Chapter Two of the Vacation Chronicles!

Here we were, on the road for the second half of 2500 mile motorcycle adventure.

We followed our new Pennsylvania friends, Brad and Val, across the state of Arkansas, through a corner of Missouri, down across Tennessee, a small corner of North Carolina and into the mountains of northern Georgia, This took the better part of two days with a whopping 480 miles the first day. For me, that was the first time we traveled that far on the Harley all in one day. Luckily we avoided the rain and only had to deal with strong winds the first half of the day. Day two found us racing to get up and on the road ahead of another rain storm.

We didn't quite make it! We soon drove out of it but still watched the skies around us. I love this photo of the Tennessee hills as we approached Chattanooga. Thank goodness for our rain gear and the Weather Channel radar iphone application!

Here's our fearless leader, Brad on his 2009 Harley Davidson Screamin Eagle Road Glide.

And here is courageous Val, on her 2005 (?) Screamin Eagle Ultra Classic. They've ridden all over the country and been in just about every state. We met several women who ride their own bikes this past week. I certainly do admire them, but I know it is something I would never try. Life is so much less stressful when just riding along in the passenger seat!

Our final destination, Copperhead Lodge! Located just outside Blairsville, Georgia, this is a resort community dedicated to motorcycle enthusiasts. It was a great location for the CVO Harley Ribfest. Of course many of the same people were here that were in Eureka Springs, but lots of others too.

Isn't this a beautiful fireplace with the motorcycle rock work?

This photo was taken from the back deck of our cabin one morning. There were several other cabins back in the trees behind the lodge. Where we stayed, we were treated to an automatic alarm clock, courtesy of the chicken farm next door! The lodge houses a small restaurant too. FOOD PHOTO for those of you who look forward to them! This was D's prime rib dinner. One of the funniest moments of the trip occurred when Dennis asked for his potato. It was so small that he didn't see it on his plate next to that big hunk of meat! (You had to be there. It was much funnier then!)

Ribs for the Ribfest were provided by "Hogbreath" but Eddie tended the smoker and did a fine job!

We didn't want to try to keep up with the large group rides on the twisty, curvy roads in the area. But we enjoyed riding with Val and Brad and even stopped and shopped in a couple little towns. We did manage to find the larger group having lunch at a small German restaurant in Helen, GA.

Of course we battled the raindrops just about every day. Even as we headed out Sunday morning and stopped at the site of the kayaking events of the 1996 Olympics. One last group shot with Val and Brad. Another vacation is history. But we've got fond memories and new friends. We enjoyed riding with and getting to know our Pennsylannia, Texas and Iowa friends and many others. We hope to cross paths with many of them again at the next CVO Harley event!

Missouri Trip - Part 2

We closed out the long weekend with an extended scenic route home. B drove my car home on Saturday night as she had to work early Sunday morning. After breakfast the next morning D and I climbed on the Harley for our ride home. We had a "support" vehicle with B and P following us for the first half of the ride. Some of the areas to the south of St. Louis were still feeling the affects of the Mississippi floods. In fact we had a detour for a portion of the way to Paducah which probably added about 40-50 miles to the trip. Sometimes the back roads can be a little boring and there were a few stretches that qualified for that. But there were a couple of cute little towns, still with their 4th of July flags flying and lots of corn fields even if the corn seemed to be a little behind in its development. In some spots, the water was still pretty close to the road.



We stopped for a late lunch at Cape Girardeau, MO. On a Sunday afternoon there weren't many people around in this historic downtown area. There were several interesting shops that I took note of, for future reference!
D's step mom, P is a quilter (and a stitcher, see her website here) also and had never been to Paducah. So first thing after breakfast at Bob Evans, we headed to Hancock's of Paducah. We were quite impressed and almost overwhelmed by the selections of fabric.

The guys waited patiently while we made a few purchases. It is so nice of the store to put the benches out for bored husbands. I could have spent more time fondling fabric but I did control myself! After a stop at the American Quilt Museum and Eleanor Burns Quilt in A Day Shop, B and P headed back to Arkansas and D and I sought out the nearby Harley dealership.Four Rivers Harley-Davidson is located a few miles outside of town in a beautiful new building. They've got two floors to display all the bikes, clothing and accessories and lots of outdoor space which I'm sure is great when some of the big rides come through. We sat outside with our map and cold drinks to plan our trip home.

