GONE TO SLAY THE DRAGON

My post will be quiet for a few days while Harley and I take some much needed R and R. We leave tomorrow for North Carolina, and I will be dragging my ass home some time Sunday night. I'm taking a journal along so I can jot my thoughts along the way. I'm hoping I get some good pics to share.

I hope you all have a great weekend! Ride safe!

Lady R

PIC OF THE WEEK

JOKER'S DOUBLE EAGLES CLUB
Our first meeting of the Joker's Double Eagles Club - Southern Chapter. They may not be biker girls, but they are my good friends just the same, and they think it's cool that I ride.

RIDE TO THE LUAU

I just made my first solo trip to Panama City for a Luau and some girl time with my posse! It's only 185 miles to my friends house, and it's a pretty nice ride down a few country roads. At least, the way we go, that is. I've made this trip with Harley many times and it takes about three and a half hours. Hmmm. Three and a half hours of relaxing, scenic road therapy. Alone. With the exception of commuting to work and errands around town, I've always had Harley by my side or some other riding pals. So, I was kind of feeling like a big girl going to school for the first time without her mommy.

After several reassurances that I'll have my best riding foot forward, Harley escorted me as far as Troy, about 45 miles down the road. We waved off our goodbyes and off I went... all by myself. It felt weird at first, riding down the road alone, but I still had an unexplainable giddiness in my gut. The feel of the wind on my face and taking in the pretty countryside, helped erased any apprehension I may have been feeling. I had to keep my eye on some storms passing through, but I had no problems! I thought to myself, being a lone rider has a different feel, and a different kind of charge. I can see how someone could just take off and ride across country alone and never feel lonesome.

Well, I arrived around 4:30 with no time to spare. Red Light Roxanne and her sister, the Elder Ya-Ya, waited for me while I parked my Glide and unpacked my bag. We were going to Happy Hour! This is how we girls in my posse start our weekends together. After meeting up with Crazy Chick and Earth Mother and a few of my other friends at a local watering hole, we ate, drank, and were merry!

Red Light Roxanne and her sisters, whom are affectionately known as the Ya-Ya's, are a real fun group of gals. I feel very honored and special that they have welcomed me into their family bond of sister hood. I've never had a sister, so this goes deep for me. They are true gems to be treasured.

They had a Luau this weekend that provided family fun by day, and turned into girls only fun that night. Woo Hoo! It would take about three posts to tell you about the Ya-ya's and the rest of my posse, but let's just say this, after the food was put up and the husbands departed with the children, we became she devils of the night and put the "P" "P-A-R-T-Y"!

Joker at "Harley Davidson Mystique" would be proud to know his notoriety has spread all the way south to the panhandle. My friends read my blog and they thought it would be cool to join the club. Here are some of the girls practicing their double eagles.

Sunday morning came way too early, because it would mean I have to leave my friends and head home to Montgomery. After a night of dancing and swimming, drinking and laughing, our bonds of sisterhood only grew that much stronger. As I rode my Glide back up the familiar roads toward home, I thought about all the stories that were told and the pranks that were played, and I couldn't help but smile. With thoughts like these going through my head I realized, I may be riding alone, but I am not lonesome.

Ride on! Lady R

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU WISH FOR!

I hate to steal the thunder from Mr. M who always has a good joke or two to share, but I couldn't help myself. My good buddy, who wishes to remain anonymous, sent be this funny story.




A Woman was out golfing one day when she hit the ball into the woods.
She went into the woods to look for it and found a frog in a trap.
The frog said to her, 'If you release me from this trap, I will grant you
three wishes.'

The woman freed the frog, and the frog said, 'Thank you, but I failed to
mention that there was a condition to your wishes.

Whatever you wish for, your husband will get times ten!'

The woman said, 'That's okay.'

For her first wish, she wanted to be the most beautiful woman in the world.
The frog warned her, 'You do realize that this wish will also make your
husband the most handsome man in the world, an Adonis whom women will flock
to'.
The woman replied, 'That's okay, because I will be the most beautiful
Woman and he will have eyes only for me.'
So, KAZAM-she's the most beautiful Woman in the world!

