I have been told many times that there are two categories of motorcycle riders, those that have laid it down, and those that haven’t yet! Well, I am now a member of those that have. On May19th I was in Arkansas visiting Danny, my boyfriend. I was on my way from Russellville back to his house on a skinny back road. I have run this road several time when I have been up there and it has some very nice curves to hang in to on the bike. But luckily on this day I was taking it easy. I had just gotten my Harley out of the shop and had a new triple tree and it was steering a bit different than what I was use to. So I was having to get use to it again. I was only n 3rd gear when I started into the curve. Good thing, because the county had laid tar and covered it with gravel. As soon as I hit the loose gravel the back of the bike started getting squirrely on me. I tried to get it under control, but nothing I did worked. I steered it toward the grass should on the other side of the road in hopes that I could keep it up that way. The back tire kept trying to go on down into the ditch. I steered it into the ditch thinking that if I guided it there I might have a chance of keeping it up. No such luck! There had been a lot of rain in the area and the ground was soft. I went down and slid about 75 feet on the right side of the bike.
After I crawled from under the bike, I checked myself to anything broken or bleeding and called the shop. Shelby’s Custom Cycles is where I had a 50,000 mile service done and the new triple tree put on. I knew they would help me get it out of the ditch and look it over. Robert answered the phone. I told him what had happened and where I was. He jumped in his car and came right down. He looked the bike over and said that he could ride it out of the ditch. I told him go right ahead because I was not going to do it. My right knee and hip were already hurting and I was still shaking a little. We called the Sheriff and they arrived a few minuets later. A couple of guys had stopped to check on me before Robert got there and they mentioned that there was no warning sign coming from that direction. So I walk back to check it out. There was a sing, but this is what it looked like…..
The officer that showed up was very pissed when he saw the sign and called the county judge. I don’t know what he said to the judge, but he he told me that the judge said he would be out that afternoon to take a look at things. After the usual questions and answers the officer left and Robert hopped on the bike and rode it to the shop. Once there, and calmed down, I could see the damage a little better.
I called my insurance company, State Farm. They said they would have someone get int touch with me. Shelby said to not worry about it, he would have my bike back to me “better than it was” by time I was to head home. It took till the following Monday to get an adjuster out to the shop. They started tearing the bike down before she left and had everything that needed to be painted down to Russellville to the pain shop that afternoon. Shelby explained that I had a PGR mission on the following Monday and he wanted to make sure that I didn’t miss it. They brought paint chips by Danny’s house that evening so I could pick the colors. They told me to just relax, the bike would be fine, I would get home in time for the mission and my big 6 week bike trip with my Dad, brother and nephew.
Friday morning Shelby called me about noon and told me that they got the paint back that morning and would have the bike ready for me around 1600. At 1600 he called again and said it would be another hour. At 1645 his wife showed up to pick me up. I was excited. State Farm had totaled my bike and I had bought it back. Shelby asked me how much he had to work with on the pain and other thing that the bike needed and for “bling.” I told him and he said that I could not see the bike till it was ready to pick up. He said he wasn’t to surprise me with the paint job and everything else.
The bike was sitting out front when we pulled up. If not for the fact that I had picked the colors and know the stickers on my windshield, I would not have known it was my Harley. I was very pleased with how it looked. Shelby had chromed out the motor, put the brake mod in my back break lights and the paint looked great!
To say that I was surprised and pleased with how it came out is a BIG understatement! Shelby, Robert and the paint shop did a great job is a very short time. I was treated like family the whole time. Let me tell ya’ll this, I will take my bike back there any time that I need something done that I can’t do myself.
If you find yourself up in northwest Arkansas on hwy 7 north of Russellville, go about 10 miles north of Dover and stop in and say hi to Shelby and Robert. Tell them Cindy sent ya!
UPDATE: DANG! Just got a call! Mexico wont let anyone with cameras fly over, so no media on the flight. I don’t get to go! Guess all I can do is hope for another BIG storm in the right place for me to go!!!! pout! pout!
