The Wacky Adventures of Patrick

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Patrick
Legendary 300
Legendary 300
Posts: 367
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2007 8:40 am
Real Name: Patrick
Sex: Male
Years Riding: 30
My Motorcycle: 1998 V-Twin 1500 & 2008 Suski C50T
Location: Euless, Texas

Vacation Sept – Oct Day 6 Oct 1

#161 Unread post by Patrick »

Vacation Sept – Oct Day 6 Oct 1

Well with Val’s back being out she drove the car behind me instead of riding on the bike which kind of worked out good as we brought everything except the kitchen sink. We took off down Cache Road, which turned into 62, and from there we turned off on the Scenic 115 and got some fuel. It was not long before we learned this was going to be a many stop day. As we headed up the 115 and hit the animal preserve we quickly discovered the long horns grazing next to and crossing the road. This is open range and the sign say the Long Horns and Buffalo can be dangerous, but they seem quite content on just grazing.

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I then spot a sign saying Crater Lake so we head that way. Here are some shots from that stop.

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We head up to where 115 and 49 meet and there is a visitor station there. Val buys a tee shirt while I mosey around the place. After awhile of hanging out we decide to head west on 49. Val takes a shot of me riding while we start or journey.

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We continue down the road and I need to look at map as there are so many side jaunts and I have learned that sometimes the attractions are well marked and sometimes not.

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It is getting close to lunch time and we are hungry so we decide to start looking for a scenic place to stop to eat. Man we found a very quiet scenic place. Here are a bunch of shots of the area and us cooking on the grill.

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After a few hot dogs and a BBQ pork steak it is time to adventure on. It is not very long at all and we happen on this little area.

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As we were coming down this road I saw a little road with no sign on the left so I decided we should go down that road on our way out from here. Once again I am glad we did. When we came to a fork in the road the two choices were both gravel so I reluctantly decided go left first but pay dirt. Here are some shots from where this road ended.

First I see what looks like a dam but I cannot get a good view of it from here other then what you see below, but another cool thing about this area is the tree I shot. I could not find any definite signs of human tools but I could not find per say any tooth marks that indicate a beaver. I am 50 – 50 on what caused this.

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We take off back towards the paved road and since we found such a good site on this gravel road I decided to take the other one to its end. And wha la I find the dam.

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Time to go to the next stop. We stop in this wooded area and then bingo deer. Val says oh look at the Bambie’s, I say man look at the chili over a wood fire. They just seem to know it is not hunting season.

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We went back to the hotel, it was a great day and a great adventure. Jim and Tammy called saying they got up here and are checked in. Val and I were out on the Patio of the Patio Lounge in our Hotel, having a couple of drinks and I was working on ride reports. They came walking by and joined us.

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We later got into the hot tub and then after what seemed a short time went back to our hotel and went to bed.

Ride Safe and have Fun!

Pj
Keep the wheels on the road.

If you want check my blogg at this site.
http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/BBS/viewtopic.php?t=25466&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

User avatar
Patrick
Legendary 300
Legendary 300
Posts: 367
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2007 8:40 am
Real Name: Patrick
Sex: Male
Years Riding: 30
My Motorcycle: 1998 V-Twin 1500 & 2008 Suski C50T
Location: Euless, Texas

Vacation Sept – Oct Day 7 Oct 2

#162 Unread post by Patrick »

Vacation Sept – Oct Day 7 Oct 2

Some folks have been asking about Val’s back and it is still out so she is doing the best she can until we get home. We were going to start home tomorrow but with the rain forecast it looks like we will wait until Monday.

We start off at about 1040 as it was a very brisk morning, Jim and Tammy showed up as we were packing so we all took off for the park. On the first stop and next set of pictures if you saw my Lawton ride report from a few weeks ago you will notice the tower again. Only this is from a different side. It looks like the only way to it is to walk a very long way as I noticed one person next to it, I had to go on high zoom to make it out as a person. Anyway here a bunch of shots we took from this stop.

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We plan to stop at the Holy City to show the girls what we found next week but on the way we find some free grazing Buffalo right next to a Prairie Dog town.

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After taking the above pictures, they are from both Val and I, we finally get over to the Holy City. I have more shots of this on the Lawton Ride Report but again this is a combination of shots by both Val and I using two different cameras.

The first bunch is that of inside the Chapel.

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We spent quite a bit of time at the Holy City but once mounted we decided to head towards Meers to have a cold one at the famous restaurant. We have heard many different views on the food and since we plan to cook out, we were just looking to have a cold one, and since it was so full and all we would be doing is taking up space we decided to go in, and then leave. I have now heard past tense that we should have explored the area more so that will give us a reason to come back.

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The next ride was slow but very scenic as we rode up Mount Scott. On the way up Val did not like driving on the cliff side of the road. It was a short ride somewhere between a mile or two up but it was slow moving. On the way up we ran across this older couple walking up and there are signs saying no pedestrian traffic. On the way down we saw a guy on a bicycle riding up. Now I commend these folks for their desire to stay healthy and the fact that they could do it, but they were risking not only their own lives but those in vehicles and on motorcycles.

There were a couple of pull over spots on the way up but I figured at the top we should see in all directions but just in case I was wrong I did pull over on the third opportunity. Took a couple of shots of the area.

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We get to the top and we can see in all directions. Here are a bunch of shots from the top.

