of their hearts and spent the weekend talking to prospective customers on behalf of VaVaVroom. Ed, one of VaVaVroom's sales reps, was also a tremendous help at the booth. We made some great contacts and made some fantastic sales. Although the motorcycle industry is having its share of issues, there are bright spots as well. Scooter sales were up in 2008, mainly due to the high gas prices last year. That trend is expected to continue as commuters look for inexpensive ways to get to work. Also, many dealers believe that although consumers may not buy as many new vehicles this year, they will not cut out there passion, just cut back. And that gives them the opportunity to stock up and sell apparel and other accessories. 
ealer Expo is not just about buying for the season. It is also about having some fun. Ed, Sandra, Pat, and I had a great dinner at Rock Bottom Brewery. Dinner was followed by an invitation by George, another VaVaVroom rep, to join him and his colleagues for a night of fun. So George sent a ca
r for us. "Why are you sending a car?", I asked. George replied, "Because it's f ' ing Valentine's Day." Ah yes, it was Valentine's Day and we appreciated the gesture. So our driver, Rick, arrived to pick us up and took us to Iaria's Restaurant, a charming, authentic Italian restaurant that's been around since 1933. While George finished dinner with his crew, he made sure we were comfortable at th
e bar with our bartender, Dominick. Us girls enjoyed martinis and wondered what the night had in store for us. After Iaria's, the night for us ended at Jillian's. I always have fun at Jillian's and this night was no exception. I really can't share any more of details of the night, but trust me, we had fun!
s hitting the dealerships in Germany this summer. Expect to see this model in the US in 2010.
house in Schiller Park. Not only did I meet my new boyfriend there (pictured to the right), but we had a wonderful meal in a charming environment. Early on, one of the owners Larry came by our table to see how we were doing. When I told him that this was our first time at the restaurant, he insisted that we try the vodka sauce over mostaccioli (for free). We then ordered the house pinot grigio. The waiter informed us that they were out and that we would receive the Santa Margarita pinot grigio for the house price. Then, the waiter misunderstood our order and brought orders of two chicken parmigia
na and one zuppa di pesce when we thought we ordered two orders of zuppa di pesce and one chicken parmigiana. We decided we had plenty of food and did not have him correct the order. He insisted on taking one of the entrees off the bill. He did what great restaurants do. He turned a potentially negative experience into a positive one. We will definitely be going back. You can see how happy we look here in front of the lovely Valentine’s Day display. I am now realizing that although this is a motorcycle blog, I got carried away with food. Signing off now…
that I mostly skied, ate and slept, there were two highlights of the trip. The first highlight was dinner at the Ranch House Restaurant at Devil’s Thumb Ranch. They serve only fresh, organic fare prepared from scratch. This is one of the best meals I’ve had in a long while. Compliments of the chef, we each started with potato leek soup and fried oysters. I had the tilefish with mashed potatoes. For dessert, I shared the most amazing bread pudding with my friend and college roommate, Teri. Here is a picture of her skiing for the first time in many years.
d Ride Program, as my ski instructor. Arlyne (who I took my Basic Rider MSF class with) and I took an all day group lesson learning to ski moguls in the annual Mary Jane Bump Jamboree. We felt blessed to have Bob as our instructor. (See Arlyne and I smiling ear to ear with him in this pic?) Ski Magazine calls Bob the “mogul master” and “bump guru”. I understand why. I learned so much from him in one day. As an example, I had an “a-ha” moment when Bob had us do a simple exercise. I realized immediately that my right turns are way more dominant than my left – the source of many a problems on the slopes. Hey once you identify a problem, you can start to fix it.