As many of you may remember, last May I flew on a Bloggers Flight with the 403rd Reserve Hurricane Hunters out of Keesler AFB. This was just a training flight, but was a historic moment for the Air Force and bloggers. This was the first time that the Air Force recognized bloggers as an important media source for reaching the American public. I was very honored and excited about being included in this flight. Because of my participation in this flight, I was on the list to be asked to fly into the eye of a real storm during the Hurricane season!
Being the adrenaline junkie that I am, ya’ll know this was something that I would wait on pins and needles for. For weeks now I have had a small bag packed, just waiting with great anticipation for the call……
The call like the one I got this morning! YIPE!!!!
Hurricane JIMENA is sitting off the coast of Baja California and is at this moment a CAT 4 with 145 mph winds. The following is from the National Hurricane Center.
JIMENA IS MOVING TOWARD THE NORTHWEST NEAR 8 MPH…13 KM/HR…AND A
TURN TOWARD THE NORTH-NORTHWEST WITH A GRADUAL INCREASE IN FORWARD
SPEED IS EXPECTED OVER THE NEXT DAY OR SO. ON THE FORECAST
TRACK…JIMENA WILL BE APPROACHING THE SOUTHERN PORTION OF THE BAJA
CALIFORNIA PENINSULA ON TUESDAY.
Thats TOMORROW and the day I get to fly with our brave Air men & women into the eye of this storm. The chance to see nature express itself in such a manner from this vantage point is an experience that I will never forget. But to witness what these RESERVIST do every day to protect and give warning to us is a great honor! Not all battles are fought in war. Not only are we in need of being protected from man-made weapons. And not only active duty personnel are working every day to keep us safe from life threating events.
I look forward with great enthusiasm to being included on this flight and will have lots of pictures and hopefully some video of the storm as we fly into the eye, when I get back.
Over time I have met many Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines that have left a lasting impression on me. Each have something unique about them that make them stand out in my mind. But I have to say that Chad Gibson is one that I will never forget.
I met Major Chad Gibson, Chief of Public Affairs, with the USAFR when I did the Hurricane Hunters Blogger Flight back in May. At that time he mentioned that he had an alter ego….ELVIS! I have to say that I was intrigued by this and made my mind up that I had to see his show at the Hard Rock in June.
I invited an ole high school classmate and his wife to join me and they were as excited as I was. We met and drove to the Hard Rock Casino in Biloxi, MS on June 14th with great anticipation. I have been to Vegas and seen a few Elvis impersonators, some were OK and some were not. So I was very surprised when Chad, aka Elvis, opened his mouth and really sounded like Elvis! (watch a video from that night here)
Chad started singing when he was 3 and impersonating Elvis at about the same time. He told me, “I wanted to imitate that sound that I had records of. Mom let me play only so many records, many being Elvis. When he died (I was 5) I ran into a closet and cried — I truly thought there was no more music for me to sing with. Mom let me listen to all of her records after that and I never quit singing. Mostly in churches and Southern Gospel quartets, the same way Elvis started.”
As my friends and I sat in the back of the Hard Rock Café we all noticed that Chad really had the “Elvis” moves and sound down to a T. “I watched many of his concerts and movies, repeating particular moves, accents and mannerisms. YouTube is great for unreleased shows. My Favorite is the 1972 Aloha from Hawaii concert – his voice was spot on for that one. I have been doing this for much of my life, this was a life-long endeavor (music, in general), and for whatever reason, Elvis’ voice came naturally to me and emulating it did not take long.” Chad told me in an email. He says he has several favorite Elvis songs, “How Great Thou Art”, “Way Down”, Suspicious Minds”, and “Love Me Tender” to name a few. But his favorite to sing is “American Trilogy”.
Chad had great support from his Military family in the audience that night. “The Air Force Reserve is a huge family and whether it is a deployment, hurricane or concert, the Citizen Airmen family is there to help and support.” In the audience cheering him on were Brig. Gen. James Muscatell, 403rd Wing Commander and wife Nancy, Brig. Gen. Rich Moss, Retired, former 403rd Wing Commander and his wife Suzy and many, fliers from the 815th Flying Jennies and 53rd Hurricane Hunters (Lt Col Roy Deatherage, Capt Darren Ray, Lt Col Doug Fairtrace to name a few).
