Tuesday, March 02, 2021

Ah, 2006! Good times.

Since the link yesterday didn't work, and I  couldn't make it work, here is the picture that was on the front page of the Kansas City Times the day after my mom and I met Pat Boone's plane.  The lady in the lower, left-hand corner is my mother.  You can see my forehead, but her head covers my face.  She is holding my Kodak Brownie camera in case I get close enough to Pat to actually be in the picture with him.  Fat chance!  People from church were calling the next day to tell us they saw us on the front page, so I guess the backs of our heads were very recognizable.  At least you can see Pat Boone up front!

I believe we bought our blue Gold Wing in November, 2005.  So we hadn't had a lot of chances to ride it.  But March must have come in like a lamb, because we rode about 60 miles to Knobnoster State Park and had a picnic.  We had a picnic almost every time we went for a ride, and enjoyed it.  Never anything special:  peanut butter sandwiches or tuna salad.  Sometimes we had crackers and sardines.  Almost always took carrot sticks along, and a thermos of coffee.  I had fun setting the timer on the camera to take pictures of us.  We were having fun that day, but little did we know Cliff would be having a four-way heart bypass two months later, then wouldn't be riding it again until July.  I miss our rides and picnic, although I do NOT miss that feeling of thinking we might die any moment, because we had some close calls.  It's like some people in cars can't see a motorcycle even if it's ten feet in front of them.  I'll just post the pictures; they may not do much for you, but they make me happy, just looking at them.  I see we also had yellow sweet pepper strips.  Once in awhile we'd get a footlong Subway sandwich to split for our picnic.  For quite a while back then, Subway had a two-for-five-dollar deal on Wednesdays only.  We'd get a footlong meatball sub for lunch and a footlong cold-cut-combo for supper later.  Five bucks paid for two meals, and gave us a few winter rides to Subway in Odessa, which is only about 15 miles away.  Hmmm, I recall videoing part of a ride to Odessa.  I wonder if I could find that... 






I did NOT find the video of going to Odessa, but I found one that's a series of pictures I took during an Arkansas visit.  At the end of it, you'll see us ready to turn into the Hub motel, which catered to bikers.  They were originally part of Dogpatch.  I understand someone has bought the place now, with intentions of doing something new with the property.


That's Iris DeMent singing.  She was raised in Arkansas, and wrote this song.

13 comments:

  1. I was just talking about the plans for Dogpatch with a local the last time I was down in the area but can't remember what the plans were going to be for. I just remember that it was bought by the founder of Bass Pro Shops. When we drove by there was quite a bit of work going on and it looked a lot better than it has the last decade.

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    1. In 2006 it looked like something from a scary movie. It could have been called "The Haunted Amusement Park", although of course nobody was allowed to wander through it..

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  2. I love Iris DeMent's voice. Thanks for sharing your memories.

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  3. So nice to have those good times to remember. They do help us get through the tough days. The trick is we have to keep on making them.

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  4. Awwww... what good times to remember, Donna. Your bike is such a pretty color of blue! We've never gone on a picnic with our bike... just biker bars within a 100-mile radius. We've gone to the grocery store tho. *haha* Everyone is amazed at how many groceries will fit in the back & the two saddle bag-thingies. I don't know how much longer we'll be riding as we both turn 65 this summer. Hubby seems to think he can ride/drive until he's 100yo... but me, not so much. The day I don't feel comfortable anymore, with his driving capabilities, is the day I hang up my leather jacket. ~Andrea xoxo

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  5. Thanks for the picture of you with Pat Boone. Amazing that you were recognized by your forehead:)
    The bike tour was fun. I got my bike when I was 65 which was when I moved to Arkansas. I rode for 5 years before I lost my nerve. There sure were some great roads to ride though. Kind of miss it.

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    1. They knew us by our curly hair. My mother and I had the exact same natural curls, and those church folk probably sat behind us a lot of the time. From the back, my mother and I were twins. My face resembles her a lot, but not as much as our hair was alike.

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  6. It's good to read about your past, Donna!

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  7. Wonderful photos and memories! When I first started reading your blog Cliff and you were taking many adventurous trips on the motorcycle.

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  8. I'm glad you're staying safe now, Donna, although I can imagine what fun it must have been to ride in the open air. It makes me nervous that my brother won't wear a helmet when he's out on his motorcycle. Sigh... I remember Pat Boone's Moody River and so many others.

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  9. I loved seeing your pictures cruising Arkansas, and of you and Cliff.

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  10. I should have mentioned that I live not far down the road from Iris Dement and husband Greg Brown.

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    1. I don't care for Greg, but I'm a fan of Iris.

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