aharbi Posted February 1, 2015 #101 Posted February 1, 2015 cowpuc, Just wanted to say thanks, thanks for your posts, pictures and stories. I have enjoyed every word, every picture. Ride safe my friend.
cowpuc Posted February 2, 2015 Author #102 Posted February 2, 2015 cowpuc, Just wanted to say thanks, thanks for your posts, pictures and stories. I have enjoyed every word, every picture. Ride safe my friend. You are more than welcome Art, my pleasure. Glad you are finding enjoyment in riding along with Tip, Tweeks and I thru the madness!! And thank you for the encouraging words!! Puc
Brenner Posted February 2, 2015 #103 Posted February 2, 2015 This is starting to resemble a tv series or show. Gets you a little excited and wanting to see what happens next and then cuts off to commercial... LOL.... Dang it Puc, you know how to keep em hanging on don't you? Guess I'll have to tune in next time.
BlueSky Posted February 2, 2015 #104 Posted February 2, 2015 Wow Puc! Wow! I'm enjoying reading and photos/videos of your, Tippy, and Tweeks exploits so much! I must say you have a lot of courage to go the places you go and sleep in the places you sleep, (and not even carry a weapon!). And also daring to go so far out in the deserts with Tweeks considering the miles on her. (No offense intended to Tweeks!)
cowpuc Posted February 2, 2015 Author #105 Posted February 2, 2015 Wow Puc! Wow! I'm enjoying reading and photos/videos of your, Tippy, and Tweeks exploits so much! I must say you have a lot of courage to go the places you go and sleep in the places you sleep, (and not even carry a weapon!). And also daring to go so far out in the deserts with Tweeks considering the miles on her. (No offense intended to Tweeks!) Glad you are enjoying the ride along Sky!! Thanks for the encouraging thoughts!!! Tell you what, I am having a BLAST sorting thru all these pics and putting all these memories into something other that a road diary - its like reliving the adventure all over again only this time - Tip, Tweeks and I get to travel with all our friends and family - it dont get no better than that!! Concerning riding without a weapon,, I used to pack all the time.. Even before my kids started riding with me, I would have a 357 hanging on the bars in the open while crossing the west.. When they started touring with me, I packed my 45 concealed. Other than Alaska and Hawaii, I have toured in all the states and some of Canada (Nova Scotia - Ontario - Alberta) and I have simply never even come close to having the need to shoot anything, especially a person. In all honesty,, I think there is something about an older couple, riding an old beat up bike covered in stickers that comes across in a very non-threatening way to most people.. The sticker idea all started out in an attempt to create conversation between other people and myself while touring, but it is turning into so much more than that.. I have observed on many occasions as Tweeks, Tip and I sit in lines of bikes waiting to pay a toll or enter a National Park and, without fail - the very people who sit in the toll booths rolling back their eyes at the bikers who have just paid their dues will treat us like we are,,,,,, special .. You get the point.. As far as Tweeks getting up there and having a lot of miles on her,, she's just barely over half my age so it probably aint her I really need to be worrying about:backinmyday:
cowpuc Posted February 2, 2015 Author #106 Posted February 2, 2015 (edited) Having procured the extra fuel that we were going to need while traveling 160 miles of the Extra Terrestrial Highway that crosses Nellis Air Force Base, my thoughts changed to another important matter, one that would result in the 3 of us missing an opportunity during this years ride that we all would have really enjoyed. If you have been watching this movie since the very beginning and have been paying attention (dont feel bad if you haven't, I cant stay awake during movies either), you may well remember "BikerJohn", one of this stories Texas Heroes.. Some of you professional movie critics may even remember me mentioning another VentureRider.org member's name mentioned within the context of my ramblings concerning BikerJohn. That other member is CMCoffey, now better known to me as just "Coff".. Coff's a genuine member of the United States Air Force and is stationed at Nellis. He is also the one who was gonna be sharing a camping spot with BikerJohn at the Rally in The Dalles Oregon that we were all gonna try and attend. Coff had contacted me thru Private Messaging (a really neat way of talking to each other on VentureRider without other people knowing what you are saying, hence the title "Private Messaging" or, in a military type of lingo this is referred to as a P.M. ). Shortly before leaving our home back in May to begin this madness, I read a final P.M. from Coff that simply stated, you - Tip and Tweeks are staying on our site at the "Loose Moose State Park" (not its real name, more about that later in the show), if you happen