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Meersburgers! The ride to find Russ 3/3/07

Joined
Feb 16, 2006
Messages
917
Reaction score
10
Location
Sumter, SC
First Name
Russ
Last Name
Thomas
Re: before Russ ships out...

BRRRR!!! I hope you guys are thawed out by now!!!
 
Re: before Russ ships out...

Man was this fun!!!!!! :rider:

I planned to meet up with the group at the Red River bridge north of Saint Jo, TX. Using my GPS to plot their route and basing the arrival time on their KSO declaration, I arrived at 8:45a. Sure was lonely.........

After 25 minutes and just ready to go looking, spotted 5 headlights dashing down to the bridge. Cool scene.

Welcome: Gilk51, Yeeha! Stephen, l8rg8r, FocusFrenzy, and Trinity.

While we were taking care of the photo ops, a sixth rider came smokin' over the bridge at "more than the legal limit". ;-)

Welcome Simmons1....

We gathered up and headed to Lawton to hookup with TexasShadow and Busarider1.

Russ gave us the grand tour of his riding area. Beautiful!!!!!
After topping Mt. Scott for photo ops we rode to Meers.

After lunching, we rode around a little more, then said our goodbyes and slabbed it home.

I have a camera. You would think I would know how to use it. Somewhere in the fumbling with gloves, it got set to Manual operation and 82 "photos" came out completely white. :thumbd:

Thanks so much to Stephan for leading and thanks to Russ for the guided tour.

It was a really great day to ride and I racked up 408.4 miles (per GPS)

There should be pictures coming...........
 
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Re: before Russ ships out...

I'm still cold...
freezing.gif


I gotta get some warmer socks... :giveup:

477.8 miles on the odo for me, 472 on the GPS...

Fun & good burgers! The Meers place is interesting just to look around.
Mt. Scott is very sceneic.

I made friends with Russ's 2 dogs. :zen:

Russ is a great host! :thumb: We'll miss him! :-(
 
Re: before Russ ships out...

What an awesome trip!! Thanks everyone!! (especially you Russ...you're a GREAT tour guide!)

486 miles for me :mrgreen:
 
Re: before Russ ships out...

After realizing the photo goofs, I reset my camera and got a few shots.

Here is a panorama of Meers
Meers_OK.jpg


A couple random shots of the "crowd"
Elzi (TexasShadow)
DSCN1942.jpg

Rich (Simmons1) Byron (Trinity) and Stephen's back (Yeeha! Stephen)
DSCN1941.jpg

Chuck (Gilk51) and Ryan (l8rg8r)
DSCN1940.jpg


And finally, the real deal.......... :thumb:
DSCN1939.jpg


No shot of me or Leon (FocusFrenzy) or Russ (Busarider1)
 
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Re: before Russ ships out...

Looks like every one is getting home.

I had a nice report (for me) typed up and closed the window and blew it away.:eek2:

The short version is:

It was a nice ride today. After lunch I headed home by myself. I rode back home with no stops and arrived at the house at 5:11 pm on fumes with 281 miles on tank.

Photos are here:

http://rides.webshots.com/slideshow/557976513aGAkiw

Rich
 
Re: before Russ ships out...

Mr Simmons you have a real talent for framing a photo, my helmet is off to you. I think it is safe to say you all had a real good time today, even if the weather was pretty cool and the wind formidable as well. Some day I would truely enjoy meeting you all some place for the fun it would be.
 
Re: before Russ ships out...

Wow Rich.

You said you were flying when you came over Indian Bridge but I had no idea...

GPS Screenshot
 
Re: before Russ ships out...

arg finaly got this connection back working!!
#1 on the list of SV mods is a gell seat
#2 is highway pegs

my knee was on fire and I had to stop and walk it off.

view from top of the "mountain"
016.jpg



daisies!

006-1.jpg
 
Re: before Russ ships out...

Great photo's everyone! Had a great time leading a bunch of wayward Texans around!

I think the best thing about everyone coming up is that I know have verification that the Busa really exists!!!
 
Re: before Russ ships out...

busarider1 said:
Great photo's everyone! Had a great time leading a bunch of wayward Texans around!

