We all seem to remember times in our lives whether they be special moments or events that changed us. These moments are typically ones which are the most important to us. Those moments in our lives like learning to ride a bicycle for the first time, our first kiss, and our first heartbreak. For me, memories of my childhood are vague at times, except for those few I listed above and in particular the first time I ever rode on a motorcycle.
Love is the feeling you get when you like something as much as your motorcycle.
Hunter S. Thompson
Long before my parents bought me my first dirt bike and my first long distance ride across the country at 16, there is this memory I have of the first time I rode on a motorcycle with my dad. While I was brainstorming and thinking of all the things I wanted to talk about, I have several memories that seem to be seared into one. I know my very first ride was on the Honda Shadow, I do have several others of riding on the Goldwing as well. But this article is about the first time, the first ride, the first exhilarating time I felt the wind on my face and the excitement of it all.
Like just about everything I do, when I find a hobby or something I really like doing, I have to have all the best gear and I have to look the part, whether or not I am any good…it is all about the look! I laugh at how neurotic I can get sometimes from having the perfect running shoes, to the best helmet, or jacket or shirt. For over 40 years, this has never changed, not with any single thing.
So picture me, a snot nosed little 12 year old. I am short with this crazy hair, really big wire framed glasses, and crazy big teeth (braces would come later). I was so excited for that first ride, I had my black “members only” jacket, my white Nike tennis shoes, blue jeans, and this amazing royal blue helmet that sparkled. I can still feel the air on my face and the conversations I had with my father.
Riding the back roads of Michigan, this is where it all began. This is the quintessential moment when I became intoxicated if you will with the thought of this freedom. This single moment in time defined me in a way. I would become obsessed with riding. I believe we were on some two lane road winding through Coloma or possibly Eau Claire, all I can see are the fall colors. The yellows, the oranges, and the reds that made up the tree lines as they outlined the roadside and highlighted the path in front of us. If you have ever smelled fall in Michigan, then you know how the leaves smell, that subtle smell of dirt mixed with a hint of rain and the breeze that never lets you forget either of them. This is my first ride, this is my first experience, this is when I fell in love with my first girlfriend the motorcycle. This one in particular, a 1983 Honda Shadow 750. We took many adventures her and I, a few with dad piloting and a bunch with me at the helm. My Shadow, my sweet, sweet Shadow. We would later go on to places like Canada, Niagara Falls, New York City, Washington, DC, Cape Cod, and Sturgis. She would be a trust worthy old faithful for me, we even rode in the snow once, but that is another story for another time.
For this story is really not even about me. This story, is about my son, Asher and his first ride. While I did feel the need to give you some background context of my first ride, the details are sketchy as I grow older, the roads get longer, the leaves colors get duller, and quite possibly may have tried to crash us a couple times with my arms in the air thinking I was “FREE”. But I do know that ride influenced me beyond what I could have ever imagined.
While I do love ridding my motorcycle, I can tell you, convincing an 11-yr old to ride with you is somewhat of a chore. For a kid who sometimes acts and talks like he is 16, this 11-yr old is stubborn. Leading up to this day, I had asked him numerous times to ride with me. His Grandpa who first took me offered to ride him and all of us take an adventure. But up until this point, he has had every excuse in the book from “I’m scared” to “It’ll be boring” to “I just don’t think I would like it”. So how exactly do you convince a stubborn child to try something, just to see if there is a possibility of doing something fun…well you just take him. One thing I have learned is that Asher tends to not want to ever do anything. He protests and fights us, but when we actually get to what we are doing, he usually ends up having a great time and is very glad he went.
Well, I did it, I signed us up for the 22Kill and Maverick Harley Davidson ride and rally. Having a father who is a veteran, we love supporting causes, especially one like this. If you don’t know who 22Kill is, you should and you need to support the cause.
We were so lucky, the sun was shining on our faces and the temperature was close to 80* and off we went. I told him, the “struggle” of the ride, was going to be the highway riding we had to do in order to get up to Maverick HD in Carrollton. You see we are in south Ft. Worth and the ride was about 40 min of Highway riding. (My least favorite type of riding) But he was a champ, he put in his head phones on and listened to music and he told me he enjoyed the ride.
For a first ride, I know it was not the cool back road driving, curve taking, relaxing excursion, that I love to do, but the best was yet to come. I knew he would love the police escort (okay so they were not actually the police, but they still did a good job). Once we arrived at the dealership, we parked and waited. Killing time was easy, people watching, looking at bikes, and Harley Davidson paraphernalia did the job.
