Cool Riders (as in "brrr")

One Friday in early September, we had a couple of friends who wanted to rent a Har.ley and go for a ride with us, so Gil took the day off and we left after my work shift was over in the morning. M & O are looking to purchase their bike or two and are trying out different models to see which ones they want to make their own. I think O was liking the Fatboy they rode this day until he rode my King home!

We bundled up as it was pretty chilly that day and we were going to be riding over a couple of passes. However, we were lucky enough to stay out of the path of rain (and snow) all day and it was a most fabulous day to ride! We rode through the southwestern part of the state and over roads and through valleys I've never actually been on before. We had a great ride and an even better day of hanging out with our friends. We continued the great fellowship by warming up from the mostly chilly ride with beer and pizza at their house with all six of our kids running crazy around us!

We've never had pictures of ourselves actually riding because I'm usually the one taking pictures and, uh, I haven't been brave enough to snap pictures while riding (very often!).

Me and my (soon-to-be-green) Road King.

Gil and his (slowly customizing) Fatboy.

Idaho's Hot Curves

Hot Curves = Long and windy roads in the one week of sweltering temps this summer! Gil and I sent the kids camping with my parents and took a little get-away bike trip to celebrate our anniversary. We packed up the bikes - okay, packed up my bike! - and rode through a good portion of central Idaho to experience a piece of the country I've never seen before. Most of the posted speed limits never went above 55 mph, for which, I have to say, I was very grateful! I think we only had about 10 miles of straight or even somewhat curvy road as we followed twisty rivers for most of our 3 days... it was testing my still-amateur riding skills but it was so totally awesome! And besides... my amateur skills took me over the Bea.rtooth Highway and then to Stu.rgis the very first summer I had my bike!!

The best way to ride... The sign like this on a portion of our trip was for 77 miles and completely surrounded by forest but I didn't turn back to get a picture so this one will have to do:

Here's Gil at one of the overlooks we stopped at:

And at another road-side pull-out, we saw this little thing... an Inuksuk! We first saw Inuksuks (of Inuit origin) on our honeymoon in Canada so it was very fitting we see one on our wedding anniversary! Granted, it was a bit out of its cultural locale but we were excited to see it.

This is another portion of the trip... an old highway where the speed limit is only about 35, but it's so twisty and the switchbacks are so sharp, I was maybe only going 20-25. This is a "retired" highway as a new highway was built that went straight up the mountain (you can see it in the top left of the picture). We had stopped at one of the higher spots on this road and looked over... we both thought of the movie Cars because of the new bypass. We might've taken the longer route but it was by far more interesting.

The hotel we stayed in our 2nd night... we followed rivers for the majority of our 3-day ride, there were about 3 main ones, and this hotel was right on the edge of 1 of them.

We had an absolute blast getting away and spending some time on the bikes. We treasure every moment on 2 wheels now. We knew we were losing a majority of riding season when we moved to a different climate last summer but we lost even more when we brought the kids home this winter. Not that we regret either the move or the kids (!!) but we sure enjoy our bike time all the more now. And we seem to be getting in the habit of making a bike trip during our anniversary time... what better way to celebrate!

The Germans Are Coming

And sadly, they've already come and gone.

In September, our friends H&G from Germany came to visit for three weeks and brought their friends B&L. For those of you who don't know, Gil lived in Germany for eight years while he served in the Army and going through his medical discharge and rehab. While there, he became very close friends with H and his girlfriend G. H is actually how Gil got into huskies and dog-sledding and they went to numerous races throughout Germany and France together.

Anyway... since Gil's been stateside and we've been together, H&G have come to visit every other year (and back-to-back years when we got married). Luckily, with the added guests of B&L this visit, we're in a new home big enough to accommodate everyone.

During the first two work weeks while Gil was out of town, the Germans took side trips to Yello.wstone Park one week and off to Oly.mpia Natio.nal Forest the next week. We had a lot of good quality time together this visit on the weekends and most weeknights.

One weekend, we rented an extra Harl.ey (because we only have two) and went on an excursion to Glaci.er Park. Even though I went as a passenger, I had a fabulous time! Actually, all six of us ride bikes so all the girls had to give up control and ride b*$&%.

