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

Ardmore Oklahoma Ride 1004 and 100508

#151 Unread post by Patrick »

Ardmore Oklahoma Ride 1004 and 100508

This ride was planned for a few weeks and folks signed up and folks had to cancel. It came down on Friday night to me and Brett but he could not be ready until 11 AM so I decided to wait. Then I got the call Saturday morning from Brett that he had to take care of some unexpected business so it would not be until 1PM before he was ready. So we discussed meeting at Pilot Point or someplace before that. Well I had a bunch of unexpected visitors myself, one I was actually headed down the drive way and had to make a U-turn for. So needless to say I was now running an hour late myself so I hit the road hungry at 1205. Knowing Brett was only an hour behind me and that he was going to take the fast route up to Sanger I thought I had no time for a lunch at Chilies so I stopped at Subway and grabbed a sandwich to go. I took the picture below to remind me that there is a Subway shop at the corner of 114 and 35W.

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I get to 156 and head north and as I was told I found this little park just south of Justin Texas. I enjoyed the weather and my sub.

ImageI wanted to walk down to this bridge but there was a family down there and decided not to intrude. I will visit here again some day.
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I called and left a Voice mail for Brett as I knew he was headed north by now and told him I would call him when I got to Krum. Well when I road through Krum I decided since Sanger was so close and I had left him a message about where I was I figured he would get to Sanger and stay put there. Well I beat him to Sanger by maybe 5 minutes and he called from just down the street so we met up at the Shell station at the corner of I35W and 455. Here is a shot of Brett and his daughter.

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We took off for Pilot Point as I wanted to show Brett the little bar I had found last year. He loved it and while being in the Pilot Point Town Squar I shot this building.
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I also shot the history sign of Pilot Point.

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Once in side the bar I took a couple of other shots. Now that is Root Beer they are drinking.
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Well we take off and head on up to Lake Murray Oklahoma and we find a spot to stop and rest and of course take some pics.

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We then took off looking for a small Catfish place Brett remembered from being here long ago. Well we found it but it was closed so we decided to head to Ardmore so we could catch a bite to eat before Brett headed back home and I would find a hotel room. Well we headed up and went through town on Highway 77 but found nothing so at one of the stop lights I smirked with “are you too proud to ask for directions”. He looked at me funny and said no. So we pulled up into this bank parking lot to check his cell phone for restaurants in the area. He has one of those new phones with maps and all that fancy stuff. I think it would have been faster and easier to stop at a gas station and ask but while he was playing around I took this shot.

I thought these metal statues where cool.

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Well after checking out a couple of places we find this place called Two Frogs Grill and it was ok, not great but ok. After we eat Brett takes off for home and I walk next door the days in to see if they have a room. The room was fairly clean and the price for the area was reasonable.

When I got up in the morning and walked over to the front desk area to grab some coffee I was met by a very friendly hotel receptionist who told me of a bridge on Lake Murray that was built from rocks and that the state was planning on “renovating” by removing it and she has enjoyed looking at the bridge for years and thought it would be a good stop for me. So I got an approximate location and headed down the road. I had a t-shirt, flannel, and a vest on and it was still cool. I was tempted to pull over and get out my leather jacket but it was not that cold.

I headed down hwy 77 and missed the hwy 70 intersection so I ended up right at the main entrance to a Lake Murray Park. I also saw some ladies at the riding stable doing some yard work and asked them if they knew of the bridge location. They did not but told me there was nothing like that north of here. So I took a couple of shots before heading south.

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I found a little turn off and took this shot.

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After leaving here I notice a little paved pull off area that had a non structured parking lot. I remember being told to look for a place like this but I expected it to be bigger. When I pulled in, I nearly missed it, I saw the little fishing hut with the roof on it as I was also told to expect so I thought maybe I have found the bridge site. We as I walked down to the fishing dock sure enough I hit pay dirt.

This shot is zoomed in on the bridge.
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This is more of what the naked eye would see.
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Here is a shot from the fishing hut to parking lot up the hill.
ImageAs I went walking up the path back to the bike I notice a doe and a couple of fawns.
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Once they finally noticed me they took off.
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Well time to hit the road again to explore more Lake Murray. I found this marina and decided to stop, walk around and take some shots.

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Off on the road again and to another site, this is the “light house” tower I heard about. By the way so far all of the shots are from the West or south side of the Lake.

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It is amazing how depending on your approach things look different, as I was headed into the area that I took the two shots above looked kind of boring and of little interest. As I was headed out of the area I saw the area from a different view and man am I glad I hit the breaks hard (one BIG advantage of not riding with others) and turned into the area.

I found this burned out stone house that I now wish I took a full frontal view but I walked in and took a shot of what must of have been the bed room based on the lay out and no plumbing.

