Kentucky State HOG Rally - Lexington

Without a doubt the 2012 Kentucky State Rally, June 7th to the 9th in Lexington was one of the best; great location, great rides, and loads of fun.  There were so many choices  that you couldn’t fit everything in.

Jerri and I went on guided rides to the Red River Gorge, and two horse farms.  On Saturday morning over 120 bikes were led by the Lexington Police Department Motorcycle Unit to Keeneland for pictures in front of a starting gate.

As usual we participated in the bike games on Saturday.  Jerri also rode “Crazy Ed”, a rider from Dallas, Texas we met at the Texas State Rally and won the ball drop.  We also placed second in the Waiter Game, a game they never played before.

We’re looking forward to next years rally in London, Kentucky.

2012 Texas State HOG Rally

Our love affair with Texas continued as we headed to Fort Worth for the 2012 Texas State HOG rally May 3rd through the 5th. 

We left Bowling Green on Saturday with a stop for some Throwed Rolls in Sikeston with a nice ride through southern Missouri and 2 nights at a restored ’30 era motel in Springfield on Route 66.  Eastern Oklahoma provided more scenic rides through the Native American Reservations and a stop in McAlester (home of the prison rodeo).  I got my camping in thanks to the Cickasaw Nation (also free senior breakfast at the casino) and we only lost $6 on the slots.

We arrived in Fort Worth on Thursday and had lots of fun over the next three days.  The Stockyards were “way better” than I had thought and seeing the longhorns being herded down the streets brought thoughts of the old west.  Kirby and I did the bike games which had a western flair - six shooter, pony express, musket roll, and dynamite toss.   Fort Worth is a clean and safe city and worth a stop if you get a chance.  We also met with four couples we rode with in San Angelo.

Nice riding back to Bowling Green through northeastern Texas with a stop in Hot Springs, Arkansas; and a tour of the Hot Springs National Park.  Great ride on Monday through Arkansas and a stop in Mammoth Springs; and back to BG on Tuesday.  Met two riders on Urals, Russian bike, who were traveling with their dogs, one of which has traveled to 48 states on the bike.  We managed to avoid riding in rain the entire trip.

The Texas State Rally may become an annual event for us.

Little Switzerland, North Carolina

Jerri and I had a great trip with the Cave Country HOG Chapter to Little Switzerland, NC over the Memorial Day weekend.  We had over 31 bikes and over 40 members.  The riding was great!  We rode a portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway and made it to the top of Mt. Mitchell, the highest point east of the Mississippi River.  It was a fun weekend!

Florida Here We Come

Jerri and I trailered the bike to Jacksonville and rode to Key West. We had a great ride and a nice stay in Key West. We enjoyed our visit to the Everglades National Park. We saw so many gators we decided to have grilled gator and gator tacos at the Gator Grill outside the park. On the way back we stopped in Sebring and watched the Indy Cars practicing from our hotel balcony We spent a few days at Daytona Bike Week and had a nice ride back along the coast to Jacksonville.

End of 2011 and 2012 HOG Party

Jerri and I had a great year of riding in 2011. I won the 2011 mileage contest with over 24,600 miles and over 113,000 miles on the bike. We had a great time at the annual Cave Country HOG Annual Party. In fact, I won the trike riding contest with the fasted time. We're looking for great riding in 20123.

48 States and 107,000 Miles

Jerri and I made it to our final 9 states in late September 2011. We pulled our trailer to Waymart, PA to visit her cousin Wyland and his wife Shirley. It had just stopped raining when we took off on Saturday morning for New Jersey and a stop at Orange County Choppers. We rode through Connecticut, Rhode Island, and part of Massachusetts the first day. Sunday morning we by-passed Boston on our way to New Hampshire and up the coast of Maine. Monday we rode as far as Saint John, New Brunswick, Canada. Tuesday we crossed Maine and stayed in Farmington. On Wednesday we rode the Cog Railroad up Mount Washington and stayed the night in Montpelier, Vermont. Vermont was our last state and the miles was 107,700 as we entered the state. Thursday brought a full day a rain as we rode through Vermont to Massachusetts. We made it back to Waymart in time of Friday to ride with Wyland and Shirley on the Honda Goldwing Trike.

Labor Day Chapter Trip to Gatlinburg

Our group left on Friday morning for our ride to Gatlinburg and the Smoky Mountain area. On Saturday morning we rode through the National Park to Cherokee, NC and on to the Wheels Through Time motorcycle museum in Maggie Vally. After lunch we rode a portion of the Blue Ridge Parkway and back to Galtinburg. Sunday we rode the Tail of the Dragon and the Hellbender; then on to Bryson City for lunch. A bit of rain slowed our ride back to Gatlinburg. Monday morning brought buckets of rain for our ride back home.

First Rides and 100,000 Miles

Jerri and I have riden the bike over 100,000 miles. I've included a picture of my first ride on my Uncle Gene's Harley-Davidson and a picture of our Grandson Milo on our bike.

Natchez Trace, LA, and FL

Jerri and I left at 5:15 a.m. on Thursday 7/21 and headed south for breakfast at the Loveless Cafe and on to Natchez Trace and our first stop in Jackson, MS. On Friday we finished the "Trace" and stopped for coffee in Natchez before heading for northern LA and on to the Gulf. We hit rain shortly after crossing the border and rode in rain off and until our stop in the Gulfport area. Saturday morning brought more rain as we crossed Mobile Bay via ferry to the Gulf Shores. As we arrived at the Oyster House for lunch the sun began shining and we had a nice ride over to the FL Panhandle and north to Montgomery AL. Sunday we stopped at the Barber Motorsports Museum and headed for Huntsville for our stay and a nice ride home on Monday.

Kentucky State HOG Rally

June 9-11 was the Kentucky State HOG Rally in Louisville. Our group stopped by the Patton Museum on Ft. Know before arriving at the rally site. At the dinner on Thursday night we met an official Col. Sander KFC ambassador, and had a great time at Casino Night. Kirby won a sign bottle of Jim Beam Black. On Friday we rode to Makers Mark and bought our signed black and gold dipped bottles of Makers Mark. We met our friends from Texas who were touring Kentucky. We had a great time on the Belle of Louisville Friday evening. On Saturday Jerri and I won the ring toss; and participated in the other games and the skills challenge. We had a great time in Louisville.

Wild Wonderful West Virginia

We're back riding with the Cave Country HOG Chapter, and our first ride was over the Memorial Day Weekend to West Virginia. Even though we lived 20 years in West Virginia, we never rode or even traveled to the southwestern section of the state. We stayed at Chief Logan Lodge, north of Logan, and certainly enjoyed riding the "roads less traveled". We had a great ride to the New River Gorge and actually rode the old road down the gorge, over the old bridge, and up the other side of the gorge. We even rode through Ansted where our favorite salsa and hot sauce is made, Blue Smoke. It certainly was a great trip and by the time we returned to Bowling Green we covered 1,147 in the 4 days of riding.

Fredericksburg and Llano Crawfish Festival

Our last trip in Texas was with Concho Valley HOG group to Fredericksburg and the Llano Crawfish Festival April 15-17. We had a nice stay in Fredericksburg and a great time on Saturday at the Crawfish Festival. The ride to LLano was great ride and the crawfish was very tasty.