Once we were ready for the actual ride, we got in line, my big American Flag blowing behind us and next to us was Grandpa, with his big Flag and about 800 other motorcycles. We never really went over 45-50 MPH but I thought it was a fun ride. One of the longest escorted rides I have done, it took close to 45 minutes. I am not sure it Ash thought it was cool or not, but I always love it when the highways are cleared off and for about a mile all you can see are bikes on the road.
It was a really good ride, we actually went North on I-35 to Lewisville, where we took 1171 (Main St) into Flower Mound and then down 2499 (Long Prairie Rd) before taking Sandy Lake back to the Dealership.
Here the map of our route:
During our ride I did drop a tiny bit of knowledge on him about hand signals and how to get on and off the bike. I know, but baby steps. I will educate him more on the nuances of riding on the road and how to be the safe rider, but that will come in time. For now all he needs to know is that anytime he wants to go, we can, and we will.
One of my highlights was actually being able to listen to Asher have a good time. He used the GoPro and took video of the ride, took selfies, and even texted his friends during the ride! When we got back, he got his dealership poker chip, we ate, and looked at all of the vendors. Afterwards we hauled butt home and made it before dark. In total we went 122.9 miles for the day. I think I have a new riding buddy, he told me this was better than learning how to drive his dirt bike for the first time…that is a pretty big deal. What I think is even a bigger deal is that the person who was the hero in my first ride, was there again to share in another first ride, this time of his grandson. Hopefully I will get to experience this with Asher and his future children. Until then…the adventure keep rollin’ and with us, it is one mile at a time!
Every year we make these new year resolutions, sometimes we set goals that are totally unattainable, unrealistic, or that are just plain mainstream ideas. In 2015, I said I wanted to “Love Harder” and I feel like to an extent I did, I gave my heart away a couple of times and let myself get the feels. Well that year ended with a dud, but fortune favors the bold, and fortune favored me when I was asked to get out of town and go on an adventure to Arizona. The main purpose of this adventure was to go on a Spartan Race, but we ended up creating an epic adventure, creating memories to last lifetime.
So our adventure begins with a flight into Phoenix, AZ. Once we landed, we were starving so we called my old college buddy and good friend Kevin and we had breakfast at The Original Breakfast House. OMG! All I can say is that this is a must stop! I had this French Toast/Chicken Fried Chicken dish and WOW!! Not to mention the cinnamon danish it was pretty awesome too!
Chicken Fried Chicken and Waffles
OMG!!
After stuffing our faces, it was time to explore, we had a rental car and we did get to town rather early in the day, so we thought…what the heck, let’s go see London Bridge in Lake Havasu, AZ. So off we went.
But First! We had this bright idea…since we are so close to the border of California and Arizona, why not go see Blythe, CA? Why not indeed!
With a full tank of gas, cooler in hand, we headed that way. As you can see we found it, and we were also able to start our state sign collection together! It is with a huge sigh and disappointment I must admit that the metropolis of Blythe, CA is pretty disappointing. If you blink you might miss the entire town. I stopped at the PD station and they were closed. I couldn’t even show them my drivers license and try an get a PD patch. Oh well, maybe next time.
AZ State Line!
CA State Line!
Blythe PD
After our brief stop in Blythe, CA and our state sign pics, we took off for the London Bridge!
London Bridges falling down…
For years I have thought this would be a cool place to visit. Never really having the time or having been in that area, I was not sure this was ever going to happen. However, with my new co-pilot in tow, we said “Let’s do it!” and off we went!
What a cool place! The bridge is a cool piece of history and it is unbelievable that someone took it apart half way across the world and reassembled here in the USA. This bridge has been a part of Lake Havasu since October 10, 1971.
Lake Havasu was fun, we arrived to the bridge just in time to watch the sunset and get some awesome pictures. From there we were going to hit up the LH Harley Davidson store, but they closed before we got there…bummer, I guess I will have to get my poker chip another time.
After the sunset we ended up getting our carbs on over at Angelina’s Italian Restaurant. Not a bad place to grab some grub. We had just spaghetti and meatballs but it sure hit the spot! After our meal we hot the trail back to Phoenix for the race the next day.
We are SPARTA!
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Sedona!
