2010 HOT SPRINGS ANTIQUE RALLY
This year in Hot Springs dozens of antique motorcycles, produced before 1916, rumbled into Hot Spring September 16th, for a rally called the Motorcycle Cannonball 2010. Fifty-eight (58) riders and their vintage bikes rolled into the city starting at 4 p.m. on September 16th. The classic pieces of machinery were on display along with many local (and not so local -- Papa Jay) riders. The Cannonball rally, which began on September 10th in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, took riders on a scenic journey through the U.S., ending in Santa Monica, California on September 26th. Riders covered 3,325 miles in those 16 days. Papa Jay felt like he had riden that far by the time he broke down in New Boston, Texas and then finally made the rally the following day thanks to help from Jim Litchford in DeQueen, Arkansas. Papa Jay can never thank Jim enough for coming to his rescue on that trip.
June 22, 2010 Road Trip to Paonia, Colorado
Papa Jay, Darryl King, Jon Berg, Cole Smith and Jim (?) are having an adventure here with mud and their bikes. By the time Papa Jay rode (actually slid) through he had the front fender removed from his bike for better traveling. The guys had a great time on this trip. Enjoy the picture show. Who knows more details may come to light as the guys add their comments here.
2008 SAN FRANCISO, CALIFORNIA
Morro Bay, CA
Wow what a ride to San Francisco from Ovilla, Texas. Papa Jay rode his 1999 Triumph Trophy 1200 and Shirley rode her 2006 Triumph Sprint ST. Blasting across interstate highways they took no prisioners (nor did they receive any tickets or find any road kill). Leaving early in the morning and finding cool hotel rooms while in the dessert area was top on their itinerary. Man 117 degress is a killer with no shade or a chance of a cool spot.
Crossing the dessert, buying a red leather sofa in Arizona (which Papa Jay loving calls his Ducati sofa), visiting Hearst Castle, riding across Los Angeles early on Sunday morning, riding Highway 101, falling in love with Morro Bay and finding where Elvis really lives, Carmel, gas for $6.00 a gallon, riding the Golden Gate Bridge, Ragged Point, Venice Beach, spending many hours on the beach just relaxing, finding quaint hotels with rivers running behind them.....so many things happened on this trip!!!!
2007 BLUE RIDGE MOUNTAIN PARKWAY, TENNESSEE, VIRGINIA, NORTH CAROLINA, DEALS GAPS, DRAGONS TAIL
Yep, that's fog....lots of it here!
Ok, let's start this vacation story out by stating that it rained 5 1/2 solid days. Before Papa Jay and Shirley ran into the rain, Papa Jay treated Shirley to a trip to Graceland in Memphis, Tennessee. Papa Jay felt she deserved this reward after riding so hard on the Interstate so they could start playing on the twisty-turny roads in Tennessee.
The rain and fog started just before entering the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway. It continued North into Virginia and South into Ashville, North Carolina. Papa Jay and Shirley did manage a break on day 6 to ride the Dragon's Tail at Deal's Gap. What an adventure that was for both of them. The Smokey Mountain Lodge in Maggie Valley, North Carolina is any travelers dream. Complete with a wonderful restaurant and staff that goes way beyong the call of duty. Papa Jay managed to loose his wallet on Interstate 10 outside of Ashville on their way to the Biltmore Mansion. It took Papa Jay and Shirley two hours (along with a prision crew cleaning the side of the interstate) to find 60% of Papa Jay's wallet contents. Unfortunately none of the cash was found -- but many valuable lessons were learned during this adventure. 1. Never judge the person walking the center of the interstate highway. Believe it or not you DO NOT KNOW what they are doing. 2. Do not throw trash out your vehicle window at the person who is walking the the center median of the interstate highway. They cannot see you from the rear and that stuff hurts upon impact! Those were the two most valuable lessons learned by Shirley anyway.
Mini Coopers driven by blue haired elderly women are hazardous to motorcycle riders on the Dragon's Tail. One in particular stayed up Shirley's tailpipe 90% of the time down the first run. Papa Jay took off down the Dragon's Tail like he had a fire to extinguish and Shirley didn't see him until the bottom of the run. Papa Jay had his helmet off and was drinking a Gatorade when Shirley pulled into the parking lot. How does a man ride so fast? I guess he doesn't slow down for the curves. Period. Regardless of the sharpness or intimidation factor. This was a great vacation and the roads were spectacular!!!
Let's talk about Maggie Valley, North Carolina and the Wheels Through Time Museum. What a great way to see the history of motorcycles and enjoy a day. The admission is "next to nothing" and the entertainment is unreal. We were escorted through the museum by the owner and his dad and treated like royality. Can't wait to go back this coming Spring.
The rain and fog started just before entering the Blue Ridge Mountain Parkway. It continued North into Virginia and South into Ashville, North Carolina. Papa Jay and Shirley did manage a break on day 6 to ride the Dragon's Tail at Deal's Gap. What an adventure that was for both of them. The Smokey Mountain Lodge in Maggie Valley, North Carolina is any travelers dream. Complete with a wonderful restaurant and staff that goes way beyong the call of duty. Papa Jay managed to loose his wallet on Interstate 10 outside of Ashville on their way to the Biltmore Mansion. It took Papa Jay and Shirley two hours (along with a prision crew cleaning the side of the interstate) to find 60% of Papa Jay's wallet contents. Unfortunately none of the cash was found -- but many valuable lessons were learned during this adventure. 1. Never judge the person walking the center of the interstate highway. Believe it or not you DO NOT KNOW what they are doing. 2. Do not throw trash out your vehicle window at the person who is walking the the center median of the interstate highway. They cannot see you from the rear and that stuff hurts upon impact! Those were the two most valuable lessons learned by Shirley anyway.