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I guess Val was much more comfortable with driving down the mountain on the mountain side of the road as she took these shots while driving. Not sure if it was a real good idea, kind of like driving while on the cell phone but I am glad she took these pictures.

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After our trip up the hill, (I lived 8 years in Colorado – so Mount Scott is equal to maybe Red Rocks in the foot hills which is another ½ mile higher then a mile high city – yuck yuck), we decide it is GRILL TIME, yeah ha, I am hungry.

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Now here is something interesting, Tammy enjoying the art of fine cuisine working over the grill and Jim, well I guess doing what he does best, relaxing.

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On the way back I wanted to stop at a couple of abandoned buildings and scout about. I like trying to figure our where each room was, how the floor was laid out, and the sights from different windows and doors.

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Now on to the second sight, this area had three buildings, the main one was boarded up to the point I could not get in, but the other two I had easy access.

The first small building I thought was a smokehouse, but I think this is a big old oil tank. The second building looked almost like a jail house in that one window had bars embedded into the cement.


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It was another great day of riding and all went well.

Ride Safe, seize the moment, and have fun.

Pj
Keep the wheels on the road.

If you want check my blogg at this site.
http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/BBS/viewtopic.php?t=25466&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

User avatar
Patrick
Legendary 300
Legendary 300
Posts: 367
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2007 8:40 am
Real Name: Patrick
Sex: Male
Years Riding: 30
My Motorcycle: 1998 V-Twin 1500 & 2008 Suski C50T
Location: Euless, Texas

Vacation Sept – Oct Day 8 Oct 3

#163 Unread post by Patrick »

Vacation Sept – Oct Day 8 Oct 3

Jim sent me a text message saying there were running late because of housekeeping cleaning his room so for the first time we were ready before them with the exception of me getting my socks and boots on. Val just had to rub it in that now I was the hold up versus her.

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The weather was nippy but not cold. We stopped at place called Osage or something like that lake. We split up, Jim and Tammy going one way we the other on two different paths and never did find the lake but here are some interesting shots. One is of a rather twisted tree that from afar looked like a hammock.

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After that still headed West we found a pull off called Caddo Lake so we stopped there. For an amateur such as myself I think with the cloudy over cast we got some real nice shots here.

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On the way to the West end of the preserve I showed Tammy and Jim the Lost Lake picnic area just incase when we got to our planned BBQ destination Sunset, they knew the difference and could make a choice as to where we should really BBQ for a late lunch. I have not been to Sunset yet but I do know that Lost Lake picnic area is fantastic.

Well we went down to Sunset and the place was so crowded that we could not even park so we road on back towards the end of the preserve to the West. I found this little pull off and followed it. I was standing on the bridge when I took the water shots and then the rest of the shots where on a 4-hour hiking path of which we did not traverse very far.
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After this stop we decided to head to the Preserves end before going back to the Lost Lake picnic area for our late lunch. By now I was getting hungry and based on the history of this Preserve I was thinking there could be a lot of stops. But we quickly came to the end and here are some shots Val and I took.

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It was a full decision by everyone that we would go back to the Lost Lake picnic area for lunch. The clouds kept coming and going. We were never sure what to expect out of today’s weather. We had a very nice late lunch, met a dog from some folks down the way, talked with a few others, and had our lunch in peace and solitude.

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After another great meal of hot dogs, beans, grilled onions, snacks, and other minor goodies we were ready to hit the road. Well as we were leaving the Preserve sure enough we got some sprinkles on us, just enough for me to roll up on the throttle to move a long a little faster but not bad enough to become worry sum. At one point Val came along side and took a shot.

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We got back to the hotel, looked at the weather reports, sat in the Jacuzzi that was very hot, talked about tomorrow’s plans based on weather and decided to stay another night to wait out the storms. Sure enough we woke up Sunday October 4, to light rain and drizzle so we watched the Cowboys play lousy football and loose from our hotel room, continue writing ride reports, clean camera equipment, do laundry, and have a few drinks. As for tomorrow who knows, I looked going North, East, West, and of course South towards home and everything looks like rain so who knows what we will do. I might just ride to Chicago.

Well this is what riding is all about, great days, good days, and those once in awhile interesting days where you never know where you might end up or how it will be getting there. I am glad I took two weeks vacation.

Have fun, stay safe, and seize the moment.

Pj
Keep the wheels on the road.

If you want check my blogg at this site.
http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/BBS/viewtopic.php?t=25466&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

User avatar
Patrick
Legendary 300
Legendary 300
Posts: 367
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2007 8:40 am
Real Name: Patrick
Sex: Male
Years Riding: 30
My Motorcycle: 1998 V-Twin 1500 & 2008 Suski C50T
Location: Euless, Texas

Vacation Sept – Oct Day 9 & 10 Oct 4 & 5

#164 Unread post by Patrick »

Vacation Sept – Oct Day 9 & 10 Oct 4 & 5

Well yesterday, Sunday, the weather was wet and cool so we decided to just hang around and watch the foot ball game. We had lunch at Red Lobster (oh boy – now I got your attention) and then watched the game in our room. Jim and Tammy came over to watch it with us. What a game, Romo and refs just did not want Dallas to win. But it was fun none the less, getting text messages from friends who are not Cowboy fans and of course a few emails. Well to those who sent those messages and emails, Rocko and Socko are on their way over to explain how that was only somewhat funny and amusing. Anyway Val took a couple of pictures.

