I think I’ve had a stroke.

1 Comment / Random Thoughts / /

Pretty much my whole life, I’ve made fun of country music.   I laughed it off as corny and even a little too simple for my tastes.    I’ve liked a few artists;  Dwight Yoakam, Johnny Cash, a little Alabama or a country/pop crossover song here and there.    Mostly, nothing I’d admit to.

I think it all started with that trip across the Texas Panhandle.    I found some old classic country riding through there, and it just seemed to fit the territory.   No big deal; I enjoyed the hell out of those miles.    That was a few months ago.

I came home, and lived my life.

Now all of a sudden, The last couple of weeks, for some reason all I’ve been listening to is country music on the way to work.    I found this playlist on my Amazon Prime account on my phone that sync’s up with my car and its been Patsy Cline, Merle Haggard, Buck Owens, Loretta Lynn… shit I’ve heard, but never listened to.    Even some of the new stuff;   yeah, it’s simple and even so  corny sometimes I wince a bit when I hear it.

Yeah, I think I’ve had a stroke.     This stuff all of a sudden sounds good to me.

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I’m sick of Politics

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I think I’m done with politics.   I know where I stand, and where I’ve always put my vote.    I’m just sick of how divided the world is, and how its trickled down to daily life.

I’m looking forward to the time when we judge people by whether they’re an asshole or not, not what color of state they’re in, or whatever else.

You can feel a revolution coming on, or some kind of social civil war.   It’s dumber than hell.

Man, life is too short.   Aaaaand, for me anyway,  There’s too many good things out there to enjoy….

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Tire Change – Ranch Scenes from Easy Rider

4 Comments / Easy Rider / /

A few people have asked me why I like Easy Rider so much.    Anytime I’m asked what my favorite movie is, I’ll always say Easy Rider.   It must be, because I’ve spent at least 20 years chasing down locations from it.     I think it’s my favorite movie because of all the fun I’ve had finding those locations.    At first, it was just a cheap excuse to ride somewhere and put the puzzle pieces together.  When I watch the movie now, it gets intertwined with all the people I’ve met, and the fun I’ve had finding these places.

I first posted the route 10 years ago on this blog.     A lot has changed since then, and I’ve had a helluva lotta fun with the tours and the documentaries, etc.   I’ve ridden and became friends with some pretty fucking cool people.   I really need to re-write the whole thing, because I have so much more info now then I did back then.

Anyway….

The last place I’ve never identified was the Tire change scene.    It’s the ranch house where Billy and Wyatt showed up with a flat tire, and scored a groovy dinner at lunch time.   I’ve always figgered it was around Valentine Arizona, and I was right.    A German biker named Berndt hit me up and inspired me to finally get off my ass and go check it out,  finally.    Thanks Berndt!

Here’s the scene:

I found it.   It’s right dead center between Valentine and Hackberry.    I didn’t go up to the place, but I can tell you it’s the place.   The mountains all line up.   It was posted “No Trespassing” and in Rural Arizona, if you’re smart you pay a little heed to those signs.   Mostly, because its a good place to get shot if you don’t.    With a little respect and some time, I’ll be able to get in and talk to the owners and see if I can get some good pictures.

They Shot a lot of scenes around here.    One of the most famous pictures of ER was also shot, just at within a mile or two of the turn off.

Anyway, there it is.   I’ll find out more later.

Ride Hard!

 

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Catching up

3 Comments / Random Thoughts / /

I need to catch up.   May was pretty busy, and spent a lot of time on the road.   4 states and about 3500 miles.

Finally found the farmhouse/Tire change scene from Easy Rider.

My oldest daughter is officially having a baby, and turns out I’m going to be grandpa Zip (still not comfortable with using the G-word).

I’ll get caught up this weekend.

It’s spring.   Ride hard!

 

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There’s an Easy Rider 50th anniversary plan a-brewing

7 Comments / Easy Rider / /

Spent a lot of years riding and researching it and having a hell of a lot of fun along the way…. Ridden it from LA to New Orleans several times and a few times with some of the best people I know.

A buddy of mine from the UK who loves the movie as much as I do hit me up about doing the ride again for the 50th Anniversary of Easy Rider.    It’s been sorta in the works since 2013, when we rode the route together.     This time, its going to be a little more grass roots than it was with Eagle Rider.  A little more truer to the route, maybe a little camping where they camped, and a little more fun.   We’re putting together the itinerary now.

More to come.

 

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Route 66 overnighter

Leave a Comment / Rides, Route 66 / /

It’s warming up here, and the weather is fairly killer for riding.    I had a chance to get the hell out of dodge last weekend for a couple of days and I took it.    I had a killer month at work, and it just seemed right to make some miles somewhere.   I was figuring north, back to my favorite road — Route 66.   I haven’t ridden the southern part of the Colorado River in Arizona, so I wanted to see that too.

Interstate 17 is ass on any sort of holiday weekend.    Arbor day, ground hog day, let alone Easter weekend.   It was slow going, but I finally made it off the interstate and west toward the good stuff.

Historic 89 A
A good sign. I’m a sucker for a good historic road
Jerome Arizona. This is the good stuff, a killer little historic Arizona mining town on the side of a hill. If you haven’t been here, it’s well worth checking out.
Partridge Creek Bridge
The Partridge Creek Bridge was officially route 66 from the 20s to 1965. It’s a unique bridge that has a fully mature tree growing out of it. I first saw it in a biker mag in 1988, and shortly thereafter set out to see if we could figure out where it was. My wife and I would take weekend road trips to try and find it every weekend we could, and fell in love with route 66 along the way. This was before the internet and being able to look things up online. After 3 years we finally found it. It’s still one of my favorite spots on the mother road.

 

Partridge Creek Bridge Arizona
Partridge creek — Heading West.

I stayed the night in the Seligman KOA, roamed around and took some pictures of the local neon signs.

The Suapai Motel in Seligman AZ

 

Woke up in the morning and headed to downtown seligman.   I got molested by a bus full of Chinese Tourists where I had to educate them on the do’s and don’ts of touching an American mans bike, and headed down route 66 toward Kingman   It was a pretty beautiful day to ride, and the weather was effing perfect.

Oatman Road
The East side of Oatman road. this was route 66 up until 1953.
Oatman Arizona Selfies
Taking selfies like all the other Jackasses in Oatman.

Had me a tense moment eating lunch outside of Oatman and almost got into a fight with some prick.   He backed out and walked away.    It took me about 2 hours to calm down as I headed down the Colorado river and home.

A great weekend methinks!

 

 

 

 

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