After Running the Spartan Race, we had a whole day to kill since our flight was not until late Sunday night. So why not head up to Sedona, AZ and hike! So we took off and headed up to Cathedral Rock. Hiked to the top and watched the sunset!
We were told about this awesome burger place called the Haunted Hamburger in Jerome, AZ. So we headed up into the mountains in search of this place.
So the rumor is that the restaurant is haunted from before it was a restaurant. Apparently the ghosts like “hammers” and some patron photos have captured a female ghost lurking in the background. Did we see a ghost? No we did not, but I did have a great big bacon burger. The location was awesome and this is definitely worthy of a burger review!
Another adventure in the books, the first one with my new co-pilot Mother & Poet and I have to say this was one of the best times I have had. We were silly, goofy, and saw some really cool sights. By far one of the best race weekends I have ever had!
Every once and awhile you need to take a road trip and experience what this great country has to offer you. If you are lucky enough then you can take your time and explore some of the great things that are out there. So, while we had to do a cannonball run up to PA and back, it was without a doubt a fun trip filled with adventure and laughs.
Initially I was going to travel alone as I could not find anyone to travel with me, then my good friend Natasha from Making Natasha a Spartan said she has nothing else going on and since we choose to LIVE OUR LIFE, off we went. Life is too short these days and without knowing if another opportunity like this would ever happen for her, it was awesome she wanted to go.
Louisiana
Our first state was Louisiana. We stopped in Shreveport first and we had a few items we needed to see, so off we went! Here is our list:
14-Story Mural – this is the largest mural in the United States. It was created in 2000 and contains 19 people and 40 objects, capturing the people of Shreveport, their treasures, triumphs, and tragedies.
Giant Dalmatian -“Art” is 19-foot-tall statue peeking in the window of the Central ARTSTATION. He is said to be the guardian of the arts in Northwest Louisiana. At night the spots light up in the dark!
The other highlight of this city was see what is claimed to be the only “World’s only Tattoo School”. I am not sure about this one and I can’t make this up I swear, but this little jewel deserves its own photo, well just cause it makes you think about who would actually go in and get tattooed by one of these “students”? I had an apprentice give me a tattoo once and I had to have it redone because it was so bad and looked nothing like the picture I had picked out. Needless to say we did not get any new ink!
We then made our way on to Monroe, LA and no road trip would be complete without seeing the Duck Dynasty place. It was shocking how it was the same building you see on TV. The loading docks and everything. I was not surprised that they sell everything under the sun in products. They have their label on just about everything there.
Mississippi
So the only cool thing we stopped to see here was the great Mississippi River. Oh and there was a cool ass cannon at the top of the hill too! Otherwise there wasn’t really any cool roadside attractions we found on our route.
Alabama
Sorry Alabama, but we kinda flew through your state and we didn’t stop to see anything. Not that we didn’t have a couple of items on the list, but by the time we got to Birmingham, everything was closed and it was dark out. But we did have these two places…maybe next time.
Statue of Liberty Replica
World’s largest Motorcycle Museum
Tennessee
Traveling at night through a state makes it very difficult to actually experience anything. Especially when you are driving in the wee hours of the night. On the return trip it was more of the same, we entered the state in the early morning hours and left at 0600.
Virginia
Sorry Virginia, while I am sure you have a lot to offer since you are made for lovers, we were on a mission to get to Phily to see some cool stuff.
Maryland
Your morning traffic sucks! We didn’t see much because of it.. I know you have some cool stuff and things, maybe on a different trip.
District of Columbia
The only non state we visited, we drove right though and waved. I will admit that I did hold my breath through the Fort McHenry Tunnel, just to see if I could. I did and I didn’t pass out thank goodness!
Delaware
I think I sneezed and we were already out of the state.
Pennsylvania
PA how I am growing to love you. I don’t think I had been to PA since I was 16 and now I have been there twice within a months span. Opposite ends of the state but I never thought I would say I was in Philadelphia and Pittsburgh (even if Pitt was just the airport).
So off to Phily and yes I had to refrain from yelling “How ’bout them cowboys!” for the fear of being stoned by batteries! But none the less we were able to take in a few sights.
Rocky Statue – no trip would be complete without visiting the statue and going up the steps. While I had this whole video parody planned, it just was not as feasible as it was in my head. Next time I will take a film crew! But we did get to see the statue and walk up the steps. There was also this really cool statue at the foot of the museum and I took some rather interesting pics there too! So some of the funnier things to happen was watching Natasha look both ways before crossing the street and then walking out in front of a bicycle. While I yelled ” Waiiiitt” in slow motion voice, somehow they just missed each other and she stopped before crushing into the bike.