to travel anywhere near Nellis Air Base on your way out please call me".. We stood there inside the fuel station where we had purchased the fuel and gas jugs, staring at our little Trac-Phone that showed NO SERVICE!! Before going out and grabbing the Tablet and checking for Internet Service, I walked back up to the lady behind the counter and asked if they had an Internet Connection thingy we could borrow for a couple minutes to try and contact a friend on Nellis.. She said no, but she thought maybe the lady who owned the Area 51 display up the road may have one.. She gave us directions to the woman's establishment those directions had a familiar ring to them. I asked if a 20 foot tall silver Alien's metallic space suit had rusted up in her friends front yard with an Alien possibly still inside of it, kinda like what happened to the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz.. She laughed and said "That's the spot!!".. I told her we had passed the place on our way to the gas station (I didn't mention that I had stopped and gotten directions from an old guy in the parking lot - trying to maintain a certain element of dignity) and that it was closed.. The lady told us to just go up and ring the bell or rattle the door and the owner would let us in.. Edited February 2, 2015 by cowpuc
cowpuc Posted February 2, 2015 Author #107 Posted February 2, 2015 I stood back in amazement at how sneaky Tippy was being trying to get someone's attention at the Area 51 Tourist Trap.. She walked around the building looking for a bell to ring, knocking on doors and tapping on windows.. I was more taken in by the Alien who's joints were clearly rusted up solid in the owners front yard. For a moment I thought I noticed his eyes following us as we walked up the hill toward the building.. I stopped and stared him down, looking directly into his eyes, I said that famous line from Independence Day - "Welcome To Earth",, than I added an iconic line of Murdoc's from "The A-Team" and said - "you great big ugly mud sucker". Right after I said that I thought I heard someone inside the tin body say "gooshago mulasko, gooshago mulasko" which,, in Alien lingo probably means "oil can,, oilll can".. Later, after Tip had given up on trying to break into the building and I was convinced that being able to contact Coff was a hopeless cause as neither the Tablet nor the phone showed any sign of life in their connector bar status things,, we chatted about how hot it was getting and decided to get back to CTFWing.. Area 51, The Extra Terrestrial Highway, Nellis Air Base present some really awesome motorcycle riding.. The endless rugged desert beauty is breath taking in a dangerous but surreal kind of way.. Tweeks, Tip and I have a standing agreement between us that we are gonna travel it again and we encourage all of you movie viewers to take full advantage of the opportunity to do the same if it presents itself to you.. If you do though,, even if your traveling in a car, take some extra water and maybe some extra fuel with you just in case you meet someone out there that didn't notice or believe the "NO GAS" signs.. When we return, I am gonna pack a can of WD-40 and set an Alien free!! The best way to tell how much fun a pair of bikers are having when they are out CTFWing is by how fast the time seems to go by for them,, in this case for us, it seemed like it had only been five minutes and we had covered the bulk of the Terrestrial and we were standing at a lonely intersection nursing Tweeks from her new 2 gallon bottle.. As we stood there enjoying the silence, we noticed a couple Antelope who had decided they didn't care for our presents and took off for where ever those Prong Horn's take off to when they are startled..
cowpuc Posted February 2, 2015 Author #108 Posted February 2, 2015 We finished up dumping the spare fuel into Tweeks and headed the direction that another road sign had said was the nearest town - a place called Tonopah.. As we headed west, we noticed what appeared to be a rocket of some sort mounted on pipe.. There was no way on God's green earth I could resist that one. We pulled in to find out whether or not the rocket was live and about to be launched. As we pulled into the spot where the around the back side of the rocket, a sign came into our view. We read what the sign said to see what, if any, kind of adventure this area held for us. Reading the words "Test Range" under what clearly was a military looking rocket of some sort actually spelled out a different message in our minds. Clearly that message was - "Puc and Tippy, from the air the red gas tank on Tweeks back makes a very vivid target".. We decided to seek our adventures elsewhere. We found Tonopah, the town that supposedly had fuel and food. We chatted with a group of teenagers from the area, who like many other folks were intrigued by the site of Tweeks, as we fueled her up.. We rode over and grabbed a Subway 12 inch sub of the day, walked outside, cobbled it down and got back on the road headed west..
