Dinner on the Diner

The Dallas Railroad Museum hosts a Dinner on the Diner each year on Valentines Day. We attended this year and had a wonderful time. For entertainment there was a Marilyn look-a-like.

All got kisses from Marilyn.

Marilyn flirted with all the men, our faces got red, and the wives loved it.

Oklahoma Campout

October 31 - November 2, 2008

On Friday I rode from Carrollton (1) to Clayton Lake S.P.,

at Clayton, OK. (2) About 180 miles.

Clayton Lake is a very pretty small lake but the state

park is not up to standards. The restroom was available

but the showers were out-of-service.

Saturday I rode past Sardis Lake to Red Rock Canyon

State Park, Hinton, OK. (3) 50 miles west of Oklahoma city.

241 miles.

This state park is one of the best in Oklahoma.

Everything was spotless.

--

I rode home on Sunday, going thru Oklahoma City.

Onboard the Lexington

May 8 - 10, 2008: We celebrated our 15th anniversary and my birthday this year with a ride to Corpus Christi.

--

The Texas GWRRA had setup a dinner ride on the USS Lexington.

--

We rode onto the deck, had dinner on board and posed for a fly-by photograph.

--

There were 500 + Goldwings on the deck.

--

The hotel parking lot was filling up with Goldwing Motorcycles.

There were license plates from almost every state and several foreign countries.

We assembled in a parking lot, waiting for the Lexington handlers

to get the tourists off the ship.

They escorted over five hundred motorcycles through the

Corpus Christi streets to get ready to load the ship.

On to the ship's elevator, at the hanger deck level.

It handled 40 two wheelers or 30 trikes at once.

They had to operate the elevator in manual mode.

Automatic was set for the weight of an aircraft and

was way too fast.

--

The elevator took us up to the flight deck.

We are fourth from the right.

Directing us to the parking area.

Dinner on the main dining hall.

Aircraft from all the conflict eras were on display. Queued up for departure.

Going down the elevator.

Southwestern Tour

May/June 2005 - Chris & Jen (our son & daughter-in-law) and Donna & myself loaded up for a 10 day tour in southwestern United States. We toured Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, Utah and touched the corner of Colorado

-- Loaded up and ready to go.

Chris rides a '99 Harley and we're on our Wing. --

The first day took us to Lubbock, Tx. We toured Texas Tech, where Chris and Jen went to school. Had dinner with their friends, and an early bedtime.

--

First stop out of Lubbock was Muleshoe, Texas., and a visit with Ol' Pete. Some call him Muleshoe's most famous resident.

(Donna is not part of the statue) -- A few hours cruising brought us into New Mexico.

--

We made a short stop in Ft. Summer and visited the Billy the Kid Museum. A few interesting items and a whole lot of junk.

A refueling and refreshment stop at Clines Corner allowed a photo-op at the Continental Divide. All the tourist trinkets hid the natural grandeur of the area.

After arriving in Albuquerque and checking into the hotel, we rode the Sandia Peak Tramway for a libation and the wiew.

--

The tram rises 3,819 ft from its base at 6,559 to the peak at 10,378.

The 2.7 mile ride takes 15 minutes at 12 mph.

Its really, really cold up here (when you don't bring a coat).

The 11,000 sq. mile view of the Land of Enchantment is spectacular.

--

After crossing into Arizona, the ride was mostly in Navajo and Hopi reservations.

--

West of Tuba City, Az., we started seeing the Vermillion Cliffs from forty miles away.

It is one of those sights that, while you ride and ride and ride, doesn't seem to get any closer.

Finally, a break in the scenery. Marble Canyon, on the Colorado River.

--

The original Navajo Bridge was opened in 1929. At the time it was the highest steel arch bridge in the world. A span of 834', height of 467'.

The new bridge was completed in 1995, after two years of construction.

We encountered construction after crossing the canyon and followed an escort truck for several miles.

We gained evevation quite rapidly and the reds and browns gave way to luscious blues and greens.

There is still some snow in the shaded areas.

Grand Canyon North Rim

Six thousand feet at its deepest point and 1.5 miles across at its widest, the canyon is immense and colorful. With an average elevation of 8,000 ft, the North Rim offers views of the canyon from a higher vantage.

We had dinner in the lodge and spent the night in one of the cabins.