HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

What am I thankful for?
I came back from a four year stint with the Marines happy and whole.
I am thankful for my crazy wonderful stepmother, whose birthday is today. I won't tell you how old she is, but I can guarantee that with out her, my dad and I would be crazier than we are now. She has been a rock and a support for my family. Happy Birthday, mama!
I am thankful for my awesome dad. Very few women are blessed with fathers like mine.
I have a fantastic husband. Yes, he can be a jerk sometime, but can't we all be twerps at one time or another? Nobody is perfect. Nobody.
I am thrilled that I have wonderful in-laws. Matter of fact, DH's little brother and his beautiful girlfriend are expecting.
I want to wish my stepmom a happy birthday, and everyone else, a very happy Thanksgiving!
Jen

Parents

Today is Wednesday, November 24, 2010. For the rest of the American citizens, this means last minute water baths on frozen turkeys to finish thawing. Or maybe it means pie crust rolling, homemade bread dough kneading, or even potato peeling. For others, it means traveling many miles to spend one day with family.
For me, it is the day before my stepmom's birthday. It is two days before my dad's birthday. (Yes, I know I should use stepmother and father, but that takes away from their 'awesomeness'. ) (Is that a punctuation nightmare or what!?!?)
Wish them luck, they are riding the motorcycle to Shreveport, Louisiana from Central Texas. That is their plan for Thanksgiving.
Happy Thanksgiving!
Jen

Random Pictures

These are two random pics of Reb and Rocks.

They make me happy. (The pics and the mutts)
Have a great day!
Jen

Movie Night!

Stockyards City Main Street Presents:


Movie Night at the Rodeo Opry!

When: Friday, November 19 at 7:00pm

Where: Rodeo Opry, 2221 Exchange Ave., 73108

FREE ADMISSION!

In recognition of Oklahoma's Statehood Day, Rodeo Opry is playing The Man from Oklahoma, starring Roy Rogers and Dale Evans.

Movie Synopsis:

Jim Gardner, hoping to acquire the Pine Valley section around Cherokee City, Oklahoma, for the oil rights, instigates and renews an old time feud between the Lanes and the Whittakers as each faily own half the valley.

So WRRONNGG!

I am so wrong! I know it was bad. I couldn't help myself.

Here is a pic of Jennie's desk.

No Jennie. But it has someone's purse. We will call her 'A'.  She has an annoying habit of being a princess. 'A' gets on Jennie and my nerves.

Did I mention Jennie is out sick today? With Strep Throat?
Well, she is. She called me after her doctor appointment to let me know that that little tickle in the back of her throat yesterday was going to keep her home for a day or two.
So anyways, 'A' comes in today. She flops her purse on to Jennie's desk. Never asks where Jennie is at, just sits down and spreads her junk all over the top of the desk.
She sits down, boots up Jennie's computer, and just moves right in.
'A' then gets up, goes into the workroom, then comes back with a sheaf of papers. She places them in a folder and with a flourish puts the folder into my "New Sale" Rack.
'A' next flops her body into Jennie's chair and says, "now, how do I check my email?"
I tell her, "I don't know, but hey, don't forget to wash your hands when you are done, Jennie is out with Strep Throat today."
Her expression was priceless!
Now, before you get mad about me endangering some unsuspecting person's life, yes, I cleaned the desk this morning right after Jennie called me.
I am not that evil. ;)
Thanks for Stoppin' By!
Jen

Reb and Rocks

These are my babies. Most people have kids. We have dogs. 

I love imagining what is going through their minds.

"Whatcha doin?"

"Can I go outside?"

"Do you have cookies?"

"COOKIES!!"

Thanks for Stoppin' By!