cowpuc Posted February 2, 2015 Author #109 Posted February 2, 2015 A short while later as we closed in on the mountainous area in what we thought might be the California border, a MASSIVE western storm appeared.. We have ridden thru a LOT of bad weather but this particular one was incredible.. The sky looked like it was gonna open up with an ocean of rain, the wind was about as close to sand blaster velocity as feasibly possible.. We passed a couple of Semi's and a few cars who had taken refuge just in being immobile on the side of the road.. I leaned down into the lap of Tweeks fairing, tucked my legs in and yelled back at Tip to form herself into me as tightly as she could and to hang on.. Tip yelled and asked why I wasn't stopping or slowing down,, I yelled back and told her that this looked like a bad one and they we were gonna need shelter.. I have felt Tweeks rub her foot pegs into pavement a number of times in places like the twisties of The Tail of the Dragon and am pretty familiar with the feel of the lean angles she is capable of, the cross winds were so strong against us that twice during that unbelievable ride I swear I felt her pegs scrape as the three of us fought to stay upright on the road.. I could smell the mountain rain in the wrath of the wind but for some reason it was only a sprinkle. Fortunately for Tip and I, the roadway remained remarkably dry in front of us as we fought the wind and the desert debris being blown against Tweeks body as we searched for cover.. In the distance I made out a building with a couple Semi's hiding behind it.. I felt Tweeks surge into the wind as she noticed the place of refuge about the same time I did,, I leaned down into her fairing and yelled - LET ER BUCK TWEEKS! The building turned out to be an abandoned repair facilities, with, belief it or not, a missing garage door on wall that was facing the direction of the runway we were about to land on!! Tweeks made a perfect landing as she lowered her nose gear right beside the floor lift located inside the building.. We were safe!! As we stood there in the door way of the shop where at one time, people had made a living working on vehicles, I told Tippy that of all the experiences I have had in my life while Ghost Towning - this is the first time I had ever been rescued by one. It rained just a little while we stood in the doorway and watched the big bad wolf huff and puff.. That old wolf gave it all he had and was able to blow a few pieces off the place but, it became clear that this joint was SOLID..
cowpuc Posted February 2, 2015 Author #110 Posted February 2, 2015 After gaining the confidence that this was the case, we set about looking for adventure within those four walls.. I had thought that Teenagerism had long ago left my aging body but as soon as my fingers noticed the graffiti on one of the walls, the digits on my right hand started to twitch and it wasn't long before I noticed they had picked up a piece of dry wall and were making marks on the walls.. I was very happy to see that, even though my fingers had suddenly been inhabited by their spirit of years past, they had matured in the nature of the messages they were now writing!! After a while, they seemed to have noticed that the wind had died down considerably and that quite possibly we were not going to have to spend the night here at this Ghost inhabited repair station.. Their final message was one that caught me off guard. They asked me to pass a message on to anyone having watched this movie - you might wanna write this down so you don't forget it! The location of the abandoned repair station is just a few miles west of Tonopah Nevada, it is located on west bound 6/95 just before 6 separates from 95 (it makes a "Y" where 95 goes northerly). My fingers would like to invite you, the readers of this malarkey, to stop at this abandoned repair shop, grab a piece of broken drywall, walk to the rear of the shop and find the spot where a picture of a bike named Tweeks, and sign that says "Cowpuc Loves Tippy" is seen below it. Leave a message, date and a nickname and my fingers promise they will "pen pal" back with you the next time they come thru!!
