Motorcycle - Adventure - Stories - and

January 8, 2015

Some Facts and Some Figures

ROAD TRIP ADVENTURE RIDES
Facts and Figures

  Name of Story   Dates Days Miles Miles/ Day

Please Allow Me to Introduce My Selves 10/24 - 11/7/ 2008   15 4,561 304

From Here to There and Back Again 5/14-26/ 2009   15 3,157 210

I Love Texas 7/20-26/ 2009 7 2,406 344

California is my Home (But I Still Love Texas) 9/26 -10/1/ 2009 5 2,089 418

The Last Adventure Ride… of 2009 * 12/18-29/ 2009 12 2,682 224

9-State Loop Ride '05 6/10-22/ 2005 13 3,388 261

Killeen Texas is My New Home 5/20-23/ 2010 4 2,165 541

A Memorable Memorial Day Weekend in Galveston 5/30 -31/ 2010   2   677 339

The Hill Country, Our Second Visit 6/13/ 2010 1   298 298

Glacier Point & Devils Postpile 6/25 & 29/ 2010 2   495 248

Day Ride - Mt. Tamalpais 3/11/ 2011 1   230 230

A Lot of Firsts and One Last 8/5-9/ 2011 5   775 155

Shake Down Ride to Coalinga 4/7/ 2012 1   345 345

Oysters, Fog, Curves, and Beer 4/22 -23/ 2012 2   255 128

Our Super-Honey-Moon-Adventure Ride 5/5 -13/ 2012   10 2,366 237

Six States & Five Chocolate Cream Pies 9/6-16/ 2012   11 3,502 318

A Tragedy in The Family 5/23 - 4/2/ 2014   11 2,442 222

Nine Days of Saturdays 5/30 - 6/7/ 2014 9 2,239 249

September Solo Session 9/124-29/ 2014 6   990 165

* in a truck, not a motorcycle

TOTALS 132   35,062 265

September 30, 2014

S.S.S. Day 6- Last Day Draft

SEPTEMBER SOLO SESSION

The Last Day

Monday, September 29:

3:15am- I really should have tried to stay awake later last night. So after nine really good hours of sleep, here I am… Up and At ‘Em.

3:30pm- Sad to find out that the door of the lobby was locked. Happy to find that only a little bit of knocking brought the night manager to the door. Sad to find him in a bad mood. Happy to find out the microwave was working (to heat the coffee I’d gotten earlier the day before in preparation for the empty pot. Sad to find out the grumpy young man was not going to open the door for me again until 6am, even though I was told that the lobby was open 24 hours a day. Luckily, I’ve got the 7-11 just next door for my Round Two Coffee Fix (RTCF). Now… back to my storytelling:

4:30am- RTCF from the 7-11 just next door.

9:00am- I’d decided to forgo my scheduled sleep over in Sacramento in lieu of getting home to my wife, so I took advantage of the decision with a celebration of a late start.

Sunrise from The Vagabond Inn... Reno, NV.

Tomorrow's Sunrise... from our apartment on the top floor of the building... home in S.F., CA.

10:00am- South Shore Lake Tahoe. 60/795

11:45am- Placerville for gas. Took me almost two hours to travel 70 miles down the hill on Hwy 50. In Nevada this road is known as the “Loneliest Highway in the U.S.,” but this day, this section of the road was known to me for being, “The most under construction road in the U.S.” The good news was that every time I got to a stoppage, Honey and I could skip up to the front of the line. Some of the lines were close to a mile long, so… at least it wasn’t as bad as if I’d been in a car.

12:30pm- Lunch in Rancho Cordova with my college buddy Bob. One of the only people in the world who “gets me,” and still enjoys my company. I’m so lucky to have friends like Bob. So lucky. 30/160/895

3:30pm- Home again home again, jiggity jig. 110/240/975

September 29, 2014

S.S.S. Day 5 Draft

SEPTEMBER SOLO SESSION

DAY 5 - Sunday, September 28:

4am- Up and at ‘em. Happy to find the hotel lobby open as promised, but sad that the coffee pot was going to stay empty until 6am. I started to panic and then found out there was a 7-11 not too far away. Whew. Two hours with coffee, first thing in the morning… that was a close one. Disaster averted.

Honey the Honda on the left, Yammy(?) The Yamaha on the right...

... and seven of those loud and obnoxious Harley's in the middle.

7:00am- Emailing, Facebooking, and Morning Journaling- Storytelling completed. Called Taumie, found that my sister didn’t want to accept any company today. I was gracious and didn’t focus on my own disappointment, but rather… on her hopeful continued recovery from her illness (pneumonia).

8:30am- I was rewarded for the way I reacted to the news about my sister… with a phone call from... wait for it... my sister(!!), telling me that after she got up and got dressed, she felt much better and wanted me to come over!! I love Karma~Darma… especially when it’s Instant.

Note: Insert babbling about the paradox of me nurturing and developing the spiritual side of my personality (which is still basically ruled by impatience and desire for instant gratification) vs. the “Zen aspect of enlightenment” which focuses on timelessness and eternity. Someday I will be fully balanced. Hopefully before I die.

9:00am- Sitting at my sister’s dining room table, with my sister (who doesn’t like her name or picture published), Taumie (my niece who likes to have her name published) and Marcos (who doesn't care one way or another), having a wonderful time.