Mini Coopers driven by blue haired elderly women are hazardous to motorcycle riders on the Dragon's Tail. One in particular stayed up Shirley's tailpipe 90% of the time down the first run. Papa Jay took off down the Dragon's Tail like he had a fire to extinguish and Shirley didn't see him until the bottom of the run. Papa Jay had his helmet off and was drinking a Gatorade when Shirley pulled into the parking lot. How does a man ride so fast? I guess he doesn't slow down for the curves. Period. Regardless of the sharpness or intimidation factor. This was a great vacation and the roads were spectacular!!!
Let's talk about Maggie Valley, North Carolina and the Wheels Through Time Museum. What a great way to see the history of motorcycles and enjoy a day. The admission is "next to nothing" and the entertainment is unreal. We were escorted through the museum by the owner and his dad and treated like royality. Can't wait to go back this coming Spring.
2005 DAYTONA BEACH, FLORIDA
Daytona Beach, Florida on honeymoon
Papa Jay and Shirley were married on the morning of March 5th. The church was filled with bikers wearing their formal attire of Hawaiian shirts, blue jeans and boots. The gathering was full of excitement because at the end of the ceremony several folks were escorting the newly married couple away from the church. Biker enthusist weddings are never boring. While the couple was preparing to leave on their motorcycles three young ladies drove up who were doing a scavenger hunt. They needed a can of whole kernel corn and a picture of a tattoo on someone's back. Well, Dutch O'Hara took one for the team and let the girls take a picture of the tattoo on his back assisted by his beautiful wife, Rebecca. Also during this time of getting loaded a drunk ran the stop light at the corner and crashed into parked cars across the street. The whole time all of this excitement was taking place all of the "non bike riders" kept saying "Can you believe all of this crazy stuff is happening now?" Obviously they haven't hung out with Papa Jay much.
The couple left the parking lot fully packed and ready for their honeymoon RIDE to Daytona Beach, Florida.
Papa Jay did something on this motorcycle trip he had never done before "with the boys" --- he went shopping! This was his first and unfortunately for him, not his last trip where he gets to shop or wait on Shirley while she shops. They visited the bike show, went to the Daytona Speedway and watched the trial runs, visited St. Augustine and many other sites along the way.
On this trip Papa Jay learned how to cancel one pre-paid hotel room and book another one closer to their real location when the wife ran out of "saddle power" to ride any more. This is also the trip where Papa Jay learned how to ship things home by Federal Express and UPS. Amazing how much "stuff" a girl can carry (or need to carry) in her (and his) saddle bags.
This was the beginning of many coast to coast trips for this happy couple!!!!
The couple left the parking lot fully packed and ready for their honeymoon RIDE to Daytona Beach, Florida.
Papa Jay did something on this motorcycle trip he had never done before "with the boys" --- he went shopping! This was his first and unfortunately for him, not his last trip where he gets to shop or wait on Shirley while she shops. They visited the bike show, went to the Daytona Speedway and watched the trial runs, visited St. Augustine and many other sites along the way.
On this trip Papa Jay learned how to cancel one pre-paid hotel room and book another one closer to their real location when the wife ran out of "saddle power" to ride any more. This is also the trip where Papa Jay learned how to ship things home by Federal Express and UPS. Amazing how much "stuff" a girl can carry (or need to carry) in her (and his) saddle bags.
This was the beginning of many coast to coast trips for this happy couple!!!!
BMW RALLY @ PAONIA, COLORADO
What's that old saying? "At a BMW rally the looks go down from a Harley rally but the IQ goes up." I'm not so sure Papa Jay agrees with that saying. Papa Jay is "non-denominational" when it comes to bikes. He loves and owns most brands. Here Papa Jay rode his 1982 BMW R100T. Shirley rode her 2004 Triumph Bonneville. Here they have stopped and are sorely disappointed to find no water, gas or potty in this particular area.
FORT DAVIS, TEXAS ---- MCDONALD OBSERVATORY
Thanksgiving week of 2006 brought new adventures for Papa Jay and Shirley with a trip to Fort Davis, Texas. They topped off their trip by going to the McDonald Observatory. Here they watched the sun flares that left the sun's surface by 40 miles. The ride to and from the observatory was the scariest ride to date for Shirley. Papa Jay was at the bottom of the mountain a LONG time before Shirley rounded the last corner on the home stretch.
Papa Jay is here with his 97 year old grandmother, Oma Daily. They celebrated Oma's birthday on their return trip from Fort Davis. Papa Jay rode his 1978 Laverda Jota Italian race bike. Grandmother Oma said she would ride with him on this hot machine when she turned 100. Unfortunately Grandmother Oma passed less than two months from her 100th birthday.
Papa Jay is here with his 97 year old grandmother, Oma Daily. They celebrated Oma's birthday on their return trip from Fort Davis. Papa Jay rode his 1978 Laverda Jota Italian race bike. Grandmother Oma said she would ride with him on this hot machine when she turned 100. Unfortunately Grandmother Oma passed less than two months from her 100th birthday.
MENA, ARKANSAS
Papa Jay is here on top fo the Quachita Moutains in the Queen Wilhelmina State Park. It is a tradition for Papa Jay and Shirley to ride to Mena on Good Friday and spend the weekend in the area on the twisty-turny roads of Arkansas. Much time and pleasure is spent on these numerous trips. How many folks can make a 200 miles trip into 500? Well, take a guess!
ARKANSAS: BATESVILLE, MOUNTAIN VIEW, MELBORNE, FAYETTEVILLE ---- ARKANSAS PIG TRAIL, ARKANSAS GRAND CANYON ---- ROADS YOU WON'T BELIEVE!!!!
This is one of those times when a picture is worth a thousand words.