Jen

Weekend with the Parents

I am just back from spending a wonderful weekend with my dad and stepmother.
We went to my cousin's first birthday party.
Poor little guy got icing in his eyes from his little cake.
It was a fun family moment.
I did ride my motorcycle all the way down to their house. It was a wonderful ride. Not real comfortable on the back of my little ZZR-600, but good enough. I can't figure out how to ride and take pictures at the same time, so I did not take any. Sorry.
On the way home, I did find out that the Velcro used to affix our Turnpike Pass to our car's windshields is not strong enough to keep the Pikepass attached to the top of my bike's gas tank. Poor little Pikepass gave it's all, but somewhere between mile marker 45 and the second toll plaza on I-44 headed towards Tulsa from Wichita Falls, that poor little thing just flew off. May it rest in peace.
Headin' to get a new Pikepass,
thanks for Stoppin' By!
Jen

Kennels (Update)

We know that My Office is a Kennel. (click there for previous article)
But, did you know that here in Edmond, Oklahoma, you can have your dog's food delivered to you??
This was just delivered to my office for one of my agents:

Huh. Will wonders never cease?
Have a great Friday!
Jen

Weekend Plans

Yay! It's Thursday! This week is almost over!
Lots of stuff is going on this weekend.
We have my favorite activity ever: Movie Night at the Rodeo Opry!

Darling Husband's Realtor is hosting a Halloween Party Friday from 7-10. Isn't she cute?

 My company is having their Megabucks party Friday from 6-10.

 Saturday night, Nickelback will be playing the Ford Center with Buck Cherry and Three Days Grace.

I have no pictures for that. Sorry.

The Sooners are playing the Iowa Cyclones in Norman.
We have the Edmond Farmers Market.
There is a Gun, Knife, and Outdoor Equipment Show and also a JW Swapmeet starring motorcycle accessories; both activities will be taking place at the State Fair Park.
Even better:
Saturday, I am going to TEXAS to see my Dad and my Stepmom! YAAAYYY!!! Totally excited! (Darling Husband is staying home with the dogs.) I may even get to see my new cousin's birthday. (We will be celebrating his First!)
So what are your plans?
Thanks for Stoppin' By!
Jen

Highways

I just took my first highway ride down a major highway.
It was windy.
It was awesome.
It was scary!
Wow.
I mentioned a few months ago that I took my first trip down Highway 33.
If you would like to see my thoughts on that, please click here: Jen's First Highway Ride. A road that has a 70 mile per hour speed limit. It was a very windy day with winds out of the south and that road runs east to west. It scared me. This was way before we went to Sturgis and had the scary rides through the Black Hills with the 10 mile per hour corners. So my first time down Highway 33 was wicked scary and Darling Husband was a little bent out of shape by it all.
Friday, I tried again. I made it! It was cool! I even did the speed limit and was able to maintain my lane. It was great!
I want to ride down to my Mom and Dad's house in Texas. I thought I would practice and ride down to Cycle Gear in the City. Only way to get there is by big highways. Like Interstates-35 and 44, and Lake Hefner Parkway which merges with I-44 and OK State Highway 74.
I tried the south-bound lane of Interstate-35 Sunday. That was pretty wicked. I stopped a mile later and got off at the next exit because my heart was pounding so hard. It was great! But I thought with my adrenaline going, I would ride across town to Lake Hefner Parkway and take it south. I turned south onto Lake Hefner Parkway where it is still a two lane state highway. It gave me a few miles to work up my nerve before having to ride at 65-75 miles an hour depending on traffic.
Don't poke fun. You try going 70 miles an hour with only a helmet between you and the asphalt in the Oklahoma wind. It takes big calf fries when you have only been riding since June of this year.
So I turn south, and merge with the high speed (to me) traffic on the Parkway. Oh my goodness, I was scared to death. The wind probably was not gusting that high, but to feel the air resistance hit me in the chest was something else.
Did I ever mention that I am terrified of roller coasters?
Well, I am.
The way the wind felt was reminiscent of my first ride on the Texas Giant at Six Flags over Texas.
Thank goodness the road was not curvy like that, but Oklahoma roads are bumpy so between the bumps and the wind, I was very proud of myself when I made it all the way down to Cycle Gear.
My legs were shaking, I had so much adrenaline through my system when I got there.
Obviously I made it there and home safe.
Now, I am totally looking forward to riding to Texas here pretty soon.
Thanks for Stoppin' By!
It was great!
Jen

Happy Columbus Day!

Today is a controversial holiday. With the evidence supporting that Leif Ericsson landed on the North American continent before Christoper Columbus, some ethnic and political groups do not support celebrating today. Either way, most financial institutions are closed and I am sitting here drinking coffee.

