Bea's Kitchen

We once again made a stop by one of our favorite places on the way to the Texas District Convention in Killeen, Texas. Bea's Kitchen in Cameron, Texas is a great place to make new friends and meet some of Milam County's nicest people. We stumbled upon it last year quite by accident and were pleasantly surprised. Our reception there is always warm and friendly. The volunteers and staff are always greeting people with open arms.

I was given the opportunity to speak to the 119 people who were there about Motorist Awareness. May being Motorcycle Awareness month, it was the perfect opportunity to share some of the hazards we face as motorcyclists and how they can help by taking a second look for the motorcycle while they are driving. I shared some important differences between motorcycles and other vehicles and how those differences accentuate the problems we face in day to day riding. I informed them of the ability of motorcycles to stop quicker than other vehicles and how hazardous that it for us. I also asked that they give us a second look and asked them to please share the road.



Milam County Jail built in 1895

This year we arrived a little early and got to tour the old jail across the street from the courthouse. Mr. King was kind enough to open it for us and shared the history of the jail and allowed us to take our time going through the four story building.


Mr. King and Beth Hartley



 

 Beth Hartley was taking in all the history as Mr. King shared the stories of how the jail was built and how it operated in the county.



Gene "Bubba" Tice and Mike Thacker


There was much to see and it seems that everyone had a great time.
The first floor was the home of the Sheriff and his family. The inmates were kept upstairs on the second and third floor. The sheriff's wife cooked for all the inmates. Imagine that. It was a very interesting tour and the price of admission was a donation! I love it when my wife lines up these wonderful excursions. She made all the arrangements with Mr. King for this to happen.

Milam County Courthouse

 After the fried catfish, hush puppies, french fries and cinnamon buns, some of us walked across the street to go into the courthouse while we waited for the rain to pass.

This bell tower was what originally attracted us to Cameron in the first place. We heard it play God Bless America one day at noon and decided that we needed to bring the chapter by on a ride to hear it for themselves.

It is a very pretty courthouse with a lot of history of its own. There was a gunfight in courtroom between the incumbant sheriff and one of his opponants in the election. We are talking wild west stuff for sure. Put this place on your list of places to see. It is in Cameron Texas on highway 36 about 50 miles from Killeen. You'll be glad you did.


Court room






Ride For Kids Houston Event

Humble Civic Center

Wow!  What a great event. So glad to be a part of this worthy endeavor. We were at the Humble Civic Center to help with the setup and putting on the Annual Ride for Kids fund raiser for Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation. We had nearly 500 motorcycles participate this year and raised a lot of money for Brain Tumor research. Our GWRRA chapter, Region H, Texas District chapter N2 from Humble was 5th in fund raising with the top honors going to our friends in Chapter C from Baytown and second place going to our friends from Cypress in Chapter X2. Together, everyone who participated in the Houston area raised over $300,000 for this worthy charity. If someone asks you to get involved, I can whole heartedly recommend this organization.



Top 5 Clubs and Sponsors

The real stars of this show though are the kids. These kids deserve all of our support. They are truly Valiant Warriors with courage hard for most of us to imagine. It is the hope of all who participate in this event to see the cure for this deadly disease discovered and the disease eradicated from the face of the earth the way polio has become a thing of the past. The event will touch your heart if you ever participate and you will never look at life the same.

Hope to see you there next year on the last Sunday in April when the next Ride for Kids happens in Houston.

Louisiana District Convention - Light Show

The Goldwing is a beautiful motorcycle straight out of the crate but when we go to putting on the bling and lights it transforms into something to behold for sure. I took these photos at the Lafayette Convention on April 7th.

Even had a Stallion from Motor Trike in the light parade. They all were impressive.

Until next time...
On the Wing



Wonderful Bluebonnets

We took a little ride with our chapter to look for the beautiful Bluebonnets in bloom. We did not find as many as usual probably due to the drought but we did find a field full of them near Burton, Texas.



Texas Bluebonnet


We also had a great ride around the Texas countryside with stops in Brenham and Navasota. We had a total of 15 people on 9 bikes and covered over 200 miles. You just gotta love a Texas Spring season. I even saw a Dogwood tree in full bloom; I just couldn't get a shot of it.



The group minus the two photographers




My Babies


Until next time,

We'll see you down the road,
On The Wing

Round Top Longhorn

This shot was used on the morning weather spot on Channel 2 by Anthony Yanez. Thanks Anthony for using this picture as a background. Channel 2 ROCKS!

Maybe I can get this picture of the Medina River on as well. I'm going to send it and try.

More than Names on a Wall

On a visit to the Viet -Nam Memorial in Washington DC last June, we found this note at the wall from a man remembering a fallen comrade. I could only imagine the anguish that moved Matt to write this note.