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Now comes Monday, October 05, 2009, I get up at about 7AM the weather looks clear but the weather maps shows the green and yellow stuff coming (that is radar colors for rain – now for those of you who knew that do not pick on those who did not). I would have liked to hit the road right there and then, but it looked bad south. Val got up and went to breakfast and when she came out the green stuff showed up. As the morning wore on, Jim and Tammy showed up at around 10AM and we watched the radar as the drizzle subsided at our location. I did tell work that would be gone for two weeks since I knew either we would find something interesting and be late getting back or we could get held up in some location with rain. Well we are now in day 2 of a holding pattern with no clear days ahead. Well as the morning went on, the weather started looking somewhat better down south but I was even still looking East, West, and even thought about north but nothing looked real enticing. Then as the dead line for check time was approaching it was decision time, the weather was not breaking here in Lawton, and down south it did look hopeful but not great. So we started talking about moving to the Best Western next to I-44. Well they wanted to charge Jim and Tammy a bunch for the dogs and after further discussion among them, they decided to load the bike and hit the road. I called the Best Western and made reservations for Val and I. The rain started coming down harder so we put Jim’s bike on the truck in the rain. Val took some shots.

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My dad has/had one of these rear loaders for bikes and after his first try using it decided it stunk, and Jim has now come to the same conclusion or at least that was what he thought when he first got up here. Jim and Tammy get underway and now we have to hustle to get packed and checked out. The rain was coming down hard enough that we (Val and I) decided to leave the bike at the hotel and go for lunch and hope the rains slows down so we can at least make it to the Best Western. We have our lunch and there is only light drizzle coming down and I know I will not melt. My only concern is that it has not been raining hard enough to wash away the motor oil on the streets and the cagers (a motorcycle riders term for 4 wheel drivers). I suit up in my leather pants, long gloves, leather jacket , and full face shield helmet and jump on the bike. Well after going threw a yellow light earlier and Val following suit I decided to try to stop at the next yellow light. I no sooner started applying pressure to the breaks and both tires locked up and I started a slide, so I let off the breaks and applied throttle going threw now an orange-red light right in front of a cop. I am assuming he saw what was going on and he did not pull me over even though I did to wait for Val. I was far from even the speed limit on approaching the light. Later Val said that had I stopped she was afraid she would have hit me. The roads were very slippery. Well we got to the Best Western and now we will watch Monday night football and enjoy another day of vacation. I think I might even have a stiff drink tonight since the forecast is for rain tomorrow morning then a short clearing spell, so no hurry to get up early.

Ride safe, have a good time, and seize the moment even if it means just spending time with your loved one held up by rain (even if they are sleeping as I write this – she had a tough day I guess), LOL.

Pj
Keep the wheels on the road.

If you want check my blogg at this site.
http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/BBS/viewtopic.php?t=25466&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

User avatar
Patrick
Legendary 300
Legendary 300
Posts: 367
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2007 8:40 am
Real Name: Patrick
Sex: Male
Years Riding: 30
My Motorcycle: 1998 V-Twin 1500 & 2008 Suski C50T
Location: Euless, Texas

Vacation Ends

#165 Unread post by Patrick »

Vacation Ends

Well we wake up another day, now Tuesday October 6th and it is warm but raining out side. Val’s back is killing her and she really needs to head home, the weather looks fairly bad in all directions so we decide its time to brave mother nature and hit the road. I really wanted to go to Palo Duro Canyon but it just does not look like a good plan at this point. We take off and the weather is foggy and the air heavy with moisture. The due point right near the temperature but I see some occasional sun rays so we pack up and head down the road. The roads are wet but not bad. We get down to the Oklahoma visitor center and get gas and double check the bike. We then take off and hit the pay booth. About 2 miles south of that mostly in the middle of nothing the sky opens up with a fairly decent rain, not pouring mind you, I have been in those situations before, but enough to soak me down quite decently but not to the underwear. Well since we are in the middle of nowhere I just keep going and as all things do the rain stops. After about 30 or so miles my cloths and boots start to dry out so my shivers are subsiding.

We get to Wichita Falls Texas and the clouds look dark and rainy but as we keep going I stay mostly dry. We then get further south near no where’s land once again and the clouds are really looking dark and I decide to pull over in some small town that has a Best Western. The storms are headed with us to DFW so we just sit and BS for awhile to let them get some distance. The sun breaks out a bit so we saddle up and hit the road down to a town just north of Decatur that is supposed to have some good food in this truck stop. I am still shivering as I just cannot seem to get warm, so while we are eating the rain starts down again. So I decide to put my rain paints on for this next leg of the trip and just go for it. I am getting tired from the cold, angry at the wind, and just down right tired of being wet. Val thinks it is funny me putting my rain pants on so she decides to take these next two shots.

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Of course after getting all geared up we ran the last 70-80 miles non stop home with only occasional drizzle and a few splashes in some puddles, but hey that is better then getting soaked. We made it home ok, dah, you would not be reading this otherwise. I am not home 5 minutes and the next door neighbors son comes over to chat, then Philip shows up, then Earl my next door neighbor shows up so I pop a beer and chat for while. Val comes pulling up after going directly to the doctor once we hit town before even coming home. She looks like he crunched her a good one. I pop another beer, say my good byes and hit a nice warm shower. It was a real nice vacation and I enjoyed all aspects of it even the rainy parts. I say that now while sitting in my Florida room with a little space heater keeping me as warm as a bug in the rug sipping on some red wine thinking about heading over to a friends house to have a couple of beers. Ah, life is good.