Here we are at the summit of Goi.ng to the S.un Road.
Left to right: me, B, Gil, L, H and G (kneeling).

I took this picture mainly for Gil's mom because she'd appreciate the vessel used for a planter. This was in front of the restaurant we ate at.

Everyone wanted to go golfing and H was the only one who had been before (and only once at that!). Here's Gil giving them some quick lessons. I had to stay in the cart all day because I had majorly sprained my ankle just the day before and was unable to walk.

This is one of my favorite photos. I caught G in the middle of a laugh as she had just made a huge divot trying to hit the ball. I love the joy and abandon she's expressing.

And they brought me beer. All the way from Germany. If I weren't so darned Irish, I'd be more German than the smidgeon I am. I love beer. Dark beer. And though this isn't terribly dark, it was absolutely fantastic! Notice the word on the neck label? Hell. Yep. Though drinking one felt akin to heaven, I can see where a few too many would go drastically opposite.

We love having H&G here. They are truly family in every sense of the word and we miss them terribly. Our goodbyes at the end of every visit are becoming more difficult. We're planning a trip to see them (finally) next year as Gil wants to go back in the winter for the Christmas markets. Barring anything substantial happening in the kid department, we'll be able to spend about two to three weeks there. I really need to start building up my vacation time!

Mini Stur.gis

Gil and I joined the local HOG chapter last month and participated in our first community event yesterday. One of the senior residence villages in town has a "Mini Stur.gis" every summer. They put a tent up, have a live band, bbq and snow cones, square dancing, and bike rides! Friends and family of the residents come and everyone has a great time. The local HOG and CMA (Christian Motorcycle Assoc) chapters go and give rides to the residents and whomever else wants one. I decided to put my camera to use and stood back taking pictures. I took over 500 shots and filled my card to the point that I had to go back and start deleting pictures in order to take more. Here is just a small sampling of the great time we had.

Gil's first little lady.
And yes, that's him riding my bike. His Fatboy is a single-seater.

His 2nd little lady was a bit more excited. I love that joy on her face!

The young'uns had a great time, too.
It was hard for me to resist this little girl's face; she was just too darn cute.

Here's another lady whose exuberance rubbed off... I was practically laughing so hard my camera was shaking!
I feel the same joy when I'm riding my bike!

The side cars were a great way for those residents who can't walk to be able to enjoy a ride.

Our ride captain giving one of the square dancers a ride. Those skirts sure fluff out in the wind!

And here she is again... I told you she was too cute.
The local HD dealership donated bandanas and volunteered to do face painting and give fake tattoos.

We had a great time. It was a fabulous day to get back on the bikes (our first time since moving - yikes!) but even greater was the feeling you get when you do something that makes someone else so happy!

My Favorite Things

Today was an excellent day altogether. Gil and I woke up late around 8 and spent a lazy hour together before getting ready for the day. Then, because the weather was up to just over 50 degrees today with a shining sun, we hopped on the bikes and rode around town, doing all our errands and small shopping. Thank goodness for saddle bags! It was so GREAT being on my bike! It's been way too long... since November, I think. The ice has melted off most of the side streets now with just a few patches here and there so other than the gravel on the corners, the roads were clear. Riding today has made me eager for winter to be over; I'm anxious to be able to get on my bike with more frequency.

We met some friends for lunch whom we haven't seen in awhile. It was so good to see them and visit for the few hours we did. I'm making a resolution this year to try and spend more time with my friends and being with M and N today made me realize how very much I want to hold true to that resolution; I miss being around people that I absolutely love being with.

Then we came home to get ready to watch the Ste.eler game with another couple of friends. I made buffalo wings, a cheeseball (my first and it turned out yummy), and some other odd-and-end snacks. There was only really one bad thing (an injured opposing player after an extremely hard hit) and our own Hi.nes Wa.rd injured and out for the duration of the game. I'm certain, though, that he'll be recupe'd and able to play in two weeks because YAY! We made it to the Sup.er Bo.wl! Go Ste.elers!!!

I have to say I had a most fabulous day, full of my favorite things: riding my Harley, watching the Ste.elers, and enjoying time with good friends. Now it's time to go to bed and sleep well before starting another work week.

Her Favorite Color Is...

CHROME!

