April 25, 2009 Saturday - it was another nice spring morning, but the forecast was for a hot summer's day later on, 18 members were at CMS for the weekly breakfast ride. The group decided, because a number of members were going to Leesburg after breakfast, T and I were going to Ft Myers and others planned on going to other events, we would go to the Golden Corral in Largo so we could stay central and things would move along quickly for all to get on there way. The buffet was well stocked and fresh, but as usual the omelet station consisted of 1 person, 1 cooker, 1 pan, and 10 people in line, so scrambled eggs it was. After breakfast everyone left for their preplanned day. Til next time----

April 23, 2009 Thursday - Don and I arrived at Gennaros’ Restaurant at 7:15 PM. The hungry crowd was already present: Gary J., Vic C., Joe and Marie E. One by one, more members arrived, totaling fifteen members. That was a solid number, considering it being a work night for some and a long distance of travel for others. We weren’t there long, when Marie asked around for some Advil or Tylenol for her headache. No one had one with them, to which Joe E commented, “There goes my night!” (You know, the old adage, “Sorry dear, not tonight! I have a headache!”) No one remembered their cameras, so Gary was busy taking pictures with his cell phone. Joe was surprised when a flash went off when Gary was shooting a picture! Joe said, “You have a flash in that thing?” to which Gary replied, “I guess so!” He was surprised as Joe was! Gary’s phone oftentimes comes to the rescue, serving many purposes. I have seen him use it as a flashlight to light up his menu when the lighting is low in restaurants. Multiple conversations were going on between the tables. Bruce and Joe were conversing and comparing notes about their aches and pains, and others were chiming in. Don commented that he felt like he was in the movie, “Grumpy Old Men!” We all laughed at that. The waitressed seemed to be having some troubles. I’m not sure if it was because she was new, or because our numbers started out at four, and then quickly grew to fifteen. Of course, we are a needy group, to say the least. The waitress kept bringing us garlic knots to keep us quiet; however, they were absolutely delicious! Marie E’s food arrived and she commented on the large size of the portion. She said that she would have to take some home, because she could never eat that much, however, she kept commenting on how delicious her entrée was! Gary’s Stromboli arrived; the waitress almost needing a skip-loader to deliver it to the table. She had to juggle things around Gary’s place setting, to make room. Finally, she decided to bring an additional table over to set it on. Gary commented that he was shocked at the size of it and asked the waitress if that was a “medium”, that which he had ordered! (Wait, didn’t Gary pull this medium trick the last time we were there?) Perry and Barb B were seated at the opposite end of the table and Barb walked all the way over to Gary’s place, to see the Stromboli up close and personal! For those of you who know Barb, she is very sweet and somewhat reserved. She says out loud with exclamation in her voice, “Gary! Are you going to eat that whole thing????” Gary laughed and replied, “No way!” Speaking of finishing their entrees, we looked over at Marie who said, “I cannot believe I ate the whole thing!” Remember the old Alka-Seltzer commercial? I am embarrassed to say that I had eaten so many garlic knots, that when my entrée arrived, I ate 2 bites, and then asked the waitress for a to-go box. It appears that the garlic knots met up with the pop I drank in my stomach and it swelled up like I had eaten 5 loaves of bread! Everyone was quiet, smiling, drooling over the size of their entrees, that is, except for Bruce S! He was still waiting for his entree to arrive! Gary offered Bruce some of his Stromboli (because he certainly had enough for 2 people!), but Bruce declined, saying that he would wait for his to arrive. Gary asked Bruce how it felt to be him, as Gary is usually the last one to get his food (if at all). Gary was hoping he had passed the torch on to someone else. Conversations continued all around the tables. One in particular, I found intriguing, that is, with the recent passing of Marilyn Chambers at the beginning of the week, she became the topic of discussion. Known for the pretty face on the box of Ivory Snow and yet, so much more, she and Linda Lovelace were discussed in length. Apparently, Don Mc had read their published materials (books and such), so was quite educated on their lives. Gary described it best, saying, “Don was a porn connoisseur!” We all laughed! We all had a great time, getting stuffed and sharing friendship and love with our friends. When Don and I were leaving, Perry, sitting at the opposite end of the table near the door, commented, “Nice visiting with you!” He was of course, joking, because of the distance between us, we hadn’t had a chance to visit with him at all. Until we eat again, Karen Lumpkin Ride Reporter

April 18, 2009 Saturday - 29 members arrived at CMS on this beautiful spring morning for the breakfast ride. Everyone was early so it allowed for an extended tire kicking session. Wayne got a new volt meter so he was checking everyone's battery while we were deciding where to go. After a long discussion it was decided to go to the Summer of Love Deli in South Pasadena, a place we have been to numerous times and enjoyed. We made the call to be sure they could handle 29 of us and the new owner said it was no problem, so off to South Pasadena we went. The ride down US19 was difficult today because the cage drivers all lacked courtesy and kept cutting us off, cutting in-between, passing on the shoulder, it was that type of day. We arrived at the restaurant and had the entire place to ourselves as promised. We helped the server with giving menus and serving coffee. For the most part, the service and food were good, although there were some members that were not happy, but what can you expect when you show up as a group of 29 at one time. After breakfast we did many different things, like going to the camera store, playing golf, taking a ride along the beach, going to the hardware store, and going to Jim's HD to celebrate the dealership's 30th birthday. Til next time----

April 11, 2009 Saturday - the early morning hours were cool and foggy traveling from Spring Hill to Land O' Lakes for the meet at McDonald's to attend the A.P.A.C.K. ride for PCSO's Captain "Bo" Harrison killed in the line of duty on June 1st, 2003. At 8:30am, 12 members and 1 guest had arrived. Jimmy led us on a 32 minute ride through Pasco County to PHCC East - Dade City, where the event was to begin. 2 additional members joined us there. We were at the front of the group of 200 bikes for the ride led by FHP on the country roads (all intersections secured by Dade City, PCSO, HCSO, FHP, and Brooksville) of Pasco and Hernando Counties to the end up site in Brooksville where the vendors and Band Shell Bash were located. After we parked, we checked everything out, some of us found the beer and food at the Legion, while others left for Morrison's Country Buffet. It was a good day. Til next time---

April 04, 2009 Saturday - it was a great morning, cool, clear, and sunny. 19 members met at CMS for the breakfast ride. After the morning tire kicking session which was longer then normal due to Joe E. who was bringing Joe T. getting a case of CRS and forgetting where he was going causing him to run late, we decided to go to Barnhill's on SR54 in NPR. Because there were a couple of events going on later that our members wanted to go to, we went the direct route to the restaurant (US19/SR54). It wasn't crowded (except the omelet station) and there was a good variety of food. After everybody finished eating we left to attend the event of choice for the afternoon. Til next time---