We met at the Red River Harley-Davidson dealership at US287/City View Dr, in Wichita Falls Texas, at 0830 hrs. We went KSU at about 0855 hrs. On today's ride were: David (Road Captain), Vicki (Rodney's Wife) and me. We went into the dealership to look around and yap at people we knew. I got to talking to Ginger, one of the great sales persons there and she let me take a picture of her hard at work..
Then I saw Amber and got her and Ginger together for a picture. Those of you who are regular viewers, know Amber from previous posts. She & Jennie are in quite a few of the posts...
Next, I find Greg, a former co-worker of mine who, like David & I, retired and unlike David and I, found this great job at the Harley Dealership being in charge of the Rider's Edge Program. See the Harley link for more info: http://redriverharley-davidson.com/Default.asp. Here I get my weekly hug from Greg. Greg is 6'8" & I am 5'11"
Then, I found my favorite salesperson, Jennie..She was just coming to work and we were leaving the dealership. I really like her because she is always cheerful and smiling. I am sure she has bad days like everyone else, but I have never seen her not cheerful or smiling. If you are in the area and want to pick up some kewl Harley apparel or accessories, stop in and see Jennie, Amber or Ginger and they will find you want you're looking for and be happy to do it...
As we get ready to go, Vicki & David get together for a picture. I have know Vicki's husband, Rodney, and David since the late 70's and we are all good friends...
Last shot before we pull out Westbound on US 287, are the used bikes the guys were pulling out of the shop and parking outside the dealership.
And we are off. Here are Vicki & David westbound on US 287 about a mile or so west of the Red River Harley Davidson dealership
We continue westbound on US 287 until we reach Vernon Texas and then we swing North on US 283 into Oklahoma and up into Mangum, where we were going to eat lunch at the Burger Inn. I eat hamburgers all the time (ask all the regulars I ride with) and I have got to say that the Burger Inn in Mangum Oklahoma, have some of the best burgers that I've had..Makes the 103 mile (one-way) trip, worth it.
Here we go north on US 283. Vicki in front of me and David in the lead..
Still northbound on US 283...Closing in on Oklahoma & the Red River...
Here is Vicki cruising at around 70 mph, northbound..
Vicki cruising north on US 283.. She loves that new Harley of hers.
Here is David rolling along at 70 mph. He still has that left front fork seal blown out..Says he will get it fixed tomorrow. I will probably see him there at the shop as a bolt vibrated out of the right side of my windshield mounting bracket and it's one of those metric, hex head things...Hopefully, the dealership will have one lying around and I can get a quick fix on it..
As we round the curve, the Red River Bridge comes into view..On the other side of the Red River is Oklahoma.
Got the Red River sign this time. Missed it last trip. Getting pictures of small signs at 70 mph on a motorcycle is more luck & guesswork than skill.. (S.W.A.G. is more like it) But, I am getting better at it.
Even timed the Red River shot better this go around.. Here is the Red River, looking Eastward on the bridge.
Here are Vicki & David on the bridge a couple hundred yards from Oklahoma.
Got a better picture of the Oklahoma State line sign this time too. But, knowing where everything is at now, helps alot..
Here is the Altus Oklahoma welcome sign...
Here we are entering Altus Oklahoma. We were looking for a place to stop & rest the butts and get something to drink.
David, who does not have severe CRS yet, remembers the Valero station that Russ had us stop at last week. So, we stopped there again..This time, there was no wild eyed old man, on a mission, in his car, circling the parking lot and we got to stay a little longer..Here is the last shot of me with my vest on..It warmed up quick and I was starting to cook in that thing.
Here is Vicki heading to the store to get something to drink. She shed her jacket also..David left his leather on until we reached Mangum and then he shed his too..
Here is David, explaining something to me & Vicki. My CRS is fine and in full swing so I can't tell you what we were talking about cause I can't remember..
We leave Altus, drive thru Blair and then take the turn to Mangum..We are about 5 miles out when I took this picture.
My S.W.A.G almost failed, but if you click the pic, that blue sign is the Mangum Oklahoma sign..
We are about three blocks from our destination, The Burger Inn, in Mangum Okla.
