Our Lucie

Today we gave our Lucie the greatest gift - peace.

For the last 5 months Lucie has been suffering with renal failure. She was actually doing quite well until yesterday. It seems she knew when the time was right.

She will have a very special place in many people's hearts!

Daren Visits

We had the pleasure of Daren and Kristie's company for lunch. A rare treat for us! Kristie's new car is VERY nice!

Loren Visits

Loren's new career as a truck driver has kept him out of California, so yesterday when he was able to stop in Lake County for breakfast it was a real treat. We enjoyed the visit!

We have been busy driving to and from Sacramento. Last week we had to go down for Larry's follow up CT Scan. This week we went down for the follow up appointment with the neurosurgeon. Happy to say Larry has no recurring meningioma. Next appointment in 2 years.

We continue to be amazed at how busy we are in retirement!

Larry had the bright idea to have a Halloween outfit for Lucie so she can go to the Doggie Fest today - with the help of a free pattern from the internet I sewed a vest with a Jack-O-Lantern design on the back. She also gets to wear a hat!

My friend and I took advantage of a wreath making class at one of the senior centers, so I've been having fun creating!

Patriot Guard Rider Mission

We rose at 5 a.m. to get ready to ride to Novato, CA for a Patriot Guard Rider mission.

After a chilly ride into Lakeport we met Steve Biggs and rode over to Highway 101 via the Hopland Grade. Just a tad bit foggy - to the point that we stopped at the top and wiped the condensation off our windshields.

On arriving at the high school in Novato we joined around 20 other Patriot Guard Riders in a flag line leading to the memorial service for Cpl. Nicholas Paul Olson. Cpl. Olson lost his life while serving in Iraq.

I have been signed up as a member of PGR for a couple of years, but there has only been one other occasion that has been in our area. As it happens Cpl. Olson is the son of one of our friends here in Lake County.

The whole event took a couple of hours. One poignant moment came when a lady with a toddler came out of the memorial and as the toddler walked around the mother said, "Look at all the flags. Daddy would have liked the flags." The lady and toddler were the wife and daughter of Cpl. Olson.

Many people thanked the PGR members who made up the flag line. As far as I could tell, not one participant felt the need for a thank you, more like it was the least they could do for someone who had given their all for their country.

October

<-Joel at RFK; RFK Ride; Larry at RFK (early) and the bottom two photos are of the Clear Lake Road Riders.




In the few weeks we have returned from our motorcycle trip we have traveled to Sacramento twice - once to attend Larry's retirement dinner (a lovely evening at the Sheraton) and this past weekend to participate in the Ride for Kids event in Woodland, CA.

The group we belong to had the 4th highest club donations and our local dealer came in as top dealer with over $27k attributed to his business.

We are Home!

We waited to leave Fernley, NV until almost 10:30 a.m. - any earlier and we would have been wet before got out of town.

As we headed west of I-80 we saw many motorcyclists leaving the Reno area. Street Vibrations lost quite a few participants before the final day began.

Once we were beyond Reno the weather got wetter. On the way up to Donner Pass traffic picked up and the rain became less spotty. One group of Hell's Angels from Oakland roared by just as the rain really started coming down.

As we headed down from Donner Pass there were so many motorcyclists being cautious that they were keeping the car traffic to a SENSIBLE speed. It was the most sane trip along I-80 from Reno I have ever been on and the worst weather!

We turned off of I-80 on to Hwy 20 and encountered fog as well as rain. By the time we got to Marysville the weather had improved dramatically.

A nice lunch at Granzella's and we hurried home in time to pick up Lucie at the kennel.

Over 7,000 miles. What an awesome country. What awesome people we rode with and met along the way. Good to be home....until Wednesday! The map is of the route we took this September.

On our way home

We left on Friday. Rather chilly ride to Pocatello, Idaho. Wind was bad around Twin Bridges, but became less of an issue as we continued to ride.

This morning we left to warmer temps - but not that warm! At Twin Falls we headed for Nevada. From Wells it was a fast ride to Fernley, Nevada.

Another chilly day, but not much precipitation. We either had awful side winds, or awful head winds. The trike got 20 mpg for the last 100 miles. We also had to deal with a dust storm east of Lovelock.

Can't really complain though, because we got here safely. We ate at the El Guadalajara Mexican restrauant - not too shabby.

When we arrived at the motel there were other motorcyclists who had attended Street Vibrations - glad we didn't try to get a room in Reno.

Tomorrow will be our ride home. We won't be riding out any too early - the weather in the Sierras is supposed to be wet and cold tonight.