So happy Columbus Day!

Go discover something new, or at least new to you.

Thanks for Stoppin' By!

Jen





Something Lighter

Well, folks, sorry to be gloom and doom today.
Here is something lighter from an email from my buddy, Cowboy Ken:

Yesterday I was at my local Costco buying a large bag of Purina dog chow for my loyal pet, Biscuit, The Wonder Dog, and I was in the checkout line when a woman behind me asked if I had a dog. What did she think I had, an elephant? So, since I'm retired and have little to do, on impulse I told her that, no, I didn't have a dog; I was starting the Purina Diet again. I added that I probably shouldn't, because I ended up in the hospital last time, but that I'd lost 50 pounds before I awakened in an intensive care ward with tubes coming out of most of my orifices and I.V.s in both arms. I told her that it was essentially a perfect diet and that the way that it works is to load your pants pockets with Purina nuggets and simply eat one or two every time you feel hungry.


The food is nutritionally complete so it works well, and I was going to try it again. (I have to mention here that practically everyone in line was now enthralled with my story..) Horrified, she asked if I ended up in intensive care because the dog food poisoned me.

I told her no, I stepped off a curb to sniff an Irish Setter's butt and a car hit us both. I thought the guy behind her was going to have a heart attack he was laughing so hard.

Costco won't let me shop there anymore. If there's a moral to this true-life adventure, it is that you better watch what you ask retired people. They have all the time in the world to think of crazy things to say..
 
 
Cowboy Ken's Great!
Hope you have a wonderful day and thanks so much for Stoppin' By!
Jen

Oath of Enlistment

This brought back memories when I was looking through a box of old papers to be shredded.

I, (name), do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God.

We had to memorize this at MEPS before we went into the little room with the big flags to be sworn in to the Armed Services. One of the personnel read this and we repeated after him that oath.

Thanks for Stoppin' By! :0)
Jen

This week in the news...

Looking back at this week, it has been a weird week.

We have the loons from the "church" in Westboro that feels war death are God's punishment for America's tolerance.

We have the news that the foreclosure crisis may last for years, not just months.

We have a woman with advanced dementia reuniting with her husband here in Oklahoma. (She got lost)

Here in Oklahoma City, one of our residents has been accused of threatening President Obama.
According to KOCO, Mr. Garnett posted to the White House web site's message that he is "going to come up there and blow your brains out on national TV" Kind of embarrassing thing about that, he also threatened Israel's president. It would have been nice if we could keep our dirty laundry in the hamper and not air it for the world to see. Oh, well. What are you gonna do? ( OKC Man Charged With Threatening President - Oklahoma City News Story - KOCO Oklahoma City )

Regarding the foreclosure crisis, I hear that Freddie Mac has ordered a "pause" be placed on the sale of all assets serviced by Bank of America. That is from an accurate source that would prefer to be anonymous.
I did find on the Internet the link following that may shed some light on the subject. (http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/39562824/ns/business-real_estate)

Yay for the lady who was reunited with her husband. Advanced dementia can be heart wrenching.

Now, for the loons from that so-called "church" in Kansas. I will not dignify them with a name. They do not deserve to be named. In my eyes, they are terrorists and leaders of a hate group and should be prosecuted as perpetrators of hate crimes against the innocent families of our fallen defenders. I shall pray that they see the light and the errors of their ways. May God have mercy on their souls and may Justice see they get what they deserve.

Thanks for stoppin' by...
Jen

Sylvan Lake Road South Dakota

While we were in Sturgis, on the Tuesday of that week, Darling Husband and I went on a long ride through the Black Hills and around Custer State Park.
We saw some of the most beautiful scenery. This is off of Sylvan Lake Road:



 I really don't know why he thought he would have cell phone service out here.

 I don't know how I feel about this picture.

The view was pretty, regardless.

Wish I was still there!

Thanks for stoppin' by!

Jen

Plaza District Festival

Tomorrow, the Plaza District will be holding its festival on a strip of NW 16 between Indiana and Blackwelder avenues. Please see below for more information.

Read more: http://newsok.com/plaza-district-festival-great-choice-for-art-and-entertainment/article/3501567#ixzz11iE0hMMY

Sorry about the long address line. I will try to figure out how to make it look like a "click here" link one of these days.


