A Crazy Halloween Night

Sunday morning I wake up at dad's house and we pack up for our three day trip to my aunt Maryann's house in New Jersey to spend time with her family as I attend my training. We head out early because we had to head to Quincy first to pick up my grandmother who is making the trip with us. Once we got Nana in the truck we headed for the highway and made great time to New Jersey. As we made our way thru their neighborhood the treaters were already out in force. This is when the fun began, as we were pulling in the driveway Maryann was leaving to bring her oldest daughter somewhere to treat with her friends and yelled out the window, make yourself at home, my nut is in the basement getting into his costume, I'll be back! We enter the house to find James in the basement in just a banana hammock, painting himself blue. I help Nana upstairs and immediately the doorbell starts ringing, we scramble to find the candy and proceed to hand out the goods. Then the next surprise starts, every third bell ring there is another young lady with her parents asking for their youngest daughter, who of course wasn't at the house. Finally after accruing 8 ladies in the living room Maryann made it home with the youngest and a bunch of adult beverages. Then we spent the rest of the night handing out treats, drinking beers and laughing at James in his blue paint on latex.

It was a great night socializing with family! Here is a picture of James as Avatar.

Hanging out with Pam

Spending time with Pam and Howie at the secret doggie park. Now we're heading to have dim-sum, i will post how that turns out later.

Dim-sum was good, quite interesting and I got to try all sorts of crazy stuff that I would of never tried. After Dim-sum we went to another park with Howie so he could "squirrel hunting". It was a great day hanging out with Pam. We finished the day by heading home to dad's house for the night.

Tomorrow we are heading to New Jersey to visit more family and get ready for my training at BMW Headquarters.

Enjoying the south

Taking a break after riding the twisties for hours. Having a great time.

After wondering some nice kentucky roads we met up with brother jeorg for a bbq lunch. Then heading for the koa in newport tennesee for the next three days. Stay tuned dave... U could be here!

At it Again

Well after a long summer of bustin' my arse at work I decided it was time to get some end of the year mileage. A couple of phone calls, a few texts, and a perfectly timed bumpin' into, and another mens ride has been formed. We are heading out at noon today for a long weekend of fun. Stay tuned for updates and pictures along the way.

The Unvealing!

In chicago with my uncle Bill for the judging of his 65 vette.

Back on track

Picking up where we left off 5 months ago. My good pals Joerg & Becky are back in town. Catchin up on things over beer and laughter.

BMW Off-Road Training Day 1

Day one was great! Can't wait to get to day 2. No time for write ups but wanted to give some teaser photos until I can write more. Enjoy

Winding thru the South

Monday morning I awake to Joerg's alarm clock, poor bastard has to report to work. After Joerg has gotten ready and left for work I quick shower and then grab a breakfast in the hotel restaurant. After a fill of coffee and food I pack the bike and get into my gear and head out in search of winding, twisting tarmac with great views. The states of Georgia and Alabama did not let me down today. My first find was this water fall in the Little River Canyon National Preserve. The road then skirted the distance of this canyon. Of course that is the road I took and the views were excellent.

Next up was a nice area that you could see both sides of the canyon stretching for miles.

Then this is were the ride got interesting! I see the road I saw on the map and wanted to take getting closer on the gps and then the big brown warning sign. I did not stop and take a picture of it but it pretty much warned of everything but death. The main warning that didn't sound that bad was the steep grades, but proved to be exhilarating. I turned down the road and could not believe what I got myself into, immediately the road plunged straight down. It reminded me of dirtbike days as a kid going over edges of cliffs seeing if I could ride down, that's how steep these were, then and in super tight switchbacks in the middle of the decline. Here is a shot of a little decline and the picture doesn't do it any justice.

I proceeded to wonder until I found the town of Leesburg Alabama, were I stopped to get gas and some snacks. I referred to the map and chose the next direction to travel. I wanted to get back at a reasonable hour to meet Joerg and Becky for supper so I took some familiar roads from previous trips and captured one of my favorite views.


Heading out for our night entertainment now, if I still have energy later I will post about them.

Later,
Paul

Escaping Winter

Woke up to perfect riding weather, slightly overcast keeping the temps mild (41) and dry. I headed the 25 miles across town to the meeting point. As I was filling up Joerg & Becky showed up and fueled up also, then it was hit the highway hard. There wasn't any site-seeing on this trip, the mission was "get to Chattanooga ASAP for Sticky Finger Ribs" and that is what we did. Seven hundred sixteen super slab miles later we were belly up to the bar drinking frosty beers and devouring savory ribs. After all those miles, beers and ribs we all were ready for bed, so we retreated to the hotel and called it a night. I am going to pretend I wrote this last night, and repost a Monday report in another hour or so... including some pics so stay tuned.