip has been absolutely perfect.  The weather has been perfect.  I think everyone has had a great time.  As usual, it would have been nice to have one day to just go out on the beach and chase the waves, but it just didn't happen.  The excitement of Doreen & Allen's engagement has been a whole lot of fun for us.  Heck, we are old, and this just doesn't happen that often for this group.  We are all old married people!!!! 



The ride homeward bound was uneventful, thank god.  We had not break downs, no wrecks, nothing!!!! Just the way we like it.  I was a little cool starting out, so when we made our first stop, I change out jackets.  I was putting on stuff, and others were taking off layers.  What is wrong with this picture!!!  I wonder if I really have any blood!!!! We couldn't have a trip without a little rain, so as we got into Houston, it didn't let us down.  It didn't last long thank goodness, and we just kept riding.

Rain, rain, go away!




















Not sure that some of the newbies realized, but if you need to make a stop, you just tell us and we stop.  Doreen hated to ask us to stop, but you know how it is when nature calls.  We obliged her, and make a stop.  Little did she know, we were all ready to stop!!!  Our little group of riders are well trained...if you stop, you fill up the bike with gas, and you empty your bladder....that's just the unwritten rule.  There you have it.  So see, if you need a break, just let someone know...we will make it happen, and I can guarantee you that there is a sigh of relief from one or more of the group!!!! Just sayin!! 






We make it to Dallas, and pull of to visit Strokers, and grab some lunch.  We parked outside the area, as Chuck didn't want to drive the bike back in the parking area with the trailer attached.  I think that was a great choice.  I could just see it now.....LOL....visualize us getting back there and not being able to make the turn....Oh no, not us!!! 

Strokers was not very busy, but hey, it was Sunday!!!! They had the store open, so we walk over and check it out.  Yep, nothing has changed!!!!  We sit outside and eat, and the wind is a bit cool.  We are supposed to be riding towards a cool front.  Time will tell!!! 
















Back on the bike we make good time to Oklahoma.  We are losing Lynn & Keith  first, as they are going to head west on Hwy. 53 just north of Springer, OK.  We had said our goodbyes and given our hugs at the last gas stop in Denton, so we waved to them as they exited the road.  Next in line was Doreen & Allen.  They get off at Pauls Valley.  We make our final gas stop and say our goodbyes to them.  Now we are down to 4 bikes.  Tom will be next to peel off at I-240.  Michael next and then Diana & Chris.  We are a bike of 1 now.  We make it home around 4:15 and start hearing from everyone that they made it home safely.

What a wonderful trip, and an even more wonderful group of people.  We have traveled together for 5 days, and have had a time of our life.  Can't wait to book our rooms for next year!!!  One of my most favorite places to go!!!!  Thanks to Allen for allowing us to share he and Doreen's important life changing moment!!!!  You did good!!!  Thanks to everyone else for going with us, and I hope you can say you had a great time!!!!  You are all wonderful people. 

Good food, good times, and good people. 

Mileage: 1216 according to Snow  :)

Saturday, November 3, 2012

Lone Star Bike Rally (Day 4) 11-3-12

11-3-12  (Day 4)



We pull out from the hotel about 9am and are heading towards the Ferry to ride it across to the other side and then back.  As we pull out, the sun is shining and the temperature is just about perfect.  I ask Chuck to find a spot along the seawall so we can stop and take some pics.  My plans include making a big heart in the sand, and writing something in the middle of it, like, She said Yes, and have Doreen and Allen next to it. 
She said Yes!!!  


As I am drawing the heart, and lady and her dog walk right through my masterpiece.  LOL...poor lady, I don't think she had any idea what she had just done.  Oh well, so dog prints are always welcomed in my masterpiece. 

It was a little hard to get the right light and angle for the "perfect" pic.  We did the best we could, and the photo op was over. 