Pj
Keep the wheels on the road.

If you want check my blogg at this site.
http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/BBS/viewtopic.php?t=25466&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

User avatar
Patrick
Legendary 300
Legendary 300
Posts: 367
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2007 8:40 am
Real Name: Patrick
Sex: Male
Years Riding: 30
My Motorcycle: 1998 V-Twin 1500 & 2008 Suski C50T
Location: Euless, Texas

May I present Mr. and Mrs. Autrey

#166 Unread post by Patrick »

May I present Mr. and Mrs. Autrey

To start off with the Wedding was held May 30, 2009 at Lake Whitney Texas, and today is October 11, 2009. There are so many pictures so many people took that I have had several ideas come to mind about how to write this, so of course it never got off the ground other then I can say this is about the 10th draft. I do not mean draft in the way of spell checking or grammar, I mean in the way in style and content/context. I have see what everyone else has posted and man there is a ton of pictures out there of this fine couples wedding put up in a variety of styles. Because of this I have decided to look through the ones I took and only take the highlights. Not sure if it would have not been faster to just bulk upload all of the shots or take this approach but at the end I decided on this approach.

As we all know there are many aspects within the mechanics of pulling off a wedding. The humanistic characteristics usually morphs as the collective whole centers around the couple of honor. Though we have all pained over planning a wedding, and sometimes, most times, little challenges arise that worries the honored couple. But at the end of the day no one remembers those challenges in a negative way as they too morph into some type of comical story down road as the inevitable clock ticks off seconds, minutes, hours, days, weeks, months, and years. The larger the time factors the faster the clock ticks.

Ok so your like, shut up you long winded idiot. Ok so I have decided to cover some of the mechanical attributes to this joining of our fine friends.

The Planning – well since that is the Bride and Grooms gig with their immediate friends (the wedding party) and family I have no shots of that, but I must say this was one of the coolest wedding I have ever been part of.

However there were many of us who took exploratory trips to the area to scope out the area. As I mentioned this blessed event was held in Lake Whitney. Here are some of the shots I took a few weeks before the wedding on my exploratory trip. I am not going to list the name of each area these were taken at as I stop often and at many places. Some of the shots are of cities we stopped at on the way down.

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The Lodging attribute, how to get a lot of people into the vicinity when they come from all over. There were those who stayed in bread and breakfast hotels, those who brought tents, those who lived close enough to go home after the ceremony and ensuing reveling, and those such as myself shared a rustic but very comfortable cabin. When I say cabin I mean mostly a walled in hut with a cement floor, but I had once of those cots that kept you 6 inches off the ground. The arrangements where excellent for the amount of folks and the theme of this adventure, ceremony, and celebration.

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Another critical aspect of any wedding is the food, how to feed a mass of folks especially when in a state park. Well if you went hungry here you did not even look for food.

First the fine chefs.

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This next shot of more folks chipping in on the breakfast cooking with Lil Nae' on the right the beautiful bride. She has it all, she is not only beautiful in skin, but beautiful in soul. Lil Nae’ makes everyone feel at home and always has time for everybody.

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Here we have the groom on the left. He has many talents other then being a major part of the leadership team for one of the fastest growing Texas motorcycle web sites and riding group. The reason I said leadership team is that we are not a club but a band of great people with common interests who share in the fun of riding motorcycles.

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And of course the food!

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Now no wedding would be complete without a chapel. I remember in the bible that God says, where 2 or more of you are gathered in my name I will be there. Now I know this is not a direct quote but an interpretation.

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Now you need a preacher, groom, and best man.

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Now here comes the bride. As you have noticed by now, we are on our bikes with engines on rolling the throttles. As she comes to your bike you shut your engine off signifying her leaving her old life behind.

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Ah now we have the whole wedding party, let the ceremony begin.

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I am behind the minister and best man shooting threw the tree for the first one.

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Since I was on my bike I did not take any shots of them walking down through the bikes but as the couple came up to each bike we started our engines rolling the throttles to signify the start of their new life together.

I did give my camera to Gail who shot the following pictures. The first one is that of BA and Lil Nae’ riding off. We all followed them around the park of course making as much noise as possible. It looks a bit chaotic and dangerous but it was organized and planned so it was much safer then it may look.

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Here are three shots of us returning from the ride around the park. The first being the bride and groom the second two I am the guy in orange on my Suzuki.

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Now for the wedding party and bride and groom shots after we rode back.

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Now here is my favorite shot of them all. I cannot remember the name of the song but every time I have ever looked at this one it reminds of the a song that talks about how the sunlight was glistening off her hair and “that’s alright with me”. The song was from the 70’s or early 80’s. BA aka. BlackWolf and Lil Nae’ sure do compliment each other in so many ways.

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Now time for the cake and other festivities.

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Ok, it is time to rustle everyone together for that ever-dreaded group shot. But then as time goes on this is usually one of the most prized pictures.

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Now I will post a few general shots of the party and other attractions.

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Well as with all good things it was time to hit the sack and get ready to leave the next day. I took all back roads home so I could kind of reminisce about the weekend we just had. I found this gravel road to take a little break on and it was so quiet and peaceful it gave me time to just dwell on the wonderful time I had and to wish a private good luck and give a private blessing to Lil Nae’ and BA.

