Biketoberfest 2006

FJ with the new 2006 Gun Metal Gray Road King

Just prior to shoulder surgery in August, I finally decided to hook myself up with a new bike and decided on the above pictured Road King. While it sat in my garage for a month awaiting the end of my physical therapy, uncles Joey and Peter schemed up a trip to Daytona Beach for Biketoberfest.

Joey and Peter are directly responsible FOR my addiction to motorcycles in the first place so it seemed only fitting to get out with them on the new bike together. Joey first took me riding on his red and black BSA 650 in 1968. It sported a beautifully handcrafted, handpainted, Black and Yellow California license plate that looked very close to the real thing.....unless you were standing right next to it!) And Peter sold me my first bike when I was 16, a red Kawasaki 400 which I rode to high school for two years.

Joey flew down to Tampa from New York and stayed with us in the new guest room we have now (as Michael has now established himself in Gatorland) and we headed out of Palm Harbor and up to Spring Hill to hook up with Peter at his place where he and Darlene were waiting.......and apparently filming a Tiparillo commercial.....what kind of hat is that Pancho?




We finally headed out around noon and made it about 4 miles before we decided to stop for breakfast! Yet for some reason I KNEW this was not going to be like any other trip I've ever taken. Joey started asking where that old knick-knack shop was that he ordered oranges from last time and.....well......we soon found ourselves in a shop that looked like a mix of "Lord of the Rings", "I Love Lucy","Green Acres", and an avant-garde art museum.
Joey started looking around the shop "Yes, I think these were the oranges I remember....in fact these are the SAME oranges I remember!"

For as eclectic a shop as it was, the owners couldn't have been nicer.

PART 2 to Follow!

Labor Day 2006-Clearwater Beach, FL

With Michael coming home for Labor Day Weekend, we decided to go to Clearwater Beach for some fun and sun!

The shoreline at Clearwater Beach is undergoing a temendous change, with the old Mom and Pop hotels and motels giving way to serious condo development and hotel construction as you can begin to see below.

The water was as warm as ever and the sun was HOT! If you don't use sunscreen in Florida it is generally assumed that you are a tourist from Germany so out came the SPF 45.

Joining us that day for the girls was Rachael's Volleyball Teammate Angela Diamantakos, or Taco for short. (She's also been known to answer to "Diamond Taco" but only when ordering Mexican food from the Tiffany's Drive-thru window.)

From left to right here is Taco, Rachael, CJ, and Diane Von Fursten.....oops, I mean Stephanie!

Behind Steph you can see the Skee-Doo rentals and far in the distance the Clearwater Pier.



Joining us on the boys side was Michael's roommate at UF and Palm Harbor graduate Kyle Bernet who despite every attempt to capture his picture, resisted at every turn.

He not only went back well fed but he DID need a lot of sunscreen.




This is as close a picture as you're going to get of me on this trip.


The shoulder surgery was still in full rehab mode on this visit and I was able to slip off the sling briefly for a quick dip in the Gulf.


Stephanie came for one thing only.....Skim Boarding!





After everyone cooled off a bit in the surf, the gang decided that a volleyball challenge was the next course of action, guys against the dolls.

With Taco serving, and Rachael up front to block out the middle, the girls soon gave the guys a run for their money. And I mean running......









It soon became apparent that the guys needed a different strategery.

Michael soon focused on every serve, getting better with each volley while the girls refused to back down.


Volley after volley had been launched by the guys only to be deftly handled by the girls.

They weren't on the Palm Harbor Varsity Team for nothing!

Rachael ignited the girls with spirited serves that left the guys searching for answers.



With the game hanging in the balance and the sun scorching the players and the photographer alike, it was soon a do or die situation.


However, with one MIGHTY SERVE Michael took control and showed Rachael and Taco what he had learned over th past three years as the personal cheering section for the girls team. It apparently wasn't just about face painting!


The girls were defeated. Rachael was not impressed in the least.


Rachael and Angela were soon plotting their revenge, while Michael was left to discover that while he had taken great care to park his newly purchased Suzuki GS500fx in a no parking zone.......................
he received a ticket on his motorcycle for facing in the wrong direction on the left side of the street!

(If you look closely you can see the ticket rubber banded to his throttle!)

Everyone had a
good time ....................but
Kyle would still
not allow the
paparazzi
to take his picture... or was he checking out that babe over there??





So with the storm
clouds rolling in
we said goodbye to
Clearwater Beach and
our Labor Day Celebration of 2006!

Michael J. Moves to the University of Florida!

Driving up I-75 to Gainesville, MJ was all to eager to get to school. "When does school start?" He said "Wednesday the 23rd...but we can move into the dorm on SATURDAY!"
OK THEN! So, off we went!

Everyone came prepared for the long 2.5 hour drive to UF, although Rachey didn't seem to be less interested in doing homework at 10 am and much more interested in her pillow.

The move-in went fairly well with everyone chipping in to help carry stuff up to his second floor dorm. UGH! Oppressive Florida heat and humidity!
Carolyn was shocked, SHOCKED, that the dorm rooms now had AIR CONDITIONING! "Well, when I WENT TO FLORIDA.........."

Stephanie was MORE than eager to carry up the latest and greatest TENT invention. Guaranteed to open in 2 seconds and fold up in 3 minutes!

It was a last second gift for Michael to make his sleeping on line episodes a bit more civil......now GET THOSE TICKETS BOY!

Are you SURE there's AC in these dorms?

Michael and his Palm Harbor HS buddy Kyle Bernet found their room fairly easily using the impossible to screw up "kindergarten name on the door routine".




The final shots of the family together before MJ kindly asked us to "git" so he could explore his new found territory.

We'll miss him terribly and I'm already lamenting the perilous drop in testosterone in our house now.
The last pic of the boys before departure. You know you're old when.........you're taking your son to college in an arm sling from rotator cuff surgery and he's wearing a shirt commemorating a concert from when YOU went to High School in the '70's! Bubba, have a great time!