Amazing Arizona Adventure: Day Two

Ok, so remember how I said that I would always wear a helmet, even if I had the option not to? Yeah, well, one of the first things I said to Dave Saturday morning was, "Hon, do I have to wear my helmet?" I was actually surprised when he said I didn't have to.
Now, I'm not trying to start a helmet debate here, and honestly I don't care to have one, I'm just sharing my own experience. I loved riding without a helmet, there, I said it, me, the "safety girl", loves, loves, loves, no helmet!
If you read Ann's post Taking The Road Less Traveled: Day Two then you will pretty much have much of what I was going to say about Saturday, Thanks Ann! LOL

A couple of things I would add to her story:

Me, bright eyed and bushy tailed? ummm, ok. I don't think anybody has ever used that expression to describe me in the morning, it must have been all the excitement. But at any rate, I'm glad you were impressed. And there was no way that I was going to miss the ride.

As soon as I met Ann and Big D. I knew they were exactly who I thought they were. They are just amazingly decent people. I already knew that Ann and I were a lot alike, and by the time we were done with breakfast I was convinced that we had been separated at birth.

Meeting Arizona Harley Dude and Linda was also awesome. We just all clicked so well, if you were a spectator of our antics, you would've thought that we had been friends for years.

The buffalo...hey, the sign said not to climb on it, it never said we couldn't lay under it. But I have to say, Dave has been making some pretty strange noises ever since we got back.

Dinner at the steakhouse was the best meal I've had in a long time. Like Ann said, we got some looks from the bluehairs, but they were just jealous cuz we were so hot and had ourselves such sexy men, okay, sorry, it just had to be said.

When we got to the bar I was super surprised when Dave asked me to dance, and he wasn't even drunk yet. Dave doesn't like to dance and I've never seen him dance, other than just goofing off at home. But he knows that I love to dance, and being the wonderful man he is, he wanted to make me happy.

Another funny thing that happened...Ann, Linda and I were all dancing together and this very loud, very drunk woman starts dancing with us and high fiving us all around telling us we're a bunch of hot women. I saw a strange look on Linda's face and didn't get it until we went to sit back down and she said, "Did that woman call us white women?" She felt better when we told her what the woman had really said.

It was an awesome day, and I loved the ride! I am definitely planing for this event next year. I was so impressed how welcoming the town was for this event, and how excited everyone was when we went on the little parade through town.

Hope you enjoy the slide show, some of the pics may look familiar from Ann's slide show, but hey, we were all at the same place. Also, I have no pics from Saturday night, they are on Dave's camera, I knew I would be in no shape to take pictures, or even be responsible for the camera.

Amazing Arizona Adventure: Day One, Part Two

While we were waiting in Weed Patch I called Ann to let her know that we would be delayed, and I also called our hotel to make sure that they wouldn't give our room away. They assured me that they were keeping it just for us.
I think it was almost five when we got back on the road. It was still hot, but I was wearing the water vest, so it wasn't too bad. Also Carol let me use her half helmet so I wouldn't have to suffer the heat in mine. It took a little getting used to since I have never ridden without a full face. Overall the ride was pretty comfortable, Dave made me a nice little cushion for my tush, and it helped a ton!
By the time we got to Barstow I was extremely glad that I had decided not to try my Patience on this ride. It was so windy I don't know if I could have kept her skinny ass on the road.
The skies were getting pretty dark, and I actually wouldn't have minded if it rained on us a little bit.
We stopped often to fuel up, drink lots of water, and goof off. I was having a blast already! I couldn't wait to get there. Ann had said she was going to wait up for us, even when I called her and it was obvious we were going to be way late!
As soon as we got into Arizona, we stopped so the boys could take off their helmets. I left mine on, I had always said that even if given the choice, I would always wear one...well....more about that later!
It seems like the last 300 miles we stopped more than we had the rest of the ride. It was understandable though, it was dark, getting cold, and we had all been up all day.
We finally got to Williams at 2:00 in the morning. It had started raining on us a few miles out, and once we got there the rain really started coming down.
The sweet guy at the office of the hotel was trying to tell us the best place to park the bikes. He said he had some cones we could use, but then he came back and said somebody had stolen them. This didn't make Dave feel good. LOL.
I called Ann, but apparently she had given up and went to bed, can't say I blame her. So I left a message to let her know we made it and told her to call me in the morning.
I was so happy to climb into a bed, definitely glad we decided on a room instead of camping. I hate sleeping in hotels, but I slept soooooo good that night.

Coming soon: Amazing Arizona Adventure; Day Two

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Amazing Arizona Adventure: Day One, Part One

