Magic Happened Last Night

It only took about an hour of prep work, grease on my jeans and a few beads of sweat, but it happened.  The happiest day of my Spring 2018 life, h.a.p.p.e.n.e.d.

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We hugged, we laughed and we became a little misty-eyed.  It was a beautiful reunion caught on camera via SnapChat selfie.  Because nothing counts unless it’s on Snap, ya?

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Ya, that’d be a no.

But, we did reunite and all the wrongs in the world are now right.  So so SO right.

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Of course, she was tucked nicely away in the back of the garage, so it took a little motorcycle maneuvering, battery tinder removing, seat finding and reattaching, motorcycle jack rearrangement, air pressure gauge scavenging, motorcycle trailer rolling, air bubble requiring and about 10 additional PSI’s in that front tire (recall September 2017 tire incident… still haven’t fixed that yet) and

…WE WERE ALIVE!

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And she was DISGUSTING!

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¹First order of business: Car Wash.

²Second order of business: WIND!  Sweet, sweet WIND!

She and I cruised for about an hour or so before making our way home around 7:45pm.  Low and behold the hubs had also just gotten home and seeing his bike out in the driveway decided it was a perfect opportunity to reattach his seat as well and so off we went for a late dinner at The Cabin across town.

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What a perfectly spontaneous MUCH NEEDED night of wind therapy for the both of us.

Hello, Spring 2018.

I’ve been waiting for you.

 

Cheers!

🙂

 

Labor Day Weekend 2016

I hope this finds you all coming off of a well spent Labor Day weekend and if you were anything like me, getting back into the swing of things on this Mondayest Tuesday was a little on the rough side.  Let’s just say I felt every last adult beverage leaving my pores at the gym today.  Good thing I did two classes AND lifted, because my body needed it.

Friday night Clint and I packed my purse full of our favorite tallboys and hit up the theater for a popcorn fueled dinner with entertainment provided by the latest Jason Bourne movie.

…all while sporting our favorite team gear in anticipation of College Football Opening Weekend.

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Spoiler Alert: One of my fave actresses sees the end of her run AND this movie is totally left open for more.

Saturday

We made our way down to Coburg, IA where Clint assisted in the tear down of an old barn while I got to have fun with Sara’s babes.

Kaeleen is little Ms. Conversationalist with a sense of adventure and fun at every moment.

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And Ms. Adyson is a mix of sugar and spice with that sweet innocent smile and mischievous glisten in her eye.  She was quite the helper by assisting me with the transportation of snacks for the boys. 😉

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We played Frisbee, volleyball, swang on the swing-set, watched the boys work and played in Clint’s truck and trailer.   Adventures and imaginations were abundant.

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At the end of the day this old barn had been torn down, boards salvaged, treasures were found and ideas for reusing the boards had just begun.

Saving history one re-purpose at a time.

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Follow Troy and Sara’s business page for their newest treasures and creations at  SW Iowa Primitives, Antiques & Furniture.

And if you are interested in making your own creations from salvaged barn board, contact Clint at Walkup Wood Products to get your hands on them!

Around dinner time, Clint took off to Clarinda to help clean up the farm for our annual Pirtlefest shenanigans in a few weeks while I made my way to Villisca to hang with my girl Tina for the remainder of the night.   What started off as a few hours of chatting on the back deck turned into nearly 5!  Beautiful evening, good conversation and ice cold drinks.  Can’t beat that!

Sunday

A day on the bikes with the girls!  And of course it would rain on us on our first leg of the journey to DC’s Waterhole in Plattsmouth, NE.

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But, while we dried out, one of the owners so kindly bought us a round of the most delicious lemon drop shots we have ever had.   Lemon flavored sugar was the secret ingredient to this yumminess.   Next time you are near Plattsmouth, be sure to stop in to DC’s and get yourself one!  Promise you won’t be disappointed!

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Out next stop landed us at Sugar Clay Winery for their last Sangria Sunday.  We enjoyed live music, the most delicious sangria I’ve ever had, yummy snacks and great conversations.