We decided to take more back roads and headed back up into Illinois to follow the Ohio River back to Evansville. Along the way we stopped in Elizabethtown, IL where we found this great little floating restaurant. They catch river catfish, clean and fillet right there and fry up into great fish sandwiches. Their homemade potato salad, beans and cole slaw were good too. It's always fun to find these little out of the way places - especially if food is involved! We had a safe but uneventful trip the rest of the way home. I'm not aware of any extended trips in the near future but I'm sure there will be short ride of some type this weekend. Now that the big arrival date is fast approaching, our next trip might be back to MO!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great rest of the week!

Kansas Crops and Sunny Skies

We were truly on the road this past week for a quick trip to Kansas. But we were blessed with beautiful weather for the flight(s) then the remaining highway travel on Friday morning. We have traveled across I-70 many, many times over the years but this trip we came by a sight that was new to us. For several miles we saw these wind generators sprouting up in the pastures. I guess the price of oil has this Kansas farmer looking for alternative "crops" ! If you look closely in the center of the photo, you can make out the original windmill. What a great contrast for the changing times! I didn't even see it (we were traveling about 70 mph at the time) until I downloaded to my computer. After a wonderful tribute to one of our favorite aunts, many of us gathered at the Circle Inn Restaurant for a family meal. Though our spirits were saddened by our loss, we enjoyed an rare occasion to visit with family we hadn't seen in awhile. It's unfortunate that it takes a funeral to bring us all together. Perhaps we'll be able to get that family reunion planned that we keep talking about so we have a happier event to bring us together. Thank you, Aunt E and Aunt F and cousin Jo for reading this! I really appreciate your kind comments. I know some of the other folks in this room are readers too - just lurking in the shadows - right? I would get a thrill out of hearing from some of you or better yet, those of you who couldn't be with us. There's a comment button at the end of this post. How many will put it to use?
The Circle Inn is one of the few restaurants in my little hometown. They have faced many challenges in the past few years. First a devastating fire destroyed the original building. But after a cooperative effort with many local residents, they were able to re-build, but bigger and better. When our mother was a resident at the local nursing home, we would wheel her across the highway in the wheelchair for dinner out. It was a real adventure for her that she always enjoyed. Then last summer, a tornado severely damaged the Circle Inn. Luckily, no one was severely injured in either event, but it took them awhile to get the restaurant back up and running again. One of their signature meals is the Chicken Fried Steak. Presentation is not their thing - just good old home cooking with all the calories included! Maybe motorcycle riding days are on the way again. We were able to get out this afternoon for a cruise up to Mann's Harley-Davidson near Columbus, Indiana. It was so nice out! Bright blue skies and temps in the low 60's made an ideal day. We even had to to turn off the seat heaters, as our buns were quite toasty!
I'll be gone for a few days as the girls and I take off for a little beach time! So this is all for tonight but be prepared for plenty of vacation photos on the next post. Back to packing for me - just got to make sure that nosey cat stays out of the suitcase!

Mechanic on Duty

Okay, I'm totally out of my element here. But for lack of anything very exciting to blog about today, it was suggested that I document the Harley makeover project.

In order for the new Harley Davidson motorcycles to comply with the governmental emission guidlines, the exhaust systems run extremely hot. This isn't too much of a problem if you live in a year round cold climate, but the average biker often makes the decision to "remodel" (for lack of a better description) the pipes and make the temperature more comfortable. This was Dennis' project for the day. The kitchen project was put on hold for the weekend. The carpenter disappeared and the mechanic came on duty!

We have had the honor of the UPS man dropping off several packages this past week. Just like a kid, D has to open them and spread them out on the livingroom floor to admire before assembling. This is what you see here. Vance and Hines dresser duals, Vance and Hines fuel pack, and an Arlen Ness Big Sucker air breather. (I type as he dictates - because I really have no idea what they are!)

First was disassembly. The saddle bags, seats and mufflers came off. Now our Harley is a big motorcycle, but for some reason the angle that I took this photo at makes it look REALLY big and Dennis looks itty bitty!
At this point I was asking if he knew what he was doing and if he could get it back together again. I should have known better, because as some of you know, D usually knows what he's doing before he does it! But I don't recall him doing a lot of auto mechanics in the past so I believe I had cause for concern. But here it is! Re-assembled in all it's copper-top glory! But without some of the factory pipes. Now you can admire the engine much easier.