I think the best thing about everyone coming up is that I know have verification that the Busa really exists!!!

That wasn't a Busa it was GXSR 600:rofl:
 
Re: before Russ ships out...

I think I am finally thawed out...
I just finished the left over half off my Meers burger! :eat:

donroger1 said:
Wow Rich.

You said you were flying when you came over Indian Bridge but I had no idea...

GPS Screenshot

Aw, that ain't nuthin' (and you guys thought I was SLOW) :eek2:
gps_2314q.jpg

(BTW, thanks for waiting for me, Russ and Stephen) :-)

-------
My slant on things (biased,of course):

I started out the day looking forlornly at the empty spot on my handlebar:
emptyspot_2275q.jpg

My mascot, Bob, was supposedly kidnapped last Saturday in Hico. However, the facts seemed to indicate that he was looking for adventure, fast cars, and fast women. :shock: Looks like he is painting the town red down in Houston and Huntsville... :-(

Next, it was waiting at the Minyard parking lot about 6:35 AM :yawn: - me and about 50000 black birds. I heard this sweet sound of a dual pipe and Ryan (l8rg8r) turns in and he makes a run at the birds, scattering them all over the place! I held my breath while he had trouble slowing down (he said a "glove problem"), went over the low curb, accross some grass and almost into oncoming traffic on Green Oaks! :eek2: But he saved it and came up saying "I probably shouldn't have done that..." :lol2:

That said, we took off for Decatur where we would meet up with some other folks. Uneventful other than it sure seemed colder than 41 degrees (34 with wind chill), we stop at the Shell station to find Leon (focus frenzy) and his GS1000 (note the cap):
leon_2278q.jpg


While waiting, I found out that Ryan had recently gotten his personalized plate:
ryan_ltrg8r_2277q.jpg

(he said l8rg8r was already taken)

After a bit, Stephen (Yeeha Stephen!) and Byron (Trinity), both on Beemers, rolled in.
decatur_2279q.jpg

(Byron on the GS, Stephen on the RT)

We left Decatur about 20 minutes late, but found some good roads headed north. I thought Stephen was going the wrong way but he made a quick stop at the Running N Ranch:
runningNranch_2280q.jpg


This place had some unique artwork - daisies made from old aircraft radial engines, old VW bugs, and some artwork from telephone poles...
art_2281q.jpg


daisys_2282q.jpg


art_2285q.jpg


Take a look at the guy on the far right - an alien maybe? It was those orange eyes. Maybe related to the guy Elzi was looking for it the Aurora cemetary? :-P
ranch_2286q.jpg

Anyway, he seems to know Stephen...

We stopped at the Red River bridge & found Don (donroger1) waiting for us.
Ryan went back to get some middle of the bridge shots...
ryan_2288q.jpg


Since this was my first out-of-state trip on the bike, I wanted a sign that said Oklahoma! or something like that. I did find this... :shrug:
sign_2289q.jpg


At least there was water in the river:
d70_2290q.jpg


After just a short bit, a lone rider on a red Honda ST came screaming up and skidded to a stop just past us... ;-) It was Rich (Simmons1) and he asked "Hey, are you guys running late?". :doh: Well, yeah... :roll:

After that, it was seven of us following Stephen north and west. The wind was a major factor, at least for me, especially running due west on US70 with the little or no wind breaks that the Oklahoma plains provide...

Stephen deviated from the original route and continued up OK89 instead of 32... We ended up gassing up in Waurika since the wind was killing our gas mileage.

Finally, we hit I44 and it's a toll road! Stephen foots the bill for the team and we save the folks behind us a lot of time. Thanks, Stephen! :thumb:

We rode across Lawton and ended up at Russ' place:
russ_house_2293q.jpg

(that's Russ in the white sweater)

Dunno what his neighbor's thought about all the visitors from Texas...