We are back on the bikes, and heading towards the Ferry.  There is a short line and we join in and wait for our turn to board the Ferry.  As we entered we were directed to the outer edge of the boat.  Was a perfect vantage point for us to watch for dolphins.  We are on the shady side of the boat, and the ride was very pleasant.  We saw quite a few dolphins.  I wasn't able to get a pic of any of them, but the rest of the guys got some really good ones.  Our ride is over pretty quickly, and we are on the bikes and exiting the boat before we know it. 

Is that a ship we see  :) 
Washing off seagull poop!!!
The line waiting to get on the boat on this side was very long.  Guess everyone had the same idea as we did, ride over, do a u-turn and and get back on the ferry.  We do just that, and find ourselves sitting in line to get back on the boat.  Not sure how long we were there, but was probably about 20 to 30 minutes.  The sun is warming up quite nicely, and would have been wonderful if they would have had someone selling water out there.  LOL  We are back on the ferry and even are on the same side as before, but we are on the inside lane this time.  We are very close to the engines, and the noise is really annoying, so we get off the bikes and walk back to the sides and start looking for those dolphins again. 

Tom got christened by one of the many seagulls that were flying around.  Michael had a tshirt on that said, "I pooped today", but it looked like Tom needed one that said " I got pooped on today"....Michael had some water on his bike, so he and Tom cleaned his shirt....LOL...those guys!!!! 
Yes, she did!!!  
It is getting time to find a place for lunch, so we had heard from some friends that Casey's was a great place to eat, so we head back to the seawall and find the restaurant.  The sun is really beaming down, and we decide since they didn't have any shade to sit outside, we would just sit inside.  More seafood..YES!!!  I got the crab cakes and oh my, they were really good.  Once again I can only speak for myself, but I give this place a Thumbs UP!!!! And by the way, yes, the Long Island Ice Tea that our friends had said were really good there, were!!!! 

During our lunch, we had been looking at the pics we took of Doreen & Allen, and decided we wanted a do over.  We walk across the street and go back on the beach.  Drawing another heart, this time much smaller, we get the pics we are wanting.  The tide kept messing with our heart, so we kept backing up as it would erase it as the tide came in.  As we met up with Diana, Chris, Tom and Michael, as they stayed up on the seawall, they tell us a guy in an old convertible car came by and at the intersection, he threw out a wad of money.  I guess there was a really big scramble from the way the tell it, but they come up empty handed.  All the cash flew away from them due to the breeze off the ocean.  Now we all decided it had to be $100 bills, but probably was $1 but was still pretty cool!!!  Just never know what we might be involved in.  Fun stuff!!!  Next time guys, hustle!!!!  :)

At this point in the afternoon, we decide to go back to the hotel and take it easy.  Some of us went down to the pool, and sat and watched the clouds start building.  We have some rain in the forecast for today, and by the looks of the clouds, I think they are correct. 

Meeting up with everyone at 6pm to decide what to do for dinner, we do some splitting up, as Doreen and Allen wanted to go back to the vendors on the seawall and pick up a t-shirt.  We start to walk towards a little place to eat just down from the hotel.  As we get there, there are no cars in front of it, and we look across the street to a well lit pier.  There is a restaurant over there.  Heck, lets try it.  I think it was called Jimmy's.....It overlooks the ocean, and there is a fishing pier downstairs.  It is open air, and was a really cool place.  So glad we happened on it.  The food wasn't quite as good as some we had, but the location was awesome.  The clouds are really building and as sunset falls, we got to see a beautiful sky.  It just was the perfect final dinner to a very nice trip. 

Allen & Doreen ended up staying down by Bubba Gump's and ate there, and also checked out the amusement park.  I guess some of the rides were really cool, as they go out over the water.  They didn't ride any, but maybe next year we will have to check them out.  :) 



Back at the rooms, we decide it is time to think about packing up and get ready for the ride back home.  This is the last night of Daylight Savings time also, we we make plans to get up and on the way fairly early.  Breakfast opens at 6am, and we will be there!!!!  Michael & Tom go back to the Strand, and do some people watching.  I think we had seen enough of the crazy people, so we sat this one out.  Good night world.