And never to forget his fellow troops over seas, he helped collect over $1100 for phone cards to be sent to troops deployed around the world.
“Elvis” back up singers are also members of the Air Force Reserve, Christi Vallo, Dhiana McKaig with Michael Duhe on guitar. Chad has been performing at the Hard Rock in Biloxi for about a year now and already has 2 more shows scheduled with the next to be October 8th. I encourage any one in the area who can, to attend this show. You will be amazed! I know my friends and I had a blast and so did the folks sitting around us. As with a real Elvis concert, we sat in that back yelling and screaming with every hip movement and toss of an ascot.
For the first time ever in the history of the Air Force, bloggers were recognized for their impact on public opinion and were invited to their very own Bloggers Flight with the Reserve 403rd Hurricane Hunters. What a great honor is was to be included in this flight with these brave Airmen and other bloggers that are helping to change the face of how the public gets it news and learns about the world they live in. McQ from Black Five was there and it was an honor to meet this Vietnam Veteran and fellow Blogger.
The Hurricane Hunters started on a dare in 1944 when two Army Air Corp pilots challenged each other to fly through a Hurricane. On July 27, 1943, Maj. Joe Duckworth flew a propeller-driven, single-engine North American AT-6 “Texan” trainer into the eye of a hurricane. He then flew twice more into the eye of that storm that say, once with a navigator and again with a weather officer. These are considered to be the first airborne attempts to obtain data for use in plotting the position of a tropical cyclone as it approached land. Duckworth’s pioneering efforts paved the way for further flights into tropical cyclones.
Yesterdays flight was a training mission out over the Gulf of Mexico on a WC-103J. This plane is a C-130J transport configured with palletized weather instrumentation for penetration of tropical disturbances and storms, hurricanes and winter storms to obtain data on movement, size and intensity. If you have never been in one of these planes it is quite amazing. They are very different than commercial planes.
For instance, the seating. The seat is comprised of nylon straps that form a mesh seat and back. They are not the most comfortable seat in the world for a plane, but I have to say, the ones on this plane were lots better than on the C103 that I flew on in Iraq. It is also very noisy inside the plane and we all wore ear plugs. As McQ and Talked we had to lean toward each other to make out what was being said. And as always there are a little humor in the mix. McQ told me tat he kept hearing the theme song from Gilligan’s Island going over and over in is head. Especially the part about going out for a 3 hours tour! LOL!
The plane is manned by a five person crew (pilot, co-pilot, a navigator, aerial reconnaissance weather officer, and weather reconnaissance loadmaster). Our crew yesterday was a well experienced one. Most of them have been flying with the Hurricane Hunters for 10 to 27 years, with LTC Val Hendry as the most experienced. She has been flying with the Hurricane Hunters since 1982.
Whoo Hoo! That is what came out of my mouth as we took off and I slid in my seat toward the back of the plane. This bird is powerful! It has 4 Rolls-Royce AE 2100D3 turboprops for more than 4,700 horsepower each engine. It can reach speeds of 417 mph. It is capable of staying in the air almost 18 hours at an cruise speed of more than 300 mph. An average weather reconnaissance mission lasts 11 hours and covers almost 3,500 miles.
The crew collects and reports weather data as often as every minute. LCT Hendry told me that when she started back in 1982 that they had to do all the calculations with a calculator and send them to the National Hurricane Center via UHF radio. Today between the senors mounted to the wings of the plane like the Stepped-Frequency Microwave Radiometer and the GPS Dropsonde Windfinding System, they get data every 30 seconds and transmit to the the Center via satellite. Quite a big improvement over the years I would say.
The information collected by all this great technology had unproved the advance warning of hurricanes by 25% to 30%. Decreasing the evacuation area saves around 1 million dollars per coastal mile to the Local, State and Federal government, not to mention the stress and money saved by the residents themselves.
We were also allowed to enter the cockpit and talk with the pilot and co-pilot. What a view that was! We only had 10 minutes so I didn’t get much information from them. But when I get to go on the next mission I will try to make sure I get a chance to talk to them more.
