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Showing results for tags 'prepared'.
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Who would have ever thought that an old geezer like me,, riding a fun loving - beat up old bike like Tweeks and toting around a pretty young lady like my wife, Tippy, could cause so much trouble and yet, be blessed so richly by doing so.. Boy Scout philosophy was really popular back when I was growing up,, you know what am talking about,, help old ladies cross the road,, take a bath once in while, learn to tie your own shoes early in life, pup tent camping creates character, living on campfire cooked hotdogs IS gormet cooking and all that.. I was never a Scout BUT,, a lot of their basic principals of life seem to of somehow attached themselves to me. As a matter of fact, the only Scout principle that seems to have really eluded me thru the years is one that involves "planning" and being "prepared". For some reason, especially when it comes to motorcycle touring,,, the terms "planning" and being "prepared" have never seemed to fit into the scheme of things for me.. I tried "planning" and being "prepared" once for a cross country motorcycle trip and it was a total flop. On that trip, I ended up losing track of my cousin and Brother In Law out in Sturgis South Dakota and wound up riding home alone.. Not that this was so bad for yours truly as I really am OK being by myself and traveling alone BUT, it was my cousins first cross country tour and he didnt really appreciate it... Its all ok now, we are still good friends BUT,, he learned as I did - splitting up, making plans to be somewhere at a certain time on a certain day is a disaster waiting to happen.. Far superior (and a whole lot more fun) to this method of travel is one that a good friend of mine - YammerDan - creatively calls "Chasing The Front Wheel" or what I will acronyze here as CTFWing... A key to being successful in CTFWing is avoiding planning and being prepared at all costs,, at least in my book... All that said, and in total appreciation for and in acceptance of YammerDans "CTFWing",, Tip, Tweeks and I set out for Sturgis SD via Glacier National Park via Skull Valley Utah via Frisco via a place called "The Dalles" Oregon via Mt St Helens via Portland via Redding California via Sonora Pass via Area 51 via the Grand Canyon via Jerome Az via Roswell NM via Big Bend NP via BikerJohn's and Squids house in Texas via our house in Muskegon Mi,,,, all with no map - no GPS - no watch and a half a tank of gas... Its the end of May 2014 and its ride time... Tweeks sat on the slab out front of our home,, patiently waiting while we locked the doors and hid the key (this year I hid the key in in my wallet - last year, trying to be smart and be PREPARED for returning home, I hid the key somewhere around the outside of our house and, when we got home from a couple months on the road I couldnt remember where I had hid it - I had to remove an air conditioner to break into our own home - NOT FUN AT 3 AM!!!).. Tweeks always looks so pretty with a pup tent strapped on her back, what a doll!! After getting lost in Chicago cause we didnt have a map and finally figuring out that a friend of mine named MarCarl, who had promised he would give us directions and cook us a burger if we got lost, was not gonna show up, I got my internal compass back in line and just headed south... By doing so, we found ourselves crossing into Missouri,, thats a State in my home country of the United States in case one of you readers didnt know.. It started getting later in the day and I started remembering protocol for survival while attempting CTFWing,, that being - its best to find a place to camp before dark or you will probably end up sleeping in a Cemetery or camped in a Walmart Parking lot or something.. As we pulled into this little town down in Missouri I could SMELL a National Forest.. The whiskers on the tips of my mustache twitched like a freshly wacked tuning fork as we drove thru this quaint little place.. I eyeballed the railroad tracks that ran thru it and knew,, if nothing else,, their had to be a hideaway left over from the Gangster Days along those tracks, if nothing else... Tip noticed a small sign (besides being cute she is also a great Nav - astute follower of CTFWing too) just outside this little town that said something like "Mark Twain Nation Forest Historical Site, 10 miles" with an arrow pointing down a dirt two track. Well bust my britches if ol Tweeks didnt just instantly turn that direction!! Getting lost while following dirt roads inside of a National Forest in a State called Missouri in the dark is only one of the great adventures of CTFWing... After dark, places like Missouri in the USA can take on some pretty creepy feelings, I had heard that the ghosts of Will Munny, Al Capone and Baby Face Nelson haunt these places (think thats weird - ya oughta camp with me sometime).. We finally found the Historical spot located on a small stream about 8 miles in,, it would have been a great place to camp but there were signs everywhere that said NO CAMPING and there was also a suspicious looking Green truck with an emblem on the side of it parked in the little parking lot,,, we nonchalantly mustered on by - mumbling between us like a couple of tourist so as not to draw attention.. About a mile up the two track, over looking what appeared to be a valley of some sort (hard to tell in the dark), was a little pull off that had a sign on it that said "Puc and Tippy camp here" (not really,, but we pulled in anyway).. Took an extra couple minutes for us to reacclamate to tossing the tent up in the dark but we did it,, slept like a couple southern hound dogs in the hay laying there looking up at that gorgeous Mark Twain Missouri sky.. The next morning I snapped a few pics, packed up and we headed down the hill,, so to speak.. The creek I had mentioned earlier flowed down stream (most creeks do, unless you go out east and look for "Tidal Bores" - you only find those in creeks out east - the water flows both ways there, creating ripples they call Tidal Bores -- sorry, got side tracked trying to teach ya something) in the general direction we were headed.. After a couple miles we came to this little paved area that wasnt sandy like the rest of the road, stopped to take a short video and listen to the birds sing.. This was a good example of the beauty that Mark Twain may have noticed when he was playing around in the forests of Missouri, a State found in the USA.. Breathing in the fresh air, being there with my best friend while touring the country on a beat up ol Yamaha called Tweeks sure gave me a feeling that fun times were in store for us and real adventure was about to begin!! End of part 1..