Love Park – this was cool, we saw this love statue and what could be better then a rally for legalizing pot! I kid you not, they had flags, big ass bongs and legalize it everywhere. Of course it was right were all of us “tourists” were trying to take our pictures and they were annoying. It was definitely a hodge podge collection of people, because you also had kids playing in the fountains like it was a water park and the homeless hanging out like they were on the couch watching TV.
“Have you seen a big bell around here? It has a crack in it, maybe bronze in color?”
Liberty Bell – now this was probably the most interesting part of the trip as we found the plaza where the phone said it was; however, it was not visible as I thought it would be. My co-pilot who has since been nick named Magellan for her awesome navigational skills (NOT), was lost getting there, so I basically rolled down my window and asked the question “have you seen a bell around here? It has a crack in it, maybe bronze in color?” Needless to say that after circling the block no less than three times, getting honked at at every green light because we didn’t take off like a bat out of hell, we finally parked and found our precious bell.
I am having a hard time finding this to the city of brotherly love when people drive in walking lanes, almost run over a man in a wheelchair and don’t give a crap. One of the other funnier moments in the trip had to be when I was trying to find the bell and I casually say, where is this damn bell and Magellan responds with “what smell?” Oh that’s great, the wax in your ears is working perfectly! (she had an ear infection and put wax in her ears) It reminded me of my grandma who was hard of hearing and never heard anything correctly…so this became the new joke of the trip, yes I can’t ever let anything go.
At this point there is only one last thing we need to get before we can take off and make the final destination…you guessed it, the Philadelphia Cheesesteak sandwich. So I asked a local where we should go, the suggestion was “the best” in the city a small place called Jim’s. So we ventured a few blocks and found said Jim’s. Now the first thing you need to know about Jim’s is that they are cash only, well it is a good thing they keep an ATM in the lobby for losers like us who NEVER CARRY ANY DAMN CASH! So we get the sandwich and head upstairs to eat. Now I am not going to say it was a bad sandwich, okay it was a horrible sandwich, I think I have made better ones myself! It was dry and needed salt as it was tasteless. Anyway I am sure it was the best cheesesteak in Philly at one time, actually I know it was, they had a plaque on the wall, “Best Cheesesteak Sandwich, 1979” so there you go, in 1979 they ruled this place!
Spartan Race
What can I say, this is probably a totally different blog post because this was a different kind of race I have not experienced in a long time. So lets just say, I participated in two races and I completed two races and they were on a ski resort. Made me kinda wish it was the winter time again so that I could ski!
Return Trip
So during our trip my shotgun rider took sick and we had to take her to the ER on Saturday and combine that with some family issues going on in Texas, we bolted right after the race on Sunday to get home as soon as possible. For the most part we took our state sign selfies to add to the collection, had another late night waffle house experience and got a speeding ticket!
Pennsylvania, Maryland, West Virginia, Virginia, Tennessee, Arkansas, Texas
Here are the states which were traveled through…nothing exciting except for rest stops and fuel. The bandit was on a mission, had to get back to Texas, family was waiting.
But…that is not to say we didn’t have a few highlights along the way, yes we truly are a comedy of errors and you can’t say that I won’t show you a good time.
So we were at this restaurant called Westy Bar & Grill, you know grabbing lunch before the trek home. Anyway they are having a wing special and the menu says flat out “the biggest wings in PA!” Well shit! I gotta have some of them, oh yeah and they are known for their hamburgers. If you know me and my quest for the best burger, hell why not, I’ll take the wings and the burger. Well without giving a whole burger review (because it doesn’t deserve it) it was not that good. Oh yeah and the wings looked like normal wings you get anywhere, I have had bigger at hooters. Well everything is bigger at hooters! bada-bing!