I have to say that I was very impressed with the plane, the crew and the equipment. Living just a mer 40 miles north of the Mississippi Gulf Coast, Hurricanes are a personal concern for me. My brother was living in Gautier, MS when Katrina hit in 2005. He was lucky and didn’t loose anything like many others did. This far off the coast line I have to worry more about high winds, tornado’s, and power outages.
The information I learned yesterday helps ease my mind for this coming Hurricane season. I know that we have the very best up there looking out over us and gathering the information needed to keep us safe from the next BIG hurricane.
I look forward to flying with these outstanding men and women again during a big storm this season. And as always, I will blog about it, show ya pictures, and let ya know if I get he crap scared out of me!
Just so you know that these guys take their Job, Duty and Service seriously, MSGT Randy Bynon is also one of the loggers on Weather Underground. You can find his blog about our trip here.
Also, they do have a bit of fun from time to time. MAJ Chad Gibson is an Elvis impersonator. You can see him at the Hard Rock in Biloxi, MS June 14th.
The public can keep up with news about the 403rd Wing via Facebook Groups listed under ‘403rd Wing’, ‘AF Reserve Hurricane Hunters’, ‘815th Flying Jennies’ and ‘41st APS’. In addition, full-resolution photos can be found under the ‘Hurricane Hunters,’ ‘403rd Wing,’ and the ‘Flying Jennies’ groups at www.flickr.com. A profile of the 403rd Wing can also be found at www.Linkedin.com.
Anyone can also receive instant updates about the 403rd Wing through www.twitter.com; search for 403rd Public Affairs or username, 403PA.
As most of ya’ll know, I saw Dr Waguespack about a month ago. She did an x-ray and said that my bones are not fully healed yet! That sucks! After 5 months you would think they would be healed. She decided to put me in bone growth simulators to help in forming the needed bone. I have have it for a couple of weeks and it is a real pain in the tail. I have to wear it 3 hours on one wrist and then 3 hours on the other. I can move around and do things, but it is a bit bulky and uncomfortable. The worst part of it is that she doesn’t want me on my bike yet. At first she said I could, then after thinking about it she said no. She didn’t think that riding my bike with the braces on would be safe and with the bones not healed yet, if I went down I would re-break my wrist. She says that if I re-break them, then I will never go back to my job. So, I have done my best to stay off the bike, but this week I just could not stand it any more! I have been out a couple of times, with my braces on and everything seems to be OK. I have not ventured off to far, only about 30 miles from the house, and I am doing good with it all. I am in hopes that when I go see her at the end of May that she will OK my riding, course, it really wont matter by then because I am going to ride anyway. I am working the bike show with the PGR at the Gulf Port Blowout and I have a couple of trips planned this summer on my bike.
First I am going to ride to Phoenix, then Hollywood, CA and on to Lompoc, CA to meet my brother. Then we are going to ride to Texas and see my niece, then to Arkansas to my mom’s and then home. I will be gone about 3 weeks, home for about 2 weeks and off again. I am going to ride to Ogden, UT for the PGR’s “Gathering of the Guard” and plan on riding through Yellowstone on my way there. I will be in Ogden for 2 days and then ride to Sturgis and meet up with the rest of the Road Dogs on Hogs. I will leave there the following Saturday. If my wrists are still holding up, then I am going to ride up to Oregon and ride Hells Canyon. On my way home from there I plan of hitting the north side of Colorado and riding across hwy14 between Steamboat Springs and Ft Collins. I have a trucker/biker friend that lives in that area and he says it is a GREAT ride. Then I will come home. I am thinking that is going to take me about 4 to 5 weeks.
So as ya’ll see, I need to get healed up enough to do all the riding. If anyone is going to be at any of these events or in my path, give me a holler and maybe we can meet!
Road Dogs on Hogs arrived at Sturgis Saturday night around midnight and had one heel of a great time!!
Jimmy the Junk-man and I packed our bikes and left my house in Mississippi early Wednesday morning. We had a great ride to Helena, AR to see my new grand baby and then went on up to Jonesboro, AR for the night. Thursday started with rain and we had to dig out the rain gear for a couple of hours.