Friday morning Dave and I woke up late, big surprise. Thankfully we had almost everything ready to go the night before so it didn't take too long to get out of the house. I walked outside and almost fainted...beautiful blue sky in Salinas at 6:30 in the morning...unheard of. A great start for our ride.
I have to say that it took a little bit of adjusting to being on the back of Dave's bike again. He finally had to tell me that he didn't need my help to lean the bike, oops, sorry.
We got over to Willy and Carol's and they were waiting outside for us. I tried on a half helmet that Willy had hoping it would fit, because I wasn't really looking forward to wearing my full face helmet in the heat. It didn't fit so I was stuck with my Power Ranger helmet. Oh well.
After a couple of smokes and talk about the route we would be taking, we all saddled up and headed on our way.
Usually Salinas is super overcast in the morning, and once you drive a few miles out of town you can see the sun, well, that morning was completely opposite. Salinas was beautiful and when we got out of town it was cold and foggy. It didn't last too long before the sun came out again and I was a happy girl.
We were on our way. We made a few stops that were really not anything too exciting to write about. Once we got to Bakersfield it was getting pretty hot. We stopped for gas at a place called Weed Patch, Willy figured it would be an interesting place for a stop.
This is where the only regrettable part of the trip took place.
We stopped at Chevron and got off the bikes to gas up. Dave said something to Carol and when he got no response from her he looked at me and said, "Man, she doesn't look happy." Then he went inside the store. It was about that time that I noticed Carol was walking funny. At first I thought maybe her leg was asleep or she had a cramp or something. But then I could tell something was seriously wrong. Willy noticed about the same time and realized she was having a bad reaction to the heat. He was basically dragging her inside to sit down in the air conditioned building. When we walked in he asked the woman behind the counter (we'll call her BITCH just to keep things simple) if they had a chair. She very rudely told us that she did not. So Willy told Carol just to sit on the floor. As he was trying to help her sit she almost feel on her face and hit the shelves on her way down. BITCH says, "Be careful for those shelves, they're expensive!" I shot her the nastiest look I possibly could, and then she says, "Well they are and they're really fragile." I looked at her and said, "Yeah, well so is my friend right now, so thanks!" She shut up, for a minute.
Willy got Carol a Gatorade and left me with her while he went out to move his bike. Carol looked like she was going to throw up so I asked for a wastebasket. BITCH again showed her compassion by rolling her eyes and making a grunting sound. I said, "Look, I'll fucking clean it up, just give me a wastebasket now, she can't even fucking move!" At this time the poor guy working with BITCH looked very sympathetic and handed me the basket.
BITCH then decides she needs to show more of her character by saying, "I have other customers who have to come in here."
I looked at her with more disgust than I have felt in a long time and said, "I'm pretty sure your other customers will understand, I really hope nothing ever happens to you." I think that at this point she realized how close she was to being punched in the jaw because that was the last I heard from her.
Carol was starting to look more like her usual self and Willy and Dave took her outside to sit in the shade and put Dave's water vest on her. As I was cleaning up the wastebasket the nice guy who worked with BITCH came over and told me not to worry about it, he would take care of it. Thanks decent Chevron employee. He also later came out to ask us if Carol was okay and to apologize for BITCH's behavior. I thanked him and got the name of who I should talk to when I called to complain, because believe me, I will be making sure something happens to that poor excuse for a human being.
Carol was feeling better, but she and Willy decided it wasn't wise for her to continue on the trip, but Willy also didn't want to put her back on the bike and go back through the heat that had just caused her the problem. After looking at several options, Carol's parents said that they would come down and get her in the car. Now we had to figure out where this left the rest of the plans. Willy offered to go back home and not make the trip without Carol, but she is a good wife and insisted that he carry on without her. We were all sad that Carol wouldn't be continuing the rest of the trip, but none of us wanted to risk her health.
It would be at least three or four hours before they would be there to pick her up, so we all hung out over at the Burger King, they were so nice, they never said a word about us being there for so long. Even though the situation sucked, we were making the most of the time we had to hang out with our friends.

Okay, this is long already, looks like day one will have to have two parts.
Next up: Amazing Arizona Adventure: Day One, Part Two
Pics from day one will be with the next post........

Back In Cali

Well, we made it home. We rolled the bike into the garage at 2:45 this morning, one word...brrrr.
I have tons of stuff to say and lots of pics to share, I will need a couple of days to get my shit together, but to sum up our trip....Fabulous!
I really needed this trip, and it couldn't have been better. It was also good for Dave and I to share this experience together. We both already realize that what we have is something special, but times like this just reinforce the connection.
Coming soon.....Amazing Arizona Adventure: Day One

Just A Quickie

Hi everyone! Just a little quickie here! I'm sorry I haven't really had time to check in with any of you this past week or so. I've been busy getting the kid ready to go to his dad's and getting myself ready to go to Arizona.
We are leaving bright and early tomorrow, well, probably dark and early. I know I won't be able to sleep tonight, I'm so excited. I'm ready to get the f@#k outta here and have a good time!
I will take tons of pics and return with stories of our adventure! Hope you all have a great weekend, and to all of you dads:

HAPPY FATHER'S DAY!

Temperamental Patience

My usually sweet Patience was very temperamental this morning when I rode her to work. Hmmm, maybe it's because she's been stuck in the garage for the past two weeks, or maybe, just maybe, Dave's Tramp spilled the beans. I'll bet that's it! While they were in the garage that bitch must have let it slip that I'm taking a road trip and leaving her home.
I better ride her as much as possible before I go so she doesn't get really mad! And so I don't go really insane!

The Question Everyone Wants Answered

So, the burning question.....Are we going to get to go to party with Big D. and Ann?
The answer is......YES!
We are going to Arizona. I'm so excited I even had a dream about it last night. It was kind of a crazy ass dream, but I expect when we get out there it will be a crazy ass time!
Willy D. and Dave are also excited, so much so that when Willy showed up at our house Saturday morning he was already packed. I had to remind him that it's still three weeks away. But he's ready to roll.
I had thought about riding my bike, what an adventure that would be. But in the end I think it will be best to leave her home this time. We are on a tight budget for this trip, and it would be one more bike to have to gas up, and also one more bike to worry about any mechanical problems. So I will be riding bitch, but that's okay, I think I've only been on the back of Dave's bike two times since I got mine. It will give me an opportunity to take some great pics on the ride.
I'm really looking forward to this trip, and looking forward to meeting my long lost sister Ann, and Big D. of course!
I'm sure we will have some great stories to share!
I'm not one to wish my life away, but I sure hope the next couple of weeks go by fast!