Thanks for stoppin' by!
Jen

Feelin' Old

Sometimes I just plain feel old. Like today. I play music on my computer to drown out the silence in my office. Today, the radio was playing "Long Way From Home" by Foreigner. One of my agents' children came in today. She is 22 years old. She asked me what was playing. I said "Foreigner." Kiddo says, "A Foreigner? What's that?"

Thanks for stoppin' by!
Jen

Bikes Blues and Barbecue, 2010

Saturday we went to Fayetteville, Arkansas to check out the Bikes, Blues and Barbecue Rally.

We got up at 5:30 that morning, met at the Valero on Edmond Road at 6:30, and were on the road by 6:45. Oh, man was it early and cold! The temperature guage on Darling Husband's bike did not get over 48 degrees Farenheit until around 9:15 or so. With the speed that we were riding and using the wind chill calculator from weatherimages.org , we were riding at about 25 degrees Farenheit until then. Brr!

We rode down Kelly Avenue to Broadway extension to I-40 to Arkansas Highway 23.

Highway 23 is also known as the Pigtrail Highway.

It is curvier than a Coca-Cola Bottle. I really liked the 20 MPH sign. It was not a suggestion.

For this one below, though, it was a suggestion.

I did not take any pictures of us in left hand turns because I did not want to throw us off balance.

Ok, so I was scared. Don't judge. 20 is not a suggestion here. 10 is the suggestion.

We doubled back on our selves on that curve.

Here is Broccoli, next bike is Flip and Flip's girl, then the Redeemed Wolf, his buddy, then Darling Husband's buddy, J.

Always wear your helmets, kids.
We got to Fayetteville around 12:00. Yes, we were going WAY Slow. Stopped quite often. It is really only a 4 hour drive. Unless you go out of the way to take the Pigtrail Highway.

So here is Darling Husband and the Redeemed Wolf contemplating the Kegmobile.
All said and done, we had a good time and we look forward to going next year.
Thanks for Stoppin' By!
Jen

Brrrr!

I got up this morning and it sure was cold!

So just a short thought this morning:

Before we wait until the last minute to turn our heaters on, we might do a test run on them.

It seems that every year, we all wait and then lo and behold: they don't work!

And neither do the heaters of the other bazillion people in our area, either.

So it is a waiting game for our heater repairmen to get out to our area.

Thanks for Stoppin' By!

Jen

Delete

I love the "Del" button. Totally my favorite. It's not like backspace, where it messes up your indents and your bullets. You just press "Del" and it sucks up all of your future mistakes.

Wonder what life would be like if we had a delete button?

I wonder how many of us would still be here.

How many of us would still have 80's hair? Or not have children and still wear "Mom" Jeans?

Oh, I wonder if I could have avoided dating whats-his-name in high school?

Or leaving the Marine Corps?

But then, I wouldn't have a hair cut my husband likes. (We have been married ten years, and only recently did he let me know that he disliked my long hair with bangs). (He didn't tell me until after I got the new haircut).

Still no kids, but I did quit wearing "Mom" Jeans, even if they are comfortable. I did not realize they give you a weird look on your stomach.

If I had not separated from my beloved Corps, I might not have my Rocksanne dog, wouldn't have the friends I cherish, might not ride a motorcycle. Marriage probably would not have made it, either.

And What's-his-name? I found him on the Internet. He has put on a lot of weight and is bald. However, in retrospective, I probably would not change that experience. Sometimes it takes a bad experience to make you appreciate what you do have. (Like a husband who hates your hair and doesn't tell you).

Thanks for Stoppin' By!

Jen

Kennels

My office is a kennel. Literally, a kennel.


We have Elton, the replacement closer:



We have Hartford on his way to check on the status of The New Guy's inbox:



Pepper is supervising the Closing department.



And Rebel and Rocksanne are signing the contracts on their new home.







Busy day in Real Estate!

Ladies' Night at Stockyards Mercantile!

Thursday, September 30 6:00pm - 8:30pm Enjoy shopping with friends, wine, and hors d'oeuvres. Door prizes will be given away!
Stockyards Mercantile 1312 S AgnewOklahoma City, OK 73108 405-605-4390

Megabucks

The executive officers of my company have decided that they are going to have a "Megabucks Bonanza" so the agents that don't have a lot of sales can accrue Megabucks.