For her second wish, she wanted to be the richest woman in the world.
The frog said, 'That will make your husband the richest man in the
world. And he will be ten times richer than you.'
The woman said, 'That's okay, because what's mine is his and what's his
is mine.'
So, KAZAM-she's the richest woman in the world!
The frog then inquired about her third wish, and she answered, 'I'd like
a mild heart attack.'

Moral of the story: Women are clever. Don't mess with them.

Attention female readers : This is the end of the joke for you. Stop
here and continue feeling good.

Male readers : Please scroll down. ....














The man had a heart attack ten times milder than his wife.
Moral of the story : Women are really dumb but think they're really
smart. Let them continue to think that way and just enjoy the show.

PS: If you are a woman and are still reading this; it only goes to show that women never listen...now run along like a good girl and get us a beer.

Sorry ladies, I just couldn't resist. A laugh is still a laugh!

Lady R

NO VACAY? NO WAY!

I was working on an upcoming post about our plans for a little vacation we were going to take in two more weeks. Harley and I were going to go with Big Ed and Red Light Roxanne to St. Augustine, FL and spend a few days playing tourist. We have been to this beautiful place twice before, and it is one of my favorite spots to go visit. Red Light Roxanne and I were especially looking forward to returning to the San Sebastian Winery, for the tour and of course, the wine tasting! Well, plans change and decisions had to be made.

Harley gets a call from Big Ed the other day that they may have to back out of the trip. (This is where you hear that ear grating drag of the needle across the vinyl.) Zzzzzzzpppppttttt!! What? No vacay? Being business owners, employee issues came up and they may have to cancel the trip, because they need to stay and cover the business. I understand that this is what they have to deal with, but it's a real bummer. Well, we waited until the next day to hear the final decision from Big Ed, and it was confirmed. They can't go. I was really disappointed, but not any more so than our friends. I know we could still go ourselves, but since we've been there twice before, we didn't think we wanted to go there again without our friends.

After moping around for a day, with deflated excitement over lost plans to play and have fun, Harley and I decided that maybe we could still do something else. After all, we have our time off scheduled and the house sitter is booked. This is sort of how our convo went.

Me: I hate we had to cancel the trip.
H: Hmmmmm.

LONG PAUSE...

Me: Maybe we can still go somewhere?
H: Hmmmmm.

LONG PAUSE...

Me: Maybe we can go up to North Georgia or Deals Gap and do the Tail of the Dragon.
H: Hmmmmm?

NO PAUSE...

Me: You know, Tail of the Dragon... 318 curves in 11 miles. Hellbender 28 is right there too.

SHORT PAUSE...

H: Let me see the Atlas.

Woo Hoo! A new plan is born! That's right folks, we are still going on vacay! Instead of going south to Florida, we will go north to North Carolina. We put the word out to a couple of riding pals from Panama City, that we were forming a new plan for vacation to Deals Gap. The Beaver has always wanted to do the Dragon, so he said we can count him in and our friend the Lone Ranger may also join us. Even if we end up going by ourselves, this will be cool and fun, because it will be our first time. My excitement has returned!

Rick, over at Keep The Rubber Side Down, went to Deals Gap this past Spring with his boys. Rick, I'll be over again to reread what you said about it. I can't wait until I can post my experience as I attempt to slay the dragon! Sounds awesome!

Ride on! Lady R

KUDZU AND THE SMELL OF RAIN

If you've ever traveled in the Southeast during the summer, you have probably seen Kudzu. It's a climbing woody vine that grows rapidly and covers everything in its path. According to Jane Linton who wrote "Kudzu Covers Dixie Like The Dew", this vine is said to cover more than 7 million acres in the South and it grows at the rate of a foot (or more) per day! Old southern folklore tells of mothers keeping a close eye on their children while they sleep to keep them from being choked to death by the night creeper vine. It is also told, that an escaped prisoner fled into a kudzu patch and is still unaccounted for.

