2023: A Girl, a Motorcycle, and a Gypsy Soul

When going from Point A to Point B, with not a lot in between, Roadside Attraction is my favorite website to go to find quirky photo ops en route. That is how I stumbled upon Cadillac Ranch, near  Amarillo, Texas. In the middle of a field, alongside a busy freeway, lies a brightly painted group of Cadillac's, face down. There are no signs indicating its existence. Blink, and you will surely miss it. We parked on the side of the gravel frontage road, walked thru the ditch, squeezed through old cattle gate (size matters - its a tight squeeze), towards the ever present spray paint fumes, through an old farm field, and thru a sea of paint cans as you reach the cars. (Spray Painting is encouraged)  A sea of cars and paint cans! Each car has layers and layers of spray paint collected over the years. Each car is a unique masterpiece.   There's basically no rules at Cadillac Ranch - you can paint, you can use permanent marker, you can climb inside of the cars and on

If I had to pick between taking a planned vacation or just winging it, I choose winging it, hands down.  Last summer, I really wanted to go to West Virginia and  some the fun corners. I recruited Stiffy to go with me, literally days before - told her the plan was leaving at 6am, heading east. We met at the gas station and I check the radar... 70% chance of heavy rain and high flood potential every day for the duration of our trip. Screw that. I don't mind riding in the rain, but I don't want to spend 5 days in it if I don't have to. We gas up and I casually mention the sudden change in plans - and off we go west. Without even a hint of shock, Stiffy reached in her bag, and laughed as she handed me a plastic bag with papers inside. Iron Butt paperwork. Well, that upped the game - can't just let perfectly good paper go to waste! We hit the road at 7am - destination: East . West. There is NOTHING exciting, interesting, or fun between Minnesota and Montana besides tornado

A lot of people hang up their motorcycle keys once temps get into the 40's. Those people are kind of smart. I, however, choose to ride until Mother Nature makes it physically impassable to do so, aka snow falls and stays on the ground. In order to ride when its in the teens, 20's, 30's, or even 40's, there is some gear that is a necessity to try to keep remotely warm while riding. And thanks to this gear, I have only gotten frostbite once while riding motorcycle. And to be honest, I doubt ANY cold riding gear would have spared my fingers from riding 70mph in temps of NINE (9) degrees. Yeah, that was stupid. But I was on a mission..... I WAS going to ride to Daytona!! (NOT this year!!) And naturally, it had been in the 50's the week prior, aka when I decided I was going to ride there. Anyways - here is my GO TO cold riding gear!  <--- In Iowa, on way to Daytona. It warmed up to 24 degrees!!! There is no solution for frozen eyeballs. Tour Master Synergy 2.0 El

I live life on the edge. Figuratively and literally, most days. My mom and I recently had a discussion on where this fascination may have come from (DAD).. when I was a kid, we went on road trips every summer, usually heading west. One year, when I was roughly 11 years old, we went to Washington State to visit family. Family who, like me (now), live for adventure. They wanted to show us a cool trail - all I remember is that the trail came up to a STEEP ledge, barely wider than the length of my foot, and had a cable screwed into the rock so that we could hang on and not fall off the trail, down the steep cliff, never to be seen again. She remembers is more like this, "We went on this TINY narrow trail, with two kids who HATED each other. All I could picture is (my brother) pushing you off the edge with one swift movement." My rebuttal, as an adult, was of course, the fact that there was a safety device well drilled into the earth to keep us all alive and on the path. She stil

Riding motorcycle may seem a bit glamorous at times, but just when I start to feel "cute" while riding, reality kicks in and SMACK - a big, juicy bug, completely full of its last meal, splats on my hand. And going 70mph, he proceeds to slide up my fingers and onto my grips. Which will then be sticky for the duration of my ride. Or even worse, the bugs bigger, fatter, and bloodier relative takes a wrong turn in the bug world and crashes into the side of my face while cruising down the highway. No matter which direction it takes to slide to a hardened halt, its always disgusting. And still on my face. If said bug hits the sunglasses.. well, the only option is to try to wipe it off with either my finger or sleeve. Side note: This NEVER works. It always makes the issue way worse. And not only that, but then I have bug juice on my glasses AND my hands. And sleeve.  Roadkill. Knock on wood I can say that I have only killed a couple of small animals in the 12 yea