New Tatt Coming Soon

One of the trips that I plan to take this summer is to the beach off the coast of NC. It is an annual trip that we take with family and a couple of friends. Last year Jordan got a new tattoo and I told him that if he moved back home from Arkansas to NC I would pay for his motorcycle course, help him get a bike, train him on the bike and get a tattoo too. Of course he moved back and I (like a good father) decided to keep my promise. The problem was to figure out what type of tattoo I wanted. That is not a quick decision since the tattoo will mark me for life. At first I thought about gettng something to express what I really enjoyed and something kind of tribal. I thought, hey the Chick-Fil-A logo looks cool, tribal and I like chicken. Then I thought about the copyright violation. Of course, if you watched Wild Hogs, you would remember that Dudley didn't let that stop him and that would not stop me either.

Anyway, I think I finally found the tattoo I will get in about 2 months and here it is.

The tattoo will have the phrase 'Keep Living' in the white banner. It did say Harley Davidson but I don't care for that. The tattoo represents how I feel about riding, country and life. Besides also skydiving at the beach, it should be a great vacation. Of course, photos will be coming.

Until next time and enjoy the ride!

Pappy

Got the Day Off to Ride!

Friday was a great day! That is the only way to put it. I got the day off from work, my buddy, Craig wasn’t doing anything and my son took the day off to ride. The weather was great. The temperature topped out at about 82. It was just enough to give us all a great burning biker’s tan.

Our first decision was to figure out where we wanted to ride and how long. So since Craig is a human Atlas I thought it would be best to have him decide where we would ride. Craig took us north on highway 68 toward Stokesdale. From there we hit 65 and 89. It was part of the same rode that Jordan almost ran out of gas (NOT!). Going that way gave Craig a chance to see where Jordan almost ran out of gas. As we pasted though Mount Airy I thought it would be a good idea to stop and let Jordan get his photo at the Andy Griffin museum. Below is a photo of Jordan at the bronze statues of Andy Griffin and little Ron Howard (Opie).



After pasting the gas station we stopped a nice old little store for a break before continuing to head west on 89. After hitting 89 we decided to take 601 toward Booneville. Craig told us about an old store that served steak sandwiches. Actually the sandwiches were thick sliced fried bologna sandwiches with a thick slick of cheddar cheese. It was awesome! We all there go the same thing. The store was pretty unique because it had a lot of old antiques and even some old candy’s that I haven’t seen in years. Below is couple of pictures from our top at the old store.

Also along the route were visited Hanging Rock State Park and the top of Pilot Mountain. I have rode by Pilot Mountain on several occasions and never been to the top. It was a treat and it has a great view of the surrounding area. Jordan and I have already planned to do some hiking this year in both parks. Below are some pictures that were taken from the top of the Pilot Mountain.


All-in-all, the day was great. Counting the riding that Jordan and I also did Saturday to Lenoir, we put on about 500 miles. Except for being a little sun burned and tired, the trips were great. Besides, who can complain when you can get the day off and ride all day, right?

Until next time and enjoy the ride!

Pappy

Mount Airy Ride

Saturday Slick, Jordan and I decided to take off for a nice ride to Mount Airy NC. Anyone that are not familiar with the town may not know that it was the fictional town of Mayberry on the Andy Griffin Show. Actually Andy Griffin was raised there as a kid. It is a really nice small town with a lot of Andy Griffin and Mayberry appeal. We were not going to actually stop there because Slick and I had been there before. We were heading that way to ride on some really nice country roads off of business 52. Mostly we rode through the country roads on 89.

The day was kind of cloudy and a little cool in the morning. We meet Jordan at his home in High Point and headed up interstate 40 and then highway 52. On the way to Mount Airy we stopped off at a overlook to get a couple of photos of Pilot Mountain. It is part of the fictional town that Andy Griffin mentions in the show. However, he referred to it as Mount Pilot. Pretty cool, huh?


After snapping a few pics, we headed up to Mount Airy and then hit 89 to ride the country roads. If you have not been up that way you might want to know 89 has some really nice roads with a few small towns but also some sections of the roads are pretty curvy. Slick wasn't too crazy about some sections of the roads and there was some major puckering up going on behind me. However, Jordan and I loved each curve.

We did have on little scare. As we were cruising through one of the small towns, Jordan felt he needed gas. He was riding behind us. He said he was trying to let us know he needed gas by hitting his horn. Now if you have ever heard Jordan's horn you would realize it sounds like one of those bell horns on some little girl's bike. It is kind of sad actually. For a guy that rides a mean sounding bike, his horn really has to go.

Anyway, Jordan felt he needed gas, so he turns off without Slick and I realizing he stopped. Slick and I continued to cruise down the road and then I looked back and thought, 'Where's Jordan". Of course we panicked and turned around to find him. We were not sure if he ran off the road or hit one of the many racing bikers cruising through town. As we headed back to find him, there he was at a gas station waiting on us. He said he needed gas. It turned out that he didn't need gas. His tank holds over 5 gallons and he filled it up before we left. It took a little over $7.00 to fill up his tank. That means he had about 3 gallons left. I think he was okay, don't you?

After filling up Jordan's empty tank (NOT!), we headed to highway 220 south and back to the house. The rain was coming and we barely made it before we got wet. It as a great day to ride. It was warm, cloudy but not too bad. We look forward to riding again soon. Our next big trip as a family is to WV and the Blue Ridge Parkway on Memorial Day weekend.

My next trip is with my old buddy Craig on 25 April to go to Colleen VA to order my trailer. That will be cool. Besides, we will need it for the Wind Ding in SC.

Until next time and enjoy the ride!

Pappy

Angela's Ride Fund Raiser

Today Jordan and I attended a fund raiser called Angela's Ride in Asheboro NC. The Harley Museum there was putting onthe fund raiser. There were about 125 bikes of all types there. Jordan and I also toured the musuem and saw a lot of old bikes. Below are some of the photos that we took. Enjoy!

Until next time and enjoy the ride!

Pappy