Those who have known me for a long time would probably never have thought that I'd be so excited over motorcycle parts as a gift! My lovely husband, who knows my heart so well, gifted me for Christmas with a new brake lever and new turn signal hardware for my bike. Oh, I was just giddy as a schoolgirl when I unwrapped them! I've been wanting to minimize the breadth and width of my light bars because the stock lights just seem so... well... almost geriatric! :) I just love the look of a Road King with a single headlight... without the windscreen, it just looks (to quote another Tra.ce song) rough and ready. Gil completed all the adjustments yesterday.

Here's what the front of my bike looked like before any changes:

Here it is with the single headlight... no more auxiliary lights and lower profile turn signals:

This is what the rear-end of my bike looked like before, though I don't have an actual picture of my own bike for reference. This single photo is courtesy of TotalMotorcycle.com.

Now here it is with a lower profile. That big, heavy bar across the whole back of my bike and width of my saddlebags is now gone! Forgive the extreme close-up of this pic; the bike lift is right up against the garage door and I had to squeeze the camera in and take it without use of the viewfinder!

I didn't post pics of the brake lever but it's just the billet-style to match my shift levers we purchased after our trip to Stur.gis in '06. We were riding into a small WY town (whose population grew by 1000% that week, I'm sure!) when I lost all power to shift. Luckily, I was only in 2nd gear so it was easy to roll to a safe stop. The gears were stripped on my front shift lever so Gil rigged the back lever to work as my front for the trip home. Isn't he just the most handy husband a girl could ask for?! So, it's nothing fancy or outstanding, just a different style to slowly customize the levers and linkages to make the bike more and more my own.

Busy, Busy Weekend

Wow! Talk about a busy weekend. Friday night, we met our friends B & F at the fair. It was the 2nd to last night of a 9-day event. We had fun... we walked around, splurged on fair food for dinner, caught the free side-shows, and just had a good time hanging out with great friends. There was an Extreme Canines dog show... mostly tricks and agility. We paid a few dollars to go into the White Bengel Tiger exhibit. Gil and I are both HUGE tiger lovers and we spent more time here than elsewhere. There was a petting zoo of "exotic" animals... a kangaroo, a Scottish Highland cow, water buffalo, funky goats with 4 - not 2 - horns, zebra, etc. There was also a group of 3 guys that walked into the center of the "food alley" with kitchen stools that had metal dog bowls and water bottles attached to them. Turns out they were drummers. If you know me well, you know that I have a BIG weakness for drums - of any nation, any sort - I just love drums. One of the things on my ultimate "to do" list is to see the show Stomp! Just the thing I love. So I was fascinated listening to these guys perform. Here are a few pictures from our time at the fair.

Gil & Sara at the Fair

Sara being silly... nothing new!

Saturday morning, we woke up and hopped on the Harleys. The plan was to ride south and ride over a pass in Northern WY but just getting through the reservation was trouble enough to keep us from crossing state lines. This is some desolate country. We're at the point in summer where everything is really hot and really dry. With weather conditions like that come the grasshoppers. I don't know if you know this about me, but I absolutely HATE grasshoppers. Almost - probably - worse than spiders. I absolutely despise them. They totally gross me out and give me major heebie jeebies. Let's just say that for two of our initial three hours on the road, I was riding so tensed, stressed, and grossed out, that - for the first time in my life - I completely disliked being on my bike. We stopped in the middle of nothing and nowhere to re-group and stretch our aching tense muscles and took the following pictures. When we finally got to the interstate, we decided to just go straight home (not by the same way) because we weren't having fun, we were more than covered in hopper guts, we were tensed and aching and disgusted with the ride. We expect to get hit with bugs when we're riding but this was horrible... the road actually looked alive and moving multiple times along the way. The sting of one hitting my leg would barely stop hurting before another one hit. The impact was so hard that it would literally make me jerk a little bit, so I'd be tensed and waiting for the next one. Ugh.

As you can see here, there's nothing behind us but flat, open land. That's what it looked like in front of us, too.

This is my leg and you can see the bugs on my highway bar.

This hopper accumulation is on Gil's bike above the transmission.

Gil said this is what my face looked like for the majority of the ride... I was thoroughly disgusted and grossed out the entire way.