Yesterday, while Harley and I were out on the Glides cruising the country side as we usually do on Saturdays, I was noticing all the different shapes and forms I would see created by this creeping invader. It was kind of like watching clouds, and identifying familiar shapes. Almost everywhere you look, you see kudzu. My imagination was really working! When I told Harley, that the field we just past looked like an ocean full of whales, he asked if I'd been sniffing chemicals. LOL! I made a comment that I would like to take some pics of the kudzu to share with my blogger pals and I think that confirmed it. He's been married to me long enough to know, sometimes it's just better to humor me, than try to figure me out!


We left our house that morning with temps in the mid 90's and a slightly overcast sky. It seemed like we were in the sun more than the clouds though, and we had to stop often to drink something. After almost 200 miles of toodling around the country side, checking out the kudzu on this southern summer day, we got pretty hot and sweaty. As we made our way back toward Montgomery, the sky presented a pretty dark thunderstorm in the area we were headed in. Harley is good at reading the sky and taking us on a route to skirt around the storms as much as possible. This day was no different. With about 60 miles left to go, we were chasing it home. We could smell the rain... that fresh wet smell, even though we were not in the storm. I love the smell of rain, I just don't care to ride in it. We started noticing that the road was still wet from the rain that had just passed through, but not enough to make your jeans wet, and the temperature dropped about 10 degrees. Suddenly, the clothes that had been sticking to us because of the heat, created a welcome cooling effect as the cooler air hit us while we rode. Ahhh! That feels good. We could still smell the rain but not a drop was hitting us. We made it all the way home and the storm was gone by the time we got here.

All in all, I'd say we had a great ride. We cleared some cob webs, rejuvenated our souls, and I got to spend the day with my three favorite Harleys. I suppose if we had gotten into a terrible storm, we could always find shelter in the kudzu...if we dare!

Ride safe! Lady R

A GIRL AND HER BOOTS

A few days ago, I started riding my motorcycle back to work in the afternoons. I live close enough to my job, so it allows me the luxury of going home for lunch. This is important to my sanity. I deal with patients all day that don't like being there in the first place, and then they get to give me their hard earned money for allowing us to inflict some serious pain and suffering on them. Great job, huh? Anyway, since I'm usually in too big a hurry in the mornings, and it's hard to drink my coffee and ride at the same time, it's just easier to take the bike back after lunch.

Anyway, I wear scrubs and tennis shoes at work, so this is what I have on when I travel back to work. Now, let me back up a moment and explain something. When I started riding solo, made a commitment to myself that I will always wear blue jeans and boots when on my bike. In the heat of the summer, I may sport around in a t-shirt or tank top, but absolutely NO shorts or sandals for me. Well, I broke my commitment when I decided it was not a big deal to ride to work with my tennis shoes... until yesterday.

We got a nice little thunderstorm right before I was leaving work for the day. I put my rain suit on because, even though it wasn't raining real hard anymore, I would still be pretty drenched within a couple blocks. Also, I thought I would be more visible for everyone to see me with my bright yellow jacket, so off I go.

I know I'm preaching to the choir, because most of you already know this but, tennis shoes and rain on a motorcycle...NOT GOOD! The first time I put my foot down, I thought I was on an ice rink. Woops! While I stood there holding my Glide, I could feel my feet just slide, ever so slowly away from me, I had to keep readjusting. Good grief! Every time I came upon yet another intersection (and there where many!), I prayed, "green, green, green, please!" I came close to spilling it THREE times! WTF! I was so glad to get home without any serious incidents, I almost kissed the garage floor when I pulled my motorcycle into the safety of dryness!

In summary, my boots are my friend! Rain, shine, sleet or snow, they will be like my American Express card, I won't leave home without them. Even if I get really, really brave some day decide to pull a Lady Godiva, and ride down the road bare-ass naked, this girl will have her boots on!

Lady R