2016 1st Ride

Once again I'm going  to try and keep a log of our rides. I seem to get overwhelmed in the summers when we do a 10 day ride. I can't keep up and then never get back to it. I'm going to try again this year maybe 2016 will be THE year I succeed.

It has been really cold and icy but by lunch today it is not horrible. We decide to go for a short ride, just so we can say we rode on January 1st.

 We take a scenic trip around Duncan, rode about an hour before we were too cold and decided to head home. It was nice to get out, ride a bit and destress.

Here was a view from the back.

Memorable Memorial Day

Our area of Oklahoma has been in a severe drought. We are at stage 5 watering restrictions, no outside watering at all. So that means no hand washing of vehicles, Keith really likes to give the bike a hand wash. The lake we get our water from is down to 27% Then comes May 2015....it starts raining and raining and raining. Memorial Weekend it always seems to rain but this year it started mid month and kept raining. By Memorial Day the lake is up to 96% and rising.

Saturday we wanted to ride down to Texas but they are also having flooding issues so we think we will ride somewhere close. But when watching the weather it is supposed to rain during the day so we just have a lazy day at home. 

By Monday I am ready to ride somewhere, anywhere!

Our friends Carla and Larry want to go but he thinks we are going to get wet, I tell them "we are riding today you are more than welcome to come but WE are riding". You know how it is when you've had a rough week and you just really need some wind in your face. So we meet at the gas station and head out to OKC. 

It is cold and damp for a May Day so I have on my chaps and leather jacket. On the way up I text Diane to see if they want to meet us at Hideaway Pizza for lunch and then down the street to Sara Sara Cupcakes for dessert. She says they will come to the Harley shop and meet us there. 

Along the way the rivers are really running. It is so neat to see them full, it's been a long time 

                                    

We get to the Harley shop and do a little bit of shopping. I don't find anything that I need but Diane finds a really cute denim vest with a skull on the back.

Keith was checking to see how much they would give us if we decided to trade in our bike, after their offer we decided to keep our bike for now. 

Next stop LUNCH!!!

Hideaway Pizza is really good not just your plain tomato sauce and pepperoni. We all ended up with pizza and salads, had to be a little bit healthy.

After lunch we had planned on going down the street to get dessert a at Sara Sara Cupcakes. As we are walking out the door Chuck looks at the weather app again and says if you want to get to Chickasha without getting wet you might want to leave soon. We decided to forget the cupcakes so we can stay dry.

This is real funny.....when I get on the bike I always put my hand on Keith's shoulder and ask if he is ready for me to get on. I don't want to climb on when he is not ready and over balance the bike. Well I guess he was in a hurry to not get wet so when I touched his shoulder he started driving off. Luckily our head sets were on so I said "Hey I'm not on yet!" He stops the bike and we all have a good laugh.

This is the storm we were trying to out run. When we get a few miles from the McDonalds on the turnpike it starts raining, not very hard but we decide to stop and get an ice cream and wait for the storm to pass over.

I'm so glad we stopped because  it started pouring and the wind was really blowing. When the storm passed we put on our rain gear in case it started raining again. 

Aren't we cute! We call rain gear Erkle pants they seem to come up to your boobs. 

The rest of the trip home is uneventful no more rain just spray from the cars and very windy!

This Memorial Day was very memorable because we got to spend time with good friends, had a good ride, good lunch, and lots of good laughs. 

Sunday Afternoon Ride.

 

We were eating pizza a few weeks ago and got to talking about riding to Decateur to eat at Sweetie Pie's Ribeyes. We decided to ride on a Sunday after church for a late lunch.
Keith and I ride the bike to church, me in my biker clothes, so we will be ready right after church. When we get to our small group Doug and Twanna are not in their biker clothes he has a 4 o'clock meeting so there is no way they can ride to Decateur and be back by 4. We found out we have a 5 o'clock meeting, so during church I make an executive decision... We are riding to Waurika to eat fried catfish. As soon as church is out I invite Mike and Shannon, they don't ride bikes but they are going to follow us in their truck. Doug and Twanna go home to get their bike.
Even Star is ready!

