33rd Goldwing Invitational to San Antonio

There were four bikes from our chapter that made the trip to San Antonio for the 33rd Goldwing Invitational over the weekend of October 27th and 28th. We were joined by two other bikes and our little group of six had a great ride on a beautiful day. It was a little cool when we started out but the temperature rose to a very comfortable 79 degrees by the time we hit San Antonio.







We were met at Langham Creek High School by our daughter and family for a send off.


There were a few stops along the way and the route we took was really nice. The scenery was excellent on the Texas back roads.







We made a stop in La Grange for gas and lunch which were both provided by our sponsors, Northwest Honda, Pasadena Honda and Honda of Houston. All seemed to enjoy the BBQ and links before heading back out to finish the ride into San Antonio.

There was one mishap with a Goldwing in another group that we came upon. A woman hit a dog and was thrown from her Goldwing suffering a broken collar bone and some road rash. Thankfully that was the extent of her injuries because she was a long way from help. I'm sure it must have taken at least 30 minutes for an ambulance to get to her.





We arrived at the Radisson Resort around 4:30 PM and were greeted by free beer upon check-in. We gathered at the bar for some refreshments after freshening up and prepared for the evening festivities.

The Mexican Buffet was really good. We enjoyed the music of the band was entertaining. Some of us really had a good time. The trip was well worth the $50 registration and the cost of the hotel room. The sponsors provided the meals and a tank of gas. The comraderie of fellow riders is always a treat.

More pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/fleming49/GoldwingInvitational07

Florida Run

First stop was at the Alabama Welcome Center for a photo op. We took this little run to get the state of Florida for those in the group that didn't have it. As you can see in the picture, the weather was perfect for riding... not too hot and lots of sunshine.
The next stop was at the Florida Welcome Center and another photo op. We enjoyed fresh Florida orange and grapefruit juice courtesy of the State of Florida.
We were able to pull our bikes under this jet for a great photo.
Ed's Seafood Shed was the stop for lunch. Always good food here and the company around the table is the best, as always when a group of Goldwingers get together.
Looks like we got a really big one about to bite! I guess this means that Rex is hooked on Ed's... if you will pardon the pun.

More pictures are available at:

http://picasaweb.google.com/fleming49/FloridaRun

Mississippi Rally

Our trip started with a stop in Beaumont for breakfast at IHOP. They did an outstanding job in accommodating so many of us on such short notice. I didn't hear a single complaint and the food was served in a timely fashion.














We made a fuel stop in Louisiana at a place with a live tiger exhibit. The ride over was a very pleasant one. The weather was absolutely great for riding and the company couldn't have been any better.








The group getting registered for the rally. The people made us feel very welcomed and they expressed their gratitude for our attendance. The resilience of the people on the Gulf Coast in Mississippi is amazing to me. It makes me feel proud to have gotten to meet them and be a part of their efforts to rebuild and go on. It was a very emotional time for many of them and it showed.

Tickets, tickets everywhere! But did they win anything? You'll have to ask them.

















The bingo was fun, not because anyone won in our group, but because Mark was caught in the bull's-eye of the rubber band fight.







for more pictures, go to http://picasaweb.google.com/fleming49/BiloxiMississippiRally

Home again.

After such a long and wonderful trip, seeing so many beautiful places in 15 states, meeting some really nice people, we are finally home for a while this time. What you see in this picture is my favorite part of Oklahoma

And the best part of Kansas is getting out of Kansas, and away from the smell of cattle!!



It really is bad... but the pool at the hotel was sure nice after the heat of the day.
















The pool in Chadron was also nice after the ride.











The faces of Crazy Horse and Rushmore were worth enduring the heat and cold and smells to get there.

















North Dakota had some beautiful sights. The pheasant was something to see as well as the owl and deer.

Montana, Wyoming, Idaho, Utah, Nevada, California, Arizona, New Mexico and Colorado all had something worthwhile to make the trip to see. If I never get to go anywhere again, I can say that I was fortunate enough to see some of the most beautiful places in the good old USA on a motorcycle with some very dear friends.

Thanks to all who have kept up with our travels and I will post again on the next adventure.

Old Santa Fe

Old Santa Fe is very nice. We spent a little time
looking through some shops had some lunch and did some site-seeing.















There were beautiful sculptures in the galleries there. This is just one of the bronze statues on display around the town. See the pictures in the albums for more of these. The detail is amazing.












This is billed as the miracle stairway. It is located inside the church in the next picture.






















The Loretto Chapel. This church was built in 1873 and has been the subject of an "Unsolved Mysteries" TV show.


More pictures http://picasaweb.google.com/fleming49/OldSantaFe

The Grand Canyon

We made a run up to the Grand Canyon on our way to Rio Rancho. It has been 43 years since my brother and I were there and Billie and my sister-in-law had never been. The last time we were there it was free admission I think. Now it is $25 per car for a 7 day pass. 5 million visitors a year keep this place packed. It is still something to see.