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Here is a shot of the living room with the floor gone at the fire place.

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Here is a shot from what I guessed was a very small dining area into the kitchen. This building was either renovated at some time or was not that old as in the kitchen I found a gas feed and a drain pipe for the sink. On the outside of the building a drain pipe came out of the motor between the very large stones and went directly into the ground.

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Here is a shot out the front door to my bike.
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The next shot is at the bathroom from the bedroom. It looks like the entrance to the bathroom was from the bedroom. Also based on the make shift ladder it looks like it may have had a loft or roof access. Also when I walked around the building in notice the drains from the bathroom let to a cement underground hole of some type. Maybe an old fashion septic tank. The top of the tank was pulled aside and all I could find was junk below and it did not look very deep but I was not about to poke around in it.
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Here is shot looking out the bedroom unless there was a bedroom loft of some type.
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Here is a shot from inside a little garage type of thing next to the house.
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Here is the same thing from outside.
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Well time to hit the road again. I run across one of two reverse V’s in my trip. On this one I realize I best not keep going in the direction I was about to as it would have taken me away from the lake and towards 35W headed south which is not my intent yet. In this case the map helped and the street signs helped.

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I found my last stop on Lake Murray before leaving the area. It was a little camp ground, quite peaceful and pretty.
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I now hit my second reverse V in the road but now there are no signs. So I walk up to the building directly in the V to see if anyone was around.

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I do not know what gave me the bravery to walk up to the house behind the shop and knock on the door but I did. After I knocked I heard “come on in” I was not sure if I heard right so I knocked again and again I heard “come on in”. I yelled back that I am a stranger looking for directions and I heard back “I too am a stranger”, so I opened the door and found this man getting off the couch to great me. Next thing you know we get in to a discussion about bikes as I have my helmet in my hand and he tells me of the old Mangosi <- (I think I just killed the spelling), that now has flowers growing through it. We had a good conversation and I almost forgot about asking for directions which he gave me. But I did take a shot of the old bike.
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I then found 377 south and came across a pit stopped called “Last Call”. It was quite friendly and large. They rent the area out back for meetings and such and would love to host a Poker run or other biker event. It is located on 377 in Oklahoma just before the bridge over the Red River on the East side of the road. I highly recommend you stop in sometime if in the area and if planning a poker run, check them out. Here are several shots I took of the place and some of the very friendly folks.

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Well I had my beer and took off for the bridge. Just before crossing I took these shots.

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On the Texas side of the bridge I found a little park and took the following shots. If you go into the Park on the East side you have to pay but on the West side that I went on it was free.

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Up in Whitesboro I grabbed a burger at McDonalds, put it in my saddle bag and went looking for a park to eat it. Between Tioga and Pilot Point I went across a bridge and found a little boat ramp park like area and had my burger there and took these shots.

Here is shot of the bridge I went over.

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Here is couple of shots of the general area.
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I then turned onto 455 to go past Lake Ray Roberts and I went to the park on the South Side of the dam. Here are those shots.

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I was getting tired and decided to ride straight home from Sanger on 35W. I did stop and Hooters and watch the first half of the Cowboy’s game and part of the Talladega Nascar Race. I sat at the bar and had a very good discussion with this good ole boy about 10 years my senior. He too had a bike in his day so we talked about that while watching the game. I must say, everyone I ran across on this trip was extremely nice and interesting. It was a very fun couple of days and I enjoyed both days immensely.

You all be safe.

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

Question

#152 Unread post by Patrick »

Would it be better to let you all know when I updated my Blogsite with rides or post them here. Please let me know.

Pj (Patrick)

http://pjrides.blogspot.com/
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

#153 Unread post by Patrick »

aw58 wrote:Hi Patrick,

How's things in your world. I know I had a long gap but there's no need to copy - keep us up to date.

Ade (the daily grind)
It has been quite a spell, I am trying to decide to copy some rides from my blog site to here or just leave a short note of when I updated my blog site. What are your thoughts?