And it even runs just fine. It has a little different sound to it, but still sounds like a Harley! Why would I ever doubt his mechanical abilities!

Don't think that I just stood around watching and photographing the mechanic all afternoon. I did have a small project of my own in progress. A couple of weeks ago daughter E asked if I could make some type of sleeve for her new MacBook. Yesterday was BOM at Among Friends Quilt Shop and I found some fabric that I thought she might like. Of course I found other fabric to add to my stash. The Strawberry Lemonade pattern from Moda looks bright, pretty and fun so I couldn'tpass it up. The design I chose for the laptop sleeve is Chez Moi from Moda also. The colors don't show well here but better in the next photo. There are SO many pretty fabrics out right now that is so hard to make choices.

Sorry if this isn't so much of a surprise now E! I hope it fits the new laptop, but if it doesn't I'll try again. There are several changes I would make on a second one anyway, but overall I think it's not too bad. I may make one for myself too. Maybe J, B, J and N will want one now!

It was kind of fun to use some of the decorative stitches that I have on my sewing machine. I haven't really taken the time to experiment with alot of the features that my Designer II has.

I experimented first by making a little bag to hold my little Kodak.

Here's the finished product! It was a fun - just hope it fits. I'll be getting this off to her in the mail on Tuesday (President's Day tomorrow, right?) For the rest of you, I'll let you know if it works for the MacBook.

On a totally different note. We've been following a story in the local news lately about the son of some friends of ours. You can read the story here. Eric is a Iraqi War veteran who suffers from Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome and has been missing for about two weeks now. I spoke to his mother today. They still have few clues to his location but searching continues in Florida where he was last seen. As parents, our hearts go out to his family. There is little that we can do but send our prayers their way. Maybe you can add yours tonight as well.

We hit the road to Arkansas - and Louisiana!

With a few days of vacation to use up before the end of the year, Dennis and I hit the road for a holiday visit to southern Arkansas. We invited ourselves as guests of his dad and stepmom for a few days. Pat is owner of The Stitcher's Workshop and Bill is retired ( at least retired from a real job - he stays very active and busy !). They just finished building a beautiful new shop and enjoy keeping up with online sales and local customers. If any of you are stitchers - needlepoint, cross stitch, beading etc, be sure to check out her website as she as a great selection of threads, canvas and such. (Check out Pat's apron - one of several I made as Christmas gifts this year!) On Friday, we visited the Arkansas Museum of Natural Resources in Smackover, Arkansas. We didn't realize that the history of the area is really quite interesting. With the discovery of oil in 1922 the village boomed from less than 100 people to over 25,000 in just a few months. Though the boom is long over, the oil industry is still vital to the economy of the area.

Many of you may have heard of the El Dorado Promise and the scholarships offered by the Murphy Oil Company to graduates of the high school there. The city of El Dorado evidently is known for their Christmas light displays. After dinner we drove around to view some of them. This is a photo of the Murphy Oil Company office building with Santa peeking over the edge of the roof.
As I wrote in my last post, we had loaded the Harley in the trailer and pulled it along hoping we would find some warmer weather so we could do some riding. Of course, the week before had been warm and pleasant but when we got there, so did the rain. Finally by Friday around noon it stopped raining and warmed to about 50. After bundling up in several layers, we bravely started out on a little overnight trip. We hoped that traveling south would mean warmer temps - we were wrong. Not only was it not any warmer than Southern Indiana, it was damp though it finally became sunny. But crazy that we are we made it to Natchitoches, Louisiana by 6:00 that evening. We should have planned a little better and we could have reserved a room at one of the many pretty B & B's in this interesting town. By the time we found the Holiday Inn Express, we were pretty cold but did have a pleasant dinner of southern food at a local restaurant.