cowpuc Posted February 2, 2015 Author #111 Posted February 2, 2015 (edited) Tweeks didn't even flinch as I stuck the heals of my riding boots into her sides asking her to turn on 6 as it separated from 95.. Maybe she could sense the California - Serra Nevada Mountain range that she loves riding so much in the winds that still blew across her nose. I was amazed at how little she seemed to care about the few remaining dark clouds that haunted the western sky.. The three of us CTFW'd into the great state California on 6, coin tossed at the intersection of 6 and 120 and the northerly bound desolate roadway of 120 won out.. There was a small filling station at that intersection where we filled up with fuel and grabbed some grub for the evening camp that was fast approaching.. We soon arrived at the Sagehen Summit where spectacular views of the snow capped mountains of Yosemite National Park could be seen waving to us like a majestic long lost friend, whose memories of touring days of the past burned in our three souls as if we had never left those mountains.. Edited February 2, 2015 by cowpuc
cowpuc Posted February 2, 2015 Author #112 Posted February 2, 2015 (edited) We quickly discovered that Sage Hen Summit was not just a beautiful royal lady to simply be visually admired. She was also a wonderful hostess waiting with endless camping opportunities to any weary traveler with a tent who dared to travel the gravel road veins that fed into the paved road arteries as they brought human life into her out stretched arms.. We picked one of those veins, rode a few miles toward those heavenly Sierra Nevada Mountains in the distant sunset, pulled off on a small feeder capillary two track and claimed our spot for the night.. Other than a small disagreement between myself and the water jug that Tweeks carries on her right side,, the stay in our enchanted overlook was like paradise!! Edited February 3, 2015 by cowpuc
cowpuc Posted February 2, 2015 Author #113 Posted February 2, 2015 This is starting to resemble a tv series or show. Gets you a little excited and wanting to see what happens next and then cuts off to commercial... LOL.... Dang it Puc, you know how to keep em hanging on don't you? Guess I'll have to tune in next time. There Bren,, I put a little Holly Wood spin on this last section just for you!! Thanks for tuning in! Puc
Stealthblade Posted February 2, 2015 #114 Posted February 2, 2015 She was also a wonderful hostess waiting with endless camping opportunities to any weary traveler with a tent who dared to travel the gravel road veins that fed into the paved road arteries as they brought human life into her out stretched arms.. Puc, I just love this sentence. Thank you so much for everything you are. Bob
Brenner Posted February 3, 2015 #115 Posted February 3, 2015 Just looking for trailers for upcoming episodes, reminder to self - gotta get some popcorn.
cowpuc Posted February 3, 2015 Author #116 Posted February 3, 2015 (edited) Just looking for trailers for upcoming episodes, reminder to self - gotta get some popcorn. A couple other folks, friends on here and even my neighbor have asked me about trailers too Bren.. Never could see how trailers would work for us (notice picture of the sign in my response to Bob in the post after this one),, BUT, to serve as a trailer for my story and to entice you into staying on the trail with us, here are some pics of trailers from our journey that might interest you... A couple of these shots include the Shuttlebugs (great folks and VR members) beautiful trailer that Mr. Shuttlebug made with his own two hands!! Hope this helps Brenner!! Edited February 3, 2015 by cowpuc
cowpuc Posted February 3, 2015 Author #117 Posted February 3, 2015 She was also a wonderful hostess waiting with endless camping opportunities to any weary traveler with a tent who dared to travel the gravel road veins that fed into the paved road arteries as they brought human life into her out stretched arms.. Puc, I just love this sentence. Thank you so much for everything you are. Bob Thanks Bob! There are places out there that surpass Royal palaces in their shear beauty and THAT particular area happens to be one of them.. I simply tried to give the area's open invitation for all to come and enjoy its regality due justice thru my words.. I am glad to hear it touched you like it did and that you said something. That means a lot my friend! Here's a heads up of what lies ahead as the Majestic Lady shares some more of her gracefulness!! Puc
Stealthblade Posted February 3, 2015 #118 Posted February 3, 2015 Puc, the problem with you is.... If one was to follow this entire thread to it's ("are we on route 6, or was it 95... anyway...") ultimate end, It one was to understand how you crafted each post in a specific way to tell a specific story, If one was then to imagine going on that ride, Well, you have done what you set out to do. You live your life and ride your ride, and that is pretty damn inspiring to me. I keep going back and reading from the start, even though I know how the story goes so far, but it's how you tell it. **SPOILER ALERT** You didn't have to post the video of the late night water bottle fiasco, but you did. Because that is you. Because you did it. Because you wanted to share. Your reckless abandonment of normal creature comforts... My grandfather used to say that 'roughing it' was "staying in a hotel that didn't have a ballroom"... And he lived in Muskegon almost all his life. Puc, the problem with you is... You are pretty damn inspiring, I gots ta tell ya. Bob
Brenner Posted February 4, 2015 #119 Posted February 4, 2015 Well Puc, when I mentioned trailers I actually meant like upcoming movies or stories etc... you know the ones before the actual movie starts, but you made it even better with a motorcycle trailer. Lol... gotta love it ... These stories have a little something for every member of the family.