Pj (Patrick)
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

blues2cruise
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#154 Unread post by blues2cruise »

It looks like you had nice trip. That area sure looks nice.
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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

New Braunfels 2008 Trip (Day 1 & 2)

#155 Unread post by Patrick »

New Braunfels 2008 Trip (Day 1 & 2)

Day 1, Tuesday

This started out as a planned trip to the Padre Islands and then to the Rally Up Texas meet and greet planned for New Braunfels but the hurricane, the many other ride events planned, and a motorcycle accident by one of our Rally Up Texas family members who was also the coordinator of sorts for the area killed both plans. The person who got into the wreck is ok with the exception of both wrists being broken if you want to call that being ok. The last report I had was it may permanently prevent her from riding again. We pray she fully recovers. Well since Scooter, his wife Tammy, Val, and I had planned this vacation for quite some time we decided to go to New Braunfels anyway and ride the area. I am glad we did

The first day was not much in the way of pictures since as usual we got a late start. Events at work kept me hoping on Monday and some of it flowed over to Tuesday morning. Based on the time we left I feared we would be in Austin right at traffic hour so we mostly shagged (a term for haling the freight with no stops) down to New Braunfels. We hit Austin at 315 PM so the traffic while being bad was not horrible. We had the bike on the trailer so we could shag and we were taking I 35 so the scenery was fairly limited anyway.

The only two shots I took worth posting were the ones when we first arrived at the hotel and got the bike off the trailer.
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Day 2 (Wednesday)

Scooter and Tammy were do to arrive tonight and as it turns out we had a pleasant surprise in that Paul and Gail had told Jim they too would be coming tonight. So Val and I start the day off exploring the area and see what trouble we could find (not really). We went off for a short ride to Gruene (pronounced green) to buzz the town. As it turns out we had accidently ran across it once before in one of our travels so we just buzzed the town as we needed some supplies from Wally World (aka Wal Mart). We learned that there was one back down near our hotel so we headed for it and along the way we found a placed called the Watering Hole that we decided to stop at on our way back from Wally World. Here are some shots of the Watering Hole off of Business 35 in Southern New Braunfels. Val purchased a T-shirt.

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Here is a shot of a chainsaw carved Gooney Bird. There are many images carved in the bar that the camera would not pick up but when in the area you read about this bar as it does have quite a history.
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Well after having a beer there, we decided it was time to get some lunch. Every little place we stopped (we just had to stop at this arts and crafts shop), (thank God their prices were even too high for Val) recommended this place down towards Seguin called the Clear Spring Dinner. The food was great and there was a bunch of it. We ordered a “small” portion of their “World Famous” onion rings just because they are “World Famous”. Well when she came by with the onion ring appetizer I had to say, I meant to order small. She said this is the small portion. Val and I are both picky about our onion rings as I hate greasy onion rings but they are very good. I had the Catfish sandwich while Val had the Salmon Salad. I knew we were in a big surprise when the very friendly waitress asked how she wanted her Salmon. Val said what do you mean she looked at Val as if she was crazy and said, medium, medium well, or well. Val said medium and man it was a large piece of salmon over salad and it was fantastic. Anyway here are some shots.

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After eating we decide to head up 337 Business 46 to River Road and ride along the river.
I normally check the pictures to make sure my victims are smiling but the sun was preventing me from see the shots well. I figured the back ground was worth the picture but she just did not smile in time for the shot.
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I walk down by the river and Val takes a shot.
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We run across this little camping area at I believe was river crossing 4 or 5. The road is very twisty and the scenery is fantastic.
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We then follow River Road up to 306 and take that back to New Braunfels and our hotel. When pulling up we find Paul and Gail have made it down.

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It was not too long later that Jim and Tammy showed up but they were tired from the ride down here so they stayed at the hotel. So the four of us (Paul, Gail, Val, and I) take off for Gruene to meet with some good friends of ours who live in San Antonio who have agreed to meet up with us in Gruene and Bubba’s Big Deck.

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The four of us take off for Gruene to meet with some good friends of ours who live in San Antonio who have agreed to meet up with us in Gruene and Bubba’s Big Deck.
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Paul had rafted down this area many times and could not believe just how low the water was. You sure would not be able to raft this area now. I did not take a shot of the sign they had up in the tree that stated “High Water Mark” but it was a good 20 feet above our heads standing on the deck you see below.
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I did not take a shot of the sign they had up in the tree that stated “High Water Mark” but it was a good 20 feet above our heads standing on the deck you see below.
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Jeff and Diane show up and we it is a great reunion. I am so glad we got to see them. Jeff and I play fantasy football in the same league and I must say I beat him last week and I am now 6-0.
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I saw this bird down by the river and this is the best of three shots. He was hard to focus on since he looked so much like his surroundings. Great camouflage!
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We then head over to the Grist Mill for dinner. Man the food was fantastic and it is where the water tower is up the road from Bubba’s. The shots below are in an out door waiting area for our table. The place was very busy for a week night during off season. I would hate to try to eat there during the season, as you would never get in.
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A shot of Jeff and Diane.
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Jeff had a problem reading the menu so Val gave him her reading glasses. We all thought he looked great in them. Sorry Jeff I just had to put these in, but then again I am the one who is 6 and 0.
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We had a fantastic evening with everyone and it was just great seeing Jeff and Diane. They knew of a faster way back to our hotel (the Best Western) and we were back in no time. What could be better, great friends, great food, great roads, great weather!

