Trunk or Treat

Sunday evening, we went to "Trunk or Treat" at our church. Basically, the adults set up "themed" tailgates, and the kids in costume come by and trick or treat. It's a fun "gathering" event for the church community. We decorated Belinda's Flex in a Tampa Bay Buccaneers Theme.

New Camera

Cleaned up and ready to go. A couple of pics from the new camera. The bike is cleaned and ready to go.

Hi - This is Diego. Last week, I went to St. Augustine, FL on a class field trip. I saw many neat things. First, we got on the bus. On the bus, we watched TV and played video games. When we got there, we went to the bathroom (it was a long trip). Then, we saw a train that was haunted. We learned that Ponce De Leon is very small. Also, I learned that the French stole cannon balls to fire at the fort at Casa De San Marcos. It was a fun trip.

World Series - Game 2 at the Trop

I got the opportunity (Thanks to Fox Sports) to host a couple of dealer guests at the World Series Game 2 Thursday night. I went with 3 others from my office, Catrina Albrecht, Lyn Steckroth, and Randy Crites. We had a great time. One of the dealers that attended brought his kids - they have been sleeping in their Rays jerseys for the past 3 weeks - they were really geeked up about it! It was a long night - I rolled in at 2:30AM and was greated by 4 kids - yes, they fell asleep in front of the TV watching the game and woke up when I came in. So, by the time I got them settled and fell asleep, it was well past 3AM. Friday would have been a long day at work, but, I was so busy, I forgot I was tired!

Barber Vintage Festival Day 3 & 4

Up early and back to the IHOP for more grease on Sunday morning. Then, off to the Barber Museum which is located at the track overlooking one of the turns. It's a 6 story building full of one of the world's largest collections of motorcycles. I was just overwhelmed. It was hard to comprehend all of the bikes in that place. For me, this was the highlight of the trip. We spent over 3 hours in the museum.

Once we finished up, we decided to take the long way back to the hotel through the Talladega Forest area. Some great "twisties" to ride on and several fun elevation changes. It was a great ride. We got back to the hotel early enough to watch the end of the NASCAR Race, then we walked down to the Mellow Mushroom Pizza joint. It was a nice cap off to a great weekend.

The ride home was fun. It started off at 6AM and 37 degrees outside with pea soup fog. Not the ideal conditions to be on a bike. However, after about 150 miles, it warmed up nicely and the rest of the day was fine. Bob's bike acted up again in Americus, and unfortunately, he had to take it home in the back of a U-Haul. I think Harley is going to get an ear full shortly!

The only problem I had was with about 30 minutes to go, after I broke off from the others and decided to take a short cut through the Ocala Forest. Bad call - after about 25 miles of riding down a 2 lane road, it was closed due to an accident - I had to turn around and back track and take another route. That added 90 more minutes onto what was already a long day.

In total, I think we rode just under 1400 miles.

Photos and Videos - http://photobucket.com/BarberVintageMotorcycleFest

Barber Vintage Motorcycle Festival - Day 2

We rolled out about 9AM Saturday morning, and made a short run to the IHOP. Greasy breakfast was ate by all. Then, it was off to Barber Motorsports Park for some Vintage Bike Racing!

What a place. This road course is cut through some of the most beautiful countryside I have seen in a long time. Rolling hills, beautifull pine trees, and a very sunny and pleasant day. The event kicked off with an overhead appearance by the Aeroshell Squadron. I have seen them fly before, they are awesome - and it was a real treat for Bob and Chris who had not seen them fly before. That display was followed by the start of Vintage Racing. I can tell you that if I learned one thing about old motorcycles this past weekend, was that I don't know much about old motorcycles - but I am learning. I had a hard time keeping up with all the different classes of old bikes that raced against one another. It was really cool to see them running. We walked through the pits which were open for all, and met up with a friend from our home town area, Keith Williams, who races old bikes - I believe he was on a Manx. We chatted for a moment and then went back to the paddock to watch him race.

Once we finished watching the racing action, we rode the shuttle over to the flea market. Very fun seeing everyone's junk for sale (I mean treasures). Unfortunately, we didn't fall in love with any slightly used pieces of crap that we would have to bring home with us.

Once the day was done, we went to the Harley Dealership and fetched Bob's bike. Can you believe they towed his bike 63 miles (126 round trip to pick it up) and only charged him $40? The name of the dealer was "The Heart of Dixie Harley Davidson" in case you are ever in the area and need to add to your Harley T-Shirt collection. Not too bad - free popcorn in the show room too. Then, we went back to the hotel, freshened up, and walked down to the local Hooters for some wings, fries, and beers. It was not a late night at all, as we were pretty pooped from a long day once again.

