HAPPY NEW YEAR

Hope your worst day of 2008 is better than your best day of 2007

MERRY CHRISTMAS

Hope all your wishes come true for the New Year!

Penny Bar, McKittrick, California

Took a ride today to the Penney Bar in McKittrick, California with a couple of buddie's, Tim and Alan, (no not the Tim Allen) Alan is the o'eighter in the overalls. The bar and cafe are what is left of the McKittrick Hotel, which has not operated as one for decades and is one of just a few businesses downtown, such as it is. A road sign off Highway 33, the main drag, gives the population as 190. It began innocently enough, like most casual obsessions. Annie Moore dropped a penny into an empty coffee can. Clink.

And then another. Clink. And soon enough, many, many more. Mrs. Moore began scouring parking lots for lost pennies. Clink, clink, clink. She filled several cans.

Like many penny hoarders, she was never sure what to do with all of them — until she and her husband bought a roadside bar and cafe in this speck of a town in California oil country near Bakersfield. Why not, she asked her husband, Mike, festoon the bar with the pennies? And he dutifully obliged the crazy idea, using regular Elmer’s glue to affix them from one end of the bar to another.

It was his task to complete the job, penny by painstaking penny, six years of gluing, gluing and gluing.

Now, one million pennies later — from Annie’s cans, customers with loose change and not a few trips to the bank for exchanges — Mike & Annie’s Penny Bar is a sight to behold. The pennies, like a swarm of copper ants, cover nearly every surface: the floor, the walls, even the sides of the pool table.

Mr. Moore did not exactly count out one million pennies, but after calculating 304 pennies per square foot of surface area, he figures it is pretty close. It’s 200,000 on the floor alone.

The establishment’s pennies surely lure some, but it is also the only restaurant to speak of for the growing number of energy workers in this part of Kern County, which locals have nicknamed West Texas for all the oil derricks and natural-gas plants.

Alan the o'eighter

Cruising out thru the oil fields. Cool day to ride, the tempurature was around 60F

Click on pictures to see a larger version.

Airplane Trip

This is the Cessna 310 that my friend, Jim owns. The purpose of this trip was to see his son, Brendon play football for the University of Redlands

We left Bakersfield for Bermuda Dunes at 0930 HRSThis is Jim and me, I felt very comfortable with him at the helm.Here's Jim programing the headings into the GPSHeading down the runway at Meadows FieldOnce in the air it was smooth flying, we had to make a couple of diversions around the fires in Southern California, at this point we are going thru Cajon Pass, you can see HWY 15 belowHere you can see how smoky it is, this is around RedlandsHere we are flying at 10,500 feet elevation, above the smoke. In the distance is Mount San GergonioAfter being in the air just over a hour we landed at Bermuda Dunes Municipal AirportOur friend Harry was their to pick us up and take us to the game. This is a shot of Harry and his wife Karen, they knew this kid that was on the team also. It was great to see them and had a great lunch with them alsoThis is a shot of Brendon, he is the back up holder and starts at wide receiverHere's Brendon after the game with his Dad, Brendon had a couple of great receptions during the game.This was the schools homecoming for this year, the game was being played in Bermuda Dunes because of poor air quality in RedlandsThis was the final score, University of Redlands was the home team. Great game.

Just want to say it was great seeing my friend Harry and want to thank Jim for the awesone flight, I will do it again.

One Year Anniversary

On Saturday, August 18th, Bakersfield Harley-Davidson invited local Harley owners to a Luau on the Lot!

There was a full day of festivities and you could enter to win a trip for two to Maui which included air fare and hotel.

There was live entertainment, Hawaiian style Barbecue, a gigantic sale throughout the store and drawings for many other prizes.

Many "Bikers" showed up for the all day event

There was free food and drinks, Hawaiian style.

Here is Jim and George cutting and serving Hawaiian flavored pork loin

Here is some of the 200 or so free loaders

Patriot Guard Riders

Today, I joined with the PGR to honorably escort the body of Sgt. 1st Class Luis E. Gutierrez-Rosales, 38, of Bakersfield, Calif. to his final resting place.

Several people have asked me how the Patriot Guard Riders got started. Here’s what I’ve been able to piece together.

