Saturday, December 3, 2011

HOG Chapter 1 - Last Meeting of 2011



So this morning I got up and proceeded with my Saturday morning routine and realized that today was our monthly Chapter meeting.  Today was the day of Officer Elections, I was running for Photographer.

My husband decided he wanted to ride to the meeting and I decided to drive to the meeting, it was a little too cold for me and I am done for the riding season.  I don't do cold to well even getting in and out of the car.  We finished getting ready to go and I headed out first, I had to fill up the car with gas as I was on empty.  My husband met me at the gas station and waited for me to finish up.  With the tank on full we headed over to the Harley Dealer.

We arrived at the dealer with time to spare.  I had invited a friend I work with and her husband to the meeting, Lenora and her husband Gerald ride a trike and were interested in joining after seeing all my pictures and reading my blog.  They arrived and I greeted them with open arms as did many of the other members of the group.  They decided to come back in January to sign up and join for the 2012 season.  I think they had fun today!  I was glad to see Lenora and Gerald make it out today.

The meeting got underway and then it came time for the elections.  I was excited, however, got nervous when they said we needed to give a little thirty second speech, man I am not a public speaker but found the words to say when I got up there.  Several people said I didn't meet the height requirement, ha ha....very funny, if you all have never seen me I am only 4'8" so I am short....This is an awesome group and we have had a fantastic summer and we are very much looking forward to 2012.

As it came time for the Photographer position, there were two of us running, Bruce and I.  I said my little speech and Bruce said his, then a member of the group made the motion for the two of us to be Co-Photographers!  WOW...that was unexpected but a good idea because we both have different photography styles and I feel that this will be a great adventure for the both of us.  We were both elected and are looking forward to working with everyone in 2012.

We are all gonna miss Ken our director for 2011, he was awesome from the short time I have known him, I can see he is a great man, speaker, and motivator.  He was one of the reason why we decided to join after a couple of meetings, along with all the great members everyone made it an easy decision for us both.  Congrats to all the Officers for 2012 and I am looking forward to working with them all.

Tonight is our HOG Chapter Christmas Party and I will be off soon getting ready to head back out for the evening events. Can't wait for the fellowship with great friends, fun, games, contests, great times and of course above all the great FOOD.......I am getting hungry just thinking about it!





I will be writing and posting pictures of the party sometime tomorrow.  Have an awesome day!

Stay tuned for more great adventures!

Wednesday, November 30, 2011

Happy Holidays 2011

Ok, so I hope everyone had a very enjoyable Thanksgiving!  Now that Turkey day is over and much colder weather is starting to set in, I can only hope that this Winter isn't going to be as bad as 2010-2011, with that said my hopes were shattered when the morning news came on at the beginning of this week and they said that this Winter was going to be worse than last Winter, with higher record snow falls and lower temps that this past Winter.  All I can say is yuck....I don't like the cold, love seeing the fresh snow but only for Christmas Day then I am over it and it can go away.

So with tomorrow being the first day of December and I have done absolutely no Christmas shopping yet time is flying by and Christmas will be here before we know it.  We have our local HOG Chapter meeting coming up and it will be election's for all the positions in the Chapter.  Also coming up is our Annual Holiday Party, I am looking forward to being with all our HOG Brothers & Sisters, and as always, yes you guessed it the FOOD.

I have decided that next Spring I will embark on a little weekend journey of my own, I will be taking the Abate Class in the Spring 2012 to learn how to ride my own ride.  I am excited and looking forward to learning to ride.  I have been tossing this back and forth for a few years but have always chickened out and finally made up my mind to just do it and get past the fear!  So I will definitely  keep you all posted.  Wish me Luck! (cause I am gonna need it)

I will be posting again within the next week or so with some Holiday Pictures and memories to report.  So please stay tuned and don't stop following as there will be some exciting posting coming up!

I want to thank everyone for following my posts and hope that you all have a Wonderful Holiday Season, stay safe and feel free to leave a comment if you wish.

Sunday, November 6, 2011

Last Ride of the Season??? Maybe :(

Yes its been awhile since I have written this past month and a half have been very busy, this past Sunday November 6th, 2011, we decided at the last minute to go for what could have been our last ride of the season with some friends.  Dan & Marcy were our leaders for today.




It was cool, but the winds were horrible they were 35-40 miles per hr.  I thought I was gonna be like Mary Poppins and fly off the bike into the sky.  It turned out to be a wonderful late morning and early afternoon.  There were quite a few of us that went, I believe we had about 14 of us with some of us doubled up on motorcycle's and there were 10 motorcycles.  We headed out going North from Noblesville, Indiana to Kokomo, Indiana.  Dan & Marcy did an awesome job taking us up through some really scenic parts of some small towns in between the two major cities.  We went over Morse Reservoir, it was a pretty site to see the sun bouncing off the water as shown in the below selection of pictures.







