Stimulating the Economy...

Doesn't Obama want us to buy cars and houses to help stimulate the economy?

I'm doing my part. Check out my new ride. (Well, new to me anyway)


Just in case you aren't 100+ years old and have no idea what this is.... It's a 1924 Ford Model T.
Miles unknown. Pulled out of a barn in Whiting, Iowa on Valentines Day, just for me. It really makes a fella feel special to bring home a car full of mice skeletons (and one cat skeleton, sorry Linz) on February 14th. ;-)

Fasten the non-existent seat belts, cuz as soon as I get this thing running I will be giving rides at a blazing 29 mph. I guess I need to figure out how to drive the thing first. It has 3 pedals, two hand controls, and a hand brake, and they all play a part in making this beast roll. There's one gauge on the dash that displays Amperes. Ummmm... OK. The gas tank is under the driver seat. It must be the "suicide bomber edition" of the Model T.

There aren't many cars around that are as cool with as much character and history as a Ford Model T. I dare you to even try to name one.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go find a parade to participate in.

What now?

Deer season is over, and it makes me a tad bit sad. Deer hunting gets me through the better part of winter. I don't mind the cold weather when I have deer hunting to look forward to. The snow doesn't bother me because it helps the deer stand out.

As I reflect back on another year in the books I must say that it was a very successful season. We shot a total of 110 deer, and I managed to shoot the nicest buck. Can't complain about that.

Just in case you're wondering what 52 hindquarters look like. See below.


Hollie, I bet that makes your mouth water, doesn't it?

So, what's next? Motorcycle season of course.

Wall Hanger

I finally did it. I didn't think it would happen this fast, but it did. I'm still in shock. It still makes me smile when I think about it.

Gather around kids, it's story time:

Sunday afternoon, 1:00. We were called away from our main hunting group to go help out some other friends who had some nice deer spotted, and wanted some help flushing them out. Aaron and I gladly accepted the invite.

30 minutes later we were sitting there staring into some empty woods wondering if these deer even existed. Aaron asked "What do you want to do? Should we go back to our original group, or wait this out?". I didn't answer. I always love the chance at taking down a nice buck, but I also get impatient when nothing is happening. He said "I'm gonna take a piss, and you think about what you want to do." Just as he turned around and unzipped his pants, two bucks were on a dead sprint about 100 yards in front of us. The first one was BIG, the second one was average. I took 3 or 4 shots, but they weren't good shots, they were just prayers.

We took off around the curve as fast as we could with our adrenaline pumping at full tilt.

Explanation needed here: If you haven't deer hunted before, or hunted in general, then you probably have no idea why a person would get so excited about seeing a nice deer. It's very hard to explain. It's like trying to explain to a non-motorcycle rider why riding a motorcycle out on the open road is a life altering experience. The best way I can describe it is that it's not just hunting, it's a more of a life experience. It's bonding with God's green earth and bonding with your fellow hunters. Everyone who has shot a trophy animal always says that when you can take down one of the most beautiful and sought after animals on the planet, you feel a sense of accomplishment like no other. It's very addicting, and the rush is like no other rush in existance. When you see that deer running full speed, with that gigantic rack displayed proudly on top of his head like a super bowl trophy, it absolutely takes your breath away. Think about how many hunters have seen that deer, spent countless hours tracking that deer in the hopes of just seeing it again, let alone actually getting the chance to take a shot at it. Think how many have shot and missed. Deer like that are rare, they don't show their faces that often. They're insanely smart. They know how to avoid hunters, which is why they've been able to live for so long and develop a trophy rack. They don't take the chances that doe's take, or younger male deer take. They think about their every move, and memorize safe havens to run to in case things get hairy.

OK, back to my story.
We round the curve as fast as we can and the only thing I can think about is how big that freaking first buck was. I knew that I'd be lucky to see him again. We were making a lot of noise with our movements, and deer don't like noise or movement. But, divine intervention stepped in and offered me up one chance to take this magnificent buck. He was in full stride about 50 yards ahead of me, 10 yard from jumping a fence. If he jumps that fence, he's gone. He will disappear into a patch of thick brushy timber, never to be seen again.

I stopped, and in slow motion I brought my gun up, the sights aligned perfectly, the deer was in mid air jumping over the fence, I squeezed the trigger with the sights lined up on the kill zone... BOOM... and like the perfect ending to a fairy tail, the deer dropped. Instantly.