What is Megabucks, you might ask.

Well, Megabucks is a point system that works a lot like Monopoly. As you make real estate deals, attend continuing education, and use good lenders, you accrue Megabucks. You also get awarded Megabucks for supporting your team on Team Spirit Day (AKA Jeans Day to my co-closer and I). One of the owners has a class on Mondays that the agents can accrue Megabucks for attending. At the end of the season, there will be an auction where the agents can use their Megabucks to bid on items in an auction. Yesterday, it was twenty points to wear yellow to the office.

today:

TUES 9/28 CRAZY FUN TASK
Tues. 9/28 "30 Days of Crazy Fun" task is: 75 Mega Bucks to anyone having their picture taken with Jen or Jennie holding a sign that says "I love my closers"

Jennie and I are not amused.

Picture by Joyce Manthey of the Linda Finch Team

Past couple of days

I am so thankful for the little things in life. We had a lovely weekend here in town. The weather was wonderful. Friday, Darling Husband rode out to Shawnee to the casino with a friend of his. I had plans to ride out on Saturday with a friend to Pops. While they were gone, I took the opportunity to ride out to Pops in Arcadia to make sure I could make the ride. I have never rode on Old Highway 66 so I figured I might need to practice so I would not hold up the group.
So, that was easy.

Saturday, Paula, Doc, and Rick and I made the ride out to Pops for lunch as planned. It was a great time. We took the long way from Quail Springs up and over and around. It was great!The weather was perfect. The sun was shining, it was warm, it was perfect. Then we rode back to the meeting point, and I headed home from there.

Darling Husband and I had a birthday party to go to for one of our friends. The friend turned 30. We had 17 of us in a limo. It was a decent time. We went to Vito's on May Avenue for dinner, then headed to some bar in Bricktown to watch the UFC fights, then made our way to America's Pub to spend the rest of the evening.

Going to America's Pub for people watching was so much better than going to the State Fair. My goodness, some of the people, their clothes, and their behavior! It was just, wow. That is all I have for that, wow. That's it.

On the way home from the Pub, the limo took us back in the order of which we were picked up. The birthday boy of course being dropped off last. Unfortunately, we were the second to last drop off. Yup. Fun and Hyjinks ensued.
Darling Husband tells me I am a fun-hater, since I don't really care for large-groups-of-people-in-a-limo parties anymore.

One of the guests who was getting dropped off at the last drop off, (we will call him Fred) decided that it would be a great idea to crawl out to the back window and try to climb up on top of the limo and surf down Boulevard in Edmond. While the limo is moving. Did I mention that Fred is totally out of his mind at this point? Apparently he was sober enough to just zip out the window with the speed of light when one of the other female guests begins screaming at the driver to stop. The driver slams on the brakes, and Fred, while coherent enough to climb out the window, was not coherent enough to get back in the limo. The limo driver wanted to leave Fred on the side of the road. Can't say I blame him. Of course, drama ensued and we sat on the side of the road for ten minutes. Finally, Birthday Boy's wife swears Fred is not going to climb back out of the window and we get on the road.

At last, we get to our neighborhood.

Darling Husband and I got back home and called it a night.

Definitely thankful that we all got home safe Saturday night.

Thanks for Stoppin' By!
Jen

Ridin'

I love riding my bike to work.

It is kind of therapeutic. Leaving for lunch is not so therapeutic. May Avenue can be kind of busy. Darling Husband laughed at me quite a bit because for the longest time, I would not turn left out of my office parking lot. I can go all the way home and only make 2 left turns. I would go south to NW 150th, turn west, then turn north on Highway 74 and head up to Sorghum Mill and turn back east for a few miles. Left into the neighborhood and left onto my street. Real slow left turns. So the first day I made my very first left turn on to May Avenue was AWESOME! I was totally pumped, it was great.

Now, it is sort of old hat. I still have to work on not stalling out on my hill of doom. But what I want to talk about is going to lunch this afternoon. I went to the home of the golden Arches. I make my left turn on to May Avenue, then I get in the right lane. The restaurant's drive way is kind of rough for a new rider to navigate. I have to go up a hill, cut through the doctor's office parking lot and then make a hard left.