As I stood there at the wall, I was overcome with a flood of emotions while remembering the young men who were my classmates, teammates in Little League, family and friends that had given their all. I thought of the hopes and dreams they would never see come true. I thought of the loss of one of our nation's greatest asset, a large portion of the next generation. "More than Just a Name on the Wall" kept running through my mind. I was so moved that I knew I would never be able to put it all into words. This is but a pitiful attempt to do so. It is so many different things to so many different people. The depths of human emotions are a very hard thing to ponder due to the complexities involved. Everyone visiting the Wall has personal reasons for going there and will experience it in a different way. This was my second visit and it was far more difficult than the first. New depths of sorrow and a feeling of great loss bubbled up from deep inside me. Maybe it is just maturity but I see things so much differently now. To add to those feelings, my wife found her uncle's name on this visit.
More than 58,000 Americans put their futures, their dreams, their hopes and aspirations on hold to do their duty when our country called them into service. These heroes did not run off to Canada despite the great unpopularity of the war; they gave their all. I remember the war protesters, Hanoi Jane and the pelting with rotten fruit and vegetables along with the hurled insults and verbal abuse that our troops were welcomed home with if they managed to survive their tour of duty.

 

I met a lady at the entrance to the Wall from Stapleton, Nebraska. Her name is Monica Harvey and she approached me to ask if I was a veteran. When I told her yes she asked if she could give me a hug and handed me a small heart pin with a Band-Aid in it. She explained to me that it was a small token of appreciation from a grateful nation for my service to our country and she added that it was long past due that someone say "thank you" and welcome home big brother from little Sis. I broke down like a three dollar watch remembering my family and friends and that dark time in our country's history. I could not speak. She was there the whole time we were at the Wall and I saw her approaching men in my age group asking them the same thing and giving them pins. After we had made our walk along the Wall and visited the beautiful bronze statues, we were heading back to the Lincoln Memorial to catch our tour bus; I went back to her to tell her thank you. She hugged me again and then sang me a song which I have never heard before. It was, as you might guess, Welcome Home Big Brother from Little Sis. Just when I thought I had the watch put back together, she shattered it again and all I could manage to say was thank you, you're an angel.

The unsung heroes of our country have always risen for the cause of freedom. From Bunker Hill to Yorktown; Goliad to San Jacinto; Normandy to Berlin; Pusan to Inchon; Saigon to Hue; Kuwait to Baghdad; Qandahar to Kabul; Where ever oppression and tyranny raise their heads, an American soldier is just as likely to be found defending those who cannot defend themselves. When they call for help, we come to their aid. Sometimes we ask ourselves why but the truth is that it is just the right thing to do. So we do it.

Waylon Jennings sings a song that says his heroes have always been cowboys. My heroes have always been the American fighting man. Men of our Texas Chapter N2 like Paul Rich, Jim Flournoy, JR Ragley, Jim "Hollywood" Fleming, Jerry Barnett, Steve Seligman, Mark Smith, Randy Talbutt and so many others I have known through the years, who put aside for a season some personal aspirations to don a uniform in service to our country. My son serves today and has been serving since 1992. But it doesn't stop there; it also goes to the men and women who serve here at home, our police and firemen. One of the things I admire about the Gold Wing Road Riders Association, something that makes me glad to be a member, is that I see these values reflected at gatherings and rallies. The Pledge of Allegiance and the recognition of these heroes are things that we should never forget. The nation that forgets those who give service in defense of that nation is a nation that will soon perish.

Even with all of our troubles, I'm glad to be an American and proud to have served.

Steve Fleming, SSGT(former)

United State Air Force 1969-73
Va ANG 1973-77

Texas Chapter N2 2006 - present

A Few Reasons I want to revisit California

There are so many reasons I want to go but these will do for starters...

Cool evenings, even in the middle of July and wonderful surroundings...

The Santa Monica Pier...

Santa Catalina Island...

Sunday Brunch on the Queen Mary... Yummmmm!!!!!

The Rock at Morro Bay is amazing... just a huge rock sitting across the bay and it is deceptively tall...

The Farmer's Market in Santa Barbara... wonderful produce and cheese

The Hearst Castle

Now that's what I call a swimming pool...

Beautiful Carmel by the Sea...

 

Monterey's Lover's Point and Fisherman's Wharf...

 

How can I say enough about the Bay area... Chinatown... Palace of the Arts... Alcatraz

The wine country of Napa Valley...

The tasting was worth the ride... very good

The unbelievable beauty of the vegetation around the Fort Bragg area... you have to see it for  yourself... breathtaking

And those giant Redwoods are something to behold... I'm the little man at the bottom of this giant...

All this and we only spent about two weeks there... we didn't get down to San Diego or to Yosemite... then there's still Oregon and Washington state on the way to Vancouver. Gotta go back...