Return to Texas 4/26/08

Tomorrow morning, Sunday, 4/26/08, I depart Tucson for the ride back home to Texas. I had a great time here. Unfortunately, I ran out of time & money,(money actually) and did not get to Encino, Needles or Phoenix..But like MacArthur said: I shall return..I will get pics on the blog starting Tuesday....Till then, I'll be careful & will keep the rubber on the road...Ya'll do the same...see ya in 940 miles..................John

Greetings From Sunny Tucson Arizona 4/15/08

On Saturday, 4/12/08 ,at 0400 hrs I left Wichita Falls Texas for a non-stop m/c ride to Tucson Arizona. I have to say this now to all of my friends that thought that the old man couldn't do it or shouldn't try to do it all in one day: I appreciate your concern for my well being. I apologize that I said it would not bother my butt. Between El Paso & Las Cruces N.M., it bothered my butt..REALLY became a concern as to,whether my butt would stay attached to my body..I wiggled, shifted in the seat, and stood up on the foot boards..No relief.. So, I had to stop 3 times to walk around and get things back to feeling natural. Other than that, the ride here was great & a piece of cake..No problems with any traffic..Everyone was friendly. Anyway, the planned 13 hr trip turned out to be an 18 hr non stop trip as I arrived at Bill & Jackie's at 2200 hr Saturday night.
Bill's computer does not have the 3x5 floppy port so I can't upload any pics but I will when I return back home around the 1st of May..Everything here is spectacular & to coin a phrase from McDonald's: I be lovin' it!!! So if I can keep from walking into cacti in the desert, I will get some great pics...Till my return to the homeland, ya'll be safe & keep the rubber on the road...........John

Additional Compassion Run Pics 3/25/08 By Mike

Following the 3rd Annual Compassion Run 3/25/08, Mike & Barbara headed off to Cozumel for some R & R. He is back now & I received these pics from him yesterday. This are a few of the ones he took during the Compassion Run. REMEMBER, if you want to see the pictures bigger, click on the pic. Above is a pic of some folks waiting for the slow races to begin

Here is a pic of Mike the guy who cooked that great brisket for everyone!!

This is a pic of the band that played..Play a great version of Steppenwolf's "Born To Be Wild""

Another view of the band...

This dog was at the Sportster Raffle tent.

Another pic of the dog..

Officer Mark Wise in the obstacle course.

Sgt. Mike Yonts showing his skill.

Another shot of Sgt. Yonts in the cone weave course.

That's it for this blog. Thank you Mike & Barb J for the pics & letting me do a post with them. Until the next post/run, ya'll be careful out there & ride safe....John

The New Gremlin Bell

Friday, 4/4/08, I received in the mail my new gremlin bell. Most of you visitors to this blog site know how I lost the last gremlin bell. If you are unfamiliar with the departure of the bell from my bike, scroll down to the "MUENSTER TEXAS RUN" and it is explained there..This time I put it on my right crash bar (engine guard to you young'uns) and instead of wire, I took Russ's advice and used a heavy duty plastic flex tie. It can be seen in the above pic under the turn signal...REMEMBER: if you want to see the picture larger, click on the pic..

The bell. I will keep a close watch on this one...Hopeful the gremlin that chewed through the wire on the last one, departed the bike with the bell & is still laying in the road or weeds back on US 82..

The last pic of the bell. Between having the bike blessed at the Compassion Run & the new bell, I will have no problems on the trip out West next week...If you are saying," What the heck is a Gremlin Bell & what does it do?", then click on the following link and it will tell ya the story..Then you can order a bell, have one given to you or buy one at almost any motorcycle dealership or motorcycle accessory/apparel shop...until next blog/ride or return from the Westcoast, ya'll be careful out there and ride safe................John

http://www.gremlinbells.com/

Motorcycle Awareness C.O.R.P.S, Adopt A Highway, 4/5/08

Saturday, 4/5/08 was "Don't Mess With Texas" day and all the different groups that had "adopted a highway" turned out and cleaned up their respective portion of highway. The Motorcycle Awareness C.O.R.P.S adopted a 2 mile stretch of FM 2606 between Delaware/E. Arrowhead and Pawnee Trail/E. Arrowhead. This area is out around the East side of Lake Arrowhead. We met at the beginning point at Delaware/E. Arrowhead & the fun began. In attendance for this event were: Jeff & Phil, co-founders of the Motorcycle Awareness C.O.R.P.S, Jan, Jade & Jazz their dog, Jerry & Beryl, Richard & Wilda & me (John).. For more info on the Motorcycle Awareness C.O.R.P.S , click on the following link: http://www.seemymoto.com/ REMEMBER: if you want to see the picture bigger, click on the pic..

Eddie Hills Fun Cycles of Wichita Falls Texas was great in supplying the 4 wheel drive mule to help expedite things. Here is a pic of their truck & trailer..The mule will be shown later on in this blog..Thanks Trey for the help!!!

This is the sign at the East end of MAC's area. This is at Pawnee Trail & E. Arrowhead.

Here is the 4-wheel drive mule the Eddie Hill's Fun Cycles loaned to the MAC crew. Left to right: Wilda, Jade, Jan at the wheel & Richard.

Jade & Jan were just having TOO much fun at this...We were even fixed up to deal with any stray rattle snakes we ran across..I told Jade & Jan just to remember if they saw any rattler's, that it could only strike 1/2 the length of its body so don't get too close...Jan's view on this was different. She told Jade if they saw ANY snake to run the opposite direction...

Here is Jerry strolling down the road to grab a piece of trash that was an eyesore to passersby.

Here is Beryl pausing to pick up some unsightly item.

Eastbound crew meets Westbound crew. Left side is: Wilda, Richard & Jerry. Right side is Jeff & Phil...