Living in the Midwest is enough to drive a biker woman crazy.
s showed us all how it is done and most of us gave the pole a try. I brought my neighbor to the party who did not know the theme beforehand. After an hour or so at the party, he leaned over and whis
pered to me “This party is way better than I thought it would be.” To the left is a picture of Birthday Girl giving me my first pole lesson. As you can see by the picture to the right, Birthday Girl is much more talented than me. This year, Birthday Girl had a pole installed in her home. Now, that is dedication to the sport.
n in the area called Waterman. I have fond memories of Waterman and smiled as I passed by the library (pictured here) that my grandmother took my sister and me to many times. I then took a little ride by my grandparents old house. Memories. I wish I had brought my camera! The porch was gone and there was new siding on half of the house. Half the house? What? New gray siding was installed on the two sides of the house that face the road. The old green siding (that I remember vividly) was on the other two sides of the house, peeling and falling off. Well, I suppose times are tough, so that's all they could do for now.
My trip out to ride with Kris was a double-bonus. Not only did I get to ride and see her and Jerry, but I also got to see my other cousins - who are awesome. I was thrilled to hear the fantastic news that Megan and Matt are expecting. Here is a picture of the happy couple.
was starting to feel light headed (probably from not eating much over the last two days) so we went straight to Denny’s for breakfast. (I'm going over our route in the picture here). The waitress was nice and let us spread our wet gear all over the place. I think we left Denny’s at 10:30 or 11:00 AM. As we exited the toll way, the troll in the toll booth gave me a nasty look for my wet money and toll ticket. Luckily I couldn’t hear what she was yapping about. Biddy.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
230 Miles
I woke up this morning to find a text from Nate Kern. Found out that he had crashed in South Africa and had 6 broken ribs and a collapsed lung. He flew home today. I was expecting to see him on Saturday at Morton’s BMW in Fredericksburg, VA. I guess he won’t be there but more importantly I was worried about him. Poor guy had to fly back from South Africa by himself in that state. The doctors there were amazed that he recovered enough that he could fly back so soon. Keeping him in my prayers for a quick recovery.
We left our hotel around 9:00 and made our way to US–15 South. It was a beautiful day, quite a contrast from the day before. The ride along US–15 followed the Susquehanna Rive
r for quite a while. We rode through Harrisburg – snapped a quick picture of the capitol building and rode on to Gettysburg. I had been to Gettysburg when I was in 7th grade and was excited to see it again. We were given great advice by a nice woman at the Gettysburg Tour Center on US–30/Lincoln Highway. We had a quick lunch and went to the Gettysburg Cemetery. We were too lazy to walk over to the other part of the cemetery so we hopped a stone wall and went to the site where Lincoln gave the Gettysburg address (a picture of Sandra jumping the wall here). We then walked across the street to one of the Gettysburg battlegrounds. We didn’t want to leave this beautiful place, but we wanted to get to the DC area before rush hour. Sandra and I parted ways in Fredericks, Maryland. She continued on 15 to see her sister in Leesburg, VA, I took 270 South to 495 South to George Washington Pkwy – nice ride (even as traffic began to thicken) to my friends' home in Arlington, VA. My friends, Bageshri and Dilip, have two children, Shalin and Saeli, who are super cute and entertaining. Between talking about the recent presidential debates and chasing the kids, we caught up and gladly retired early.
Friday, October 10, 2008
0 miles
I got up early-ish (6:30), so I could leave with Bageshri at 7:30 and get a ride to the Metro. When I emerged from the subway in DC, it was a quiet, beautiful morning. I checked in with the guard at the Supreme Court to see if it was in session. Nope. Not until Monday. I wandered somewhat aimlessly yet somewhat calculated – past the capitol building, came across some kind of hippy-like happening. It was too early to go into the Botanic Garden and by this time I was getting hungry, but couldn’t find any type of breakfast or coffee places except for a ramshackle stand, so I settled for a Dreamsicle for breakfast there.