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God Bless you two and may you live long and prosper. Ride safe, have fun, and seize the moment.

Pj
Keep the wheels on the road.

If you want check my blogg at this site.
http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/BBS/viewtopic.php?t=25466&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

User avatar
Patrick
Legendary 300
Legendary 300
Posts: 367
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2007 8:40 am
Real Name: Patrick
Sex: Male
Years Riding: 30
My Motorcycle: 1998 V-Twin 1500 & 2008 Suski C50T
Location: Euless, Texas

A little Ride and more 1016 and 101709

#167 Unread post by Patrick »

A little Ride and more 1016 and 101709

Ok, I decided to include a few shots from the night before the ride on Saturday as I thought the first shots will depict a place we may want to visit for future Rally Up Texas (RUT) meets or other motorcycle meet ups. It is called Boomer Jacks, and it has heaters for cold nights and fans with water misters for warm days. The food is great and normally the service is right on top of things. I went to the eye doctor to drop off my riding glasses to get them up to date with my current prescription as they now are 3 prescriptions old, and you thought I drove funny because of my age. Any way the visit was far longer then I anticipated so I did not get out until about 445 PM. So Val and I started sending test message back and forth and decided to meet up at Boomer Jacks. While waiting on her (so what else is new) to show up I took these shots.

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So now your all wondering how do these rides come together that Pj never announces. Well this time of year they normally start off by watching the weather patterns, then some text messaging during the week saying something like “do you want to ride this weekend”, then the staff meeting the night before. I know most of my rides are not planned 98% not planned, so that is why I have started using “Call them all”. So for those of you on that list you ask, why did I not get a call, well in this crazy weather it is because the ride is a up to the minute go or no go decision. Sometimes it depends on the length of the staff meeting and how much we indulge in the libations. In fact for today’s ride I even packed for over night for “just in case”. Anyway here is the staff meeting shots the night before today’s ride.


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So even with last nights staff meeting we were all calling and sending text message as to what time and where. The only thing we solved is what time and that was about 2 hours later then we planned at the staff meeting. As to the where, Willie took the lead until the first stop sign and said I do not know where we are going. I said south by southeast so I lead us up to 183 and south on 360, Philip then took the lead taking us 20 East. We stopped for some gas and we still did not know for sure where we were going so Philip offered up a couple of ideas and we said yes to either so we went on. So in other words we had no idea where we were going and we just kind of rode.

Here is the start point out of my driveway.

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So all we know is that we are headed south by southeast and Philip mentioned we might go south on 45 as we passed it I thought to myself well he changed his mind. So we went a few miles and then started south on Dowdy Perry Road which ran into 45, so we took that south to Malloy Bridge road and headed East and went through Seagoville. Well after that Philip found 1389, which we took to Combine. From there he found an old road to traverse headed south thinking we should sooner or later run into something. Well here is one point we stopped. The road is only passable by two small cars.


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As we traversed the road it got smaller and had potholes the size of biker killers, like in you might get a bent rim at the least if you hit one. We managed not to hit any of the real big ones and then we came upon some residence area that had more dogs then one can count. We had them chase us all over this pot hole filled road and in fact I thought this one big monster was going to swallow me and my bike whole. At our last stop pictured above, I had mentioned that if we need to turn back we might want to stop at sight XYZ that I saw. Willie said, we never turn back always forward, after getting chased by those dogs I was in full agreement and I would have rode threw a corn field (now in Texas we have cotton fields) if I had to just not to turn back. Thank God we did find our way back to a somewhat sane road, but I sure did enjoy the ride so far. It had all kinds of hazards but was beautiful being out in the middle of nowhere so close to Dallas. Those folks living there have it made.

We try another road south and all it does it loop us around back to the main road again. It is now getting to be mid afternoon and we are hungry and it is time to make some more decisions. So on the way back towards 45 we stop at the Trinity River bridge on Malloy Bridge Road and I take some shots and have a cold libation.

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At the above stop we discuss our next destination and again agree to just ride. We get down to the 45 junction and Philip heads us further south to Ennis. He finds a Chili’s and we stop for a late lunch and discuss the next leg or our trip. I state that at this point either we head back towards home or if we head south I will stay over night some place. We then head up 287 towards home and stop for gas at Waxahachie. Again we are still discussing where to go, Philip mentions going to down town Fort Worth but they have something going on down there that did not sound like much fun so I said I was going to take 360 north. Well apparently Philip changed his mind again and when we came to 360 I turned north while Philip and Jim kept going on 287. They had the lead but I was not planning on going to Fort Worth. Willie followed me so I pulled over. We discussed what was going on and he decided to try to catch them. I told him I was headed home and would meet them there if they cared to. As I head up 360 I nearly get killed twice (oh and so did Philip and Jim headed up 287 when a big wreck occurred where a cop car almost rolled over on them) and I decided to take Trinity home. I was very thirsty and thought about stopping at a watering hole east on Trinity BLVD but decided to head West towards home. Well there used to be a place called the upper deck that was on Trinity BLVD headed West from 360 but it closed but as I passed it I saw folks on the deck so I decided to stop to see what’s up.