To keep this from getting too long per post I am going to break it down by days where it makes sense. This was day 1 and 2, I will let you know when I get the other days set up.

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

Trip to Lawton Oklahoma September 19, 2009

#156 Unread post by Patrick »

Trip to Lawton Oklahoma September 19, 2009

Jim (Scooter Express) had mentioned he wanted to take an overnight ride early in the week for this weekend and I thought heck why not. I have wanted to ride to Lawton Oklahoma for some time so I suggested we head that way. He was game for it so we started commencing on the planning. I tidied up some work loose ends so I could get out a little early on Friday as he had the whole day off. Good thing I did not take a vacation day as upon is awakening Friday morning he found a flat tire. I was watching the weather and was half tempted to cal it a no go, but thought what the heck.

We left at about 2PM and it was cloudy but looked mostly harmless. As we got up to Hwy 287 headed north things looked a little bit like rain but we just kept on going. As we got further north it looked more and more like rain and sure enough we started getting some drops so we pulled over to a gas station. I shot this just so I remember one of the stops to hide from rain.

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We took off once again and it just seemed that we were destined to get wet but yet some how not, it just seemed we kept missing the heavy spots. Again as we were riding the rain started only this time a bit harder but we were near another gas stop so we pulled off once again. The funny thing is that as the rain started to subside a car pulled in with wipers going so I asked what direction they came from and as it turns out they came from the south and said they got hammered. So we got lucky once again, again it was just meant for us to get a bit wet but not soaked. Here is a shot of Jim shooting me.

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Because of the weather we did not take side trips or stop too often so we made fantastic time to Wichita Falls. The weather was starting to get nice now so we stopped where we saw a bunch of hotels and on looking around the area we decided to start asking questions. Jim struck up a conversation with a fellow biker and he recommended we head back south to 287 and follow it west to the Days Inn. It was a brand new hotel in fact the hot tub was not yet ready but the room was fantastic with two separate rooms and three beds. We had dinner a few drinks and started thinking about the ride to Lawton tomorrow.

Saturday September 19th.

We got up and started looking at the web for weather reports and sure enough it looked like a bad plan to go on to Lawton. There was a big line of heavy rain straight up 44. One site showed it headed north as a forecast while another showed the animated version headed south. We had our coffee and kept watching. We talked about heading first west then back towards Lawton as the weather called for clearing at about 1 PM. The all of sudden out of no place we start seeing storms to the west popping up on the radar. So we then decide to head east, but you got it, the stuff that was supposed to head north or south started tracking east. So we hung around watching stuff and Jim decided to go get some breakfast while I continued to watch. Then bingo while he was gone, the stuff to the west disappeared and the stuff to the north headed east by north east. We had a path so once Jim got back decided to just shag on up to Lawton on 44.

We stopped at the visitor center about 20 miles into Oklahoma and they were extremely friendly, informative, and helpful. We grabbed a whole bunch of maps and other stuff and walked out the door. As I was headed for the door they offered some coffee and I was cold as the temps were low and at 70+ mph it gets chilly so I grabbed some coffee and headed outside to put my wind breaker on. That was when this guy pulls up on a bike just as a cager (term used for cars) was backing out and almost ran the biker over. We all started talking and he was headed up to Lawton to meet some friends for a small group rally among friends. He had a 160 HP Triumph that he said he had made some adjustments to get it to turn 200 hp. He invited us to join him and his group but we were unsure of our plans and place to stay so we declined.

Here is a shot of the visitor center and Jim.
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We then headed up to Lawton and found a Best Western next to a gambling. They had a restaurant and lounge so we thought we would check it out. The women at the front desk allowed us to make a reservation but we could not check in at that time as it was not even 11AM yet. She was very accommodating so we made the reservation and decided to head out to explore the Wichita Mountains in Oklahoma. We road up 44 to 49 and then headed towards the Wild Life preservation area. We found a Subway and decided to grab a sandwich and ride to the next rest stop. Here is where we stopped.


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We then head further west on 49 and found this lake area and took some shots.

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At the Visitor center the ladies told us to ride to Meers which has a little restaurant that was worth stopping at. We were not hungry but thought we would do a fly by and after all I was looking for some trinket to bring home to Val and it sounded like a small town that might have a gift shop. So we headed up 115 to Meers. It was a great road for a ride, and we came upon the restaurant and lots of bikers and other visitors. We did not see any other structures so we did not think we were actually in Meers so we kept riding. It was not long before I realized that we must missed Meers back at the restaurant. So when we stopped to discuss it, I took a couple of shots.