The entire universe was silent for a brief moment.

Aaron let out a neanderthal scream and then said "I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU HIT IT... I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU HIT IT. YOU ACTUALLY HIT THAT THING IN MID AIR. I CAN'T BELIEVE IT. YOU REALLY DID IT. WHEN IT CAME DOWN TO IT, YOU MADE THE SHOT."

To be honest, I couldn't believe it either.

I slowly lowered my pistol (that's right, I shot it with a pistol) to my side, and like a tidal wave, it hit me. I looked at Aaron and let out a scream that shook the timbers 2 sections over. We were dancing around like two school girls in ballerina dresses who just got their first kiss. But, we didn't care.

After awhile we actually settled down, I stared at the deer in bewilderment like I had just won the lottery and didn't know what to say.

We went down in the ditch to get a better look at him, and each second we spent looking it over, I got more and more excited. My legs shook for 30 minutes, my body was trying to get the adrenaline pumped out and settled down, but it wasn't happening.

This buck has one of the most unique racks I've ever seen. It has a lot of distinct points close to it's brow, good height and width, thick mass, and great balance. We believe it has 11 scorable points on it, with a possibility of 12.



I have nothing but respect for these creatures, and I look at them as a thing of beauty every single time we spot one. We hunt them and we respect them.

This hunt was the shot of a lifetime. People hunt their whole lives and never get a chance to shoot a trophy buck like this. I am very grateful that I was presented with this opportunity.

In a matter of minutes both hunting groups gathered around to look him over. People shook my hand and said "Congratulations" over and over. Hunters called their friends and dads to come look at it. It was the talk of the group for the rest of the night. I was on cloud nine.

He will hang on my wall as a reminder of this unbelievable experience.
I will never forget the feeling of that hunt and will always remember the slow motion shot that made me king for a day.

He will be back from the taxidermist in October of next year, and that is going to feel like an eternity. A wise man once said "good things come to those who wait", and I can hardly wait.

Now, all I have to do is come up with a name for him.

Hunting 2008

This year's deer hunting season was another success for my group in Southern Iowa. Two solid weekends of hunting has yielded us over 40 deer. We still have late season rifle coming in January, but for now, the hunting season is on pause.

Every year I stay in Creston, Iowa with Aaron Chapman, and this year he has added a new member to his family. A 1 year old Red Tailed Hawk named Izzy (short for Izabel). He has recently completed his Falconry license requirements and is able to hunt squirrels and rabbits with a Hawk. Very cool.

I got the chance to hunt with her Saturday morning, and it was quite an experience. We would walk around some brushy areas and try to flush rabbits out for Izzy to dive bomb. Izzy would follow us around from tree to tree, watching intently. We didn't get any rabbits, but Izzy flew down and got herself a nice field mouse. She's an amazing beautiful animal and it's very weird to be watching TV, while a hawk watches you.


Oh yeah, I got a BIG surprise coming to my blog in a couple days.

I left one piece of my hunting trip out that was the experience of a lifetime.

Stay tuned...

Life is Supposed To Go On...

...but it doesn't. It stands still, and you go numb, and it makes no sense. It physically hits you like a ton bricks and emotionally it feels like your heart has been torn out. Nothing else matters except for that person crying on your shoulder. As tears fall on my keyboard, there's a lump growing in my throat that hasn't gone away since we received unpleasant news yesterday.

I think it was around minute #8 on the treadmill this morning when I realized that I wasn't sweating. What I felt on my cheeks were tears. I truly believe that strength comes from emotion and fear is controlled through that strength. I've learned that valuable lesson many years ago, and it's made me a better person.

I think it was around 7:10 am that I realized I had just gone through an entire workout without feeling anything. I wasn't into it, I wasn't aware of my surroundings, and the person I saw in the mirror was hurting more and more as the morning went on. I had to leave early, I had to sit in my truck, alone in a parking lot, to let my emotions escape their trap. I thought it would set me free, and I thought it would instantly heal me from the inside out.

But, it doesn't. I need to let the healing begin, I wish it would begin, I can't make it begin, and it doesn't seem fair. I realize that I'm not alone. I've never been alone, and I shouldn't feel like I'm alone. I don't understand Why this happened, and I don't need to understand Why right now. I just need to be there for her. Everything else is a distant 2nd place.

