What's Been Happening 08/24/03

Wasn't Sunday just one big gorgeous day? It just does not get any better than this. Remember last week, I said it was just gorgeous and hoped the following weekend would be equally as good. Well Sunday, was even better. It was 100% sunshine with low humidity in the low 80's. It was absolutely a true delight for riding one's motorcycle. This was the kind of a day that one does not want to be inside.

We rough riders rendezvoused at Mickey D's at our usual time. There was a hail and hardy group of; trusty Bruce Hirsch, professor Damien Shelton, dancin Dick Sieple, whispering Joe Mendoza, Mike Matich, general Tony Guptaitis, doctor Cary Levin, jumpin Joe Hughes, gentleman George Riebesehl, sergeant Russ Prichard, fast Eddie Bowser and yours truly.

I took the lead, sergeant Russ did the sweep and fast Eddie rode shot gun. Our direction took us way south and even further west. Naturally, I only chose the routes of little or no traffic, which meant very little interference with road kill. About 80 or so minutes later our we finally arrived. After we all demounted our ponies, which were left in the corral in a shaded area so they would not get sun stroke, the rush was on to get some mighty good vittles. By now our tummies were growling, hunger had set in and time's-a-waste'n. As always, we were all seated in the back room were the long rectangle table was stationed. Yes siree, let the shenanigans commence. With out a doubt, this is the best socializing club in the world. We talked about everything and anything. Our behavior was all impeccable. But next, the unimaginable happened. General Tony stood up and promenaded around the table and started to sing. Yep -- sing. He chose the old rendition of "I did it my way". This dude can really sing--he sounds great. By now he captured a massive audience and the cheering was ongoing. Yep, these Harley riders love to showboat. That is okay, our chapter has many guys who can entertain, dance, sing, whatever. It is a good thing that trusty Bruce, jumpin Joe and sergeant Russ were around, they kept feisty Tony "the Tiger" in check. Major Dan Harris would be ever so proud of him.

I had mentioned to some of our membership that there was a car and motorcycle show going on in the small town of Amboy, ILL. Along with myself, jumpin Joe, gentleman George, doctor Cary, general Tony, and fast Eddie all were willing to take in the festivities of some great heritage vehicles.

I took the lead, fast Eddie rode shot gun and doctor Cary did the sweep. Our direction took us north and eventually way west. We established that only the squirrelly roads will do. So I took the roads that did much zig--zagging and some great dipsy-do banking on some great curves. Wow--what a fun ride. Yeah--baby!! How sweet it is!! It just does not get any better than this. Our route took us through some small towns of, Lisbon, Serena, Troy Grove, Mendota, and Sublette, ILL which eventually lead us to the small town of Amboy, ILL. Once there, we troopers carefully looked for a place that was well shaded so our ponies would not get sun stroke. We managed to find a corral by the big ole oak tree, were shade was a plenty.

The town was really buzzing, with people from all over Illinois and our neighboring states. They had cars dating way back in the 1920's, 30's, 40's, 50's all the way up to our current models. Those cars were absolutely beautiful and well maintained. The paint jobs were superb on the old muscle cars. Lloyd and Leona Tatman would be in their hey day, if they were here. Some of the old motorcycles that were on display were, BSA's, Triumph, H-D's, Norton's, Vincent's and a few others which I never seen before. A great time was had by all. With this fine weather, I wished this day would never end. Everyone of us did some reminiscing of the cars of yester year and how well they were built. Naturally, some cars on display were of the very newer style, such as 2001, 2002, 2003's. There were plenty of sports cars, including the 2003 Corvettes and others. These very new cars sure had plenty of "techno gadgets" on them.

As jumpin Joe, gentleman George and I were walking around and through all of these wonderful displays of great beauties, and just when I was beginning to feel at ease, those two did the unthinkable, yup--dancing again. Ole jumpin Joe started to feel his oats and did his rendition of "Shake, Rattle and Roll", right in the middle of town. I guess the loud music really got him going. His motor was revving. Let me tell ya, Joe is very good, he has moves that no one could follow. Not be out done, gentleman George shouted out "Watch me fellas" as he wiggled himself into the "Charleston" and "23 Ski-doo". Yes siree, ole George has even better moves then he ever did show us in the past. Folks, these two guys drew a crowd and the clapping and cheering came from all around. These two little rascals are very entertaining. Chapter H should be considered the entertainment capital of the world.

After mounting our wings, we departed town and our direction took us north and east. Let me tell you folks, this was definitely one of the finer travels that we spent time in, it was well worth the trip. Today, was great fun and enjoyment, the 5 fellas that traveled with me were a pleasure to be with. It is my hope that next week will be just as great. Keep in mind, next week is a holiday. Labor Day will soon be here. So lets be especially careful out there, no matter were you are traveling to or by what means.