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We decided we would not stop at the restaurant and leave that for when we bring the wives. We came across a little pull off that was supposed to have leaflets stating the rules of the Game Preserve. So I took some shots of Hwy 115.


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We decided to check out the “Holy City” which claims to be the longest longest running outdoor passion play in America.

Here are some shots of the grounds.

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This is a hot biker spot, a lot came and gone while we were there.


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I decided to take one of my walk abouts and ended up behind the main play area and took a few shots there.


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I went in side one of the buildings and found this cool scene.

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It was time to go and sure enough the gent we met this morning at the Travel Visitor Center showed up with all his friends. We talked to a few of them for awhile before we saddled up and rode on. Once again we were invited to ride with them, but we had been here long enough and decided to go on.

We are still off on a side road off of Hwy 49 and decided to take it to its end. Believe it or not however we thought we were on 49, this will come into play later. As we ride we find a little left turn that is not named on the map and I forgot the name the sign called the place. At any rate we came to a dead end turn around area but as we pulled in I noticed a sign meant for Anglers. So I knew there was water some place. So we dismounted and did a bit of a walk about. Here is what we found down one of the paths we took.


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We then started talking about our distance and how much more we wanted to ride today. I mentioned earlier in one of our stops that we should think about calling it a day at about 230PM to start a slow trek back to the hotel so we can get checked it. But as we pulled down this street I saw a dead end sign and thought heck lets go that way and see what we find. I am glad we did, remember we wanted to save some points of interest for our wives.

It was on the map as Lake Rush. We went to the top of this hill and sure enough there was this dam so Jim starts trek’ing along a narrow walkway. After watching him and thinking I heard the word chicken in one of his sentences I decided what the heck and joined him. Ok, so I am not too old to get jaded into an action. There was this fence to hold on to. Here are shots of the area on from on top of the dam.


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We took off to head back but stopped when we saw some wild Buffalo. There are signs all over the place that say do not mess with the Buffalo or the Long Horns, so when I shot the next couple of shots the bike was running just in case. Oh and on our way back we ran across a stop sign that quickly reminded us that we were not on 49 and forgot we took the turn on the road we are on. So as it turns out we now know we need to come back to further explore 49. Based on how long we messed around just in a short area this is going to be a two day explore trip.

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We road on further looking for a place to stop on 49 for a cold libation. We found this picnic area and pulled on over. It was really nice. Here are a few shots.

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We then headed back to check in and get some grub at the hotel, but first a little pool time. Jim went on down to the pool and decided the water was too cold so I found him sitting at a table having a cold beer. It was then that I realized my supply was low so I was contemplating going to the store when as I was headed out I noticed the bar was open and they had two for one. So hey no store run needed now. After a few beers a bunch of food it was time to chitchat in the bar for awhile then we decided bed time. This place is great, and I will be back.

Sunday 9/20/09

The weather was perfect when we got up, sunny, brisk, and the forecast predicted no showers. Yea ha!!!
As we were getting ready we noticed a motorized parasailer.

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It was time to go and we decided with the great weather to take the back roads back. We decided 81 south would be the route to take. So we headed out on Hwy 7 and turned south on Hwy 81. After getting out of Duncan we found a little road side park and took a break.

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We head down the road and I stop on the side of 81 in a town called Ryan. Jim looks at me like “what is something wrong” I look over at him and say “photo opp” he says “of what?” I reminded him about the story of Philip and I several years ago taking a ride north on 81 with no food or water and heading down hwy 32 East on a very hot summer day. We thought we were going to die. Anyway that story is in one of my earlier ride reports somewhere on the web. I think it is on Totalmotorcycle.com under the Wacky Adventures of Patrick. Anyway this picture is more or Philip then any one else as when I told him I shot it he busted a gut. Well here you go Philip the infamous Hwy 32 where we turned on to it.

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We then got onto Hwy 82 headed East to Muenster so Jim could buy some sausage. We found this great little rest stop however before Muenster that was moved from the original site depicted on the map Jim had.

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After shooting the above pictures I start walking around and notice this rod in the ground behind the fence. I wonder what the meaning of it is. There was no sign or plaque that I could find.

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For our last libation break we decided to stop at a park in Justin Texas our normal head south stop.

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It was a great ride and we decided to stop at Boomer Jacks for a beer and let folks know we were in town. Philip, Becky, and Paul showed up and Philip and Jim wanted a sit out tonight so we all met again at my house to watch the foot ball game. Quite a few folks showed up that in fact I had to shut down and go to bed before everyone left as I had to work the next day. It was a great finish to a great ride. Ride safe everyone!!!