Russ then took us on a little tour through the wildlife preservation area. Here is a stop at a viewing point with Mt. Scott in the background.
vista_2296q.jpg


buffalo_2298q.jpg


We then took the road that winds around the side of Mt. Scott up to the top. The view from the top was really nice - not expected to be found in southern Oklahoma...
d70_2301q.jpg


d70_2302q.jpg


Lots of looking and picture taking
mt_scott_2303q.jpg


You can see what the wind does to the water surface from up here
d70_2304q.jpg

(the GPS said we were at 2478 feet above sea level)

d70_2305q.jpg


d70_2306q.jpg


d70_2307q.jpg


Finally, Russ declared he was hungry and we headed over to the Meers Store:
meers_2308q.jpg


meers_2309q.jpg


meers_2310q.jpg


After a short wait, they were able to get us two tables that would seat a total of 9 and we could get on to the business of gabbing and eating:
table_2311q.jpg

Stephen, Rich, Byron, Russ, Elzi

Our table had Leon and Don.
leon_don_2312q.jpg

(Don got a photo of Ryan and me)

After lunch, Rich headed for home and the rest followed Russ down OK115 and back. We stooped at a gas station so we could fill up and say goodbye to Russ and Elzi (staying for some more site seeing).

The trip back was less bothersome by the wind, but it still made its presence known when we headed SW instead of SE. Leon stopped in Bellevue in order to stretch his legs. The rest of us stopped one more time in Bowie and each made sure where everyone was bailing out. One by one, the riders headed off toward home. Don in Decatur, Byron on 114, Stephen at 820. I lost Ryan in the madness that is I35W north of downtown Ft. Worth.

Despite the cold and wind, it was a great trip. Glad to visit old Russ for once. We hope to see him one more time before he ships out for a year.

:rider: :eat: :rider:
 
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Re: before Russ ships out...

"I racked up 408.4 miles (per GPS}"

"477.8 miles on the odo for me, 472 on the GPS..."

"486 miles for me"


And I had 457. Home safe n' sound.

You know, guys... If we had turned around and done the whole ride over again and then ridden down to about Waco, all before about 6:30 am, we would've probably qualified you for an Iron Butt Saddle Sore 1000! :)
 
Re: before Russ ships out...

Yeeha! Stephen said:
You know, guys... If we had turned around and done the whole ride over again and then ridden down to about Waco, all before about 6:30 am, we would've probably qualified you for an Iron Butt Saddle Sore 1000! :)
Not in that wind! I has pooped and went to bed early as it was... :yawn:
 
Re: before Russ ships out...

Gilk51 said:
Aw, that ain't nuthin' (and you guys thought I was SLOW)

Chuck,

I followed you for a while. Your GPS must have a decimal point that isn't working! :rofl:
 
Re: before Russ ships out...

Trip total: 463 miles. Time up: 3.5 hours; return: 2.5 hours.
Report and pics later. I'm starving.
 
Re: before Russ ships out...

Simmons1 said:
I followed you for a while. Your GPS must have a decimal point that isn't working! :rofl:
:thpt:

I took a picture at the Red River bridge & I think I have you (Rich) in it - kinda too far away to tell for sure:
bridge_2287q.jpg
 
Re: before Russ ships out...

I think the stroller in the picture is me (Byron). :zen:

My report of the day's events is as follows:

Stephen and I met Ryan, Leon and Chuck in Decatur at 8:00. The thermometer was reading 38, but spirits were high as we headed north. At the Toyavara Bridge over the Red River we paused for Don and Rich to join us as well as a chance to offload some morning coffee. With the assembled group in tow, Stephen led the way into Injun Territory and toward our first stop at Russell’s house in Lawton. (Even with the sun out, the winds were gusting over 20 mph and temps stayed in the low to mid-40’s until well after 14:00. During the course of the day, I was to utter several silent prayers to St. Gerbing…the patron saint of the easily chilled!!)

When we arrived in Lawton, Russ proved to be a hospitable, but demanding host. Before proceeding, we had to line up for inspection in order to determine if we were “fit and worthy” to ride into further into Indian Territory.

133547678-L.jpg


Russ led the way into the Wichita Wildlife Refuge where we saw a number of longhorn cattle as well as some other types of mutant cows. (There were most likely longhorn cattle which had been genetically altered by secret army experiments in the area.)