cowpuc Posted February 4, 2015 Author #120 Posted February 4, 2015 Well Puc, when I mentioned trailers I actually meant like upcoming movies or stories etc... you know the ones before the actual movie starts, but you made it even better with a motorcycle trailer. Lol... gotta love it ... These stories have a little something for every member of the family. I knew that Bren,, I was just :stickpoke:with you,, its a major flaw in my character that gets me in trouble sometimes.. Not to long ago there were some folks that were and with me about a need I may or may not have for putting a hitch on Tweeks and dragging a trailer around with us.. I think that was during last years ride stories.. Anyway,, this was just my way of trying to for more and getting a rise of some sleeping giants out there..
cowpuc Posted February 6, 2015 Author #121 Posted February 6, 2015 When we awoke at our Sage Hen camping spot it was so quiet and peaceful we could hear the prairie grouse doing their drumming off in the distance as the fresh smell of the Mountains of Yosemite filled the air we were breathing. The invitation to get up and explore region spoke to us with overwhelming tenacity. We tossed the gear on, threw our legs over Tweeks back and headed out on the two tracks to find out what kind of treasures were in store for the three of us.. A couple hours later we rejoined a hard surface road and landed in a California ghost town called Mono Mills.. There wasn't much left of this particular ghost town. It had been a haven for workers during the days when they cut down the big timbers.. There was some evidence of a saw mill that once stood on the grounds and some railway remains but we never heard from or felt the presence of any ghosts at this particular ghost town.. The area surrounding Mono Mills is very pretty, it is located not to far from Mono Lake which adds to its desert desire..
cowpuc Posted February 6, 2015 Author #122 Posted February 6, 2015 Continuing westward with the mountains of Yosemite getting closer and closer, I had just mentioned to Tip that I hoped we could find fuel for Tweeks before we attempted to locate a way thru the mountains, that's when a little town appeared. The name of the place was Lee Vining.. I will never forget this particular stop because, not only did they have fuel of both the human and vehicle types, but, apparently someone had left a barn door open on somebodies Hot Rod man cave and all the critters had escaped. Fortunately for the farmer who was on the process of raising this particular breed, the live stock had not ventured very far, all those gorgeous Hot Rods had meandered into the gas station we had stopped at to feed. I have been involved in the restoration of antique motorcycles for many years now. I also have friends who have been involved in different levels of automobile restoration. One of the things that I had learned many years ago has to do with the licensure of antique vehicles. My home state of Michigan allows the owner of an antique vehicle to license the vehicle as such and even offers special license plates for those vehicles. In Michigan, these plates are labeled as "Historic" plates. A person can also take any license plate that matches the year of the birth of the vehicle and permanently register it to that vehicle, this plate can be from any state in the Union.. I have had many bikes thru the years that I have purchased antique plates for from places like Ebay and always thought my machines looked pretty spiffy with their birthday plates hanging on their backsides. Motorcycles have to be at least 20 years old to qualify for antique status. Having been operating 1st year Ventures (1983) for some time now, Tweeks is not my first Venture with Historic plates.. She does lend herself more to the appearance of an Antique vehicle with all her stickers and stuff than any of the other Venutres I have owned and, personally, I think she is downright attractive with her little "Historic" plate. One of the few rules about licensing and operating a Historic plated vehicle (at least in Michigans rule book) is that you either have to be headed to or coming from showing someone your bike or working on your bike (we named Tweeks Tweeks cause I am ALWAYS Tweeking/working on her).. Tweeks historic plates serve a vital purpose on our road trips as they are an open announcement to any and all fellow antique vehicle owner that he/she and I share a common interest. This aspect of Historic Plateism is a huge benefit to we poor souls that suffer with the disease of Gearheaditus.. Tweeks plate had been glistening in the sun while she was standing there at the fuel pump in Lee Vining before the first nibble of our trip occurred by one of the Hot Rodder guys who happen to be walking past. It wasn't long before this gentleman and I were knelt down next to Tweeks and she felt the brush of him signing his name on her fairing near the Shelby Cobra Group sticker that a Shelby Cobra owner