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 1 Sept 26

#157 Unread post by Patrick »

Vacation Sept – Oct Day 1 Sept 26

Val got up late by 35 minutes which cost us an hour and 20 minutes off our ETD. Oh well I guess that is what vacations are about, not keeping to a watch. From our last night sit out, Jim and Philip were gong to ride with us to the Oklahoma boarder but Philip had to work on his sisters van and Jim thought it was getting too late in the day. Considering how long it took us to get the boarder and the fact that our destination bar was closed it worked out best.

We finally took off and headed up 121 to 114 West to 156 north. We grabbed a Subway in Justin Tx and stopped to eat it at the little park in Justin. I brought my two cameras and Val brought hers so she shot this first one of me at the Subway area in Justin.

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Here we are at the park, a mixture of her shots and mine.

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Headed up 156 I nearly rear ended a big ole truck with no tail lights and no turn signals. The color of the truck fit right in with the rest of the scenery and I knew it was moving slower but not sitting at a dead stop. Thank God there was a smooth shoulder for me to go on by him. The funny thing, Val following me in her convertible had the same reaction.

We get up to 455 and go east on it and of course cross the dam on Ray Roberts Lake. Val shot a couple pictures while driving. The one shot of the road is I in front of her. She does hang back well.

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I think in at least 3 ride reports I mentioned this bar in Pilot Point that I love to stop at on the way out of Texas or on the way back in when I take the 377. Well I have been telling Val over and over again how cool the place is and I was hoping it was open and sure enough it was. I start looking for a shady place to stop and end up driving around in circles. Val pulls up a long side me with this WTH (what the heck) look on her face and I say I am looking for some shade. She looks straight ahead at the parking lot we just left and pointed. So a little red faced we drive over there and park.

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While running our circles I did notice two cars of interest, the most to me was the Gremlin.

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She still does not know why we are here and I tell her again about the bar, and she says where is it. I point across the street and she asks “is it open?” I say see the open sign and sure enough she looks puzzled but interested. We walk in and she says wow this is cool. We strike up a great discussion with Bob who we believe own’s the place. He talked about the politics of Pilot Point and the fact that he is from a place on the Map at 2450 and 455 called Bolivar. It is now gone but still on the map. It was established in I think he said 1873 and was an old wooden town that burned down. How it got its name was most interesting in that the name is the same as a name in Tenn. Apparently in the old days they were building something they thought would bring a bunch of folks and they wanted to name it New Prospect. Well this guy from TN during the election bought a bunch of whiskey and offered free shots to those who voted for the name of Bolivar. Hence the town name.

Here is a shot of Val and our historian Bob. I highly recommend this as a stop on any 377 road trip.

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It was time to hit the road towards the bar just on the OK side of the boarder. But guess what it only opens at 4PM daily. Real glad Jim and Philip did not ride up here with me, I would never have heard the end of it. But here is an outside shot Vat took. If you look at my Ardmore Ok ride report you will find more about the place.

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We get into Ardmore Ok and sure enough we decide to stay at the Days Inn where I stayed on my last trip up here, see the Ardmore Ride report. Anyway Val and I mosey over to the Two Frogs Grill. I think Bret, his daughter and I stopped here the last time we were up here. I do not remember much about it, but man this time I was truly impressed. Everyone was very accommodating and friendly. We shared the Filet and 3 shrimp, which with the sides was plenty of food for us. Jeff our waiter was outstanding, Val even noticed he waited for us not to have our mouths full before asking how we were enjoying our food. That is a talent you do not see very often or even rarely. The owner’s brother Andy was a great guy also, we exchanged cards and I will ensure he gets the link to this ride report. I highly recommend this as a stop if you get up or down to Ardmore OK.

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I have called and made a verbal commitment to the La Ville Inn in Davis OK. I think there is enough in the Arbuckle’s area to keep us busy for at least one more day.

Well hopefully I will be as disciplined as I was tonight and write tomorrows ride report tomorrow night. 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 2 Sept 27

#158 Unread post by Patrick »

Vacation Sept – Oct Day 2 Sept 27

Another great day for riding, it was supposed to get a little hot today and the weather did get very warm but not out of control hot. We knew we not have far to ride from Ardmore to Davis OK, so we just took a very leisurely ride up the 77 towards Davis. It was warm enough for me to ware my wet jacket.

We stop at this Sand storage area and I climb in side. Up north this would have been a salt storage building.

I went in and up the sand pile with the camera and shot Val.

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I do not know what I was thinking, but 77 took us right up to Turner Falls Park. I say this little building with a sign on it saying Curio. And it looked like there was a scenic area to look at. Well I parked in front and Val in the back and she comes walking over to flag me to come with her. I was like, hum ok so what did she find. Well bingo we were on an over look of Turner Falls.