In just a few short minutes every one is back and we are ready to roll!

Even our friends in their truck are ready to go.

We head out, the weather is perfect.

As we are tooling down the highway just south of Comanche our bike does a really weird thing. It speeds up and then the speedometer quits working. Keith takes it off cruise and uses the tach to keep the speed level. He knows just about what the tach should read at 70 mph. A little farther down the road it starts working again (Who Knows)

Then as we go over the Addington bridge there are barn swallows every where. There must be lots of nests under the bridge. I can't get my phone up to get a picture so I think I will just get one on the way back. (Spoiler alert when we came back there were no birds)

We get to Bill's Catfish and after a short wait we get seated. Of course while we are waiting there are people some of our group know from Duncan to visit with.

By this time I'm hungry so I order a full order of catfish, I think everyone else ordered a half.  When they bring our food they try to give Keith the full order, I guess ladies aren't supposed to eat more than the men.

Have you noticed how interesting bathrooms are? Well this one is no exception the light switch is in a little hallway outside of the bathroom. So Larry loves to turn off the light while you are in the bathroom, there are no windows so it is quite dark.  When Keith went in Twanna turned off his light and then came back and sat down, I rescued him and went and turned the light back on. 

We had a great meal and lots of laughs 

I think the people at the other table were a little annoyed with us, we were just having a good time, maybe they were just jealous.

With our tummies full we headed home and made it to our meetings.

Memorial Ride

Saturday April 18 was the 8th Annual Ride to Remember. It is a ride to support the Oklahoma City Bombing Memorial Museum. 

This year there were 1595 registered riders.  Keith and I both love this run for two reasons, the main one is that we never want to forget what happened on April 19 1995 and second we love to sometimes ride with large groups. I love the rumble  of hundreds of bikes, it's neat to see all the different people that love riding as much as you do.

Keith and I head out around 10 am it is cool and overcast.

We have to stop in Marlow so I can add a layer. It seems extra cold because it is so damp.

A couple of times on the turnpike the sun popped out of the clouds and it was amazing how quickly it would warm up and then cool off again.  

We get close to PaPa's Leather Barn and there are bikes everywhere. We park at a church next door because their parking lot is full. 

As I said, I love all the different people you see riding, some even bring their fur babies.

  We hear the bikes start up at PaPa's so we start ours after about 5 minutes we kill our bike because the huge parking lot of bikes at PaPa's has to get on the road first. 

It probably took us about 15 minutes before we got on the road. There was a police escort and traffic was stopped at all the intersections. All along the route people were stopping in their cars and in parking lots to wave at all the bikers. 

When we got over to Harley World the parking lot was full of bikes. This year the bikes were amassing at two different places.  As our group passed Harley World that group fell in behind.

When we were getting near 4th street I got a text from Diane "you just passed us" they were stuck in traffic trying to get to Blu's BBQ where they were meeting us for lunch.  

Motorcycles ahead of us

Motorcycles behind us

This is always a neat picture, the ladder trucks in front of the memorial.

When the bikers all arrive they have a moment of silence and place a wreath near the chairs. Then they take a picture of all the participants. I found a link to a really neat picture of the entire group.

OKC Memorial Ride

 

 

Our friends finally got out of the traffic jam and made it to the restaurant.  

 

Blu's BBQ is across the street from the bombing memorial. When we arrive it isn't very busy but by the time we left the line was out the door.

Look at the next picture....Star came with us. She is very shy today, next time we ride I bet she will be a real Rock Star

 

When we were taking this picture in front of their sign there was a lady sitting near the door she took our picture as well. Then she introduced herself, Susan Walton, she is a bombing survivor. I googled her name after we left, she was one of the most badly injured. Her face was unrecognizable and she couldn't talk but she knew sign language so that is how she communicated who she was.

 

 

 

We had been watching the weather and decided it was time to head home. This is a picture of the front we were trying to beat.

The sky was just beautiful, and we made it home before the rain hit.

 

We had another great day. Friends, Riding and Food it doesn't get any better.