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After we filled our bellies and spent ample time at the winery, we headed back out and aimed East, which naturally landed us by Hunter School outside of Tabor, IA.   Somehow over the last few years, Jessica and I have made it a tradition to jump off the stairs.   What is a simple and quite juvenile act has turned into one of the most hilarious traditions.   If you can’t let loose and act ridiculous with your friends, then you have the wrong friends. 🙂

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After wasting an inordinate amount of time, we lined up like a little duck family for a photo session…

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and continued East to Imogene, IA for some little beers at the Emerald Isle before landing in Silver City, IA at The Hood for some juke box blaring, bar floor stretching, random dancing entertainment.

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Let’s just say we made the bartenders day, because while he gave off the vibe that he wasn’t paying one bit of attention to us, we know he secretly enjoyed the nonsense we provided for an hour.  We even had a surprise visit by Liz and Andy on their way out on the town!

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What is the source of all these photos, you ask?

A helmet visor, similar to Darth Vader or some alien source.  We aren’t quite sure.  But, what we do know, is Tracy rocks that thing like none other.

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And this is where we continued our trek back towards the city and landed at the Back Room Lounge outside of Glenwood, IA for some dinner and friendly conversation with Rat, who found it completely inappropriate that I was merely borrowing a few chips from the counter.  Locals… jeesh! 😉

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Sunday concluded with a BEAUTIFUL sunset ride back to the City that wrapped up a pretty stellar little day of riding.

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Labor Day Monday included a deep cleaning of the house, up and down, yard work, vehicle cleaning and meal prepping for the short week.

September has started off on the right foot and has the promise of continuing that streak with an upcoming anniversary road-trip to Illinois with Clint, Pirtlefest and Bikes Blues & BBQ!

Cheers!

 

3 Day Weekend | Part 2

I definitely closed out June with a bang.  Part One found here.  And now for Part Two…

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Just like a real life Thelma and Louise <- link up to Miranda and Carrie Somethin’ Bad

Saturday

Woke up fairly early to get in a jog (a whole 2 miles y’all… careful now!) and was also able to get in a few errands while Clint changed my oil and air filter on the ol’ Harley.

My gosh he’s so good to me.  ❤

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11:30am: Tyree and I were off to the Bikers for Boobies run, benefiting women with breast cancer.  The organizers of this event always donate the poker run entry fees to women currently battling breast cancer.  Always feels good to donate money to a cause so worthy.

First stop – Victory Bar and Grill, Council Bluffs, IA

And so it begins…

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We met two new cool chicks, Terry and Tracy who rode along with us to stop two: Twisted Tail in BeeBee Town.

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And then this is where our plans derailed.   As we were leaving Bee Bee town headed to Loess Hills Harley Davidson (stop 3) I noticed my bike shimmying when I’d round the curves.  The first time I noticed it I thought it might just be the road.  Going into curve two I had to grip a little tighter to keep the front wheel straight.  I slowed up a bit and motioned for Tyree to come up next to me so I could ask if she was getting that feeling.  She wasn’t feeling anything out of the ordinary which lead me to believe there was something going on with my bike, but we continued on anyway.   Nothing I could do at that point and I still had control.  There happened to be a group of bikes in front of us that were riding slow, only going through corners about 50 mph.  On a normal day, I would find this highly annoying.  :/ Curves are FUN to lean into at a decent speed.  I think it honestly was a blessing in disguise this time.   It forced me to slow my roll.   Once in Council Bluffs while sitting at a stop sign, Tyree noticed my back tire was pretty low.

BINGO!

We rolled into a gas station and sure enough, found a nail.   I am very thankful the leak was slow and it didn’t go flat out on the road.  We all know how unfortunate of a situation that could have been.   And no, mom, the shimmying wasn’t terrible and I wasn’t in immediate danger.   Slowing up allowed for more control and she still had air in it… just not as much as it should.  All is good. 🙂

And this is, again, where  I proclaim again how awesome Clint is.   Gave him a call, he told me to hang tight and he’d be right over to plug the tire.