I did not take any pictures but I found this one of the view from the deck with Val in it. This would be another great place for meet ups and stuff. I like it as a place to have a cold one after a long southerly ride where I come back home using 360. Jay the bartender is very friendly and will take good care of you. It is now called Makuti Deck, I need to look that word up. They are having a Halloween Party Friday Oct 30th. I told him most of the folks I know will be on some type of ride that weekend. We are still trying to plan ours but now with that Hurricane headed our way, we are not sure of the weather conditions. I could just sit in this region as a low and bring gulf moisture up this way. The rain these lows this time of year can last for days. If you’re headed West on Trinity BLVD from 360 it is on the left at the top of the hill. You need to drive past it and then make a U turn. When headed East your first time you will most likely miss it as the drive comes up fast on you and you do not see it until you crest the hill. So now you got 2 U turns to make, no big deal as Trinity is 6 lanes in the stretch and the traffic normally is fairly open.

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So I am at the bar and then I send a text message to Philip to see where they are. He says they are at the River Bottom Pub, I start laughing. Then I ask if Willie found them and they said no and that he was at my house. I send Val a note asking if Willie was still there, and she says what do you mean by still, he was not there yet. I was now busting a gut, we got to learn to communicate better. We all meet up at my house and that is when I learned that our Oldest dog Lady was in real bad shape. She is old, blind, kidney problems, bad back, and has not been eating much lately. I kind of figured her time was near so Val had already made arrangements to have her put down tonight and I fully agreed. The folks at the emergency animal hospital agreed we were doing the right thing. She gave us a lot of good years and will miss her. Here is a shot of her on the left and Scooter who is also gone now on the right. It was a great ride to bad it had to end with this, but we did really enjoy ourselves on the ride and Val and I with Lady.

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Ride safe, have fun, and seize the moment.

Pj
Keep the wheels on the road.

If you want check my blogg at this site.
http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/BBS/viewtopic.php?t=25466&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

User avatar
Patrick
Legendary 300
Legendary 300
Posts: 367
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2007 8:40 am
Real Name: Patrick
Sex: Male
Years Riding: 30
My Motorcycle: 1998 V-Twin 1500 & 2008 Suski C50T
Location: Euless, Texas

Brownwood State Park Ride

#168 Unread post by Patrick »

Brownwood State Park Ride

This has been one topsie turby ride. We were going to go to Turner Falls, then out east, then only take a one day ride, and in the end, we went South West to Brownwood Tx all because of the weather forecasts that kept on changing. First pictured below is Paul and Star’s new ride.

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Val was nice enough to take some pictures of us leaving. After throwing out her back on our last bike trip she is still under Doctors orders to not ride. So her and Philip went scooting around Dallas and Greenwood looking a potential new cars for her. As most of you know our buddy (really family) Philip is a “A” level mechanic.

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On the way down, we decided that a good lunch stop would be Hard Eight in Stephenville which just happens to be about mid point of the 170 mile trip according to Google.

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So we continue on, and it becomes time to stop for some gas. So I do a very quick map review with Jim and we now know we need to turn up 279 and according the map he has there should be a park right up 279. So we all agree we can stop there had take a short break before going to the State Park. Now the part I missed was where I was supposed to go straight on 67 versus follow 377 south to the left. So we go about 5 to 7 miles out of our way and then I stop to do another map check as we were now headed out of Brownwood so it just did not seem right. As I walk past Ron he looks at me like “what’s up”, I say I think we missed the 279 he says yes we did and that I should have stayed straight on 67. So of course I respond with when were you going to tell me. He said as Jim did later that he thought I was going to take the group to some historic sight or something. So most of them knew we were going the wrong way for the park but thought I wanted to show them something. I wonder what would have happened if I kept on riding to Mexico. LOL

Anyway we head back and find the 279 North and stop at a church to do another map check just to be sure. Ron was not planning on staying over night so this is where he left us to head back. It was a great pleasure riding with him.

Here are a few shots of us in the Church parking lot and Ron is in two of them. Oh and since it is getting close to 4PM and we wonder when the park will close so we can get some cabins Paul calls the Park, I think for the second or third time today. They said to him “oh so you’re the motorcycle people come out way”. We have about 1 hour to get there before they close and we are all thinking we are about 40 miles out.

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We get to the cabin, unload the bikes and Jim and I knowing the Park Store would be closing soon took off to get some supplies. We purchased, a pack of out dated hot dogs (we found out on our rtn), a box of cheese crackers, a few small bags of peanuts, a jar of pickles, one tin, a small bag of charcoal, a small bottle of lighter fluid, and one bag a beer nuts and the cost was $48 bucks. Now that is ridiculous to say the least and everyone enjoyed pointing that out to us. Oh, I forgot one bag of ice that we needed for the head ache we had after checking the prices on everything. On the way back to the cabins we ran across Paul and Star headed for the store and we advised that they go to the store out side the park as the store would take your wallet and first born plus they had no other food and was out of most everything. Then Dennis and CC was coming at us as well so we advised the same. The all did much better then Jim and I but were still taken to the cleaners a little. We did get some marshmallows also that were all stuck together but we managed through that challenge.

So we all got back and started setting up for dinner and just chatting.

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I then took a picture of the bikes out front, the scene of the lake from behind our cabin and then the group from the edge of the area behind out cabin. In that shot notice all of the fire wood Tammy found. She really went looking to make sure it was easy to get as you were not supposed to gather fire wood so she made sure it was more then just a little accessible. A lot of it was just like dumped all over the drive way and such.

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If you notice the back light on in the next picture we were all sitting around the table and the noise got annoying. We were also talking about the skills Dennis has as a handy man and he just said speaking of that what is making that noise. Jim said he thought it was the fridge and I said I had no idea so Dennis walks in the cabin, comes out and says it is not the fridge. He looks up at the light, turns if off and the noise stops.