The only priority for me is to take the pain away from her. I want to bear the burden of pain for both of us. I can't stand to look in her eyes and realize that she's going through the same thing as me. I want to save her from it, I want to shield her, I want to carry the weight of the world on my shoulders, and it's impossible for me to reach the realization that I can't do that.

I know deep down, through all the struggles and agony, that all hope is not lost. It can't be taken away from us. We've come too far to give up now. We can't be stopped in our pursuit. We can and will hit bumps along the way and we can handle it once bump at a time. We will add to our family someday, I just can't tell you when, and it doesn't matter when. I want you to realize that we've already found completeness in each other.

The calls and emails continue to pour in for us. Our giant support network of family and friends offer up condolences. "I'm sorry" is the only thing that can be said. I understand that. There are no words that can express how deeply hurtful this experience is. But, we do the best we can, and I want you to know that we are grateful for each and every one of you. We are truly blessed, and I feel lucky to be sharing my life with you.

Cream Can Cookout

The Iowa State football season isn't going very well this year, but one thing we have done well is tailgated. Thanks to a birthday present from Mom and Dad, I was able to host a good old fashioned Cream Can Cookout outside the 1986 Travelcraft.

Just a quick note on the ingredients:
From bottom to top.
1 package of New Orleans style crab boil.
25 Red Potatoes
3 lbs Carrots
6 Onions (quartered)
2 Heads of Cabbage (halved)
1 pound of mushrooms
20 lbs of Brats, sausages and hotdogs.

Pour 6 cans of beer on top of all of that, and place it over a flame for 2 1/2 hours.

This is Chad and I tending the cream can. Did I mention that I had a red mohawk for the game?



Drumroll please. The final product, piping hot, and very deeeee-lish.



Gotta follow up that good food with a Flabongo?

What is a flabongo?

It's when you take a plastic flamingo, cut the beak off, cut the tail off, pour a beer into it, then chug the beer. Best when done with 2 other friends.


You may have noticed that I'm the only one drinking out of a pink flamingo. The other two were "Halloween Flamingos". I prefer pink because it brings out my inner feminine self.

*farts*

*laughs*

See.

Bikes Blues and BBQ

I have some catching up to do on some of my activities lately.

I recently took a trip down to Fayetteville, Arkansas for an awesome bike rally. It just so happens that the Saturday while I was down there, it was also my birthday. It worked out well, because everywhere I went it was well known, thank to my friends, that I was celebrating a birthday. Needless to say, I had well over 25 beers bought for me throughout the day. I spread the love to my riding buddies so I wouldn't have to turn in early.

This was my riding crew hanging out at our favorite Dixon St bar.
From left to right: The Birthday boy, Matt Carter, Jake Whitten, Dick Hakes, Tony Hakes.



Here we are with our bikes at the hotel getting ready to head out for a ride.


This is a guy in a kilt that bought me a birthday beer. Other then the kilt, he was not cool.



Here we are at a concert with some random guy. He seemed nice. Might have been a bum.


Awesome trip, great company, and a birthday that I will remember forever.
Thank you very much to everyone involved.

The Burn: Day #4

The brand is actually more painful today, then it was the day I got it. Very strange.

It's getting pretty squiggly and wavy around the edges, but nothing else seems to be going on with it. It's like my body doesn't want it to heal. It likes it in the current state that it's in. I got a good closeup in case anyone wants to examine it in detail.


Dad called me yesterday and asked me if I've slapped my brand yet. I told him that you're not supposed to do that until the scar tissue has formed and the scab goes away. He's been in his truck for 3 days slapping his brand about 3 times a day. He said it hurts pretty bad. Well, DUH!

I guess I'll just let it do it's thing, until I need to start suffocating it with saran wrap, and pouring lemon juice in it. ;-)

What's your brand?

Dad and I finally did it. After talking about it for a couple of years, we actually went through with it.

We got branded. With a Circle K.

It's weird to say that you got branded, and it's weird to type out those words.
But, for some reason, it made perfect sense to me and dad.

I'm not gonna lie and say it didn't hurt, because it did. It felt like a red hot knife was cutting into my skin an inch deep. But the pain was worth it and I'm glad my dad was there to share in the experience with me. My wife and mother offered moral support and I think they went through at much mental pain as we did physical pain. Every single time I look at it, I'll remember how proud I am to be a Kneifl.