Photos from our trip to Natchitoches include a cypress swamp along the road and some of the buildings typical of the town. Natcitoches lays next to the Cane River and there are lots of cute shops and restaurants as well as several plantations to tour outside of town. As we wanted to head back to Arkansas by noon on Saturday, we didn't have time to explore much. This is a place we would definitely like to visit again someday. We did have lunch at Lasyone's before we left. They are known for their meat pies. Sorry, forgot to take a photo again but it was very yummy - as well as the red beans and rice! The book Cane River by Lalita Tademy is set in Natchitoches so I added that to my Barnes and Noble order today.
The trip back was just as chilly but we stopped at Bossier City Harley Davidson near Shreveport and tried to warm up with their complimentary hot chocolate. We've decided we will try to take a photo at any Harley dealership we visit on the bike. Thanks to my sister-in-law we now have a Harley scrapbook to fill ! We finally made it back to Dad's by supper time - but it took me all evening to warm up. I'm not sure if we'll be making any more long trips unless the temp is above 60 ! But we did discover that we can pack enough on the bike to easily stay out for a couple of days. We always enjoy seeing different parts of the country and may have to make this trip again some day.



Our trip home spanned two days with a stop in Paducah, Kentucky for a visit to the National Quilt Museum. I've always wanted to visit Paducah but since it was New Year's Eve, not many places were open. The museum was great though and I recommend it to anyone whether a quilter or not. Unfortunately, photos were not allowed inside. I still would like to come back for the quilt show held every year in April. Maybe another road trip ?


If you need some entertainment, check out some of the links under my favorite sites on the sidebar. I've added a few more that may interest some of you. One of my new favorites is Anna Maria Horner's blog. She is a designer in Nashville, I think, but her blog always makes me smile.


Now I think I'm caught up on my posting - at least for now! Thanks Bill and Pat for a great weekend !

All That Remains....

Thanksgiving is over. The turkey is gone (except maybe enough for one sandwich), the table leaves are stored, the dishes all washed and the bedding is waiting to go in the laundry. You can see some of the remains of Thanksgiving 2007 here with these photos.We didn't have a huge dinner but there was certainly enough food to go around. N's mother joined us since her husband and other family were out of town and E made it in from Chicago area late Tuesday night. It was great to have her home again for a few days. We missed having J & J but know we'll all be together for Christmas (one month from today !!!).
Of course we had dessert! B made an excellent new creamy pumpkin pie that was a keeper and I made a streusel topped pumpkin pie with a cheesecake layer. It was good, but I think plain old pumpkin would have been better and much less work!

Of course we convinced E to take a short ride on Dad's new Harley! I'm not sure if she enjoyed the cold ride. Her comment was that she's too much of a control freak to ride along - guess that means we'll just have to get her to learn to ride her own! (Just joking E, I know it takes getting used to and even then, not for everyone)Late Friday morning, E and I braved the crowds and the traffic and headed to the malls. We missed the crazy early birds (on purpose!) and didn't have any parking or traffic problems. Usually we find all kinds of interesting things when we're off shopping together, but this time we only came home with a candle and eye-shadow! (No shoes, not that we didn't try!) The highlight of Friday evening was the arrival of my aunt and uncle from Ohio. It was great to see them again and spend some time catching up. We reminisced late into the evening as Uncle L went through a box of keepsakes we'd brought back from Kansas. On Saturday we did a short driving tour of downtown Louisville and the Churchill Downs area. They even rode along as Dennis had to make a stop at Bluegrass Harley Davidson to pick up some missing parts for his helmet microphone. The girls joined us from their marathon day of shopping for lunch at the Irish Rover. This is another one of our favorite restaurants in Louisville and we have taken just about everyone who has visited us there. L & S made an early start home so they would get home in time to see the KU-Missouri football game but S had to give Beamer one last goodbye kiss:)

Then she had to take her turn on the Harley. Dennis is so proud to show off his new toy! We've promised that one of our first overnight rides will be up to visit them in Ohio. It will have to warm up first! It will probably be next spring before we're ready for a trip like that. Thanks for visiting Uncle L and Aunt S! Come back again!

Our weekend continued with dinner out Saturday night with B & E. N had to work so he missed a great meal at Mojitos. I can't find their website but they are owned by the same folks that have Havana Rumba but Mojitos is a tapas bar. We ordered about 8 different tapas plates and I guess I enjoyed the meal (and my mojito!) so much I forgot to take any photos. I'm sure we'll be back again soon so I'll try to get one then. It seems that eating out is a family entertainment!

Hope you all had as nice of weekend as we did!