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Then the sun started to set, we have had our hot dogs and other junk food.

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Now for the fire, did you ever get a bunch of Boy Scout wanna bees around a campfire. Of all of guys I hang with I think it is a tie between Paul R. and Paul S followed by Philip as the worse. They just got to mess with the fire all the time. I admit the fire was a bit low when first started but the next thing I know it is almost out with Paul standing next to it after messing with it. So after teasing him about his fire habits he and Jim set out to correct the issue. And that they did after putting the hot coals from the grill into the fire.

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The next bunch of shots are of the fire and messing with the camera to see what works and does not. If any of you photo buffs got some constructive teachings please feel free to comment.

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The next three are Dennis around the fire cooking a marshmallow.

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As with all fun it is time to turn in for the night and hit the sack, I mean hard bed, rock style, but I slept like a baby. Lots for fresh air and crazy munchies, and a little libation.

I get up after Jim does and I shoot these two sun rise shots to the East.

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Now as we are on a motorcycle trip, with no support or chase car, we did not really come well equipped. I believe I mentioned we purchased a jar of pickles for last nights collage of crud food, well this morning it is Dennis’ coffee cup.

I also mentioned how we purchased a tin to boil water in for coffee and what Jim did was boil the water and then take a coffee filter, fill it with coffee grounds, made it in to a tea bag of sorts and swirled it around in the hot water. Necessity is the root of all invention.

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The next shot is of Tammy (who is not feeling very well – too much bad for you food and maybe a little libation overload), Dennis, and Jim.

When I shot this however, Paul and Star were still in bed sleeping and the report is he snores as loud as Dennis, and CC is just laying down. So we are all off to a slow moving morning. Believe it or not however it was Tammy who wanted to hit the road first.

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While mulling around I shot this picture starting to think about possible rain, but the rain never came all day and it was sunny all the way home until we got to Euless.

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Ah and CC shows up coming threw the woods.

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It was time to ride, Paul and Star wanted to ride to Abilene to see a friend and have breakfast in town while the rest of us decided to go back on the 287. I wanted to stop a lot more often but we were running late, and Tammy as still not feeling all that well so we only stopped at two little rest areas. We grabbed some Subways before getting to this area. After eating I decided to take a walk about and took some shots of the area.


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We take one more rest stop break and Jim and Tammy then head home while CC and Dennis and I decide to stop at the American Legion for one last beer before heading home.
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When we got to the Legion Val was there with her football commrades so we said our hello’s and such and after my beer I headed on home. It was another great trip and I think we all had a good time.

Ride safe, have fun, and seize the moment.

Pj
Keep the wheels on the road.

If you want check my blogg at this site.
http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/BBS/viewtopic.php?t=25466&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

User avatar
Patrick
Legendary 300
Legendary 300
Posts: 367
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2007 8:40 am
Real Name: Patrick
Sex: Male
Years Riding: 30
My Motorcycle: 1998 V-Twin 1500 & 2008 Suski C50T
Location: Euless, Texas

Ride to Granbury 103109 - Day 1 - Saturday

#169 Unread post by Patrick »

Ride to Granbury 103109

Wow what a day. It started off with me having a problem at work and I was not sure if I was going to be able to leave. Jim and I were trying to figure out timing based on weather and such when his wife Tammy started her car this morning and it sounded funny so Jim had to bail from the ride. Rick bailed last night due to the weather and he was coming from up north so it would be a cold ride just getting down by us. I understand both of their situations as I was still working hoping myself to get out. Well my work problem ended and so I said my normal motor cycle prayer with my wife and I headed out at about 1230PM.

Last night I looked at going to Marble Falls and when I pulled it up on Google I thought I would head down the 144 out of Granbury. Then I expanded the map to see details of the intersection and I then started thinking about just exploring the Granbury area in detail. So I found a back roads route that would turn a 60 mile trip into a 75 mile trip and be all back roads except the 360 down to 287.

Well the best rides are those with no particular destination and this was one of those. I got so lost I really lost about another 20 or 30 miles, but I did not care. Here are some shots from Kennedale that I should never have been in the first place. Some of these shots are from a foundation of an old building I found. My dad would appreciate the old 7X7 and at least ¼/ inch thick floor tiles still left on the upper part of the foundation. I remember helping lay these things as a kid.

The first shot is of a structure I saw in the distance. Still not sure what it is.


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The next shot is of the bike on part of the foundation.

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I finally got on 917 headed West and man what a good cool road. I am going to take that back home and take more pictures come Monday. I had to make up for some lost time headed west as I did get lost.

I was getting hungry and it was getting time for a cold beer so when I got to Joshua I walked into this little Pizza joint and asked if they had any beer, the very nice lady said no but down the road not even a mile there was this Italian restaurant that may. I went on down and the sign said feel free to BYOB or BYOW so I said bingo. I was still thinking about just keep on going but I grabbed my cooler and went on in. The pizza was one of the more greasy I have ever eaten except maybe Romono’s in Des Plaines Ill., but I like it that way. I did not take a shot of the place as I am not sure how their true Italian food would taste and most people do not like greasy pizza.

When I come out of the restaurant I notice this cool car. I took a shot of the sign only to remember where I was when I took these shots.