10:00am- My grand-nephew (Taumie’s son) Brice made his appearance. I love my family.

Hey Brice, do you mind if I publish your name and face?

10:15am- Walking down Virginia Street in the light rain, looking for Kelly Quinn aka Throttle Girl, in the virtual ghost town feeling of the last day of The (Fall) Reno Street Vibrations Gathering.

Crazy in a good way.

Same as above.

Where the heck is Throttle Girl? She wasn’t even on the list of registered participants. I felt like I was in a dream (nightmare)… I’d been looking forward to seeing her and meeting her Boyfriend R-Dub for weeks!

11:00am- After seeing everything there was to see, I retired to my hotel room for some football. I called Sharon to tell her of my disappointment, and she said, “Wait a minute,” and called back in about three minutes, with the information that her booth was elsewhere, at a Harley Davidson Dealership a few miles away from The Not Vibrating Gathering of the closing down, down town gathering.

I was only able to stay in my pouting mood, which was also dry and warm, for about five minutes, at which time I rolled out of my comfy cocoon and put my wet leathers back on, and strolled over (how do you stroll when you’re riding a motorcycle) to the dealership of my friendly nemesis, Mr. Davidson.

Cocoon = Underwear

High Noon- I found Miss Every Month of Every Year Motorcycle Momma packing up her booth after five days of activity. Perfect timing. Sharon later told me that, “Good things happen when you’re connected.” I felt a warm flow of loving energy through my body-soul as I realized that Sharon had finally become okay with the ‘crush’ that I have on Kelly. And I think I was able to make R-Dub (her BF), and the rest of her support group feel okay with it too. I’m sure they’re used to it. I don’t think it’s possible to be alive without falling in ‘love’ with Throttle Girl. She has something, that’s for sure. No… she has it ALL.

Note: Insert pages and pages of words about my feelings, impressions, experiences, and personally known facts about the incomparable Kelly Quinn. For now… think, a combination of Marilyn Monroe and Gandhi.

R-Dub, Kelly, and Me.

Hey R-Dub... I forgot to ask you... may I 'publish' your real name?

Dani and ??.

Hey Kelly, would you please remind me of ??'s name?

Kelly, same as above please.

??, Dani, R-Dub, Kelly, and ??.

TEAM THROTTLE GIRL !!!

(R., I'm sorry I cut off your flag)

Honey with Team Throttle Girl.

1:15pm- Back to the hotel room just in time to watch ‘Our SF 49ers’ eek out a victory over The Philadelphia Eagles.

6:00pm- Changed the channel on the TV to watch the Dallas - ??? game. The last thing I remember was thinking to myself that I really should roll over and watch Faith Hill sing the opening number.

15/15/750.

September 28, 2014

S.S.S. Day 4 - Draft 1

SEPTEMBER SOLO SESSION

DAY 5 - Saturday, September 27:

4am- Thanks to a helpful technique I learned from Randy, I was able to sleep quite soundly on the downstairs couch. I’d mentioned to Randy that I’d always had trouble going back to sleep after waking up before I needed to wake up. He told me to try thinking about riding my motorcycle… with my, “Knees in the Breeze,” as he put it. It sounded like a good idea, so I tried it. It’s Sunday morning as I write these words, and I’ve been successful with his technique for three days in a row!

I went down the street for (round one) coffee, and went back to a pitch black house. There was a scheduled PG&E power outage that Debi either didn’t know about, or forgot to mention. Fortunately, my Beautiful-Wife bought me a clip-on night light for just such an occasion (I love you Sharon). Road Trip Adventure Rides have always been always good for me, but since meeting her, they don’t seem to be quite as much good for me as they used to. Damn that woman.

With or without make-up, she always makes the world a beautiful place to be.

When I met her, she told me her nick-name was "Precious."

It didn't take me more than a few seconds to come up with my name for her.

"Beautiful" is as "Beautiful" does.

The Beacon (gas station) was also a little diner-coffee shop with the nicest owner and employees. I got this one of Charlene, the other gal is Jenn and the owner is Bill. I just love small towns and their easy going, friendly people.

8:00am- After kissing the two sleeping girls on their cheeks, I loaded Honey and hit the road, Jack.

9:15am- Quincy for gas, and then finding help to pick Honey up after forgetting (again) to put down her kick-stand. Jeesh, what is that, three times now? Her design (thank you Honda!) is such that no damage has occurred, though… this time, I didn’t even have to adjust her rear view mirror. 60/615

10am ish- Between the blink and miss ‘em towns of Sattley and Sierraville, I was on a stretch of road that gave me a photo op of something I’d never seen before.

I’ve been accused of going in too many directions at the same time before, and now I have proof of it!

11:00am- Truckee, and no word from my friend Wink, so… onward to Reno. 75/690

11:30am- Starbucks with sister’s daughter (my niece) Taumie, her grand-daughter Gerrilyn (my great-grand niece), her good friend Tina, and Tina’s dad (Taumie’s god-father) Bob Chauvin. What a lovely gathering of like minded souls. Too bad Chelle and Randy weren’t there, they would’ve LOVED the ‘esoteric-loving’ energy of the group.