The healing process is a complicated one. Instead of letting it heal like a regular wound, I have to aggravate it as much as possible (to help the scar tissue build). I will spare you the details, but let's just say it involves saran wrap, lemon juice, and lot's of scab scrubbing and scar slapping. Yeah, for real.

This picture will give you an idea of how big/cool it is.



It was taken about 1 minute after mine was completed.


I will be keeping a picture journal of the healing process on my blog in the coming days/weeks. It should be completely healed in about 3 weeks, but the Scarification Artist said everybody heals differently.

So if you're not into watching 3rd degree burns heal, then don't check back.

Key West - 2008

Every year I take a trip with my friends around March. It started out as a Spring Break trip for us, then it just kept going all the way into our 30's. This year was our 10th trip together to a destination with some much needed sunshine. The winter has been so horrible in Iowa, the feeling of sunshine on my face was almost better then.... then.... uh.... well, let's just say it felt GOOD.

Day #1 we all flew in and stayed in West Palm Beach at Wilson's pad. We sat on his deck in 85 degree weather and enjoyed beverages all afternoon. We hit the town that night and found ourselves entered into a Beer Pong tournament. My partner was Johnson, and we made it the farthest of any of our friends, falling one game short of the finals. Needless to say, the beer was flowing, and the night flew by with enough laughs to make your abs sore the next morning.

Bright and early the following AM we rented this beauty:
A 30 Foot Class C Recreational Vehicle that sleeps 7. (and we proved that). It is also able to withstand 1,000+ farts and not even have the paint peal off the wall.

We hit the road for Key West and stayed at Boyd's Campgrounds. I highly recommend this place, as it's facilities are excellent. Great hookups, showers, patios... etc.

There is a tradition that we have Leisure suit night every year, and this year was no exception. We took over the town of Key West in fine fashion. Check it out:

Johnson, Berkland, Brock and myself. That picture does not justice to Brock's Powder Blue checkered suit. It was the Bomb. It also does no justice for the tightness of Johnson's and Berkland's pants. They couldn't fit their wallets in the back pockets, which makes for an excellent overall look, in my opinion.


Brock, me and Porter at Fat Tuesday's with semi-serious faces.

This is Wilson and a bum that we met outside the bar. We tried to pay the bouncers to let him into the club with us, but the bouncer said he was banned for life. All we wanted to do was take a few shots with our new buddy. But, it didn't happen. We were bummed. No offense.

Me and Johnson looking like we're about to whack someone.

The next day we hit the road for Key Largo, and spent that night at the beach in the RV. Johnson and I both got stung by jellyfish, but they were only the size of golf balls, so it wasn't anything major. It's pretty cool to say that I've been stung by a jellyfish.

This is right outside our RV parking spot where we hung out for most of the day enjoying cocktails:


All in all it was a fantastic and much needed trip.
The weather was excellent, the company was superb, and the RV was the cherry on top of it all.
Can't wait for a new adventure next year.

I miss the sun, and the smell of an RV toilet that had *at least* 25 dumps taken in it.

No joke. ;-)

Stall Mates

Yesterday brought some pretty nice weather to Central Iowa for the first time in what felt like 10 months. I took advantage of the wonderful weather by waxing up the bikes I am currently taking care of. I also got a brand new windshield installed on my bike, and new beetle bags put on dad's bike. I went on a 125 mile test ride yesterday as well, so I could adjust my windshield to the appropriate height. Being on the bike felt like I was back in motorcycle heaven again. It was the perfect day to throw on the leathers and let the sun work it's magic.


Don't they look like best buddies?


Per the request of my dad, I had to include some different angles of his bike, so he can see what the beetle bags look like.

Mom, please take your seat...

Well, it finally happened... Mom now has a seat on the Turbo Rocket. Don't be fooled by that black tank that looks like a passenger seat, cuz it's not. It's the Boost Juice tank.

Before:



After:


A Triumph Gel Seat was added, along with a Triumph tall sissy bar and touring back pad, and a chrome luggage rack. Please note the passenger floorboards added for mom's touring comfort as well.

What you don't see in the pics is the fact that we relocated the Boost Juice pump and made room for a juice tank underneath the seat. It will make for a much cleaner look then where it was before.

Now, if we could just get rid of this snow, we'd be able to take this bad boy out for a little test spin.