And here it is, the Hamburger Inn, 103 miles NW of Wichita Falls Texas.
Actually, that was the original Hamburger Inn. It has blossomed into this larger building now. But, you can still go in the original place and order up some burgers...
Here is Debbie & Mandy. Debbie was our waitress last week and they both waited on us this trip. Mandy has a broken jaw that was done by her dentist as he tried to pull a tooth..
Here comes David, back from a research mission...
Prior to ordering, David takes this pic of Vicki & me..
After eating & prior to leaving, here is David by the front window of the Burger Inn.
Here is Vicki hugging a little bear by the front window...
As we got ready to leave, we started to talk to Kirk, who also had just finished eating at the Burger Inn. She is from Sayre, Okla and was in Mangum picking up some items. She had never been on a motorcycle before, but she did stand down by the bikes with Vicki & David..I asked her if she wanted to go for a ride around the block, but she just had hip surgery and couldn't get on the bike plus , she said motorcycles scared her..She was a very pleasant person and we enjoyed talking to her..
We leave Mangun and headed to the Wichita Wild Life Refuge, located just north of Lawton & Ft. Sill, in the Wichita Mountains. Here we head down Hwy 9 towards Lone Wolf Oklahoma..
Getting closer to Lone Wolf Oklahoma. In the next couple of weeks, Jeremy (who rides with us) and I are going to make a run up to Lone Wolf Okla. Jeremy has the Lone Wolf No Club patch on the back of his vest and we want to get a picture of him by the Lone Wolf City Limits sign. Then we are gonna ride up to Oklahoma City, eat lunch & then head back to Texas.
I thought I missed the Lone wolf sign and thought this was it. As I took this over my shoulder I thought I got the sign and was feeling pretty smug..When I got back home and reviewed it, I found it wasn't the Lone Wolf City Limit sign, but rather the Quartz Mountain sign...Oh well, win some, lose some..
We turn south on Hwy 54 and stop to rest the butts and walk around in the parking lot of the Cooperton Baptist Church.We felt better then walked across the street to the sign that advertised the business directly behind the Baptist Church..
And what could go better behind a Baptist Church, than a Dance Hall...So Vicki & David decided to cut a rug, er...ahh...grass?
Not to be outdone, I went up to Vicki and danced next and proved once & for all, that this disabled white boy can't dance, can't jump and has no rhythm..But, put me on a motorcycle and I am pure poetry in motion...
Here is Vicki & David prior to leaving, with mountains in the background..
And here is today's solo pic of David...
We left the church, went down Hwy 54 a short distance and turned back east on Hwy 49. Oh, did I mention that my gas light had been on for over 12 miles..We found out that I can go 22 miles with the gas light on...
Here we are closing in on the Wichita Mountains
Still eastbound on Hwy 49 in Oklahoma..
Getting closer to the Mountains and my gas tank is getting closer to empty. And this is out in the middle of nowhere...
One of the more unique warning signs.. Longhorns & Buffalo roaming loose is one thing they tell ya about. What they don't tell ya about is all the calfs running around that like to run out in front of cars and big white motorcycles...Right David? David almost got us free hamburgers when that thing jumped out in front of his eastbound motorcycle and the westbound car..But the calf was spooked more than David was and left cow patties on the roadway as proof...Then again, we didn't look at the seat of David's bike either..
Here we enter the Wildlife refuge with pictures of all the wonderful, man hating animals that run loose there. Being there in a car is one thing..Being there on a motorcycle feels like you have little bull's eyes all over you telling the animals to insert horn here, gouge with antler there...But because I have never been impaled before, it is still a fun ride...
Here we are still eastbound. Other than that calf, we have been critterless so far...
Stay away from the trees Vicki!!! Probably got baboons, apes and rock monkey's they forgot to mention too!!
I don't know what that is out there..My vision isn't the greatest so it's either a buffalo or a large rock...I'm talking about the little black dot next to the tree..