It all started back in early August of 2005 with the American Legion Riders chapter 136 from Kansas. They were appalled to hear that a fallen hero’s memory was being tarnished by misguided religious zealots who were protesting at funerals. They decided to do something about it.

When they heard that Fred Phelps and the Westboro Baptist Church was going to protest at the Funeral of Sgt. John Doles in Chelsea, Oklahoma, they established a Mission Statement, which included getting the families permission and contacting Law Enforcement and other Motorcycle Groups in Oklahoma. They agreed that their ultimate goal was to get veterans and motorcycle organizations involved. They were very successful in mustering riders to honor Sgt. Doles and limiting the intrusion by the WBC.

After the Chelsea Mission the Kansas American Legion Riders wanted all Motorcycle Groups/ Organizations to be recognized. On the 18th of October 2005 the Patriot Guard name was established and was announced on the 27th of October 2005.

The growth has been phenomenal. Within a week their membership included many riders from associations like the VFW, American Legion, Rolling Thunder, ABATE, Combat Vets Motorcycle Association, Intruder Alert, Leathernecks Motorcycle Club, and thousands of individual riders. The PGR website had received almost 566,000 hits in the first two weeks!

Day Trip to Pismo Beach

Left Bakersfield around 8:00 AM, stopped in Cuyama for breakfast at the Famous Burger Barn.

Arrived at Pismo Coast Village around 11:30 AM where our friends Gary and Sandi had their trailer set upThey tuck the RV's into this park with very little room to spare Gary our host is admiring Steve's Harley
Thanks to Gary and Sandi for the eats and drinks

Ready For The Next Trip

I got the bike cleaned up and serviced

Isn't she pretty?

Look at that motor, clean as a whistle

Still waiting for the next trip ideas, leave a comment and let me know where you think I ought to go!

Post Trip Maintenance

After getting home I realized some maintenance was in order, so...Off came the fork so the seals could be replaced

I will replace brakes, install new front tire and replace all fluids, transmission, primary and engine.
And a overall toothbrush cleaning.
Getting ready for the next trip, any suggestions?

Numbers

Just for fun I kept some figures on my trip.

44 - stops for gasoline

176.27 - gallons of gasoline burned

30.3 - miles average per gallon

$616.94 - total spent for gasoline

$3.50 - average price per gallon

5332 - total miles traveled

Day 20 ---Home Sweet Home

I rode the last leg of my trip this morning with cooler temperatures and slightly less winds. I got home about 11:30AM. All in all this trip was fantastic, no problems and overall a great time. I will clean up the motorcycle, service it and start planning my next adventure.

I want to thank Pete for taking time out of his day to give me a personal tour of the plant.

Thanks also to Don, Joy and Kurtis for allowing me to stay in their home and Don for his time that he took to escort me through the Pentagon. Kurtis, I hope you found your P-U-P-P-Y.

And to everyone that left comments on this blog. Anyone who has done a blog knows that it can be very trying at times getting pictures uploaded and in order with spotty Internet access most of the time.

Thanks to my wife, Debbie, for understanding that I needed the time "to find myself!"

I Love you

Day 19

I left Ogden, Utah feeling pretty good about the next 750 or so miles. Thinking that it would be nice to be home sleeping in my own bed, but as the miles wore on through the southern Utah desert and the HOT Nevada sun and wind I realized that that goal was not going to be realized.So at about 6:00pm I pulled in here, took a cool shower and went down to the bar and re-hydrated

Day 18

Ogden Union Station was the hub of transcontinental rail traffic for over 50 years. Today the grand old depot, built in 1924, houses museums and galleries featuring railroad history, firearms, gems and minerals, classic cars and the arts.

I guess my interest in this depot is that my father worked here and our family traveled out of here every summer to Omaha, Nebraska to visit our grandparents.The "Caboose" was taken out of service in 1980 thanks to technologyThis is a BIG locomotive. These wheels were over six feet tallThis is the inside of the depot. I remember these massive benches.Looking north towards Mt. Ben Lomond

This is a high school in Ogden, I took the picture because I thought the architecture looked coolThis is the Seventh Day Adventist church in Ogden. I went to kindergarten and first grade hereThis is the head stone of my fathers parents. They were killed in a automobile accident on Christmas eve