Wandering further, I strolled through the sculpture garden of the Hirshhorn Museum and a lovely garden behind the Smithsonian Castle. I enjoyed some tea at the Castle and headed over to the American History Museum – to be shut out again – it’s closed for renovations. Of course, if I had done any pre-planning, I would have known that. I made my way to the Washington monument to have a good, close look at it. As I was departing, I came across another “happening” that looked like a Native-American drum ceremony for women. Next I attempted to visit Ford’s Theater. Strike 3, it too was closed for renovations. But I did venture into the house where Lincoln died across the street. And then success - finally a museum open - The National Portrait Gallery and the American Art Museum (both located in the same building). I found the staff there to be knowledgeable and helpful. There were a few notable aspects. First, I enjoyed a comparative exhibit of Georgia O’Keefe paintings and Ansel Adams photographs. At first I didn’t see how they compared at all but was interested to find that their art often took them to the same scenes and places. There were also great comparisons of close-up nature photos. I also found the Hall of Presidents to be entertaining and interesting. Finally the courtyard in the building is peaceful and full of light. I took to wandering again and found myself in the National Gallery of Art Sculpture Garden. I sat on a bench around the pool, read my book and looked up to see a rainbow in the fountain. That seemed like a great way to end my day in Washington, DC.
After getting slightly disoriented in the Metro underground, I found Bagesheri and we went to the Iwo Jima Memorial and Netherlands Carillon near Arlington Cemetery. After dinner Bageshri, Dilip, Shalin, Saeli and I went to see the new 9/11 Pentagon Memorial. It is a thoughtful remembrance of those that perished both in the Pentagon and those on the airplane. As we watched planes overhead, it made me realize how close Reagan National airport is to the Pentagon. The children, inspired by the overhead planes, asked to view the planes landing and taking off from Reagan National in the nearby park. It seemed that planes were only a few stories above us as they took off. The children squealed with delight and I enjoyed it as well – keeping my squealing to a minimum. We were all tired from a full day and headed home.
Saturday, October 11, 2008
104 Miles
The plan today was to meet Sandra at Morton’s BMW in Fredericksburg, VA at 11:00. Morton's BMW was having their annual Oktoberfest. (And she would have been on time if her sister’s cat hadn’t peed on her bed). I had a pleasant ride from Arlington to Fredericksburg. There were a few particularly bright spots on I-95 and US 1-Jefferson Davis Hwy. When I arrived at Morton’s BMW I immediately met some nice, interesting people including Gordon from http://www.yourdoormat.com/ (they make custom doormats). Morton’s had great food and great deals. Not that I needed them, but I bought two really nice BMW tees for $10 each plus a Nate Kern 2008 ASRA Thunderbike Championship shirt. I met the owners of the dealership – Jeff and Hannah plus their daughter Christine. I can see why they are so successful. They are the nicest people you’ll ever meet. They run a dealership that has fantastic selection of bikes, parts and apparel, plus really great customer service.
Later in the day I was happy to see Nate arrive with his two dogs (pictured left) and a friend. (Thanks to Jim Doyle for the heads up the night before that Nate would actually make the event.) He is still hurting from his crash, but doing amazingly well considering he was seriously injured just over a week ago. His appearance at the event was a complete surprise to the folks at BMW – and they were ecstatic to see him.
After arriving back at Bageshri’s that evening we went to the Arlington Draft House to see the movie, Mamma Mia. It is a great place to see that movie, as it serves food and drink at your table. The movie itself was much better than I anticipated and really fun to watch.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
706 Miles
Bageshri was nice enough to get up early and make Indian tea and scones before I left at 7:30 this morning. Sandra and I met up at an exit off of I -70 in Maryland. The Harley map 
didn't note that the exit we chose to meet at was only a one way exit, so found each other at the next one. I was so happy to find Sandra's bike there (and her of course) that I took a picture of it. We decided to super-slab it and see if we could get the ride done in one day. Taking I-70 and I -76 (Pennsylvania turnpike) was absolutely beautiful with colors at peak in some areas. The farms scattered along the way added to its charm. As always, we met some nice people along the way. A woman rider working as a cashier at a service plaza, a couple with Joe Satriani shirts on (he’s a rider too), Forest who owns a motorcycle part distribution company, and a deaf man that stopped to thank us for letting him follow us for miles on I-80. Our trip took us from Virginia through DC, Maryland, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, and back to sweet home Chicago, IL. We got home around 8:00 that night tired and happy to have made the trip and happy to be home.