As we got closer to Kokomo the winds really kicked up and were really bad, we came out on 28 west to US31 and headed north to a wonderful restaurant for some much needed warmth and food.  Good times, Great Friends, and of course awesome food.  The place we ate ate was Half Moon Restaurant & Brewery in Kokomo, Indiana.  Some of us had never been there before and I must say it was one of the best places we had eaten at in a while.  After we ate, we all decided we wanted to stop in at Harley-Davidson of Kokomo, Indiana which was just a block or so south of the restaurant.  The deal breaker of the day for a couple that was with us, didn't turn out so well, as we pulled into the dealership one of couples in the group had the clutch cable break. To make matters worse the dealership even though it was open the Service Department was closed, so a couple of the guys got on the phone and called another Chapter Brother to see if they could round up a trailer to pick up Bill & Janet and their bike.  Three of the riders had to head back home, but the rest of us decided to stick around for a while to ensure that someone was coming to get them, as we stood around we all chatted and swapped stories of the current summer's mishaps.  As the day was winding down it was getting late and we decided to head out towards home with Dan & Marcy in the lead.  We got home and I realized that yes this was going to be the last ride I took of 2011.

I will continue to write in the blog and hopefully fill some of the gaps between September 11th and now November 6th.  Please stay tuned and I will keep your winter full of reading even though we aren't riding I will have some stories to tell as we do activities through out the Winter Months.  God Speed my Friends!










Saturday, October 1, 2011

CHAPTER RIDE - COVERED BRIDGE EAST INDIANA

Well, I had planned to have an awesome day today even if it was cold, but that would turn out not to be the case for today.

I got up this morning and proceeded to get ready to ride into HD Northside for our Monthly Chapter HOG meeting.  I got all bundled up because the temps this morning was below 45 degrees.  OMG was it cold riding in, you know how you get brain freeze when eating ice cream to fast? Well this morning I didn't have to eat any ice cream to get the brain freeze, Mother Nature did it for me.  I can now say without a doubt that I have ridden in COLD weather!  We arrived at the dealership and yes again we were the first one's there, I had to stop and think if the meeting was actually set for today or not.  My husband assured me it was, and soon enough HOG members started rolling into the parking lot in their VEHICLES and then some on bikes.

I guess some just don't like riding in the cold, LOL.  It was an experience and one I might do again but not sure yet, time will tell.  After the meeting it was time to mount up and get ready to leave for today's scheduled ride.  I am not sure how many bikes or people but it was a bunch as you can see from the pictures below:





We headed out and eventually made it to the first break stop just outside of Greenfield, IN.  Quick break, fuel and a little socializing and of course picture taking.  It is nice to chat with all of our friends to see how their week went and just have some fun!

Smitty is telling me to quit taking pictures!  LOL  NOT GOING to happen!
 




 




After a quick break it was time to hit the road again, I thoroughly enjoy riding and looking around at all the scenery, this time of year the leaves are starting to change and the further south you go the prettier it gets.  There were some really beautiful colors, you also have to watch out for extra surprises while on the road during this time of year such as sticks, leaves, acorns, and other items that may fall from the trees.  Safety is your first option as a rider, but being a passenger does have it's benefits because you can enjoy so much more and see more while sitting back and relaxing while the rider does all the work.

We had some beautiful scenery and I did take some pictures that are shown at the bottom.  The leader of the group today was Ted and I must say he did an excellent job leading us down some truly awesome country back roads, we were in the country and to the right of me in a huge soy bean field was three Deer running to the south, what a breath taking site to see.  I love watching deer graze and run, they are so carefree and graceful, I was able to get the camera up quick enough, those buggers are quick.  While making our way through the country side we came upon our first Covered Bridge and it was beautiful.  This bridge was build in 1884 by the Kennedy Brothers.