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I road on to Granbury and I saw many spots that I am going to stop at on my journey home Monday. But as I was riding I started to think about where I wanted to stay, if in Granbury or Glen Rose. I decided going past Godley that it would be Granbury and I thought about checking out the place Val and I stayed at for 4th of July. I was thinking this time of year I should be able to talk them down in price as they were expensive when we stayed there. Then I started thinking about the alternatives and I really did not want to stay at on 377 and I remembered that I thought there was a place at the Y in the road at 377 and 377 business that takes you downtown Granbury. It is called the Plantation Inn on the lake, I pulled in thinking man this place is going to be high. Well, it was extremely reasonable, in fact before I even get to ask the question about price and such this very nice lady starts talking like I am a long lost friend. She states that she must give me a discount as I am a biker and the owner is a biker so he had this standing rule. Well the room was 70 bucks for me and I said heck yes I will take one. We chatted maybe 30 minutes and I ended up leaving for my room with a detailed map of the entire area, with a bunch of ride suggestions, two hotel keys (one to keep in the bike and one for on my person) in case one goes bad or I get locked out, the motorcycle handle of the owner (Dutch), and instructions on where to park the bike if it rains but NOT IN THE ROOM! Seems Dutch either has done that himself or has had damage due to it, but no parking the bikes in the room. I am grinning as I write this, of course I did not park my bike in the room as where I could have (on the walk way under cover) would have been plenty safe. But I told the nice lady if rain came tonight it would have been an act of God and I do have insurance. Anyway the next bunch of pictures (yes I know, Finally!!) , are of the hotel, the room, and the grounds.

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Well when coming back towards the room I saw a cluster of plants and flowers so I messed around with the camera bit so I indulged myself.

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Well since I am finishing this on day 2 of my ride I can only say wait until you see tomorrow (today’s) pictures. I hope I can at least get half way through tonight after dinner.

Ride safe, have fun, and seize the moment.

Pj
Keep the wheels on the road.

If you want check my blogg at this site.
http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/BBS/viewtopic.php?t=25466&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

User avatar
Patrick
Legendary 300
Legendary 300
Posts: 367
Joined: Mon Oct 22, 2007 8:40 am
Real Name: Patrick
Sex: Male
Years Riding: 30
My Motorcycle: 1998 V-Twin 1500 & 2008 Suski C50T
Location: Euless, Texas

Re: The Wacky Adventures of Patrick

#170 Unread post by Patrick »

This is our first overnight trip in 2010 as it was one heck of a winter down here in Texas. We had snow storms that took two of my trees out by the roots and heavily damaged others and collapsed my deck covering which was one of those portable tent like garages.
Anyway we started thinking the weather might just be decent enough to take a ride so it was a very last minute decision. We were sitting around a few nights before and decided let’s go for it. A few folks cancelled as it was a last minute decision and but Philip, Dennis, and Cecile were up for it so we met at my house and took off.
We decided to take Turner Falls Ok. April 10th Weekend
the back roads up and in from the West. Our first stop was the park in Justin Tx.
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We stop for lunch in Muenster (I have and have posted so many pictures of Muenster I did take any on this Trip) and then take a break at the bridge over the Red River on HWY 89.
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We took the back roads in from the west and started getting a bit tired and thirsty from fighting the wind most of the way (spring time in Texas brings high winds and unexpected showers). I found this little road with a few abandoned buildings and we pulled off. As we were about to leave a pickup truck pulled up, stopped and offered us a beer as he pulled one out of a cooler in the back. We declined and chatted very briefly and we all went on our way.
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We get to our cabin, get unpacked and decide to check out the bar down the road we saw. When we got there the weather was fantastic but they had a private party on the back deck so we decided to have a drink (3.2 mind you in OK for beer) and look at the menu. Once we saw that we would be paying a left lung for dinner and need to sit inside to boot we took off for town. After a fuel stop we talked about what to do for dinner and Philip mentioned he saw a Subway so we grabbed some sandwiches and headed back to the cabin. The next morning we got up fairly early but we did move slow. We all but Cecile forgot coffee but no one thought of filters, so Dennis rigged some paper napkins into a filter and whala we had some coffee. Here are a few shots of the morning before taking off. The night before was a lot of fun out by the camp fire with some other folks.
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Dennis had mentioned he wanted to see Turner Falls so we stopped at the observation area on our way home.
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As we were riding home I realized that I took us down a road that missed Lake Murray but we did manage to find a little park to take a break at. It was really meant as a retirement RV park it was gated but we managed to get in since there was no guard. On the way out it was a bit tricky as they have those one way spikes on the exit but we found a way around that challenge as well.
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On our way back down I think it was Hwy 377 we ran in to a lot of bumpy road. Dennis and Cecie had disappeared from my mirror so I pulled over and then folks where honking at me as they passed me so know I knew something was wrong. I turned back and sure enough one of the exhaust pipes on Dennis’ trike had fallen off. We were so busy making temp repairs that I did not take any pictures, but just before we got back on the road we did talk about food. They told me the first BBQ place would work so just past the boarder I found this place. Here are some shots of Dennis’ trike with the exhaust pipe bungeed to the back. Oh Dennis you still owe me those bungee cords. 
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We all split up along different roads and got home safely. It was a great trip!
Ride safe and seize the moment.
Keep the wheels on the road.

If you want check my blogg at this site.
http://www.totalmotorcycle.com/BBS/viewtopic.php?t=25466&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=0

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