July 2009 - Posts

Wednesday, July 29, 2009 3:16 PM

Gold Rush XXII -- They're Off!

GWTA's Gold Rush XXII was truly a “Day at the Races”... the whole week seemed to go by in a blur as we tried to take in and remember all that happened during the national rally in Lexington.  Our hats go off to the Gold Wing Touring Association staff and volunteers who worked to make this week unforgettable and to the “Destination Friendship” members who made it happen.

The Nebraska rains timed up with our irrigation pivots so that we were able to leave home two days early and schedule a side trip to visit Brittni at Murray State University...  Nothing like changing plans at the last minute and hitting the road ahead of schedule!  Fellow farmers and Chapter W members Bob & Jacquie Grams received rain also and were able to travel with us.  We were surprised at how smoothly the ride went with hardly any time lost to stimulus-package road construction.  Before leaving, U2 had checked the DOT on-line road maps for Missouri and prepared us to take a breath, inhale and slowwwwly exhale... the state map was practically covered in orange alert flags indicating numerous road construction projects.  Evidently, our timing was perfect for this trip as we rarely encountered active construction crews.  The bikes  crossed the Ohio River on Day 2 and entered the Commonwealth of Kentucky.  We spent Day 3 touring Land Between the Lakes National Recreation Area and Fort Donelson National Battlefield before hitting the three parkways on Day 4 for the final leg of our Journey to Lexington.

The Gold Rush host hotel was right smack dab in the middle of Lexington and connected to a parking garage.  (It was nice to park the bikes under cover each night and not have to worry about overnight storms.)  The weather during the rally was uncannily mild for mid-summer Kentucky.  What happened to the humidity?  Even the locals commented on it.

We began our Gold Rush XXII experience with the Sunday night Welcome Dinner.  We always enjoy, catching up with our friends and seeing who’s made it to the rally before the time warp begins.  This rally began as it ended for us -- non-stop activity.    On Monday morning, we were up bright and early, dressed to the nines for our GWTA Family of the Year national interview.  So many friends had offered us advice and supported us along the way; we really hoped to represent them well.  The seven nominee biographies printed in the Gold Rush brochure gave us butterflies and brought home just what an honor it was to be included in this year’s group of finalists.  We really enjoyed arriving early for our interviews and having a chance to meet a few of these couples.  (We may get in a ride to Maine yet in this lifetime!  It sounds like a great place to explore!)

The Opening Ceremonies were a blast.  We located Chapter NE-W members Jim & Jean Bryant and Lynn & Teresa Reinhart as they arrived from the campgrounds.  Region C had the most attendees and took “show” in the Kentucky Horse Race for priority seating.    That along with Nebraska’s ranking for top Raffle ticket sales, gave us a good view of the podium and of the Illinois Chain Gang in their black and white stripes -- what a hoot!  The first high-point of the ceremonies for U2Farmer was singing Kentucky’s state song after the Canadian and American anthems.  Only a Kentuckian would realize just what it meant to an ole Kentucky gal to sing Stephen Foster's hymn so near the heart of Rupp Arena where former Governor “Happy” Chandler brought a sold-out crowd to tears with his rendition of “My Ole Kentucky Home” on a UK Parents Night.  Awesome!

Soon it came time to announce GWTA national Family of the Year... As we took our spot on the podium with the other Region FOY’s, my main concern was fielding Hammy’s reaction to the announcement of the winner.  I really hoped her disappointment at not getting to wear a tiara on stage with her #1 favorite 2008 FOY bud Teresa Larson (She had to work this year.) wouldn’t keep her from sincerely congratulating the 2009 winners.  After Frankie & Sherry Lane of Region H were announced as runner-ups and congratulated, I thought I knew whose names I wouldn’t hear.  We were stunned when Linda Keenon announced Doug and Michelle Sullivan as GWTA’s 2009-2010 Family of the Year.  The rest is a blur... cheers, victory chants from Region C and Nebraska, Doug’s tearful speech, pictures, medals, Barb’s instant Facebook post to those at home, and lots of hugs.  The most vivid memories I have after that are a big family hug with Tatonka as we walked off the podium and having so many members of our Chapter W family there to share the honor with us.  We owe this day to them... to their friendship, their love, their mentoring, their fellowship, patience and support... Destination Friendship and Destination Family rocked that day!

Click here to see more pictures from Gold Rush XXII.  (More posts from GR XXII to come.)