Tasha gets a speeding ticket. Okay so let me set the stage…I’m sleeping. I am suddenly awoken by the rumble strips and I open my eyed to blue lights flashing. Still in a foggy state, Magellan is freaking out because she got pulled over. I have to say I have never laughed so hard in my life while receiving a speeding ticket. Maybe it was the combination of the very thick southern accent the Virginia State trooper had, combined with Natasha’s instantly blonde demeanor acting like she was the most clueless driver on the planet. Well here are a few of the highlights:
Speeding 85 in a 70, we were advised that anything 85 and over is considered reckless driving in the great state of Virginia. Which carries a $2500 fine and or Jail. He also advised he could take her to jail right now if he wanted to. After he leaves I get this “I can’t go to jail Travis, I just can’t go to jail”…ha ha…
He asks for her license and registration. She gives him her license and a copy of her personal insurance. He tells her that is great but he wants the registration. I advise him it is in the window, at this point Natasha grabs the flier from the Spartan race and tries to give it to him. If I had been drinking anything it would have been all over my dashboard. I calmly say, no it is the sticker in the window. To which the response was “they don’t give you a paper copy in Texas along with the Sticker?”
So he cuts her a favor and writes her up for 80 in a 70.
When asked why she was speeding she calmly says she was just keeping up with traffic. I mentioned about how fast she was going to which her response was, “I don’t look at the speed-odometer, I just keep up with traffic”
The best part of the stop was when he goes back to his car and we both bust out out cameras to take selfies with the blue lights in the background. “did you get a good shot?” “No, did you?” “No, I wish he would turn off that stupid spot light!” I think we both took several shots and I can only image what it looked like from the rear, two cameras and arms up taking pictures!
Upon completion, I calmly asked the trooper if he would take a selfie with me, I mentioned it would be the perfect end to our epic roadtrip. He politely refused and told us to drive safe!…Dang it!
So there you have it, after that, it was a pretty calm trip home. We will take with us the memories of this and all of the great state signs that were captured to add to our collection!
Footnote
So there was as usual a ton of pushback about taking Natasha with me, as people just don’t understand why she does crazy things like this. I am sure I am a hated person as it seems to always be on my watch that the adventures kick in and something arises to cause concern to everyone. So while yes, I can tell you I am greatly concerned about the health of my friend, but sometimes you can’t predict what the future holds for any of us. Any of us could kick the bucket tomorrow and who wants to have regrets? Certainly not me.
While many see this trip as something crazy and hazardous to her health, she viewed it simply as a way to escape from all of the pain she encountered in her life lately. The prior week was filled with heartbreak on a family level. So sometimes people need a good get away to keep their mind off of things. We could never have predicted the complications which lead to taking her to the ER and then checking herself out to get home.
After all of the complications we encountered on this adventure, Natasha has the can do attitude and one comment that will always resonate with me long after she has left us. When she yelled at me “I am not going to just lay in bed and wait to die!” a cord was struck down to my bones, which although I was very concerned, it made me realize just how much of a fighter this woman was and she is going to live her life. No my friend you are not, your illness does not define who you are and you are going to do whatever you want, even if it does literally kill you one day. Until then, I cherish all of the times we have had and I look forward to many more.
One of the most enjoyable things about being a motorcycle enthusiast is going to rally’s. I have been to rally’s practically all over the country and I have been to this Republic of Texas (ROT) rally four previous times and this makes number five. Over the years my tribe has dwindled down and the rally has been more of a been there done that type of thing. But since this was the 20th year I got a last-minute wild hair and decided to ride down and see what I have been missing. I mean my last time there was 2009, so it seemed time to check it out.
So the trip down there was one of unusual circumstances. Late start means you have to take the highway to get there…one of the things I loathe the most is running down I-35 at 80 mph. Talk about one of the more boring rides, ugh it was dreadful. With temps in the 90’s I also was getting cooked during the midday ride, but at least I was getting tan! If you have ever been on a ride with me, you know I am a back roads cruising, seeing the cool ass shit America has to offer.
Arriving at the rally I was pretty excited to see how much bigger this has become over the last 6 years. Unfortunately, I have to report that this has become the biggest waste of time and money I have ever gone to. This is one of the few rallies that charge to get into rally itself, but it is definitely not worth $75. What used to be a pretty full area of vendors was really only two rows and the ones that were outside were just as bad. I guess if you want to camp, set up pools and run around naked and drunk then this is definitely worth going to. But otherwise, I recommend you just stay away, this was lame and the only fun part was going out on 6th street, but you know what? I can do that pretty much anytime of the year and I don’t need a ROT rally to bring me to Austin.
So the rally is bad and since it was a short trip, I didn’t go explore around the hill country like I usually do. But I managed to get off the highway and get lost on some awesome Texas back roads dodging the rain and chasing the sun on the way back.
All in all it was two days, 500 miles, got the patch and T-shirt. Until next time, keep the rubber side down!