Friday, November 2, 2012

Lone Star Bike Rally 2012 (Day 3) 11-2-12

11-2-12  (Day 3)

View from our Patio 






Our rooms all have a view of the ocean, and a balcony.  Wonderful to wake up and open the door and see the waves first thing.  Our plans are to go to Pelican Island and check it out.  The weather is great, and as we pull out we go ahead and stop by the seawall to take some pics of us on our bikes.  Wow, did I say the weather was beautiful.  It is supposed to get in the high 80's today, and I think it is going to do every bit of it.  Pics are done, so we head towards Pelican Island.







We make a few u-turns along the way, as Chuck just can't seem to find the right road that he wants to be on.  You know we are on an island, and we are going to another little island, so there are very few if only one road to get there.  He finally finds the correct one, and we know where the fishermen come to fish, cause there are cars parked along the roadside to the little park area.  As we pull up to pay, we see the submarine and the escort ship that you can tour.  The little attendant charged us $3 per bike to park. If you wanted to tour the ships it was additional.  We have parked the bikes and are walking around and the attendant comes up on his golf cart.   He is asking who gave him $5.  Looks like Michael was the one, and the gentleman was bringing him his change.  What a nice person!!!!

We walked around and you can see the ferry going across the channel.  We will be riding it tomorrow.  The dolphins are very active this morning.  I don't know that I have ever seen so many before.  As we finish exploring the area, Allen, Doreen, Tom and Michael decide they want to tour the sub and ship, so we find a place to sit in shade and just enjoy the sea air.







Chris has been checking out a marker telling about the boat that you can see out in the harbor, that has been there a very long time.  He tells us the story about it being a concrete boat.  Yes, concrete.  It was built for World War 1, and never had any active duty, but was used as an oil tanker until it hit a jetty and ripped a hole in its hull.  Seems they tried to repair it, and failed, the tried to sell it, and that never happened either.  They then dug a channel around the boat, and laid it to rest.  Very interesting factoid if I say so myself.  So glad someone reads those monuments.  Sure can learn some interesting things. The ship was the SS Selma. 





Bird poop on our new seat! 




The tour of the ships are over, and everyone is back at the bikes.  Our seat got christened with bird poop.  LOL










We are thirsty and hungry.  It is really warming up, and it is time to find a good place to eat.  I bet we can do that!!!!  We head to The Spot on the seawall.  We had eaten there last year, and it was really good, so we will give it a try this year.  The food was as good as I had remembered it.  Chuck found a place upstairs, and it was nice and cool, and we enjoyed the lunch.  It is time for us to head to The Strand and check out what is going on there, so off we go.

We find parking a couple of blocks away, and get parked and head to the vendors.  The same vendors seem to be in the same places.  Not a lot of new stuff to see.  Guess when you go to most of the rallies, it gets a little old.  We did pick up a few of the shirts from the rally.  They had a good selection of some really cool shirts.  I don't think any of us bought anything big while we were there.  Since we are doing the Wing thing now, and have gotten our seat, looks like there isn't much here for the metric bikes.  The Harley has all the goodies already on it also, so just a lot of walking and watching people.  Some went other ways so we planned to meet at 5 at Willy G's.  Lynn, Keith, Diana, Chris and Chuck & I find a nice place to sit next to the Progressive booth.  We sat there for over an hour.  We had played their game the night before, and won a few of their prizes.  Chuck says he could use another one of their micro towels, so Lynn, Diana and I went over and played again. All 3 of us got micro towels...You can never have to many of them  LOL  We sat back down at our spot and did some more "people watching".  It was really a warm day, and was just nice to sit and drink some tea, and chill for awhile. They have estimated there were over 400,000 bikes here this weekend.  I think I stopped counting at 10  ;)



Crazy group!  