East meets West..This view shows Beryl, Richard, Wilda & Jerry on the left and Jeff & Phil on the right.

A pic of Jeff's Harley.

A pic of Phil's Harley.

A pic Jerry & Beryl's Harley.

Wilda's Shadow (Silver) & Richard's Vulcan..

All the bikes by the West end sign with some of the trash we picked up..I forgot to take a pic of my bike when doing the separate bike shots but mine is the Vulcan with the helmet on the backrest and is right behind Jeff's Harley.

Another view of the bikes, sign & trash.

The team returns, with Jan at the wheel & Jeff riding shotgun..Walking is Wilda...And somewhere behind her was Jerry..He walked back too...

With all the trash bags, the folks gather around. Left to right: Richard, Wilda, Jerry & Beryl, Jeff, Jan, Jazz (the doggie), Jade and Phil in front...MISSION ACCOMPLISHED!!!!

Rally around the sign: John, Wilda, Richard. Jerry & Beryl, Jazz (the dog) & Jade with Jeff & Phil in front...

Another view of me, Wilda, Richard, Jerry & Beryl, Jazz & Jade with Jeff & Phil, the founders of MAC, in front..

Yet another view of Richard, Wilda, Jerry & Beryl, Jazz & Jade, with Jeff & Phil out front. I think Jeff said we gathered up 15 bags of trash, a big twisted piece of rebar & one fairly good sized tree stump..

The final group shot prior to departure for home: Richard, Wilda, Jerry & Beryl, Jeff, Jan, Jazz (dog), Jade and Phil in front..

The Eddie Hill's Fun Cycle of Wichita Falls Texas, truck, trailer & Mule...Left to right the organizer's of today's event: Phil, Jan, Jeff & Jade.

That will conclude this post..I had a good time today & met some new friends & look forward to the new event...Don't forget to check out MAC'S web page at: http://www.seemymoto.com/... Until next run/post, ya'll be careful & ride safe.......John

Biker Roadhouse, St.Jo-Texas, Revisited 4/2/08

In a week or two I am heading out to Tucson Arizona to see Bill, a good friend, & his family. I wanted to take him a cap from The Biker Roadhouse in St.Jo Texas, so Russ, Mike & I met at the McDonald's on Southwest Parkway in Wichita Falls Texas on 4-2-08 and headed East from there. Above is Russ & Mike. The 3 of us were in the academy together back in '77. REMEMBER, IF YOU WANT TO SEE THE PICTURE BIGGER, CLICK ON THE PIC..

Our bikes at McDonalds, prior to heading out...Left to right: Mike's Harley, Russ's Harley & my bike that I affectionately call "Clone".

Rockin' down the highway!!! Here we are doin' 80 on US 82..

Can't you just feel the love? Here is Mike trying to tell me something...

Another of Mike..Something must be wrong with his glove....

Wow!!! Russ is having the same problem with his glove too!!! And what a coincidence!!! both of them on the left hand...Something ya just don't see every day...

Man, Russ's gesturing me...Could it be the ol' "you Number 1 GI" thing..Ain't seen that for at least 38 years...

Inside the Biker Roadhouse in St.Jo Texas..This business is biker owned/operated. This is Mike, Russ & Toxie, owner of the Biker Roadhouse..The Biker Roadhouse is open Wed-Sun. Call the Roadhouse for their hours at 940-995-2709. You can also visit their site at: http://www.bikerroadhouse.com/ . They have a good selection of leathers, vests, patches, helmets & all the goodies you could want at a motorcycle accessory & apparel store. And best of all, the prices are very reasonable. So, if your club or friends want to take a nice ride, consider taking a run to The Biker Roadhouse at 104 E. Howell, St.Jo Texas. The store is 1/8 th of a block North of US 82 on the West side of the square. Stop in & see Toxie & all the folks there...

Another pic of Mike, Russ & Toxie..Russ is grinning because he said he was gonna locate a small chunk of C4 and fix my camera....

The wall inside of the Biker Roadhouse has a lot of interesting things on it..This is my favorite... On 4/3/08 I recieved the following information from Toxie: The bull on the wall is named Henry. Toxie owned Henry for 13 years & Henry was 15 years old when he died. Henry is a Corriente Full blood bull. The Corriente breed is out of Mexico. Toxie advised that Henry was concieved in Mexico but was born here in the U.S.A. For more on the Corriente breed check out the North American Corriente Association at the following Link.. Thanks for the information on Henry, Toxie.. http://www.corrientecattle.org/

Me, Mike, Russ & Deaken on Russ's bike..Deaken is the son of Lizza, who just happened to be in the the Biker Roadhouse & left when we did..Lizza was kind enough to take our pic, so Russ included DeaKen in the shot...He has future Harley owner written all over his face!!

This is Lizza & DeaKen..I told her I would include her in this blog for being so nice to take our pic...Thanks again Lizza!!

Heading back West on US 82 from St.Jo..We decided to stop in Terrel Oklahoma at Doug's Peach Orchard (catfish restaurant) & eat on the way home. Here is Russ & Mike.

The sign at Doug's. I have been going there since 1977 & took my son there when he was just 3 weeks old..He loves catfish almost as much as I do now. He is 24 now.

Mike & Russ at Doug's.

Mike inside Doug's

Russ inside Doug's. I think he was saying something to me about relocating my camera into a recess or something...

Russ & Mike getting ready to leave Doug's..Mike is looking for his glasses...

I went to Russ's house when we got back in town..We took the US 281 exit off of US 287 & Mike continued West on US 287.

We had a good time & it ate up the clock & put some miles on the bikes. But when you are riding with friends, its always good!!! Until next ride/post, be careful out there & keep the rubber on the road.............John