Believe it or not, Vegas has to be one of the places I dread going to the most. I have only been probably three times in my entire life and granted it was for work and conferences, but still I was never a big fan. You see I am not much of a gambler, in fact I really hate to lose my money. However, last year I met a fellow OCR guy and over the course of the six months we have become friends. So when he said I should come out to Vegas and race the Spartan Super, it sounded like a good thing. I was able to get a free race and a dirt cheap plane ticket, so off I went.
Unfortunately this is not going to be my blog about the Spartan Super, I’ll save that for another time. What I will do though is tell you about my adventures that may have just changed my mind about Vegas. I started the trip by getting in real early in the week, I mean like Tuesday early. But it was late Tuesday so I basically got in and went right to sleep.
Wednesday
One of the things I dislike the most is being sick. I started to get sick on Monday and now when I woke up on Wednesday, I was full blown in my yearly bronchitis. Dreadful day, but I ended up going and getting some drugs, and I worked most of the day after that. The highlight of the day was going to Camp Rhino after my buddy got off work and get to play for a few hours. I have heard about this place on Facebook and have been waiting to get there and play. This is basically am adult jungle gym for OCR and ninja warrior type people. Sure they also do boot camps and crossfit there, but the obstacles are the fun part. With my hands still pretty tore up from Battlefrog, I wasn’t able to do the complete WOD, as a matter of fact, we did one round and had to quit because the classes get first priority. So I spent the majority of my time learning one of the things that slowed me down, the rope climb. I learned the technique and now was rocking up the rope using my feet! Pretty stoked about that! I was even able to meet and talk a little with the owner Julie and she is a really nice and sweet person and way cool.
Thursday
Not much happening on Thursday, I was still feeling really sick and just worked and slept most of the day. My buddy Jesse wanted to go on a trail run after work, but I wasn’t feeling it and I talked him into tapering his workout some just two day before the race, so we just went hiking where he usually runs. Went on about a 2 mile hike, up and down the hills and park. Got to watch the sun set behind the mountains and I didn’t have to run.
Friday
Up at the buttcrack of dawn to take Jesse to work, I was able to meet up with some of my Facebook friends with who I have never really met. So we had breakfast and talked about what we were going to be doing all day. That is when this EPIC day started taking shape. What started with a conversation around one reality TV show, turned into a full blown trek around town seeing every show we could think of. So in the end, here is what was on our list:
Tank’d
Pawn Stars
Bad Ink
Counts Kustoms
Stratosphere – do the rides
Las Vegas Sign
So of course my mind starts going 100 miles an hour and I thought it would be funny to make a video giving one of the most known Spartan Athletes some grief and try to pawn his spear at the pawn Stars location. So off we go!
Las Vegas Sign
First stop to take some pics in front of the famous welcome to Vegas sign. Luckily we are fast, because as we were pulling in to the parking lot a tour bus arrived and I said we had to move faster and sure enough about 40-50 people got off the bus. But we got there first and took a few pics goofing off and being silly. (I know Shocker) Plus we posed with Spartan Spears just for the hell of it!
Pawn Stars
I am sure you have heard of this show right? Pawn Stars is actually a place called gold and silver. Sometimes I crack even myself up with the wacky ideas that come into my head. Our morning brainstorming started with me thinking of this place. Then it hit me, why not act like they do on the show, do an interview outside and talk about going in and pawning something. But it had to be something good, something that they would say no, maybe have an expert look at and tell me it wasn’t authentic or just not worth the crazy amount of money I wanted. Then it hit me, I need to tie it into the Spartan Race we were doing, then it really hit me and the creative juices started flowing. My friend had his spears in the car from the day before so I called him got the okay and set my plan in motion. Some of you may know, okay who are we kidding, most of you know Matt “The Bear” Novakovich and that he sells his own autographed spears for like $80 or $100 or something.
So there it was just staring us down, I signed a spear based on his logo and off we went to Pawn Stars. So we get there and we make the video outside prepping the whole thing. Here you go:
Unfortunately they would not allow us to video inside so the rest of the joke could not take place. We were able to get some still photos and they played along. The rest of the joke was played out on social media and I have to say, Matt was awesome and played along with it. I can’t wait to finally meet the guy in person. In case you are wondering, we said they told us it was a forgery and not worth a dollar!