We rode up hwy63 out of Arkansas into Missouri and grabbed hwy14. I have to tell ya, that was a great stretch of road to run. We lost a little time, but it was well worth it. The hills and curves were great to run. It was one of those roads that you fight with yourself over how fast to run….go slow and enjoy the scenery, or go fast and hang in the curves to get the adrenaline rush!!! We even stopped for a break at the White River and watch some Salmon swim up stream.
We arrived in Springfield, MO with time to spare before we had to meet Loose Nut, Strychnine, Bubble head, and Brit Brat. I took that time to visit some old friends. Then it was off to Clinton, MO to camp for the night. We met up with 96Ultra at his hotel before getting to our camp site. After putting up 3 tents in the dark we sat around and chatted for a while before hitting the sack.
The next day started about 0600 as we packed up our tents and headed out. We crossed into Kansas on hwy2 so we could miss the Kansas City traffic. 96 Ultra caught up to us in Ottawa, KS and we ran on over to hwy 99 and started north to Buzzards house. We arrived there late in the evening to a house full of people. Slider had flown in from Pennsylvania that afternoon and Derrick had ridden up from Lincoln, NE. Hugs went round and round. It was so cool to finally meet people that I have heard on Carl P., Freewheelin’, and Jonesey.
Saturday started out kind of crappy. Buzzard’s party wagon had a break problem and we were delayed for several hours. Finally we unloaded the party wagon into the back of the pickup and headed out of town around noon. We arrived in Mitchell, SD where Old Dog, Thumper, Mutt, were waiting on us. Once again, hug went round and the connections were made. We saddled up, 10 bikes, and 4 cages and headed west.
We arrived at the Iron Horse Campground around midnight. We had great fun in setting up that many tents in the dark, but you know how truck drivers are, we got it done. Everyone sat around a visited a bit and then hit the sack.
Sunday started with a trip to town. We did the bike walk down the street in the middle of town and went to the store to pick up all those things we all had forgotten. Then some came back to camp, some hit main street, and some went for a ride. Idaho Hunter showed up during the day and we got the phone calls from people that were going to be arriving later.
We all met back up at camp that evening and went to the bar to hear the Band and for some dancing and the Wet T-shirt contest. Congrats to Strychnine for winning! We danced and drank, and partied till about 0300 in the morning. That is when I was dropped on my head!! I hit the nape of my neck on the rim of a 5 gallon bucket! That kind of ended things for everyone. Truckin’ Up Chick and Jimmy walked me back to my tent, put ice on the back of my head, and put me to bed. Even with that in mind, it was a great day! But the next day you could tell who were the drunks from the night before and who stayed sober. The Sober people made a ride to Mont Rushmore and the drunks stayed in camp. Course, I was made to go to the hospital to get my head checked out by Jimmy and Buzzard. As I told them, as long as I land on my head I will be OK! Hey I still got second place!
We even had a small bout with the weather on Tuesday evening. We call it Hurrican Meredith!! The wind and rain came in hard and fast. It laid our tents down and even snapped the pole of a couple of them. That night, many of us slept in water soaked tents and bed rolls.
All through the week we had people arriving and leaving, riding, partying, and just having great fun.
I don’t know how to put into words the feelings I have on how all of this has come together. I had a crazy idea and it has become everything I had hope it would. Don’t tell me that truck drivers can’t come together on anything. Don’t tell me that truck drivers can’t get along. Don’t tell me that there is no camaraderie in trucking anymore. Today, I see all that in our little group. We have truck drivers here from all over the country, from different backgrounds, and different aspects of trucking, and we had a great time!
Who knew that 30 people that listen to a trucking channel on a radio, who had never met before coming to Sturgis, could come together and have this much fun?! The world is a smaller place today because of these people and their love of trucks and motorcycles. Who says that truck drivers are not just one big family? I don’t! Because this group of gear jammers just proved them WRONG!
Well, Taylor and I had a good day Friday! We didn’t do much adventuring, but we did go back to the trail that I got bit by the plant. This trail is called Point Bishop-Dupont Trail. The full trail is just under 10 miles, but Taylor and I only went about 2 miles in because it started raining, so we turned back!