Photos and Videos - http://photobucket.com/BarberVintageMotorcycleFest

Barber Vintage Motorcycle Festival - Part 1

6:00AM Departure last Friday. It was a very nice Florida fall morning. I met Bob and Chris around 6:30AM and we headed for the Florida Turnpike. 540 miles later, we arrived in Birmingham AL. It was a long day. The weather was great until about the last 200 miles when we hit some very heavy rain. We put on the rain gear though, and pushed on! The only hiccup was an electrical problem with Bob's bike. It kept blowing ECM fuses. We all fussed and fiddled with it until we finally gave up with 60 miles left and called for a tow to the local Harley Dealer. Very frustrating for Bob, but, as they say "**it happens". Once we all got warmed up and dry, we walked down the street from the hotel and ate at Joe's Crab Shack. My fish & Chips were ok - but the 2 Blue Moon's I drank sure were good.

Photos and Video's - http://photobucket.com/BarberVintageMotorcycleFest

Packed and Ready to Go to Alabama!

From the looks of this picture, you would never guess that I over-packed. It's amazing how much stuff I wedged in my saddle bags and motorcycle luggage. Why over-pack for a guys motorcycle trip? Well, the weather is going to fluctuate from mid 80's in Florida to low 60's at night in the Birmingham area. So, I packed a little of everything. The weather does look really good. It's going to be dry for most of the trip up tomorrow, but the Birmingham area has a 30 percent chance of rain so I packed the rain gear just in case.

Should be a fun weekend with Bob and Chris. I look forward to a few days of strickly guy talk, cold beer, greasy festival food, and a couple nights of solid sleep with no "daddy I had a bad dream" screams to wake me up. Life is good. Well, I actually treasure the middle of the night wake ups. My kids are angels to me. But, I need a couple days break (as you parents will understand).

Brianna's Princess Bedroom

Brianna celebrated her 5th birthday this weekend. One of the things we promised to give her for her birthday was her very own bedroom. Last weekend, I relocated Marco into Antonio's room, and Brianna and I went to Home Depot in search of paint. By the end of Sunday, we had transformed the room from a newborn's crib room to a "Princess Bedroom". Belinda painted over the green chest of drawers and got a really nice bedspread and curtain set from our Friend Jennifer Mazzerado. I think Brianna is very happy!

Ready for Alabama!

Next Friday, myself and 2 of my biker buddies, Chris Galardi, and Bob Lowe, are headed to Birmingham AL for the Barber Motorsports Park Vintage Motorcycle Festival. We are going to ride the bikes non-stop up to AL on Friday, and attend the event on Saturday and Sunday, and head back Monday. It's a short trip, but should be a great ride and a fun event.

Barber Vintage Museum

The Barber Vintage Motorcycle Museum located at Barber Motorsports Park is one of the premier vintage motorcycle collections in the country. For the festival, they roll out all the bikes and showcase them on the track. Additionally, the AHRMA Vintage motorcycle racing series will be on the track with races from various vintages of bikes. Everything from old Norton's, Triumphs, Ducati's, Honda's, etc. There are many different classes from the oldest classics to some newer bikes from the early 1990's. It should be a great show!

The Vulcan is Prepped and Ready!

Belinda was out with the girls tonight for her birthday, and the kids went to sleep early. So, I went out to the garage and prepped the bike for the trip. The oil is changed, and the long distance riding gear was re-installed (luggage rack, saddle bags, highway pegs, etc.). In total, we should put well over 1200 miles on the bikes in 4 days.

The only sad thing is that our buddy, and frequent riding partner Andrew Steadman had to cancel last minute. Work is going to have him in Europe for the weekend. Andrew - we will take pictures and see you on the next trip!

Marco Has a Pretty Good Arm

Marco and Diego playing Football while they are supposed to be watching Antonio play baseball! Marco is a very active boy. He wants to do everything his big brothers and sisters are doing. He is a funny little guy.

Antonio's First Year of Coach Pitch

Antonio moved up to Coach Pitch this season. He is on the Lake Mary Red Sox. After 2 games and several practices, I am so pleased with his coaches. The head coach has already been through all levels of Little League with his older son and knows the program well. He really understand what the kids need at this age. He shows up for the games with a great attitude, and has the line ups set for where the kids will play each inning. We will never have to worry about the kids not being rotated through all the positions - which is the way it should be at age 6 and 7.
Antonio was very worried about hitting when we started the season. Having only played T-ball, I think he was intimidated. I took him to the ball diamond in our neighborhood a few times, and of course, we play home run derby in the street and pool all the time. I wasn't worried at all. First game, he hit the ball 4 times and got on base 3 of 4 times. A fine job!

Hannah Montana Build a Bear

Brianna went to her friend Ava's birthday party last Saturday at Build a Pair. She had a $25 budget to build a bear and she chose the "Hannah Montana" Bear. Build a Bear is not cheap. $25 didn't even buy this bear clothes. I am glad I wasn't Paying! Brianna used some of her own money to buy clothes for the bear.