Doesn't sound too bad, does it?

Well, it is not too bad, unless you have someone driving a pick up truck with a fully loaded landscape trailer pulling out at the same time. It gets even better: the driver is a crusty looking old man with a completely confused expression. So he keeps rolling into your lane and swings wide to get the trailer around the corner. So you have to stop, half way up the hill, and you aren't that good at riding anyways, so you are praying that you don't kill the engine, 'cause it is going to be a pain trying to get restarted on a 35 degree uphill approach. Then he stops. He stops in the middle of the road. Then, since you are stopped, because he is blocking the driveway, and trying to keep your bike upright and from rolling backwards, he decides to roll the window down.
Did I mention that you are wearing a full-face helmet? And a pink t-shirt with brown slacks and white and green running shoes? Just checking. 'Cause you are wearing that outfit. Oh, and black gloves.

He rolls the window down and yells out with this totally flabbergasted expression on his face: "Are you a GIRL????"

You nod, irritated, and gun your engine and squeeze around the guy.

Thank goodness going back to work was much easier!

Thanks for Stoppin' By!
Jen

Movie Night Comments

We went to movie night at the Rodeo Opry on Friday night. We had a great time!

The movie was really cute. It is kind of fun to watch their high-tech efforts from the 1930's.

The movie itself felt like a morality picture but it had a good ending.

Thanks for Stoppin' By!

Jen

Movie Night!

TONIGHT!

Go to the Oklahoma State Fair for a couple hours, then swing by Stockyards City and watch the 1933 classic "State Fair!" Stockyards City Main Street Presents: Movie Night at the Rodeo Opry! When: Friday, September 17 at 7:00pm Where: Rodeo Opry, 2221 Exchange Ave., 73108

FREE ADMISSION

In honor of the Oklahoma State Fair, they are proud to be showing State Fair the 1933 classic starring Will Rogers and Janet Gaynor. Movie Review: The 1933 State Fair was the first of three film versions of the Phillip Stong bestseller. Some consider it the best of the three because of its stricter adherence to the source material and the presence of star Will Rogers. Rogers plays Abel Frake, patriarch of a family whose individual members are affected by the upcoming Iowa State Fair in various fascinating ways. Abel hopes to enter his prize hog Blue Boy and win the blue ribbon. His wife Melissa (Louise Dresser) wants to enter her mincemeat in a food competition, his son Wayne (Norman Foster) wants to get even with a carnival sharpster who'd outsmarted him during the last state fair, and daughter Margery (Janet Gaynor) just wants to get out of the house for a little fun. The parents win their prizes (though it looks for a while that Blue Boy will succumb to a serious illness) the children have brief romances (one happy, one cautionary), and everyone goes home a little wiser for the experience.

Article Totally Hijacked from the Stockyards City Newsletter

Thanks for Stoppin' By!

Jen

Been out to Lunch

Sorry I have not checked in in a while. It's been kind of crazy.

Before we went to Sturgis, Darling Husband decided we (me) needed to go on a diet. So, every night after work, we run straight home, have supper (dinner), change, and go to No Limit's Gym so Dave Johnson can abuse us (me). Actually, Dave is a great guy. You like the plug for his gym? We get home about nine, shower, do the supper (dinner) dishes, and go to bed. My house is a wreck.

Laundry needs to be folded.

Then, after two weeks of this fun and exciting bit of hijinks, over Labor Day, we go to Cascade, Iowa for his 15 year class reunion.
No pictures were taken. I believe that all things are temporary. Rivers change course, mountains do move, people get married, they get divorced, and our bodies all age. But the darn picture of you being drunk and stupid that your buddy posted on the Internet stays around for forever.

Then we get back home, it is work, pick the house up, ride the bike, and go to the Redeemed Wolf's wedding. It was a beautiful wedding. I guess they are going to Maui for the honey moon.
So, that is what has been going on for the last month.

I am tired.

Thanks for Stoppin' By!
Jen

9/11 on 9/12

We remember.