As my luck would have it, the sun came out and it warmed up about 1 1/2 hours before we had to pick my brother, Bert, up at the airport. But, I am not going to complain, we had done a lot of hiking in the last 4 days and we both were a little tired and needed the rest.
We had a relaxing evening and got ready for the next day! We stopped by a book store and picked up a couple of books on the trails that are around Juneau. (Now, I can give ya the stats on the trails we have hiked.) Anyway, we looked through the book at some trails that Taylor and I had seen in our travels around the area and picked Herbert Glacier Trail.
The trail head is about 27 miles north of town. There is nice parking there and the trail is well maintained for about 4 miles.
About 2 1/2 miles in, it started to rain. We debated if we should turn back on not. But heck, we were half way in and who knows, maybe it would do what it did the day before and quit soon! So we kept going.
Yes, I know I looked like a drowned rat! But we had to keep going! This was the only day that Bert would have off while I am here to do anything with us. So we wanted to get this big hike done THIS day.
Anyway, about 4 miles in the trail ends at the river. This time of year there should be more water there from what we are told. This summer is a bit colder than past summers so one of the locals tells us. Usually that is no snow capped mountains around there at this time of the year. So, since the water was done and walking on the sand would be easier on my poor blistered feet, we trekked through the riverbed.
It was at this point that I wanted to head back, but yet I was sooooo close to being able to touch the glacier, that I just couldn’t allow myself to have come this far and not make it all the way. the only thing was that we were all soaked to the bone, cold, and I knew I had some wicked blisters on my feet. Oh yea, and we had to climb some rocks.
The climb was steep and unstable enough that we didn’t get many pictures of that. Not to mention that it was raining pretty good by this point. When we got to one point, Bert gave a great scare when he slipped on the wet rock and had to grab on to a small tree to keep from sliding right off and into the raging river. We went a bit farther and out onto an outcrop of rocks. As I cleared the brush into the open, I told Bert that was enough for me. The blisters on my feet were hurting, my arthritis on my hips and lower back were was giving me a fit, and Taylor was starting to complain about being cold. We all wanted to go on, I really didn’t want to stop. BUT, he voice of reason hit me and knowing that we had to hike the 5 miles back out to the SUV, thought it might be good to get headed back. But we had to take some victory pictures before we left!
As you can see, I am soaked. We also got some great pictures of the Herbert Glacier. Some of the following pictures are zoomed in, we hope you like being able to see the detail of the glacier in these pictures. We did freeze out tails off to get them!
We hiked our way out, but not before leaving our mark on the area like so many other have before.
Once back at the trail head, we were very glad to see it. My feet hurt and I could barley walk.
But are happy as we all were that we made it 5 miles out and 5 miles back in the rain and cold…..
WE WERE TIRED!!!
One thing to remember if you ever come to Juneau, Alaska……. ALWAYS carry rain gear!
Yesterday was a very cloudy, rainy day! So we didn’t get to do very much. What we did do, is ride around exploring as much as we could. We did find a few trails and tried to get out and hike them, but the mosquito’s were just horrible.
But today was MUCH better! There was still some clouds hanging around to start out with, but it was warmer, so that made it better. The only problem I had today was getting Taylor up and out of the house. But once we got out there, she was ready to go.
We went back to Eagle Breach and did a bit of looking and walking around. But it just wasn’t cutting it for us. We wanted more! this was just to tame for the “Adventure Girls”! So we left there and headed back toward town. doing a little of “where does this road go” again, I found a wonderful trail beside a creek. we found some very interesting things just off the main trail.
When we left the SUV, I don’t think we would be out on the trail very long, so I didn’t take the backpack with the water. Not far down the main trail Taylor said that she was thirsty. It was to far to go back for just the water, but she needed something to drink. SO, since the water was so clean and clear, I taught my niece how to drink from a stream! At first she was not to hip to it. But once I showed her how to do it and drank some myself, she was all for it. then she didn’t want to quit. We had to stop 3 times for her to get a drink. I do have to admit, the water did taste real good!
We hiked the trail a while longer and really enjoyed it.
After we left this trail, we headed back to town. but the road I took led us where we could get a distant view of the Mendanhall Glacier and the river.
All in all, even though we got a late start, it was a great day, full of adventure and exploring!