 

 



Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

We ride to eat and eat to ride so when someone says fried chicken we know just where to go! 

Eischens in Okarche they have the best fried chicken. I must explain their menu, a whole fried chicken, no chicken strips, no boneless, just a whole chicken. They also have fried okra, nachos (like you get at football games with the neon cheese) 

If you are taking new people you have to explain.

Our friends Larry and Carla wanted to ride so off we go. 

As we are going through Chickasha we hit road construction. I have always wanted to touch the cones so Keith got close enough that I could do that. 

Once we get out of Chickasha it is smooth sailing. We get to Okarche and since it is mid afternoon there isn't a wait. We eat the WHOLE fried chicken, but we do share okra and nacho's. I didn't contact Diane and Chuck because Chuck is a good heart patient and doesn't eat fried foods. 

When we got ready to leave Diane had texted and invited us to stop by their house. So we make our way home via Yukon.

After visiting for a bit we start home Chuck and Diane join the trip to Chickasha, we are going to stop at the Dairy Queen for ice cream.

Diane texts Dianna and they are going to meet up with us and ride to the Dairy Queen.  We stop in El Reno for gas and wait for Chris and Dianna to get there.  

While we are waiting Diane and I are talking about Lizzy and Star. Lizzy has a leather jacket and Star needs one. I get on the smart phone and find leather jackets and while sitting on the curb at Love's I order some leather jackets.  Star will make an appearance in a week or so. 

In just a few minutes we see Chris and Dianna coming up the road. We head out to the Dairy Queen for our dessert.

Our rides are so amazing! We start out with 2 bikes and end up with 4. So 2 bikes head south and 2 bikes head north. Another great day with friends,

 

Saturday Fun Day

Saturday is Chuck's birthday and Diane knows he would love to ride on his birthday. Someone had posted a thing about Magnetic Hill on Facebook a while back and since we had been there before we hatch a plan to ride to Magnetic Hill. This is a famous spot in Oklahoma near the Springer exit off Interstate  35.

We decide to meet up at the intersection of Highway 7 and Interstate 35. When Keith and I leave the house it is a bit cool and damp. 

My brother lives near our meeting place so he is going to ride with us.  

Is still had not warmed up very much and we are all bundled up.

We head out and what do we see....Road Construction!!!

This was an exciting trip just down the road we see.....Cows

And we haven't even made it to our destination. 

Here is a link  Magnetic Hill
It is a really neat place. We had a time trying to find the exact spot and then get our bikes to roll up the hill. It is really hard to balance and roll at the same time. I tried to get a video

but I need to practice, it didn't turn out.
After we spend some time rolling around we head to Ardmore. My brother needed to go to Longhorn Scooters to get a part for his bike. We had fun looking/playing around in the store.

We are now getting hungry my brother suggested "The Two Frogs" in Ardmore. So we jump on our bikes

 and head into town. My brother had asked me to take a picture of him as he rides down the highway so...
 

I tried

 

and tried

 

and tried

 

 

As you can see I'm not very good at taking moving pictures. 

 

While we were eating lunch we got to talking about uncommon names of women that we know, we mentioned Doreen. We ride with Doreen, she impresses me because she rides her own bike. Her husband is Allen, as we are walking out of the restaurant Allen follows us out. They are in Ardmore with the boys and ate at the same place. It was so weird, you definitely need to make sure you never talk bad about people, they might be just around the corner. 

As we are heading back to Davis, Diane takes some pictures of my brother since mine were so bad.

 

Hers are much better but then she is the queen of pictures!

We stop in Davis to say goodbye to my brother and Lizzie decides to make an appearance. (I have lost my picture of Lizzie Oh No! )

The day is still young so we decide to ride up the highway to Norman to drink a cup of coffee. Don't ask me what highway I just ride on the back. You can see lots of unusual things from the back like....

A car on fire at the ice place.

When we get to the Starbucks we start talking about Lizzie and how she has been away at college. We decide she had to make some friends so....

We find....Star Bucks (she will make her debut in a few weeks)

We had a great day with our friends just laughing and riding and eating. The things we do best. 

And last but not least my view from the back!