In the meantime…

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Anyone up for a game of “You’re on Candid Camera?”

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And then:

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He pulled the nail, plugged the hole and then so graciously followed us to Stop 3 at Loess Hills HD!

What a guy.

Side note: Ever wonder how girls get ready while out on motorcycles?   We use each others sunglasses.  Duh!

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Etsy for the win on these shirts.  Love that little slice of internet heaven.

Before we left Loess Hills we made a quick check of the tire pressure and sadly found I was down 10lbs.   We made the decision to call it a day, filled the tire back up and headed to Omaha for a brief stop at the 21st Saloon for a few quick drinks.

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And then we swapped out wheels for the Jeep and it was on to Night Three of Country on the River!

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Dear incredibly tall and drunk couple standing directly in front of me,

               Your making out was a little over the top.  Please enjoy the concert next time and keep the love fest to the back of the room.

                                  Sincerely,

                                                    The people behind you trying to enjoy the Concert

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We had a blast dancing and singing along with Thomas Rhett and The Band Perry.

What an incredible ending to a three day run!

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Sunday

Clint and I are headed to Algona for the Freedom Rally over the 4th of July, so we used the morning to get our trailer out of storage and do a once over on all it’s belongings.   I don’t think we made it anywhere last year to camp, which means our tent and air mattress and everything else has been sealed for almost two years.   That is a little frightening.

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Lucky for us, there were no foul smells coming out of it which means it was sealed up tight.  Thank goodness!    The fun part of unpacking is finding things you totally forgot you had in there!  Like this cute little HD grill.

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We set up the tent to make sure we had all necessary parts:

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And the air mattress to ensure no holes:

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I volunteered to test it out. 😉  Rough day of work I tell ya.

After we had all the items tested, tore back down and packed back in the trailer, Clint took my back tire off so I could take it on up to Butterfield’s for a new inner tube.   Time to get that baby fixed!  The tire itself has life left to live, so we won’t be needing a new one of those quite yet.  Thank goodness!  That is definitely not in my budget right now.

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And this is where she sits… What a sad looking baby.

But, Clint is ready to rock ‘n roll!

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Super stoked for this Rally.   We haven’t been to a local rally since Conesville shut down a few years ago.  Completely bummed about that one.  I am sure Algona will make up for lost time! 🙂

After I dropped my tire off to the boys at Butterfield’s, I set out for an afternoon jog at Zorinsky.  Figured I could use a good sweat to rid my body of it’s weekend toxins.

AKA: Booze

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From the looks of mile 1 and 2 split times, it seems to me that a weekend of booze gives you wings!

…And then mile 3 hit.

I walked a couple times.

My lungs were telling me to slow the hell down.

My legs were crying

And my sweat smelled of beer.  And vodka.  And hotdogs.

Ya, I was getting rid of the toxic weekend alright.

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I did end up doing 4 miles but stopped the app from tracking.  It was definitely a walk/jog kinda stretch. Don’t judge!  At least I was out there after this crazy weekend.   What did YOU do on Sunday to break a sweat?

MMMMMHHHMMMMM.

Lazy bums.

😉

Cheers to a fabulous week ahead!

3 Day Weekend | Part 1

Holy mother of all summer weekends.  This was a good’n!   I had a freaking blast and am sad to see it go, but I can guarantee my wallet and liver are totally cool with it being Monday.

Country on the River in Council Bluffs, IA Thursday night was how I started the weekend off.

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Tyree and I had tickets for all three days of the music festival, and regardless of the fact we weren’t die hard fans of Thursday nights headliners, we still had a great time and enjoyed singing along to the tunes we did know.

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The beers were cold, the weather warm and the company was great!  We even ran into Regeana!

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Can’t beat a good summer night like this!

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We chose to park on the Nebraska side which allowed us to cross the Bob Kerry pedestrian bridge.   Had to pay respect to our states, ya know.

Go Hawks!

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Perfect ending to Day One!

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Friday

Up early, 2 mile run, errands, spa appointment at noon and then it was on to Day 2 shenanigans with Tyree.