10 Point Buck

Just got back from a great weekend of deer hunting in Southern Iowa. The first day out I managed to shoot 3 does. But the big salami came the following day, when I shot this beauty:


Not a bad deer for my first buck ever. It was shot with a .50 Caliber pistol from about 75 yards away. (Note the bandana around my neck) That's the team symbol of my sharp shooting pistol hunting crew. We call ourselves "The Pistoleros".

The DNR even payed us a visit and told us to shoot as many deer as we can this year, because Iowa is already severely overpopulated. He said everyone needs to fill out their tage 100%, or we are going to have a very very serious problem next year.

OK, fine. I'll hunt more.

Randomness

I got this link forwarded to me the other day from Tony Hakes, and I thought it was really funny. It's basically a website where you can upload pictures of people and turn them into dancing elves.

Here's one I threw together for fun:

http://www.elfyourself.com/?id=1140074970

Let me know if you recognize anyone.
(FYI: Corky Thatcher is NOT one of them, although his twin brother is)

Catching Up...

I have a couple of things to blog about and not a lot of time, so I'm gonna kill a couple of birds with one stone.

First off... my trip to the smoky mountains with T Hakes. The trip was excellent. We had 2 600+ miles days, a couple of 400 miles days, managed to stay overnight in a dry county, ran into plenty of rain, and saw some amazing scenery. Here we are at 6:00 AM leaving Mount Carrol, IL:


Here's some of the awesome scenery in Maggie Valley North Carolina, about 1000 miles later:



Next topic is a recent purchase of ours. It's a nice little 34' machine that will add a little bit of entertainment value to our tailgating season, as well as enhance our vacationing possibilities. I call her "Cys Matters".

I have a TON of stuff coming up in the next few weeks, so I'm sure I'll have to give more updates. This coming weekend is Greg Jr's bachelor party that I will be hosting, weekend after that I'm going on a surprise birthday something, weekend after that Greg Jr gets married, weekend after that we break in the new CYs Matters on the ISU vs Oklahoma game, and somewhere in there I may start up a storage business with the purchase of some downtown property. I get tired just reading all of that.

I would also like to send out a Happy Birthday to Gramma C!

Smokin' (Not Ciggies)

A recent purchase of mine has been paying dividends for the past 3 weeks, and I wanted to share some of the meaty goodness with all of you. I'm not sure if there's a better way to spend $108 at Wal-Mart.

This is a picture of my propane powered. Great Outdoors Smokey Mountain Series Tower Smoker.


I joined a smoking meat forum online and have been getting some expert tips on how to properly smoke multiple kinds of meat, what kind of spices to use, what kind of wood chips produce the best flavor, and every other detail about meat that you can think of.

This past Friday I smoked a pork tenderloin for 14 of my closest poker playing friends, and judging by the amount that was leftover (0.0 pounds), I'd say it was a hit.

One thing that didn't make sense to me was that cooking a piece of meat for 6 hours makes it tender and juicy. I've been a die hard griller for many years, and I always thought that was the best way to cook meat. But, after a few runs with the smoker, I now know that "Low and Slow" creates the juiciest, most flavorful meat I've ever had in my life.

After spending about an hour on the smoking meats forum this morning, I wanted to try a popular new "snack item" in the smoking world called a "Fatty". What is a fatty you ask? I was wondering the same thing when I saw the topic online, and after a few explanations, it's very simple. A fatty is a 1 pound roll of your favorite sausage. Some smokers say they are a very addictive morsel of goodness, that gets put on the smoker for a snack, anytime they smoke a pork loin, or a brisket. They only take 2 hours, and they're great for breakfast.

Andrea and I decided to smoke a few fatties this afternoon. I wanted to smoke one naked (the sausage, not me... well.... OK, me too), so we could use it as the control group in our little experiment. It's important to know what the meat tastes like plain, or you'll never know if you're adding good flavor to the meat with all your rubs and various other flavoring methods.

For the other two, we rolled out the sausage to a size of a standard piece of paper (8 X 11) Then we put diced vegetables and cheese on the inside, and rolled them up, sprinkled them with a spice rub, and put em in the smoker.