(taken from our GWTA Region C Family of the Year Blog; pictures contributed by Three Wheels West, Dale & Deb Siepker & Jacquie Grams)
posted by U2Farmer with 0 Comments
Saturday, July 04, 2009 3:27 PM

Remember the Patriots: They Risked All

This month, our family completed one of our favorite annual GWTA riding events...  the GWTA Nebraska Grand Tour.  The theme of this year's event is U.S. Presidential towns.  Riders are asked to visit and photograph their bikes in at least 10 towns in the state which include a U.S. president's name in the town's name.  It's been fun, and if you haven't made your own grand tour, there's still plenty of summer left to ride this one.  Hannah's had a great time reporting different presidential facts in her Hammy's Hail to the Chief.  She especially enjoyed her discovery of George Washington's favorite food:  ice cream! 

We stumbled on about half of the grand tour towns during our trip to the Region C Rally in June.  To date, we've visited Grant, Ragan, Ulysses, Lincoln, Pierce, Polk, Monroe, Madison, Adams, Jackson, and this week... Hayes Center.  Today's Fourth of July celebration seems a fitting way for our family to complete this year's tour, and Hayes Center is just the place to do it.   The Hayes County volunteer fire department always puts on a great fireworks show with lots of homemade ice cream.  Life doesn't get any better than a summer evening of eating homemade ice cream with friends and family and watching some spectacular fireworks.  That's what it's all about...

but no, it isn't... not really.  There's more to The Fourth than that.

Today, I began reading William Bennett's The American Patriot's Almanac, and I learned what July 4th is really about.  It's a BIG celebration to a lot of folks, but it's also a time to honor the people who made great sacrifices on our nation's behalf so many years ago.  Bennett's almanac entry for July 4th tells the rest of the story... the stories of those men of the Continental Congress who had the courage to sign their names (and their death warrants) to our Declaration of Independence.  Life's not always a fairy tale with a nice pretty ending.  I encourage you to grab a copy of this book and find out what happened to William Floyd, Richard Stockton, John Hart, Thomas Nelson, Thomas Heyward, Arthur Middleton, and Edward Rutledge (to name a few) and what price they paid.  So, while I hope you get out and enjoy today's holiday with Destination Friendship and Family in mind, I hope you'll also celebrate the lives of those who risked all to make our country's birthday bash possible. 

If you'd like to see some pictures from our GWTA Nebraska Grand Tour of Presidential Towns, click here.

(taken from our GWTA Region C Family of the Year blog)

posted by U2Farmer with 0 Comments
Friday, July 03, 2009 3:39 PM

Hammy's Hail to the Chief: President #7

President Andrew Jackson was our 7th president.  He was a major general in the Tennessee army, and his men gave him the nickname Old Hickory because he was super strict about following rules.  Mom said he had to be because the government told him they didn't need his army any more and wouldn't pay for food and stuff for the army to get back home.  He didn't like the British because he had been a prisoner in the war and an officer had cut his hand so bad that you could see the bone. 

All President Jackson's brothers and sisters and parents died when he was a boy.  He didn't go to school every day.  When he was a teenager he started studying and he learned to be a lawyer.  He owned a racehorse track and liked to play cards and joke with friends.  He got in lots of fights when a man said bad things about him and his wife. He loved her very much.  The man shot him and he shot back and the man died.  Some people say the president never smiled again after his wife died.

President Jackson was sick a lot before he stopped being president.  He went home to his farm.  Mom grew up in Kentucky in the Jackson Purchase.  President Jackson bought the land and made it a part of Kentucky.

PS:  Jackson Nebraska has a little ice cream shop on the main street with hamburgers, hot dogs, and ice cream.  We ate supper there on our way home from Wisconsin and the Region C Rally.
posted by Hammy with 0 Comments
Thursday, July 02, 2009 8:53 PM

Region C Family of the Year Blog: The Year Begins!

Two Blogs?  As part of our GWTA Region C Family of the Year duties, the Region C director has asked us to create a Region C Family of the Year Blog.  The Region C Webmaster has completed his "Number 1, Make It So" techie stuff.  The rest is up to us.  With an eye to the future, Three Wheels West has decided to keep our two blogs separate so that the new blog may be passed on to the next Region C Family of the Year without any hassles.  To help Three Wheels West blog fans and family stay on track this year,  any posts made to the FOY (Family of the Year) blog will also be posted here also.  TWW readers will only have to check one web site to keep up with all our activities.

Here is the first post from the Region C Family of the Year Blog:


The Year Begins!


All we can say is, “GWTA Region C Rocks!!!”  The Wisconsin crew really knows how to put on a rally!  Thanks guys, and thanks to the staff of both GWTA Wisconsin and Region C ... it was an awesome experience.  So many faces, old friends and new... we're already anticipating the next chance we get to see you all again.  If you attended the rally in Chippewa Falls, you know who we are.  If you weren’t able to make the rally, allow us to introduce ourselves:

We are this year’s Region C Family of the Year -- Doug, Michelle, and Hannah Rose Sullivan.  If you don’t recognize our real names, we also go by RoadRunner, U2Farmer, and Hammy when we’re posting on the Region C Forum or blogging (Three Wheels West).  There is a fourth member of our crew, our daughter Brittni, who is a busy college senior.  She doesn’t get home much now, but you may get a chance to meet her at Gold Rush in Lexington.