I was starting to get hungry and we all know that this HOG group always stops for lunch.  We made it to our lunch destination in a little town, I believe this was in Rush County (but not 100%sure) and the name of the restaurant was "Park Restaurant".  Upon arrival I started feeling bad, I took some medicine while waiting for our food.  I ordered a cup of coffee, eggs, chicken fried steak, and hash browns.  The staff was great and the girls worked their butts off for us.  Great food, great friends, and great times.  My husband looked at me and knew I wasn't feeling up to par, but I wanted to continue the ride, however, by the time we were all done eating and socializing I was getting worse and I knew we needed to head home, there was a rider who had some trouble getting his Sportster started and Jeff, Greg, and LJ tried push starting the motorcycle and it wouldn't start, another member went over to the group and showed the guys to push the start button, UPDATED GIVEN to me by Sid:   I received an email today by Sid and he stated this "The bike would not start again after the second stop at the Moscow covered bridge.  It was diagnosed as a dead battery and had to be push started after playing with both the ignition and kill switches." Thank you Sid this bit of information is very helpful.  We said our goodbyes much to my dismay and waived goodbye to everyone as they pulled out.  One new member, Bob, stayed with us and followed us out as he was also needing to get home by a certain time due to another appointment.  Bob just joined our group today and he is a Helicopter Pilot, very nice guy.  As we pulled out and headed to State Road 3 I leaned up and told my husband Jeff that he needed to find a gas station as soon as one came into site.  I was feeling really bad by this time, we turned left onto US40 and came to the first gas station and pulled in, we stayed at this gas station for an hour until I was well enough to get back onto the Bike to make the journey home.  I wished we had been able to finish the ride but there is always next year!  Hope everyone enjoys the pictures and this blog entry!  Please feel free to post a comment if you wish.








Saturday, September 24, 2011

CATFISH CAPER RIDE 9-24 THRU 9-25-2011

Day 1:
Got up early this morning for our overnight ride, I was so excited that I couldn’t sleep very well and was up and down all night long and finally called it a morning and got up at 4am did the usual morning routine by letting the dogs out, giving them their medicines, and feeding them for the morning.  My husband finally got up around 5am and started his morning, finished packing, and he started loading the bike up for the weekend trip. 

I made sure that I had plenty of warm clothes on so that I will stay warm.  This is the first year that I have ridden in temperatures below 70 degrees, I get cold so easy, and it did not sound like fun to me to be out in the cool air, however, I have completely enjoyed the cool air.  Well I know it is going to get a lot colder but time will tell if I have the true spirit of riding when it gets colder than 50.  I have learned that being in the fresh air can do the soul and body good.  We mounted up and headed out to Harley Davidson North Side with a slight little morning detour, we decided to meet up with some of the HOG Members for breakfast at a local Bob Evans Restaurant.  We were the first to arrive; after being immediately seated, hot coffee was on the menu along with the food.  It was a very short cold ride into town.  Shortly after ordering part of the group came trickling in.  As we were leaving the restaurant it started to rain, we mounted the bike and headed for the dealership.  As everyone started arriving, it was time to take some pictures, our Director arrived, and finally the whole group was ready to roll.  
 

The directions for our weekend trip was handed out, and safety rules were gone over, it was time to head out on the open road.  At one of our gas stops, one of our newest members had a slight problem getting her bike started and after some help, she was able to get back on the road.  It was nice to get off the bike and stretch the legs out.  The break ended quickly and we were on the road again, the weather did it’s best to dampen our spirits but Mother Nature has no idea who she is messing with, because we all enjoyed the ride even if the rain came and went numerous times. 







The ride out for our first destination was The Silver Moon in West Union, IL.  This was an awesome restaurant with wonderful staff and we were all starving so as we always do, stuffing ourselves was first priority, some more than others.  They saved room for the next stop that was the dessert stop at our Directors sister house.  We arrived and the dessert was awesome, numerous kinds of cheesecakes that was out of this world.  We stayed here for a while socializing with all our friends and having a blast, some of the member’s headed back to Indy and the rest of us decided it was time to get back on the open road and head to the hotel for the night which was located in Evansville, IN.  As we headed out Mother Nature was at it again and we had to pull over into a gas station so some of the riders could fuel up and get on rain gear and change out helmets.  We finally made it to the hotel drenched, tired, and ready to check in and rest.  My husband and I shared a room with a couple to split the expense of the hotel room.  We were on our own for dinner, some decided to go to a restaurant named Bar Louie and we decide to go to Texas Roadhouse, both in walking distance of the hotel.








We got a chance to meet several of the new members of the Chapter, it is always nice to get to know new people, I am horrible with names but great with faces until I have been around people for a few times.  Everyone in this group is awesome and we had a blast at dinnertime.  With our bellies full, it was time to walk back to the hotel, the days ride and fresh air has certainly tired the body and mind.  My husband and I headed up to the room and jumped into our PJ’s, with me in my monkey pants and him in his moose pants, it was time to relax and chill out.  Our roommates came in and decided it was time to do the same; we left the room so they could get in their PJ’s as well.  We came back into the room and Shiz & I decided to go to another room to socialize with some of the other HOG members while the guys chilled out and watched TV.  It gave me a chance to get to socialize with some familiar faces this was my moment to get to know more of our brothers and sisters.  I love gatherings like this; I am a little social butterfly you know.  I had a blast and have become closer to those in our group.  It was getting late and time to hit the bed for some much needed rest.  Stay tuned for day 2 write-up to follow.  Wasn't able to get to many pictures as the rain would have ruined my camera.