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Each year I try to do a partial dry run of the Biker B!tch ride to ensure the roads are good and the mileage is decent.  Tyree and I also do one day each summer where just the two of us go ride, so we combined the two and set out!

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Stop 1 Selfie!  Pacific Junction, IA, where the locals are bellied up to the bar by 1pm on a Friday, drinks are cheap and the bartender is the cutest gentleman you could meet.  Thanks, PJ, for a great start to our stellar day.

Next up: The Wild’s for some lunch!   This stop was the one I was most concerned about.  There is a smaller, winding (and fun) connecting road that runs adjacent to the interstate.   Sadly, a long section of it was turned to gravel last year.  SUPER LAME!    Keeping this location as a stop completely depended on whether or not the road was still gravel and lucky for us, the gravel is gone!  I wouldn’t say the ride is a super smooth one, but that could also just be my bike talking.  We lowered it last year so there is minimal suspension.   Unless you’ve ridden a rigid, you have no idea the toll it takes on your back.  Mine luckily isn’t that rough, but it isn’t a smooth ride like everyone else’s.

The things we do for vanity.  It doesn’t just stop with high heels for this girl.

😉

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After The Wild’s, we adjusted our course since we needed to be back in CB for the evening concerts, so we made a quick stop into Tabor for fuel and then hit up Emerald Isle in Imogene, IA for little beer shots.  If you have never had one of these, you are missing OUT my friends.   So gosh darn delicious. 🙂

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And what bar would be complete without children’s books and fun toys?

                   Ummm…. these were totally for big kids, right?

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Next… Emerson, IA to see Sara, Troy and kiddos!

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We pulled the bikes up to Sara’s dads shop, which is also the NEW home of SW Iowa Primitives, Antiques and Furniture.  <- Linked.  Check it out!

Emerson will always hold a special place in my heart.  ❤   It is where I started riding, really.   I have met some of the GREATEST people in Emerson.  From my BBB, Sara, to countless other people thanks to the many poker runs and camp-overs taken place in this quaint little town.  This shop in-particular held many  “shine nights” before poker runs, lots of beer drinking has been done inside those walls and memory after memory has been made.   It’s fun to see the shop transform into Sara and Troy’s newest business.  Couldn’t be more excited for her.

And of course, stopping in Emerson brings NEW love to my heart with Sara’s little cutie pie’s.

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Lil’ Miss Ady

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Farm girl, Kaeleen.

Taught by the one and only Farmer Tyree.

We stopped into Harley’s Bar and Grill for a quick drink before we had to bounce back to Council Bluffs.  It was time for some live music!

And then Mother Nature decided to make a random appearance.

Rain.   Cold Rain.

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Can you see our handlebars peeking out over the top of the wall?  Weren’t they just so cute tucked away nice and safe while semi’s blew on by?

Sarcasm.

Really thought they might get pushed over at one point.  Slow it down, people!

:/

Camping out under the interstate overpass killed any possibility of us making it to see Casey Donahew Band, but to stay dry and somewhat warm was far more important.   No interest in remaining a wet soggy dog all night.

And, people.  Safety First.  Wear your helmets when not on bike.  It makes an adorable fashion statement, don’t ya say?

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😀

The rain went through as quickly as it came in and we were back on our way.  Sun shining bright in Council Bluffs.  I guess they only got a sprinking.

Best part of rolling in late?  Getting to see this killer scooter gang.   Freaking hilarious!  There had to be at least 20 of them.  I all of a sudden now want a scooter to pimp out.  Anyone up for it?

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FINALLY – we made it to the concert!

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Poor Carrie was stuck for an hour by herself.   Cold beer kept her company though, so she was cool.

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And, apparently my riding boots that I have had for at least 6 years are donezo.  I had some KILLER blisters by the end of the night.   No worries though.  Tyree pulled through with a pair of clean socks.

Don’t ask.

I can’t tell.

😉

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Cheers to a fab Friday!!  Stay tuned for Part 2, including Saturday’s Bikers for Boobies run, a bum back tire experience and Sunday recovery!

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