Counts Kustoms
So our next stop was Counts Kustoms. If you have not seen this TV show, you don’t know what you are missing. For the most part they build custom cars. They drive around Vegas and buy peoples old cars and restore them or give them the “Counts” personal touch. No tricks here, we just went in and visited. They have a ton of cool cars in there, so if you are in the neighborhood, totally check it out, hey its free.
Bad Ink
Another TV show Bad Ink was next on the list. If you don’t know, these guys walk around Vegas and look at peoples tattoos and then they fix them. Most of the time they are cover ups, but all of the time the work is freaking awesome. The name of the shop is PussyKat Tattoo, yes I Taught I Taw a Putty Tat! Unfortunately Dirk and Ruckus were not in, but I was validated!
Tank’d
I have only watched this show once, but it was pretty cool. These guys build fish tanks and nothing is too big or too small. You can see a lot of their work all over town and in the casinos. It was cool, the main characters of the show were there and came outside to pose for pics with people. That was really cool of them and shows they are still down to earth.
So there you have it, that was our epic morning. We hit all of those place and yet we still had a ton of time left in our day. We actually did go by Stratosphere and we were going to ride the rides but it was way pricy and we all decided it was not worth it. Maybe next time.
But our day was not done, because you see like any great day of adventure, there is always more. We looked the watch, looked at the map and off to Hoover Dam we went.
Hoover Dam
I had never been here so the 40 minute or so it took to get there was not that bad. What a beautiful place! It was obvious the water lever was down, but none the less, pretty cool. I got in my gratuitous hardstand pics on both sides of the bridge, however I did have trouble landing on the side facing the bridge. Someone got in my head that I might flip over and I was rushed because we were blocking the sidewalk and I wanted my photographer to get further out in the street and she wouldn’t because of the cars…good grief taking pictures should not be this stressful!
During the car ride we found out we had scored some tickets to get up in the Eiffel Tower, so offer went chasing more adventure.
Eiffel Tower at Paris
I have to say this was a little disappointing. We went up to the top and yes you can see the strip, yes there are some ooh and ahh moments, but if I would have had to actually pay for this…I would have been pissed. You are stuck inside a cage and it just wasn’t all that…Kinda felt like jail to me…
The only cool thing was watching the fountains.
So the day is winding down ad we did get the munchies, you know all this tourist stuff is exhausting so we went to Cabo Wabo Cantina and we actually sat on the railing watching the street. This was by far the most entertaining time yet. Watching the bachelor and bachelorette parties stumble up and down the strip was nothing short of hilarious. I mean seriously it was not even 5:00PM yet. Then you have the locals sitting on the sidewalks just pounding beers or margaritas or whatever, throwing their empty cans in the bushes. You also have the people dressed in costumes and you have to pay them to take pictures with them, dang it, they got me twice! (more on that later) Also if you ever want to know where to go clubbing, just stand in one spot and you will get 100 cards in no time from dudes wanting you to come to their club! I love people watching and this was funny, and the sun was still out, I can only imagine what this place turns into when the sun sets.
So off we go, one last stop, we are heading to the New York, New York hotel to ride the roller coaster! But first I got stopped by the storm troopers. I tried to fight it, but they were all like “Mr. Battlefrog this” and “Mr. Battlefrog that”. So I told one of them, I will take a picture with you but I have to be on your back piggy back style and I want your gun. Well, then next thing the guy says is, “you can’t do that, I think my costume will fall apart!” ha ha, that was hysterical. But in the end I had them pic me up, I think we took like 4 different poses and then they wanted to make me a video. So here is my Stormtrooper video!
New York, New York
If there is one thing you need to know about me, I love roller coasters. I love sitting in the very first seat and waving my hands in the air like I just don’t care! It is pretty sad that I live like 20 minutes away from Six Flags and I have not been in like 8 years. But none the less, I feel some summer adventures coming on some roller coasters! Well we went to NY, NY for one reason only, end the day on the roller coaster. It was not a long as I would have liked, but it was fun, it cost $14 per ride in case you are wondering and you can buy your pictures 3-$30, needless to say I do not have pictures. Fun times though!
So that concludes my Friday adventures, after this I went back to my buddies home, we had Tacos and called it a night!
Saturday
The race was run, we went home and took naps…oh the life of masters racing! After the mid-day snooze, I was lucky enough to be invited to the OCR Grinders team dinner. A very cool experience as they honored a boy named Austin. They ran for him at this race and made him a spartan! Very cool.
So off we go on our “Entourage” night out in Vegas. After a little bit of a delay, we finally were able to get to “Old Downtown” and the first stop was container park.