Some of the mountain scenery back to the south..While we call these mountains, I have friends who live around Tucson ,Arizona & Colorado Springs, Colorado, that call these "small rock piles"
Now, that is a buffalo on the other side of the fence...Must be a trouble maker to be fenced up like that. All his buddies apparently live on this side of the fence, judging by all the buffalo crap I saw on the side of the road. At least they were considerate buffalo's and crapped on the side of the road instead of in the middle of the road. I am convinced that all the dead stuff you see on the roadways didn't die because they wanted to cross the road.. They must of liked the feel of the warm asphalt on the little pads of their paws and had stopped to defacate when they got nailed by whatever hit them. Except for snakes..they must like the warmth on their bellies, but being 6' long, they don't stand a chance anyway.. So remember kids, don't fall for the call of the warm asphalt on your feet..Please stay in the grass..Thank you. This has been a public service announcement by those who give a ...oops, I mean , care..
Still heading in an easterly direction. There are enough curves here in the portion of the ride to make it fun.
Apparently, I saw somehing in my mirror that I wanted a picture of...
Here we are following the Wildlife Refuge Park Pick-up truck...
I think those are Longhorn Cattle out grazing..
This is Lake Lawtonka from ground level. I usually take pictures of it from the summit of Mt. Scott.
David drops behind me and breaks out his camera, so he can film me running out of gas..I had been looking at my fuel light now for about 20 miles..He has never forgiven me for when I photo documented him running out of gas in the middle of nowhere and then putting it on the blog..The man was salivating at just the thought..I was glad I could do something to make him overjoyed...
Here he pulls up to see if he can hear my engine start to cough & spudder & do that outta gas song. He is also grinning because he knows that all I have is $5 and a Shell gas card and he also knows, there are no Shell stations within 70 miles and the $5 won't give me enough gas to get back to Wichita Falls Texas. My only hope is that my gas gauge, which doesn't work 100%, is wrong and there is more gas in the tank than is registering. Problem is, we are riding into and have been riding into, a strong headwind and that really jacks with my gas mileage..
Well, lucky for me we found a gas station and I put my last $5 into the tank which gave me a little over 1.5 gallons. We were still North of Lawton and had, after putting gas in the bikes, turned around and were heading up to Chaps My Ass, a motorcycle accessory/apparel store in Medicine Park Oklahoma...See: http://www.chapsmyass.com/. The good thing was that they had cold drinks at Chaps my Ass and we were thirsty. The bad thing was, that this was Monday and we had all forgotten that Chaps is closed on Monday
This is the sign in front of Chaps My Ass, in the median..
We couldn't go in and get a drink or buy anything, but Vicki got to caress the sign...
Whie we were there, the Medicine Park Chief of Police, Rod, pulls up in one of the new police cars. We talked for awhile and he directed us to a suitable spot for our needs that was open, The Plantation Restaurant, down around the corner from where we were at..
Enroute to the Plantation, I took this picture for Janice , my wife. She loves angel statues & figurines, and we will be making a trip back to Medicine Park & this Shop in the near future.
We get to the Plantation and David & Vicki, joined by Britney, the cashier/bartender, tip one for the health of all our biker buddies & buddettes. Having a bad pancreas and being a major diabetic, I had water on the rocks and tossed a few down myself..
We leave Medicine Park and take Hwy 49 to I -44. Here we are southbound on I-44 (ok, ok, westbound via a southerly direction) and we hit the ever present road construction, just a little north of Ft. Sill..
We stop at the McDonald's/gas station & Conveinence store for a waste water removal exercise, prior to going thru the toll gate and home..This is the last picture of the ride today and will conclude this post..We all had a great time and had some great laughs. I apologize to David for not running out of gas, thus making this a truly GREAT ride for him, but maybe next time David...and thanks to you both for coming on the ride and making me laugh...I needed it!!
BTW, my bike's gas tank holds 5.3 gallons. After watching the gas light come on again about 45 miles from Wichita Falls, I started to sweat. When I got to the Shell station by the house, it took 5.1 gallons..Little too close for comfort, in my opinion..
Scroll down for more rides, events & posts and be sure to click on the "older posts" link at the bottom of EACH page for more posts, back to January 08. Until next ride & post, ya'll be carefull out there, ride safe, watch out for cow patties and such, and keep the rubber on the road..JOHN
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