On the Way to Cheyenne

After we got up Saturday morning, we had breakfast with John,

Candace, and Lee. Then we went to go visit Grandma. It was a nice visit.

Then we got back on the road. Throughout this afternoon, one thought keeps running through my mind: How desperate must the western settlers have been to cross this desolate area? For miles there is nothing. No houses, just fields of scrub.
We were just on this highway for forever and it did not have any turns.
I never was so glad to get to a restaurant.
This place had pretty decent food, just outside of Limon, CO

Thanks for Stoppin' By!

Jen

Finally in LaJunta

I was soooo glad to get to the hotel last night!

We hit construction on the south side of Springfield, Colorado and we must have missed the follow me truck because we were there for forty-five minutes waiting for our turn.

Now, a person might ask, why are you going through Colorado to go to Sturgis, South Dakota.

There are a couple of reasons. First, my brother and my grandmother live in Rocky Ford, Colorado. That means we get to see them. Second, going through Colorado means going around Nebraska which means I don't have to wear a helmet. Yes, I believe in helmets, does that mean I like to wear them? Most emphatically, no. I do wear one while I am riding my ZZR but if I am riding pillion with Darling Husband, I will pass, thank you very much.

So anyways, we get through Woodward very uneventfully. Then, we run into construction just outside of Fort Supply. Highway 3 is down to one lane. We get through that and keep heading down the highway.

About thirty minutes later, more construction. Yay! (Not really) Again, we stop. We talk to the flagman and he tells us he is from Amarillo, Texas. Flagman says that when he first took the job, he thought it would be boring. He found out other wise. He tells us about how that morning, he has a lady in an SUV just blow right past his stop sign. Then she had to reverse to where he was and shut her car down. Flagman asked the lady why she did not stop, she tells him that she did not see his bright yellow reflective vest nor did she see the great big red stop sign he was waving at her. He was in the middle of the road. He had to jump out of her way. Finally, the follow me truck comes back and we get to get back on our way. Flagman did not want his picture taken.

Finally, we get to Guymon, Oklahoma. We stop, fuel the bikes, and head north Highway 287 to Springfield, Colorado.

As we come up highway 287 north to Springfield, we are greeted with this fabulous sight: parked cars in the road, engines not running.

We stop; dad and Darling Husband kill the engines to the bikes and we dismount. We must have just missed the follow me truck, because we were numbers seven and eight in this line and soon traffic behind us was backed up a half mile. We sat there for twenty minutes and talked about how the construction we were sitting in must go all the way to Springfield for it to take this long for the truck to come back. Finally the truck comes back and we get to mount back up and slowly roll through the six and a half miles of construction. When we get to Lamar, we pull into the gas station to fill up. We have just an hour of road time left to La Junta and the hotel.

So we get to the hotel, and hooray for paisley sheets!

We visited with my brother and his new girlfriend, Candace.

We visited with Lee, a friend of the family, and his new project car.

Then it was bed time...

Thanks for stoppin' by!

Jen

Rollin' Rollin' Rollin

So we have been on the bikes for ages! It sure is a long and windy ride accross central and western Oklahoma. We left so early this morning! It sure is dark.

The lights are still burning on the neighborhood sign.

I tried to take a picture of the trees surrounding the road that we left out on but it was still too dark. So I adjusted the colors and this is what we got:

We are finally stopping in Kingfisher for breakfast at The City Cafe just north of Highway 33 on the northbound road through town. The food is awesome. However, if you order the biscuits and gravy, the biscuit my dad ended up with was about four inches tall by four inches wide by four inches long. It was huge! The hashbrowns were so yummy! Just like when I was a kid. I am so full and sleepy that I just totally forgot to take pictures. (Come on, it is six o'clock in the morning!) The sun was up and we passed through some of Oklahoma's beautiful plains. I like this one where you see one of Oklahoma's income earners.

That is a pumpjack pumping oil with the storage tank next to it.

This is before Woodward, I love this old barn. Of course, Darling Husband asks if I would like the clapboard home. He says it would take a little work but he thinks it would be a great fixer upper!

I like seeing the windmill nestled with the cattle chutes. It reminds me of a time long ago, even though these are modern chutes.

More ridin' yet to do.

Thanks for stoppin' by!

Jen