133690926-L.jpg


By this time, it was well past noon and Stephen had skipped breakfast. I think at this point, he was seriously contemplating some “mutant cow tartare” if we didn’t get to Meers pretty soon.

133547684-L.jpg


Well, to Stephen’s chagrin, we didn’t head directly to Meers. Russ concluded (probably correctly) that if we gorged ourselves on Meers burgers and pie, we might not make it to the mountain, so…he led the various Mohammed’s to the mountain. We enjoyed the excellent (and chilly) views a few moments as Russ AGAIN did the bike inspection.

133547688-L.jpg


(Geez, the guy has a show quality ‘Busa sittin’ in the garage…you would think he would have some pity on the rest of us schmucks…)

While inspecting the panoramic views from the summit of Mt. Scott, we also did our civic duty and talked a couple of local ner-do-wells from leaping to an untimely demise.

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Fortunately for all, the next stop was the cozy Meers Café. The place was crowded and the sedate service gave us a chance to talk and enjoy the menu.

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When the food arrived, we enjoyed our burgers in tins, tea in Mason jars and of course, PIE and ice cream. (See previous posts for pics…)

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We couldn’t help noticing that a patron seated nearby appeared to be single-handedly consuming a good portion of the bison herd we had seen earlier.

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He claimed it was their “two meat platter” but it looked more like a “two families meet and consume a cow” platter. =8-0

133547711-L.jpg


Afterward, Russ led us through a short scenic jaunt through the hills, giant windmill power farm and 25 mph corners on Highway 115. Finishing that section, we headed back toward Highway 44, topped off the gas tanks and headed back south to God’s country and regular cows.

Aside from Russ’s ‘Busa which did not grace our motley assembledge, Ryan’s Aprilia was definitely the best looking bike of our small group. Fortunately, he took pity on my homely GS and during a gas stop, did a pretty good imitation of the front “beak” of my bike.

133547672-L.jpg


Stephen did a great job of hustling us back to DFW area. The trip was uneventful but the temps were falling by the time I reached Dallas near 18:30. Fortunately, the full eclipse of the moon which was occurring provided a wonderful burst of energy. It cleared my head and allowed me to reach the house with enough energy left over to pour an adult beverage, take an Advil and start a long, HOT shower.

Thanks again to all for the most excellent day!!
 
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Re: before Russ ships out...

Trinity said:
I think the stroller in the picture is me (Byron). :zen:
Yes, it is - but look way down at the other end of the bridge - I think that is Rich on the way... :mrgreen:
 
Re: before Russ ships out...

Yup that was me, doing 159! LOL
 
Re: before Russ ships out...

Trinity said:
Aside from Russ’s ‘Busa which did not grace our motley assembledge, Leon’s Aprilia was definitely the best looking bike of our small group. Fortunately, he took pity on my homely GS and during a gas stop, did a pretty good imitation of the front “beak” of my bike.

133547672-L.jpg


Wrong Leon, thats Ryan... ;-)

And that picture is FRIGGIN HILARIOUS!! :rofl:

But I was warm so thats all the matters. :mrgreen:

I liked your GS very much. If I were 3ft taller, I'd have one myself. :doh:
 
Looks like a good time and one I wanted to make. Great pictures !
My E-trex does the same false max speed thing too....that bridge and the road north is perfect for top speed runs going south.
Glad everyone is home thawed and had a good time. :clap:
 
Re: before Russ ships out...

Gilk51 said:
Since this was my first out-of-state trip on the bike, I wanted a sign that said Oklahoma! or something like that. I did find this... :shrug:
They have some large granite welcome signs on I-35 and I-44, there are some other smaller ones on some of the US highways crossing the river.

Glad y'all enjoyed the trip north, we made it again this weekend. I know that it was cool and windy in OKC yesterday but today was real nice.

If you want to get stuffed on Italian food, Pete's Place in Krebs is a good place. Krebs is a small community outside of McAlester which was home to Italian immigrants working the coal mines in southeastern Oklahoma. It is about 100 miles north of Denison and Krebs is only 50 miles from Talihina, which is the start of the Talimena Skyline Drive.
 
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