Thursday, June 30, 2011

The Rest of the BF3 Story...


It's been a week or so. I am amazed at the schizophrenic weather we are experiencing. One minute it's in the triple digits and the next down in the 60's and raining. The garden is even confused. I think it had a great drink but now it is supposed to be hot again. Oh well, at least the 4th weekend will be normal unlike our Memorial Day. I am going to shoot some more in my back yard - lots of different flowers abloom so I have new material but for now I am working on the pile of pictures I took last weekend. I posted some on FB and also on our Obsolete Iron blog but I saved some of the ones Jesse took in Disneyland with Renee` and the kids for here.
Our setup ... truck, trailer, 4 bikes, RV.

We took off Thursday last and spent the day on I-5 ~ that sucks. Never has there been a road so uninteresting and long. We were pulling the trailer with the bikes so we had to maintain a lower speed. Jesse followed behind in Renee`'s mom and dad's RV packed with Renee`, Jerry and the kids.

If you're not the lead dog, the view is always the same.
We had reservations at the Arroyo Campground in Orange County along with our friends. Ernie and Linda left earlier than us and were in camp a couple of hours ahead of us. They had their tent and kitchen set up by the time we rolled in.

Not much to do with a rolling house so we got out and stretched our legs and drug out the camp chairs. Everyone was happy to be still after the long drive down and we feasted on hot dogs and a big green salad with chicken n fixins on top.

Friday morning Jesse and Renee`and the kids left for a full day at the happiest place on earth. They did not return until around 11 p.m. From all accounts it was a good day full of Disney fun and the kids were troopers but fast asleep when they rolled in that night.
Where's the first photo opp? Yup... gotta have castles!

The carousel claimed first ride attention 

Renee` and Sofia going round and round.

And then ... DUMBO, of course

Looks like Cole's happy here...

Until he took a header into a park bench and had some quiet time with Dad to feel better


Pirate sword and mouse ears. Staples of the famous day!

While the kids did Disney, we spent some time riding the surrounding roads and visiting around camp. It was interesting to wander around ~ there were people from all over the US and Canada. Our neighbors were a couple of young boys from Milwaukee and across the camp site, a few couples from Vancouver BC.
Our Vancouver, BC neighbors. Check out the chair...

Lots of bikes in the camps. Some rode, some trailered

Old bikes and metal flake helmets were amazingly abundant

Tents, bikes and trailers, oh my....


License plates from Arizona, Michigan, Oregon, Oklahoma were scattered around the campground. Mixed in were families on weekend outings (Oh NO, Dear... There's BIKERS all around us!) and even Elaine who was having a 50th birthday camp out with 20 of her closest friends. (Cool Idea, by the way) Happy B'day Elaine and the boys in camp really appreciated the "Cougar" hunt....

Happy rodent


Other than a couple of moments of being shushed around the campfire, we survived the rules and regulations of Orange County's regional park's officials well. Of course we had to move the bikes off the dirt to the gravel because they might leak oil on the dry ground with no vegetation. And quiet time for RV generators was 8 p.m. and quiet time for campground conversaton was 10:30. I am sure there is something more they told us but once all the bikes showed up on Saturday they were so busy with the younger crowd, we became their star campers ~ gotta love us "old folks"! Ernie enjoyed some one on one time with some squirrels and some peanuts.

Come on, Ernie...stop feeding the wildlife!
Food was fixed, served and consumed... libations were discretely handled (no alcohol in the park) and the fire pit was a nice communal visiting spot. Stories were bandied about including the day's altercation between Jerry and a bee. This particular chronicle was related by Jerry looking through his good eye (he has a bad one) and the swollen right side of his face.
Poor Jerry ... his whole right side of his face was swollen from the bee sting

Entrance to our camp


our line up of bikes. 3 pans and a shovel - before they made us move them.


Had to try some PS magic with at least ONE of the shots....
On to Saturday and the bike show. Most of the photos from this are posted at the Obsolete Iron blog so you can switch over there to see them if you like. You can ignore the "adult" warning as the pictures are mine and thus you all know me... Rated "G" hah!
Vendor area
The weather was perfect, the crowd was diverse and positive. The people in attendance came from all corners of the world. Even from Japan, South America, Europe and who knows where else? It is actually amazing that this event is not advertised in any of the usual biker magazines. It is mostly spread via internet and blogs. The organizers are a group of guys who decided that the normal bike shows were too expensive to attend, with too few "real" choppers and old bikes to enjoy. Born Free is actually a ride in bike show where you can park your own bike in the show area, general parking or, if you are an invited builder, you can showcase your "build" for the event in the main vendor area. There were a lot of vendors and booths to wander with trinkets and stuff related to old chopper style bikes. There were 14 (I think) awards given to the ride in bike show bikes and of course many classifications and categories of bikes - weirdest paint - most unusual build - most classic look - etc...
Hangin in the shade
Mark found us a wonderful table in the shade of a giant tree behind the vendors and next to the little lake. We planted our flag and staked it out for the day. Renee` had to bring the truck so we had her bring our camp chairs and some stuff. I took some of my calendars and even though one of Jesse's friends who had a booth let us display them, none sold. I heard from another vendor that no one was buying anything. I hate this economy! I gave one to Todd, the guy who let me put my calendars on his table and came home only one calendar light. Bummer...but... I have 6 more months to sell! Maybe closer to the end of the year it will be better.
And me too!

Renee` n the kids

Her friend, Maryanne and new baby came by to say hi.

Papa Goodie and Sofia. All the kids love Ernie!
The day culminated with the drawing for a Knucklehead bike built for the event. Some guy from Las Vegas won it...good for him...bummer for my guys who wanted it - yeah, they need another bike - and then we packed all our stuff and headed back to camp.
Another successful campfire and evening and Sunday morning dawned to the sound of striking camp. It took us a bit to get it all down and packed and by 11 we hit the road for home. It is a 9 hour drive the way we do it... I think we actually rolled in around 9:30 p.m. tired and ready for our own showers and beds.
As it was, we had a great time, saw a lot of cool stuff, met some neat people and were seen in one of the most unique and awesome events for the Retro Chopper/Antique Motorcycle scene. Couldn't have asked for more.
If you hung in here this long, I bid you Happy Trails. Life is good, tell the ones you love that you do and have a safe and happy 4th of July. And, most importantly - thank a soldier that we are still free to celebrate this day!

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