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I saw the graffiti in this rock that looked like it said VAL and sure enough it did so I had her stand next to it. No she did not put it there.
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We mount up and take off for Davis, we had plans to stay at the La Ville Hotel in down town Davis. When I had called them yesterday they said no problem on a room, it was going to be a bit pricey but I thought one night, why not splurge a bit. They told me they were under new management and he did not have the computer or his notes in front of him, but to come by sometime after 1130 AM. Well as we come around a turn on 77 I find this place called Turner Falls Inn and it has cabins right on Honey Creek. We stop and get 3 keys to look at rooms and one cabin. We fell in love with the place. I set up a reservation for tomorrow night and tell Samantha the host that if something does not pan out with the La Ville can we stay tonight. She says no problem so off we go headed towards Davis. We get down town Davis and all but the Mexican restaurant was closed including the hotel. We decide to have lunch at the Mexican restaurant, which was fair at best, and I call Samantha at the Turner Falls Inn. She says she will leave the cabin open.

We eat and show up back at the Inn and sure enough the key is in the lock and Samantha is gone. So we move in. Here are some shots of the place.

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The grill needed some cleaning so I found a shovel and started getting it ready for some dinner later tonight.

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While we road back and forth to Davis on 77 we notice this cool looking restaurant and bar that always seemed to have a bunch of bikes parked in the parking lot. Se we decided what the heck lets go there and have a cold one. Val wanted to take a short ride anyway so off we go. We are not hungry yet and we did buy some groceries in Davis to grill up. We go to the bar, order up a couple of drinks and go out to the deck over looking Honey Creek. We place was called “The Cliff and it is in Cedarvale Gardens just a stones throw from our Inn. We are sitting down just a few minutes facing the creek and I hear “PJ”. I turn around and there is Angela and Brandon from Rally Up Texas. Hugs, salutations, and such commence and they grab a couple of chairs and join us. We had a great time and they came back to the Inn with us to have a nightcap. They wanted to stay but had to work the next day, I tried not to pressure them into staying as I know how that is, but it was difficult. Our cabin did have two separate bedrooms and we did have a great time. Here are some shots of their visit. Some shots they took of us with our camera.

The first 3 shots are at the restaurant.

Then you will notice where we are on a tree over hanging the creek, Val was not all that excited about going out on the limb..

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Val takes a shot of Brandon and I starting a fire.

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Here is one more shot of the grounds, Brandon and I on our picnic table and one of Angela on the couch.

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Well Angela and Brandon did have to go, so I parked the bike at the bottom of the hill, cooked up some hot dogs and called it a night.

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It was a great day and a wonderful surprise running across Angela and Brandon. Well the vacation is going to great so far.

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 3 Sept 28

#159 Unread post by Patrick »

Vacation Sept – Oct Day 3 Sept 28

What a ride today! It was as usual when having Val on the back of the bike a most interesting, fun, and yet challenging day.

I started off by riding the bike back up the hill and so Val took shots, and man I best post them.

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We were told to take the 77d which is very scenic, and twisty. They were not kidding, this road in many areas makes the sisters look tame in my opinion. I rarely got over 20 mph, in fact just before we were done I was starting to loose the fun of the experience as unless we stopped the only thing I was doing was driving. The road was very short however and we stopped at least 3 times. The first time we come up to a pull off so I figure this must be a scenic overlook of some kind. Yes it was, but it was of HWY 44, oh boy.

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We road up a short VERY short while on 77d and found this.

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Another very short ride up the hill, by now most of you would have been getting annoyed by all my stopping, we find this place called Falls Creek. This guy comes up the hill on a sit down large lawn mower and I signal him to stop. For a young guy he sure was talkative, not too long but I thought he would have been glad to get rid of us, real friendly type. He told us that this was a youth camp and they have about 50K kids staying here, not all at once, for about 10 weeks during the summer. They even had a head just outside the gate leading towards the camp that decided to take advantage of.

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After riding the 77d we get on Hwy 7 towards Lake of the Arbuckles. Before we get to the city of Sulphur we find a road and take it south. Here is what we find.

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As it turns out we were down at “The Point” of Lake of the Arbuckles. So we head back north and get on Hwy 7 headed towards Sulphur and then to a place they call Little Niagara. Val being from the NY area as a kid wanted to see what they had. We turned down Hwy 177 and found the turn very shortly after. As we were running through the park we saw this sign “MotorCycles – Slippery Crossing Bridge Ahead”. Now I have ridden with Philip on some very slippery bridges and such with a little heavily moss covered trickle running across a low bridge but I was not prepared for what I found. As we made the down hill right turn we found a bridge with at least what looked like 2 inches of mossy water running across it. Just as we made the turn down the short hill Val asks, “your not going across that are we”, I respond at this point “We have no choice”. Well as for slippery it was not too bad but was much deeper then I anticipated. I hit the water doing about 8-12 mph and the water came up over the floorboards soaking my legs, crotch, and slowing the bike quickly. I just kept a little pressure on the throttle knowing it would be slick on the cement and I started getting nervous but we made it. As I roll back into the throttle going up the hill I ask Val if she was wet and she responded not badly and I say I am friggen soaked. The water was cold and now that the fear factor was abiding the feeling of the cold was hitting home.

