Enjoying the weekend…

I’m two days into a 3-day weekend and I’m having a ball.   I visited with Steve and Sara at the plant yesterday (those folks never take a break, and they were hard at it getting paperwork ready for the next round of bikes going out next week), and we had a good conversation.   We weren’t really open, but a couple of guys stopped by the shop and they were hugely intrigued by the RX3.   They’ll be back.    I can tell.

My good buddy Twin Peaks Steve (who also owns a CSC-150, a really beautiful black custom Bobber) picked up his new RX3 last week.   He lives up in the San Bernardino Mountains near Big Bear, and they’ve been having some weather up there.   It’s the same storm system that clobbered us in Flagstaff last week.   Anyway, Twin Peaks Steve wrote to tell us that the weather finally relented and he was able to get out on his new RX3.   Steve sent us a photo of his new motorcycle parked by what I’m going to guess is Lake Arrowhead, although there are so many little lakes tucked away up in those mountains I might be wrong.

Twin Peaks Steve’s new RX3 in the San Bernardino Mountains

Steve’s black Bobber…a gorgeous custom motorcycle!

TP Steve, your new RX3 is stunning, and don’t let anybody tell you different…red really is the fastest color!   We need to get together for a ride real soon.

My next big ride is probably going to be to Laughlin, which is a cool place and a great area.   It will be a grand ride on Highway 62 through the Mojave Desert again (like we did when we went to Overland Expo), I’ll cross over into Parker, and then I’ll follow 95 on up into Bullhead City on the other side of the Colorado River.   I’m going to do a story on the motorcycle riding around that area for Motorcycle Classics magazine.   As you may know, I do a lot of their travel pieces.   I’ve been writing for MC for about 7 years now, and it’s a hoot.   If you have one of their magazines, go to Page 82 (where the “Destinations” pieces always appear) and odds are you’ll see my name at the bottom of the article.   And if you don’t have one of their magazines, you need to get one!  It’s one of the best motorcycle mags out there, especially if you enjoy reading about classic bikes.

I’ve done lots of good rides all over the US for Motorcycle Classics.   It’s a fun thing to do.   I’m thinking about some of the destinations I’ll visit on my RX3 and write about next, and you can bet some are going to be in Arizona, Nevada, and northern California.   I’m thinking about a ride up the 395 between Bishop and the Nevada border.   That’s a magnificent area.

No pachyderm left behind…

I mentioned a day or two ago that I was going to get out on the range at the gun club, and this morning my good buddy Greg and I did.   Grand fun…I shot my 1911 .45 automatic and my Garand (hey, it’s only fitting to shoot those two, being it’s the Memorial Day weekend), and I took along my elephant gun.

Yep, I have an elephant rifle.   It’s a 98 Mauser and it’s chambered for .458 Winchester Magnum, and let me tell you, that puppy will shoot.   I was cutting three shot cloverleaf groups at 50 yards using the rifle’s iron sights (you don’t put scopes on elephant guns), and I was having a great time.  If they ever open up elephant season in southern California, no pachyderm will be safe when I’m in the woods.

Last night, I was getting things ready for this morning, and when I was setting up my .45 I let go of the recoil spring plug.   The part went flying, and I couldn’t find it.   I ended up moving both cars and all of the motorcycles out of the garage, and then all of the stuff on my workbench, and then all of the stuff under my workbench.  I found things that had been missing for years, and I finally found the part I had inadvertently launched.  It was hiding behind a box of Sierra rifle bullets.   All’s well that ends well, I guess, and my work area is a lot cleaner today than it was yesterday.

Ah, as long as I’m rambling along on this blog entry…I bought a book on Amazon yesterday, and I found I had let my Amazon Prime membership lapse (you know, the deal that gives you free shipping).   Then I saw the ad when I checked out (hey, those guys are smart)…if I ordered another $24 worth of books, I could get free shipping.   So, $72 later, I had my free shipping.   I bought a book about the missions of Baja (there are some incredible churches down there), and another book about Baja’s cave paintings.   You had a hint of what’s down that way from the blogs we did on our recent Baja expedition…

Justin, aka MacGuyver, relaxing on the steps of the 300-year-old San Ignacio Mission

A 10,000-year-old puma painting at San Francisco Sierra deep in Baja

That got me to thinking…why not another trip to Baja?   Perhaps an entry through Tecate, down through San Felipe to Gonzaga Bay on the Sea of Cortez, a turn to the west to take the dirt road across the peninsula through Coco’s Corner to Chapala, and then a run down to Bahia de Los Angeles?

What do you think?   Anybody wanna go?