We are fourth-generation farmers from southwest Nebraska.  We live near a small community of 300 people, one hour’s road time away from everything.  Hannah Rose attends fourth grade at a small K-12 school that is the hub of our community.  Brittni attends Murray State University in Michelle's home town of Murray, Kentucky.  The Sullivan’s started riding a little over 3 years ago as a means of  stress relief.  For a long time, we’d searched for a hobby that was compatible with farming.  A neighbor suggested a bike.  He told us that he could climb on his bike after a long hot, dirty day of fighting irrigation pivots, take a 15-minute ride down the road, and come back a new man.  “All it takes is 15 minutes.”  He was right.  And so the story goes.

Doug rides a red 2008 Honda Gold Wing GL1800 with a Hannigan trike conversion.  Michelle rides a gold 2006 Honda Gold Wing GL1800 with a Hannigan trike conversion.  Hannah co-rides and is chief photographer in charge of the famous “Hammy cam”.   We’re proud members of GWTA Nebraska’s Chapter NE-W, the Frenchman Valley Riders.  And we love to ride.  We joined GWTA shortly after we bought our first trike by surfing the web to locate other Gold Wing owners in our area.  Chapter W took us in, mentored us, and is now a beloved second family to us all.  With each rally we attend, our GWTA family grows larger and the friendships more cherished.

The Sullivan's are extremely honored to have been selected to serve Region C as your Family of the Year, and we hope you’ll tag along with us as we share our experiences and life on the road during the year ahead.

Ride safe.
posted by U2Farmer with 0 Comments
Thursday, July 02, 2009 8:26 AM

Hello, Wisconsin!

This year's GWTA Region C Rally took us to a place we'd never ridden before... Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin.  My high school band trip to Whitewater doesn't count... those memories are limited to diesel bus fumes, white shoe polish, white glove inspections, and everything Hup-Hup-Ready-Ho!  This trip, I actually got to see Wisconsin! 

To get to Chippewa Falls, the five riders of Chapter NE-W (Bob, Jacquie, RR, U2, & Hammy) used almost the same route that we had used two years ago to get to Gold Rush XX in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.  This time, we just kept going... across Minnesota (I think it's safe to say that southern Minnesotans are committed to wind farm energy!)... until we met the Mississippi River and Wisconsin state line.  At that point our group detoured north and followed the Great River Road along Wisconsin Highway 35. 

Wow!  This portion of the Mississippi is so different from the section of the "Big Muddy" that runs from Cairo, Illinois, to the Gulf of Mexico... it's hard to believe this is the same river.  Wisconsin's Mississippi River is slower, fewer snags and hazards, less debris, and a lot clearer water.  When I lived in Kentucky, I think Dad only ventured over to the Mississippi River once just to say he'd done it... between the busy locks, the high volume of barge traffic, a fast muddy current filled with logs, snags,  and ever-changing shallows and channels, we preferred to do our recreational boating around the Tennessee and Cumberland Rivers.

The towns along Wisconsin's Great River Road are filled with personality and chances to stretch and browse.  It was a good way to finish our trip up.  I'd recommend making this trip on a weekday; the road is full of traffic on the weekends as the locals get out and about.  There are lots of little shops and places to eat and refuel along the way.  Three Wheels West enjoyed Pepin's Pickle Factory, a water-front restaurant housed in an early 1900's pickle and sauerkraut factory.

Hammy has been looking forward to this trip to Wisconsin for almost as long as the staff has been planning it.  Both my daughters and I are fans of Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House Books.  Ever since the event planners announced a Little House ride and a chance to see the setting for Laura's Little House in the Big Woods, Hammy has been focused on one thing... getting to Pepin.  Until this trip, I never realized that Laura was born so close to the Mississippi River.  I never associated the Lake Pepin where "Pa" fished as part of the Big Muddy.  Time and technology really do change a person's perspective.  To a biker, the river is a hop, skip, and a jump from the Ingalls old farm.  To Laura's family, it was probably a longer and more complicated journey.   (Little House Ride Note:  Whoever mapped out the Little House Ride is owed a word of thanks... Three Wheels West loved the stretch of twisties and the scenic view of the valley along Highway SS.  Just for a moment, we felt like we were back in the Smokey Mountains.  That is one awesome stretch of road!  Thanks guys!)

 Click here to see more pictures and a slideshow.



posted by U2Farmer with 0 Comments