Two weeks and a day, pulled in about 6:15pmCT today. Even with the rain I felt it was a good rally, was able to meet up with numerous old friends and met some new ones. As for Nancy, she had a blast. She doesn't know a stranger so was constantly chatting with someone new. Two weeks in the car...my ears are tired.
I'm sure some of you know Mike & Shirley Lamborne, better known as The Mountain Man regarding his painting. We drove up to his place in WV and I had him add some small touches to the trike, mostly to break up the huge expanse of those black fenders. He did some work around the taillights and the trunk keyhole, plus a little something on the fairing. He used the same colors that are in the other paintings he's done on the my rides. I've known Mike over 20 years, his earliest painting on the 2-wheeler I had was done at IZ-3 and it's still in good shape. All the painted parts that would fit on the I/S trike were moved over from the '98 Tourer; tank, front fender, Corbin side covers. Below are some pics of this great couple and his work. They have a great place near the top of a mountain, a bit over two miles off the main road. Sooo quiet, we slept great. Next morning we loaded the trike up and we took them to breakfast, after which we headed first to Johnson City and spent a couple days with Charlie Mac, then on to NC to meet up with some old Florida friends of mine that retired up there. Some I hadn't seen in nearly 10 yrs. but stay in touch. Finally headed to central Illinois to visit my eldest daughter and so she could meet Nancy. Again, we all had a good visit. Today we covered the last 430+ miles home through a bit of rain but mostly good weather. My only problem was an old back injury that started to bite back with huge bites, causing me to live with Tylenol most of the second week out. Monday it's back to the chiropractor and lay off the gym for a couple days.
As have others, I want to thank the staff for the work they put into this gathering. I'm definitely looking forward to next year. Here's a pic of Mike & Shirley and of the work Mike did for me.