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Ok, we dodged another bullet. The world as we know it did not end ..... again. We've seen enough of these predictions over our life times to know, or belive, or think it's all hokie as hell. Well I do anyway. I have a good friend that made a small fortune during the Y2K paranoia selling supplies like oil heaters and laterns, bulk canned goods, bulk dried goods, solar systems, water systems and such and even refurbished old style 29 channel CB's and Ham Set ups. And batteries! man he sold tons of batteries! He had even set up with a Federal Firearms License and was able to sell weapons. When I asked him what he had done for his own survival he laughed his butt off. He had cash! What more could you need? I though he was one of the most poorly prepared of all. Now don't get me wrong. I'm no survivalist, not even close to what some people are doing these days. I still got a little Boy Scout left in me and I have always liked the "Be Prepared" mentality. So, let's pretend, that the world as we know it today, has collasped. The global monetary system is gone. Every form or currency is worthless and the base of the system such as gold and silver and worth the same weight in dirt. There are still items to be had, but money means nothing. It's down to trade or barter. So just curious, when the stuff hits that fan, what would you see that you have that is of value to the rest of the world? What can you do? What do you have that will allow you to continue on? What can you contibute to the new world? I read an article a while back that used the term "The New Normal". Something we might all have to consider someday. Now that don't sound so far fetched as the world just ending does it. Just a new "Normal". Forget about why it happend and who caused it. It did and now you need to go forward. So what ya got? Mike
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I need the part number for the rear Arm rest covers on my 2nd gen. I'm going to change out the rear speakers tomorrow and want to be prepared if I need new ones. What is the best way to remove the vinyl covers without destroying them ?
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Like i said, WOW, thanks for the responses, i think i replied to everybody, if i missed somebody, my apologys, feel a whole lot better and prepared for my upcoming cross country trip Cheers Geoff
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This is your personal invitation to come to the Chat Party this Thursday at 8:30 PM. All beverages will be served FREE of charge and there will be food too. Get your Togas from the cleaners and wear them too. Do not be shy, show up just to say HI. We will not allow anyone to go idle, so be prepared to chat. I hope mini muffin shows up, so she can cause trouble. Hehehehehe. See You ALL This Thursday night! YAMA MAMA:big-grin-emoticon::YELLOW:
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If you ever plan on ever attending the Pork in the Pines Rally event I just want to warm you! You will meet some of the best people in the western hemisphere if not the world. Since this was my first (as stated on other post as being a Virgin) I realy had no idea what to expect. Finally convince the wife to go because she "didn't know anyone" I told her that it's all good and that I was going and she needed to commit. Well she did. At the rally I met people from Wisconsin, Montana, Canada (eh), and people from all over Minnesoata. If you ever go be prepare to have some of the best pork roast on the planet. Be prepared to be made at home and that you have always been part of the familly. Be prepared to meet people and be treated like long lost friends. Be prepared to have all barriers and preconcieved notions errased and meet some realy nice and real people. Like Rick said he has friends allover the country there isn't a place he can't go where he won't be asked to stay with the people. That is how I felt at the PiP. Met new friends and learned a whole lot of stuff about me. We sat around the camp fire and laughed and laughed and told stories and our best lies. Met new friends and renewed old ones. Ate and drank and spread good cheer. I sincerly want to thank all who organized this rally all who attended. I feel like I have just made many new friends and now have the face to go with the name. My final warning is this guy named Wildhare ever shows up, becarefull. He is a good ol boy from east Texas and that man is a riding fool. He puts more miles on in a month than a lot of people put on in years. He is a real character and I am damn proud to call him my friend. The Canadan Crew were a great bunch of guys and gals and trust me they know how to party. And lastly Thanks to Gary and Ann for allowing a bunch a crazies to share there home and shop and homested. So my final warning is if you weren't there you really missed it. Thanks all!
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I posted this in another thread, so to make sure you get this I am posting to you again............. Do you have any idea how many people will be riding with you to Memphis, I need to give the hospital a heads up by next weekend so they can be prepared for us.............. Getting real excited about this, it means a lot to me that I have other VR members going to support this.........Especially you, you have been there everytime I needed something or planned something and that means a lot to me........Thanks brother...............
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