The top tray is Andrea's fatty in the front, and mine in the back with a meat thermometer stuck in it. Fatty's must cook to an internal temp of 160 degrees. The naked fatty is on the 2nd shelf. Just below that is the water pan, with mesquite wood chips in it. For this smoking session, I used oak wood chips that are made from retired Jack Daniels barrels. They make dynamite smoke, and great flavor. You can't see it, but just below the water pan is the iron wood chips box, where all the thin blue smoke comes from.

MMMMM.... look at that smokey goodness:


Here's the finished product. Naked fatty on the left, Andrea's in the middle, and mine on the right. The difference between Andrea's and I, is that she added tomatoes to hers, and I stuck with green peppers, mushrooms, onions and shredded cheese.


I gotta tell ya. These fatty's were excellent, and now I know why people say they're so addictive.
Next on the smoking agenda is:

1) Whole chickens injected with cajun
2) BBQ beef ribs, that pull away from the bone
3) Beef Brisket
4) Lamb loin
5) Any other meat on the planet that comes within 5 feet of me.


...and FYI: I know how funny "Smokin a fatty" sounds. That's one of the main reasons I chose to blog about it. ;-)

March of Dimes Ride Iowa

I don't know if I can think of a better way of spending an 83 degree Saturday afternoon, then on a motorcycle. Which is exactly what I did, when I participated in the 1st Annual March of Dimes Ride Iowa this weekend. A $20 donation got you into the infield of the Iowa Speedway in Newton, Iowa where they had live bands, vendors, beer, food and about 1200 bikes (participants).

My friend Wendell and I spent about 3 hours there, and then got lined up for the ride to Prairie Meadows Casino. We rode through the town of Newton, where the cops had intersections blocked off, so we could ride through stop signs, and stop lights the entire way. The people of Newton lined the streets, and waved to us as we rode by. It was a very cool moment to see the people of Newton smile, after the hard times they've been enduring lately.

The ride to the Casino was amazing. We went through the rolling hills of Iowa farm country and through small towns where people stood on their front porches and waved to us. My favorite part of the ride was when I would come to the top of a hill and see bikes for miles ahead of me, and miles behind me in my mirrors.

We arrived at Prairie Meadows, and took some time to look at more vendor merchandise, took a stroll through the bike show, and talked to a lot of very nice people who participated in the ride as well. We drew for door prizes, and I'll be darned if I didn't win a $25 gas card to Kum-n-Go. My lucky streak continues on making Charity Motorcycle Rides profitable.

I didn't want my luck to end there, so I went upstairs to kick back a few brews at the Blackjack table. I was getting up to about $140 in profit, and wanted to make an exit, but I had a feeling the cards were going to get even better. 3 losses in a row proved me wrong, and I picked up $110 in profit, cashed out, and headed for home at 6:00.

It was a great afternoon, and my only regret is that I didn't have my digital camera with me to take pictures of all the cool bikes and people that I met.

CMN Poker Run

This past Thursday I was at Bike Night at Porky's and there was a guy handing out flyers for the 1st Annual Children's Miracle Network Poker Run. It was $20 per person, and you got free burgers / chips / pop all day, with the chance to win some prizes. I love poker runs because you usually get to meet a lot of nice people and the money goes to a great cause. Andrea and I geared up yesterday at 10:30 am, and headed for the Ankeny Wal Mart parking lot to get registered.

It was a beautiful day in the mid 80's, sunny, a small breeze, which is pretty much ideal for great riding. We took off with a group of 5 other bikes towards Saylorville Lake for our first stop of our 100 mile run. The object of this poker run was to make 5 stops, and at every stop you drew a chip out of a bucket, the chips were numbered 1 - 52 (cuz that's how many cards are in a deck), and the goal was to get the highest chipcount you could. What was my first draw? 1. As in One. The lowest chip in the bucket. I asked if there was a prize for lowest, and they said there was, but it was more of a booby prize. That became my mission for the day.

The next stop we were in for a nice little treat. That treat came in the form of a terential downpour. It came out of nowhere, and it felt like the drops were the size of golf balls. I had water overflowing out the top of my boots, and my freshly waxed bike was a complete disaster. But we pushed through it, and 5 excruciating minutes later then we were back on the sunny backroads rural Iowa, drying off as fast as we got wet.

We made all our stops, and were waiting for the rest of the bikes to get back so we could draw for prizes. In our first group of 5, the ladies counting the chips told us that as of right now, Andrea had the highest count, and I had the lowest, but there were still 7 - 8 bikes out that haven't had theirs counted.