Billie and I standing on the south rim trail overlooking the Grand Canyon.

This lone tree on top of the rock was sort of odd so I took the picture. It is a wonderful place to visit but stay away from the edge if you have a problem with heights. It is about ten miles across and a mile deep... not for the feight of heart for sure.

I found this hole in the side of a cliff and wondered how anyone could get there to actually chisel out the opening in the rock face. The conclusion was that they were lowered by rope over the edge and worked. There sure is no trail to it that I could see.

more pictures http://picasaweb.google.com/fleming49/TheGrandCanyon

The Giant Redwoods and Eureka area

As we headed up the coast from Fort Bragg we came through this little stretch of highway. The trees formed a beautiful canopy over the highway. There is such diversity along highway 101 and highway 1. You just don't know what to expect around the next turn. What a beautiful drive.






This is the world famous tree house from Ripley's Believe It or Not. Unfortunately it was not open either day we were by it. We still stopped and took some pictures.













Note that I cannot get the tops of these trees in the picture, even rotating the camera did not help. These trees are hundreds of feet tall and live up to the title of this section of highway 101, "The Avenue Of The Giants" around Fortuna.













When we got to Patrick's Point we went out to the park and found these sea lions on a rock just off the coast. They were at least a half mile away and we could still hear them above the roar of the waves. They are incredible!

More pictures http://picasaweb.google.com/fleming49/SequoiasAndEureka

Fort Bragg and Mendocino Area of California

We took a little road trip to explore some of the Northern California coast around Fort Bragg and Mendocino. The rugged coast has a beauty that is very hard to capture in a photo. Here you see how the land just drops into the sea. What is not so obvious in this particular picture is the abundant vegetation growing right out of the rocks along this coast. It was an overcast evening and the lighting does not give the best photographic opportunity in these shots.





This rock was covered with vegetation that was continually awash in the waves as they rolled in along the coast. It was something to watch as the waves would cover this and sway the plants to and fro.











This plant was growing on the side of the cliff. It was impossible to get down to it but the beauty of it was something to behold. The plant looks like some sort of succulant and it was growing in abundance along this stretch of coast line.













Here is another view of the rocky coast and some of the variety of plants that call this place home. We loved it there and it was a great place of solitude and reflection upon our good fortune to be able to see these places.

More pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/fleming49/FortBraggCalifornia

The Wine Country

Sunday we headed out through Sonoma and Napa Valley for a little wine tasting and a tour of the Beringer Brothers Winery. Sonoma proved to be a very interesting stop. We had a great lunch at La Casa Mexican Restaurant.


This Cactus is in full bloom and it is so pretty. It was in front of the mission. We walked around the Sonoma Plaza and found many interesting things to look at, including a free museum at an old hotel. See the pictures below.












We did not take the tour here, only looked from the outside.













The mission bell says 1629.














This is the lobby of the hotel museum... imagine that, free admission and they encourage you to take pictures. The place was staffed by volunteers.

We did stop by Robert Mondavi Vineyards and took the tour and wine tasting at Beringer Brothers Winery.

See pictures at http://picasaweb.google.com/fleming49/SonomaAndNapaValley

The Transamerica Tower in the financial district. This building is a landmark in San Francisco and has been since 1972.

















Chinatown, a place that has to be seen if you get to San Francisco. The shopping seems endless. We found the Golden Gare Fortune Cookie Company on Ross Alley. Two ladies make over 4000 cookies aday. This shot is down Grant St.










The famous San Francisco cable cars. They wind their way up and down the hills of the city just as they have for decades. We didn't get to ride one but we did see them on our tour and also we saw the electric trollys from all over the world that are now used in the city.








After a beautiful day riding around the city on the double decker bus and walking through Chinatown, we went to the Palace of Fine Arts, a must see also while in San Francisco, and then out to a park beside the bay to watch the sunset across the Golden Gate bridge. It was a beautiful day.

More pictures http://picasaweb.google.com/fleming49/SanFrancisco

The Golden Gate

We went across the Golden Gate for a little visit to Stinson Beach, Muir Woods and Sausalito before heading back into San Francisco. It is an amazing feat of engineering. The first trip across had the topof the bridge covered in sea fog. We only had to pay toll on it south bound. They charge you to get into San Francisco, not leave it. How novel!!!

The welcoming committee of Sausalito. These guys were watching for anyone running the stop sign, failing to yeild to pedestrians or speeding. They were busy while we were there. We had lunch in a little pizza shop there.














These were some pretty tall redwoods in Muir Woods. We didn't actually go into the park; we just rode through the parking lot. There was not enough time to actually take a walk through these beautiful woods. We wanted to get to Stinson Beach and have enough time to get all the way back to South San Francisco before dark.







This is a shot from above Stinson Beach. There is a posted warning about shark attacks along this beach in as little as six feet of water yet there were countless people out there in it. Go figure.