had placed on her a couple years ago while she was showing off at another impromtu car/bike show in Sacramento.. Soon after this, I watched as my feet started carrying me over to check out my new friends gorgeous antique Hot Rod. One of the great things I have always enjoyed about CTFWing is the freedom to waste time goofing off wasting time and I am usually amazed at how much time Tip and I do exactly that when we are out on a CTFW run. The amount of time a person is able to stand in one place, chewing on a piece of red licorice and listening to the owner of some jacked up Hot Rod tell of how much time he had spent getting the "Tuck n Roll" interior on his piece of art just perfect could boggle the mind of even the most patient person.. Thankfully, Tippy has never been one to complain (she has a way of making instant friends with other females who happened to be there with the other gear heads). The impromptu car and bike show we had there in Lee Vining was a ton of fun. I made friends with some local California gear heads who thought the world of Tweeks and admired Tip and I for taking the time to travel all the way from Michigan to share Tweeks with them. They invited us back to the area anytime we wanted to show up and promised that there would always be a car/bike show there waiting for us to fulfill Michigans established historic vehicle licensure requirements!!
cowpuc Posted February 6, 2015 Author #123 Posted February 6, 2015 As with any mountain range, if a person is out in the Sierra Nevada's and has the intention of crossing to the other side, it is kind of important that they pick a trail that they pretty much know is going to actually go all the way across.. In mountaineering, most of the trails that serve that function for human travel are called "passes". Having suffered the result of not understanding that rule when I was very young (did my first bike trip to Colorado at 16, got lost and spent a couple extra days getting out of the Rockies) and being much older now, I pretty much stick to previously discovered passes thru mountains and leave the process of discovering new passes and laying out new roadways to the younger generation. Tip and I were searching for one of these previously discovered passes over into mainstream California and noticed a sign that said "Sonora Pass" ahead on it, PERFECT!
cowpuc Posted February 6, 2015 Author #124 Posted February 6, 2015 I have done a fair amount of touring on the west coast and had heard about Sonora Pass and its treacherous terrain with cliffs that seem to reach out and grab unsuspecting travelers who had lost focus while maneuvering their motorcycle or car as they tried to navigate one of the Sonora's many hairpin turns. I had also heard that our Military uses this area to train advanced repelling and mountain patrol tactics and they do so because of the area's shear ruggedness.. Tip and I decided we just had to go experience it for ourselves. We are now able to verify that everything I had heard about the passes rugged terrain is true and, the Military indeed does use the area for training personnel! They even have a small base up in the area! If you take the time to watch this short video, keep a weathered eye open and you may just see some real US Military people headed out on an excursion. A common disability of the early Ventures like Tweeks is their tendency to get tired of the design of there gearing and to toss out their transmissions second gear early in their otherwise bullet proof existence. Like 3 of my earlier Ventures, Tweeks shed her 2nd gear many miles ago and, as I had done with her siblings who had been fortunate enough to become part of our family, I short shifted her thru the many miles of adventures we have shared. About the only places that short shifting or, shifting from 1st to 3rd has ever created a problem for Tweeks and I has been in defending her honor while drag racing some smart alec youngster that didnt realize how capable of a bike Tweeks really is or, mountain riding.. The drag racing issue is one that a a rider can get around pretty easily - its amazing how fast you can shift from first to third with a little practice. Mountain riding on real narrow hairpins with inclines of 8 percent and above can be a whole different story though.. In the end, Tweeks, Tip and I found that the leisurely slower rate of speed while crawling along in first gear would result in our lives having a more promising immediate future. An outcome that was a whole lot better than risking a missed shift into third and ending up as a spec in the bottom of one of Sonora Passes cavernous cliff bottoms that would appear in a set of some rescue searchers binoculars as a pile of camping gear with the Historic plate of an old antique motorcycle sticking out of it.
Venturous Randy Posted February 6, 2015 #125 Posted February 6, 2015 Still riding with ya puc, and having a great time. Randy
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