Then it came time to announce the winners. The 3rd place winner for highest chip count was....... Andrea Kneifl. For that, she received a $25 gift card to Hy-Vee. Nice. The prize for lowest chip count goes to........ some guy named Doug. Dang! The guy beat me by 4 measly points for the booby prize.

After that, they drew for prizes with the tickets we purchased during registration. Andrea's name was drawn and she won this cool little motorycle clock. My name was drawn for sunglasses and a Sturgis Bandana. It was a great day, we met some very nice people, ate some good food, and actually took home some pretty sweet prizes. There's a pic of the prizes below.


Now, I don't like to think of a Charity Poker Run as profitable, but for $20 each, we made a pretty nice haul. Oh, and helped out a great charity. That too. ;-)

Relay for Life

I love to Blog about good news, good events, positively contributing to this planet, or stuff that's just plain fun to talk about. This post has it all, and I've been dying to write about it, ever since I got the pictures from Chad. So here we go....

Last Friday, there was a Relay For Life event in Waukee, Iowa to help raise money for cancer research. Chad and his family are big supporters of this cause because Chad's mom, and his brother are both survivors. The annual walk takes place for 12 hours. (6:00 pm to 6:00 am), and they have been participating for many years.

I have donated money to cancer charities ever since my sister Brigett, was diagnosed at age 29. I never have really felt the effects of cancer until it hit that close to home. I think it's a great cause, and I know my money is actually going to research, not just to pay a bunch of administrative costs, like some other charities. Sometimes it takes a wakeup call like that, to actually get people to start thinking seriously about a cure.

For the past couple of years I have purchased a luminary in honor of Brigett, for this event. The luminaries represent both people who have survived, and those who have had their lives taken. The luminaries run around the entire track. I believe they do that, because it adds a sense of purpose to the event. A visual representation of all the lives that the participants and donors are affecting. When people get tired, they can take a quick glance to their left and see why they're doing what they're doing. This is a picture of the luminary I bought for this year's event:


One other thing that was really cool about the event was the fact that Cory (Chad's Brother) was this year's Honorary Survivor. Here he is chatting with John McCain, who made a much-welcomed surprise appearance.


This is part of the team who put in 12 hours of overnight walking to make this event a HUGE success. The baton is Cory's because he was the Honorary Survivor.
Baton.... Relay.... Get it?

From left to right. Cory, Lindsay B, Lindsay W, Chad.
They do this event every year, and Chad made the ultimate sacrifice this time, by missing out on our monthly poker club. I don't care if you like poker or not, you gotta respect that. Excellent job guys, I feel honored just being a small contributor to this wonderful adventure.

By the way, is it just me, or does everyone in that picture look happy to be there, with the exception of Chad. Who appears to be suffering from a poorly timed bowel movement, or has taken a quick trip to Seering Gas Pain Land.

It's just an innocent observation, and I'm wondering if I'm the only one who sees it.

New Seat

We have a motocycle trip coming up in May, and I felt it was time to upgrade my seat. If you know anything about motorcycles, then you know the best name in seats is Corbin. So, that's where I started. Scouring their website and ebay and all the authorized dealers I could find. I was fully prepared to spend the $1000 for a new one, then a gift was dropped in my lap.

I decided to post a message at my triumph message board to see if there were any new/slightly used ones lingering around that someone wanted to sell. There was, and it just happened to be red, and it came in the mail yesterday. It was a nice $600 savings, which the ol' bank account appreciates. What I didn't know was that the seat would be comfortable AND cool.

Here's my stock seat:


Here's my Corbin Rumble seat with color matched fiberglass:


Here's the flip up backrest in the "up" position:


Here's a view from the back:

I think it gives it a nice new look, with the stitching in the seat and the deepness of the seating position. Not to mention, it's one of the most comfortable seats on the market. My major complaint about putting a backrest on my bike was that it would ruin the look of the bike, and interupt the smooth lines from front to back. So, with this seat, you're just one wrist flick away from having a backrest to not having a backrest. Should make the trip that much more enjoyable.

Question: Does anyone know why they call it a Rumble Seat?

Answer: It's actually a Hot Rod term. Older cars used to have a Rumble Seat in them that would flip up around the trunk area. Corbin decided to steal that term when they made this seat.