This was a cool place, they have a fire breathing praying mantis out front. Then we walked down the strip, by the Golden Nugget and a few others…pretty cool, they had zip lines overhead and these color things on the ceilings. Not to mention this hair band from hell playing live music at one end. Again we were treated to all that Vegas has to offer, you know grown men in diapers taking pics with people for money…and this guy================>
Only in Las Vegas can you see this stuff. There was so much more and I could have taken pictures all day. Needless to say we laughed hard at the people and I for one am grateful I do not live in this or have to see this everyday because I am not sure if I could hold my tongue.
So we end up going to this food truck, more importantly a hamburger food truck called FUKU Burger! Knowing a chef has its rewards and they rewarded us with a little bit of heaven. Next time you are in Vegas, find this truck and get the #1, you will not be disappointed!
After stuffing our grills with these awesome burgers, we round the corner and low and behold a brick traverse wall appears out of nowhere in this back alleyway. So we do what all OCR peeps do, we climb that bitch! After a few minutes of horseplay, we decide to get on the wall and take a group picture. Now here is where that phrase “only in Vegas” has to come from. You have 7-grown ass men climbing a brick wall in an alley and as we all get up on the wall for a picture out of nowhere comes this dude who jumps in front of, one of our guys and I guess his goal was to prove he could climb also. But here is the thing…he couldn’t, that asshat kept falling off the wall and getting back on, I mean even after we all got off and started walking away in disgust that he ruined our glorious photo op, this tool kept trying. I wish video had been captured, because here is what is going on, you have six guys on the wall, some barely holding on for dear life waiting for the picture to be taken, me in my flip flops up higher than anyone else (yes photographic evidence) and I am yelling at the tool to get off the wall, yelling at our buddy to pull his ass off by his shirt, just yelling. You know stuff like, “hey fucker, get off the wall!” “I will cut you! get off the wall!” “hey asshole, I will beat your face in, get off the wall!”, okay so maybe the last two were my inside voice, but I thought it! In the end it was okay, we went around the corner and found another wall, this one all in black, no stupid Vegas drunk people trying to photo bomb us. We got the pic, memories forever!
Sunday
So sunday we decided to attend the Camp Rhino post Spartan workout. Unfortunately my hamstring and foot issues prevented me from working out, so I did the next best thing…I took video of the poor souls getting their spirits crushed by miss Julie! Here is my video…
Monday
Monday Monday, Come Monday, Manic Monday, what ever song you equate with Monday or just having the case of the Monday’s, I am so ready to go home! At this point I just miss everything and everyone at home, I couldn’t wait to get back and tell everyone about my adventures, but when I actually did get home…no one wanted to know…story of my life. But before I can go home, how about a workout first? Boy I give that idea two thumbs up! I can’t say no and look like a big puss, especially since I did nothing the day before and I am staying with all these freaking “elite” workout monsters. So I did the damn workout, didn’t die and I felt good, none of my injuries were harmed.
One last thing to do before I can blow this Popsicle stand is celebrate my awesome hosts anniversary with them. No complaints there! We went to the triple A affiliate for the NY Mets, the Las Vegas 51’s baseball game. They lost but $1 hotdogs (yes I had 5) were awesome! The picture is my little buddy Gio! Ever go to a baseball game with a 2-year old? Besides the fact that he is a parrot (repeats everything) he is also a barrel of laughs and never stops smiling! Okay one thing I don’t get, they are the Las Vegas 51’s and the logo is an alien on the hat, the mascot looks like a grey Jar Jar Binks from Star Wars and excuse me if I am wrong, but aren’t we in Vegas? I thought area 51 was in New Mexico? I distinctly remember going through Roswell, NM on my way home from my EPIC Ski trip (note to self…backlog that blog, that trip was freaking awesome!) and I thought that is where the aliens were? I’m so confused…
We left in the 8th inning as the visiting team just belted out another 3 run inning and they were up like 8-2. One my way to the airport I go! Exit stage left, Viva Las Vegas, leaving Las Vegas, whatever, I am outta here. Until we meet again sin city!
Love is the feeling you get when you like something as much as your motorcycle.
So our adventure begins with a flight into Phoenix, AZ. Once we landed, we were starving so we called my old college buddy and good friend Kevin and we had breakfast at 
But First! We had this bright idea…since we are so close to the border of California and Arizona, why not go see Blythe, CA? Why not indeed!
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