We got home and took the bikes to the car wash to use the power washer to get most of the bugs off. It was a horrible mess. I had plenty of house to clean and laundry to do and was starting on that when Gil left to go pick up our new fridge (yay!). He called me about a half-hour later asking if I wanted to go the rodeo in less than 2 hours. It was the last night of the fair and a friend/business associate of his offered free tickets. So, I jump in the shower right away to allow my hair time to air-dry, then vacuumed and picked up the house enough to satisfy me until mid-week, started some laundry, washed some dishes, then ran back in to finish getting ready and we were off at it again. We had a good time at the rodeo and then visited with D and his wife for awhile afterwards. We got home at midnight knowing we needed to wake up early to ride off again.


We woke up this morning knowing we were heading a few hours' north and had previously been planning to ride the bikes but after yesterday, we didn't want to encounter the grasshopper thing again and were still so tired after yesterday's trip that we didn't want to risk it. So we took the car and Karma and went to visit Gil's grandma (his dad's mom). His aunt and uncle were there, too, and we had a nice picnic lunch and visited for a couple of hours before coming home. Once here, we had to clean the car inside and out, move the new fridge into the house (yikes!) and then let it cool before moving all the contents of the old fridge into it. I'm just now getting ready to put my 4th load of laundry into the dryer and then we're off to bed.


I'm tired. Goodnight.

Nothing Much to Say

Not a lot has happened in the past few days. We were supposed to go to a baseball game last night but Gil came home from work with a really bad headache and was asleep within 1 minute of arriving and laying down on the recliner. As bad as I felt for him, I was also a tad bit distressed at not being able to go. Sooo, it was a bit of sweet justice when every time he started to snore, Mojo and Karma would go over and start licking his arms and face! It was so funny. When my stomach started to really rumble at about a quarter after 7:00, I woke him up and made him take me to dinner.

So we went to Applebee's and then went and rented a couple of movies (21 and 10,000 BC - guess we had a thing for numbers!). Both were good. 10,000 BC was so not what I expected... I actually liked it. When we watched the one by Me.l Gibs.on about the Mayan civilization (sorry, can't remember the name right now) I cried and actually had to stop the movie because I couldn't take the gruesomeness. I'm so sick of war movies and needless killing... I have a really hard time watching it anymore. I was kind of expecting a little more of that with 10,000 BC; the previews sort of relayed that but didn't do it any justice because there was no real gore. It was actually a sweet love story... with enough action for men to like it, too! 21 (about counting cards to win blackjack) was really good, too... I was actually captivated through the whole thing.

Today, Gil replaced the handlebars on my bike. They're a bit taller so my hands are at about shoulder height. Compared with what I had before, they look like mini ape hangers! We went out for a test drive tonight and I really like them. My wrist is really hurting today (I have chronic pain due to a ganglion) and riding didn't make it worse. It actually leans through the curves easier and I feel much more bada$$ than before! I love them. I also love having a husband who can do all of these things. He's so good to me.

I called CFS yesterday. I'm getting so impatient just waiting and doing nothing about the adoption. It's been two months since we turned in our application and background check releases. When I called last month, I was told that our "training" classes would probably be scheduled for September and that we'd receive a letter in the mail. I called yesterday because I wanted to see if there was anything we could do while waiting to start the classes, like an initial homestudy visit or two or something. The news is no... no visits until after the classes. They'll be scheduled for sometime in mid-September to early October and we should be receiving the letter/registration form within the next week or two. So, we're back to where we were... waiting. Gil and I talked and we're going to work on doing the rest of the home projects that we need to do, smoke detectors and emergency escape plans... that kind of thing. We've been waiting this long, we just need to keep on keepin' on. Ugh.

So that's where we are. I hope all is going well in your life. Don't be afraid to post a comment to say hi; it'd be nice to know who's reading up on our lives.

Beartooth & Chief Joseph

Here are some pictures from our bike ride this past Saturday over the Beartooth Pass and Chief Joseph Scenic Byway. There were five of us total... a friend of mine from work and her husband and one of Gil's coworkers, J. Yes, S and her husband, T, ride "crotch rockets" and yes they rode with us. We're not Harley snobs! A bike's a bike, right? Right... it's a little strange but this couple is just too cool not to hang out with! Anyway, there were fires burning on all sides of the area that we were riding through and we were fortunate to have "smokeless" air to breathe. The only time we really encountered it was on the east side of the Chief Joseph highway from a fire burning near Cody; it was raining ash but the smoke was high enough not to breathe. It was a beautiful day to ride, cool enough to keep our jackets on until we hit Belfry on the way back. We were gone about nine hours but we stopped frequently for pictures and lunch.