We meet up with the gang at 5, and decide we are ready to start looking for some food to eat.  Michael says there is a good Mexican food restaurant around here somewhere.  We all get on our phones and try to find the one he is talking about.  Didn't find the one he was talking about, but we ended up at one that was no longer there.  Next choice was down the street.  Apache's Mexican Restaurant doesn't look like very much, but heck, might as well give it a try.  Little did we know that the owner was the only one there working tonight.  He was the waiter, and the chef.  He was a little slow with getting stuff to us, but the food was good.  Was fun to just sit and relax and laugh.  One of the things this group does quite well...  :)

We head back towards the bikes, and go down some streets we have never walked.  Got to see several places to eat, and the local bars.  Finally make it back to the bikes, and it is time to head back to the rooms.  I can only speak for myself, but I am tired, and would like to just sit and chill.  Nice day, as the weather was wonderful, and enjoyed walking around with our friends.




Thursday, November 1, 2012

Lone Star Bike Rally (Day 2) 11-1-12

 11-1-12 (Day 2)

Our first stop this morning is the Harley shop in Temple.  Has to be one of my favorites, cause I think the Horny Toads they adorn their t-shirts with are wonderful.  I didn't buy another one this year, but I did get the cutest horny toad charm from there.  Several of us girl purchased one for our charm bracelets.

One of our "pit" stops!
We stop and fuel before we take off on Hwy. 190.  The weather is beautiful again, and it was a real pleasant ride.  We stop in Brenham, TX. for lunch.  I had seen a sign for Whataburger, so we made a quick stop and got refreshed with some
pretty good burgers.









Houston traffic
The traffic starts to pick up as we get closer to Houston.  Our group got to experience riding in the HOV lane.  We sure made some good time while in it.  I was always under the understanding you couldn't cross over into or out of the lane as long as there were double white lines, but I guess the people of Houston didn't get that memo.  We had 2 cars and one bike pull into the lane.  I guess like most things anymore, if it is a rule, we can break it.  Made me pay a whole lot more attention to the cars as we roared by, because you never know if they decide to get in the lane.  Amazed that there can be so much traffic at 3pm on a Thursday afternoon.  Where are all these people going?  Do they work?










We make it to Galveston around 4-4:30 and get checked into our rooms.  The La Quinta has covered parking, and we unhook the trailers and pick our parking spots for the next few days.  Everyone gets settled in, and it is time to get back on the bikes and head down to the seawall and check out some vendors.



She said Yes!




We are getting ready to head out, and Allen says he has something to share with all of us.  He has asked Doreen to marry him, and she said Yes!!!!  How exciting.  There were hugs, and congratulations to the newly engaged couple.  Exciting!!!!  Guess Allen had been carrying that ring around with him since we left Oklahoma.  He said he kept checking his coat pocket to make sure it was still there.  I think he was a bundle of nerves...LOL










We make it down to the restaurant we were wanting to eat at...The Fish Tail, and the parking has changed.  We can no longer park next to the restaurant.  Well, I should say, we could park there but it cost.  Ended up finding a spot on the street behind the restaurant, and then Chuck, Chris, and Keith parked over at the seawall.

All situated, we walk around and check out the vendors that are set up on the seawall.  They used to allow this back a few years ago, but last year, they didn't.  So nice to see them allowing it again, as it is just so nice to walk and look at the beach.  The old hotel, The Flagship, has been replaced with an amusement park.   Bubba Gumps restaurant is there also.  We decide we would all like to try Bubba Gumps, and as we walk up the hill to it, we are informed that the restaurant is closed, due to a power outage.  Well darn....as we head back to the bikes, we stop at the Fish Tail, and she tells us the same thing.  In fact, the outage is down the seawall for quite a ways.  She suggest we go towards The Strand to get food.  That is exactly what we do.  We find some parking on a street about 4 blocks from the Wharf area.  We end up eating at Willy G's.  The food was absolutely wonderful, and our waitress was awesome.  She had a wonderful personality, and we got to laugh and cut up with her.  We were sitting outside this evening, and it was really nice.

After we finish eating, we head back towards the bikes and check out a few of the vendors along the way.  All of us are tired, as it has been a very full day, so it is time to head back to the rooms and get some shut eye, so we can be ready to shop the vendors tomorrow.