Here is a shot of me in the parking lot of Little Niagara oh and by now I had road for some time so I was starting to dry out.

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We walked over to the falls and though they were small it was scenic.

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Val finds a butterfly and it lands next to here on this stone crossing.

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Here are more shots of the area.

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As we were relaxing here I knew this was a loop we were on and I was not sure if we would run across another water crossing. Well we did not but I found the one we crossed the first time, so I wanted to take some shots. Now while in the water I finally realized how slippery it was, I almost feel on my butt 3 times while trying to traverse it. Of course Val went nuts with the camera so here are all the shots.

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Three misc. shots from the same bridge.

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We left this area and continued down 177 to the Buckhorn park area. It is here that a deer jumps about 30 yards in front of us. When we get to the next stop I just had to tease Val about every time I have her on the bike we have some type of adventure. The deer got me going a bit slower as we traversed the back road towards the Buckhorn area. This place was cook, it had a fishing dock complete with fish cleaning areas and holes in some boards for the fishing polls.

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As we were going along I saw this cool bridge and when I found a chance to stop I did. As Val dismounted this dog shows up and is real friendly. While I walked back down the road the dog stayed with her. I was hoping it would not try to chase us down the road but it stayed calmly behind.

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Heading back north I really did not see any place to stop so we made our way back to our Cabin. We were hungry so I grilled up some double baked potatoes and pork chops. Later Val and I made a fire and sat outside just enjoying the evening.

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Good end of a great day. 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 4 Sept 29

#160 Unread post by Patrick »

Vacation Sept – Oct Day 4 Sept 29

We rode from Davis to Lawton in a very short time on Hwy 7. It was not as back woods as I thought so the only reason I am even writing about this day is because of the Yamaha - Kawasaki shop in Duncan we came across. I had Val checking the oil via the looking glass before we left home and throughout the trip. She kept wavering from ok to low so I decided the first motorcycle place we ran across I would stop. Sure enough I found the perfect shop in Duncan. These guys were very caring and helpful. After careful consultation the two guys in the back decided I did need some oil so they had me pull the bike back to the garage area. After adding about ¾ a quart (mental note, ask a fellow biker to look at oil looking glass to determine oil needs) they told me that was about as much as the oil filter would take. I just had the bike serviced down in Hurst, I need to have a talk with those guys as this is the second incident I have had with their maintenance service work. Anyway the guys also checked my tire pressure and all they asked for in return was my recommendation which I would have given them anyway. In retrospect I should have given them a 5 or 10 spot for some beer as it may have saved my butt. But I highly recommend them, Val did buy some rider sunglasses

While I was back in the garage shooting the stuff with the guys Val shot these pictures. The place is located on 81 on the north side of Duncan.
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We arrived in Lawton and stayed our first night at the Best Western. After checking in to the hotel we went looking for a greener manger to stay for the days ahead. There are a bunch of marathon runners coming in for some marathon this weekend so all of the non smoking rooms were booked towards the end of the week. We plan to stay up here until Sunday. We found the Executive Inn which had great prices, a little restaurant, and patio lounge which I am as of Day 6, Oct 1 sitting in right now as I write this with my beer and Mai Tai.


Vacation Sept – Oct Day 5 Sept 30

Before we left for the Executive Inn we got some rain drops and then I noticed these clouds. Now being stationed in Florida back in the military days, I have seen small clouds with rain coming down but I have never seen clouds this small dropping rain.
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I am not sure if I mentioned in prior ride reports but Val threw out her back the last day in Turner Falls so today we really did not do much other then get to our new lodge, eat dinner at Red Lobster, I had some work issues going on, and then we got to go up to the room for a short while that had Jacuzzi. There was one point when the lady at the front desk called our room to tell me they had some guests coming and they wanted that room so I ran up to the room to tell Val it was time to evacuate. Then they never showed up so we both went up to the room and sat in the Jacuzzi for a very short time frame. So hopefully tomorrow Val will feel good enough to at least take the car out behind me, otherwise we discussed that I would go exploring alone.

I did get to get caught up on my ride reports and Val did take a picture at our new stay.

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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

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