This picture was supposed to be at the end but this stupid uploading function won't allow me to place my pictures where I want them; it always places them at the top! Anyway, this is the smoke I mentioned on our way down Chief Joe.

Here's Gil and me at the first vista look-out on the Red Lodge side of Beartooth.

This is near the top of the Beartooth side, just across the border on the Wyoming side. The pass was delayed in opening this year due to excessive snow pack... about a month later than usual.

We always encounter Rocky Mountain goats in this area and we weren't disappointed this day.

While we were looking at the goats, this curious little marmot was checking out T's Suzuki Hayabusa.

The bistro where we ate lunch in Cooke City. Gil is standing by his bike, my bike is second from the left, T and S are by her Ninja, and J is in the back near his bike (the blue one).

Gil snapped this pic of me while we were at a rest stop getting ready to ride up the Chief Joseph switchbacks. (See, Mom, I do wear my helmet!)

Looking out over the west side of Chief Joseph Highway.

We had a really great ride. It was so good just to get out... riding is really therapeutic for me. Gorgeous weather, good company, hardly any traffic on the roads... what more can you ask for?

Oh, to be of Celtic origin...

This past Saturday, we had our annual meeting with the Patriot Guard Riders. We met for registration and then went on a couple of short rides from town and then took a plaque of honor to a widow whose husband (a WWII purple heart veteran) recently passed away. Then we had our meeting and social time. One of the couples we were talking to were a man who had served in Germany and his wife who is from there; it was familiar for Gil to hear the German accent. I noticed a pin on the man's vest; it looked like bagpipes so I asked him if he piped. He said, "Yeah, that's what the license plate on my bike stands for." The plate says "piper". Being on a motorcycle, I had assumed it was for motorcycle pipes... y'know... loud pipes save lives and that whole business. Nope. It was Scottish bagpiping! Go figure. I said something about how cool it was that he piped and he said his wife was a drummer. I then asked if they were going to be performing at the Highland Games this coming weekend. I've been planning to go for a couple of weeks now but it'll be fun to watch someone we know.

Our city is hosting its first ever Highland Games this weekend and I'm so excited to go. I've never been to the ones held closer to my hometown but I have been to a huge Celtic Festival when I lived in Connecticut. I know that I haven't been raised in many of the traditions of any of my heritages, but I have always been drawn to them... so naturally, I am always interested in anything Celtic, whether Irish or Scottish.

Speaking of Scottish things, I'm taking a few minutes before falling asleep each night to do some pleasure reading. By that, I mean fiction. Most of my current reading is either work or adoption related. Anyway, I'm reading The Outlander Series by Diana Gabaldon. I'm currently on the third book (of six), titled "Voyager". These books are "historical fantasy" set in 18th century Scotland and I don't recommend them for the faint of heart or easily disturbed. There are vivid descriptions of evil and sinful sexual perversions and atrocities, as well as descriptions of the wars and rigors of daily life 200 years ago, but they are so few and far between, it's easy to forget about it. The adventurous love story of the two main characters make it easy for me to become lost in a time warp when I'm reading.

This post is mostly odd ramblings because nothing much is really going on. I'm so busy at work right now, with our fiscal year end being June 30th. I have been able to get some things off my desk this week but I still have 4 of those 10 audits remaining, more research projects assigned, and a new physician to educate starting July 3rd. It's definitely never-ending but I guess that's job security. I'm actually sitting on the couch right now after working an hour and a half late tonight (which makes a normal 10-hour work day 12 hours) and rushing home to make dinner for a hungry husband. I should be cleaning the house as we have friends coming over for dinner tomorrow but I just don't have the energy to get up and move around. Karma has decided that the 3 months we spent working on getting her to sleep later (until 5:30!) wasn't worth it and has gone back to waking up at 4:00! Yikes. I hope you all have been enjoying some nice weather after the long rainy, spring season we had. I tell ya, it's sure been fun being able to ride the Harley to work every day!