March 29, 2009 Sunday -  although it started out as a very (much needed) rainy day, 9 members (1 on his motorcycle)attended the Credit Union's Cruise for Kids Ride. Some of us started from the BK and others from home. After we made our 3 stops we ended at QS&L (as the sun was shining and a beautiful day had begun) for the festivities and the great Greg Billings Band. The music was great, the food good, and the friendship better. When the awards were given we found out that all we needed were 2 more members and we could have won the best rep trophy. Oh well, til next time--

March 28, 2009 Saturday -  14 members and 1 guest met at CMS at the predetermined time on this overcast and windy morning for the ride for food. It was decided to go to Athens (no not Greece, Safety Harbor). It was a nice ride to town, but when we arrived we had to make a slight detour due to Main St. being closed for a festival. The restaurant had our table ready although short a few seats so a few of us had to sit in a booth nearby. As usual the service, food, and pricing were good. After breakfast a few of us went to Gulf Coast HD for lunch and others went home to do their Honey - dos and such. Til next time--

March 26, 2009 Thursday -  12 members (only 1 motorcycle) and 1 guest met at Aniello's Restaurant in St. Pete for dinner. This is an Italian restaurant with great garlic knots and bread, no actually with great food, large portions and good prices. It was an evening of good times and laughter with good friends along with the eating of good food. What more could you ask for (maybe a few more members)? Til next time--

March 21, 2009 Saturday -  25 of us went to Clewiston, for the 2nd Annual BarBQ sponsored by BK FL IV. Don and I rode by ourselves, so we could stop as needed, due to my recent surgery. We arrived around 11:15 AM and members from BK IV were there to greet us. It was such a nice ride, sunny and a breeze blowing and the smell of orange blossoms were absolutely INCREDIBLE! All of the orange trees were full of flowers and the sweet scent was overpowering!

The Clewiston Inn is said to be haunted (check it out on the internet). Lots of history and the ghost tales related to the hotel! We were able to check in, even though it was early, and were excited that they put us in Room 255, said to be the most haunted room in the hotel.

We went outside and were joined by our Chapter that had just arrived. It was cool to watch everyone pull in, so many BK FL XVII members in attendance! We gave our hellos and hugs. Others checked into the hotel and we met soon after for the BarBQ. This year, we were set up in the formal dining room, to allow more room to accommodate all of those coming. Last year, for our first annual, we had 90 in attendance, and this year, Bill said he was expecting 150.

We sat and mingled for a few minutes, and then, almost immediately after we sat down, they announced that the food was served. You never saw our chapter move so fast! BK FL XVII was the first ones in line! We had BBQ ribs, BBQ chicken, collard greens, corn on the cob, macaroni and cheese, salad bar and their famous Sweet Tea! It was a fabulous meal, to say the least!

We kept hearing what sounded to be a train whistle! We looked over and realized it was our Joe E, with his train whistle! He would blow his “horn” and say, “All aboard!” He really missed his calling! He should have been a Train Conductor!

We noticed he had a bottle of Coors Light and we joked, that he needed to be drinking Jack Daniels, like he did last year! (He doesn’t even remember being at the Clewiston Inn last year!) He said, “Nooooooooooooooooo way! No Jack for me!”

At one point, Joe went over to Peter D and sat on his lap for a picture! We all laughed at that, but Gary told Joe that he was getting jealous, seeing him sit on Peter’s lap! Gary and Joe E were staying in the same room, and Gary played that up and made jokes about it. Speaking of rooming together, Cory R didn’t have a room for the night, as he and Jimmy planned to ride back to Tampa after the BBQ.

It had started to rain a bit outside, and we were having such a fun time, that they checked at the front desk to discover there was one room left, with only 1 bed. At first, Jimmy S, “No way!” but after realizing it was the last room in the house, he agreed to it, warning Cory that he better just stay on his side of the bed! Upon going up to their room, to put their things away, they realized it was a nice room with 2 queen beds. Jimmy was relieved! As you can imagine, Cory and Jimmy took a lot of razzing from our table and the word even spilled over to other tables that were close by in proximity! Of course, Jimmy and Cory went right back at them, and really played into it, making it more funny!

We drank coffee and ate our cake as we watched the drawings (50-50 and door prizes) and it was fun to see the giveaways we had given away at our Spring SRC be re-gifted again! We were holding our breath that we wouldn’t win any of the things we had given away last year, like the small pads of paper, the kickstand plates, etc.

Dennis D won a nice Harley Davidson gift, a “purse”, as Dennis put it! He walked around being funny, holding his “purse” and talking “funny” (you get the  picture!) It’s funny when Dennis lets his hair down and we really laughed at him. Cheryl just rolled her eyes!

There were some cool things that were auctioned off as well! Alex Ramirez, gave a nice, bright yellow, Impact Jacket as a giveaway. We were visiting and watching the auction going on, the prices going up and people haggling, and then, we realized it was our own Cory R up there, trying to get the coat! We were egging Cory on and he was successful in giving the highest bid and getting the Impact Jacket! We were so proud of our Cory! Jimmy S said that Cory will probably try to use his Sears credit card to buy the jacket, and we laughed at that. Alex swooped him away to get a photo of Cory with his new jacket and said he would be on the internet! (Cory was all excited for the exposure!)

We teased Cory that we wondered how long it would take him to “set off his coat!” We all laughed and had a great time. Jimmy said Cory looked like a Sumo Wrestler with his big, bright yellow coat on! Maybe, they were talking about his large plate of food he ate! Dennis D said that he couldn’t eat like that anymore! Tim agreed, that after a certain age, the metabolism changes and can’t handle food in that volume anymore! Dennis D said he hoped to be alive when Cory was 50, to see how his eating habits would catch up to him, once his metabolism slowed down.

As we were sitting around the room of many Blue Knights vests and shirts, Don says to the table, “What are Blue Knights?” Someone answered, “It’s a feminine hygiene product, isn’t it?”

Many people were packing up their bikes for their ride back and saying their goodbyes and BK FL XVII headed right into the lounge. FL XVII is known for being first at things: First in line to eat, first in line to get dessert, first in line to start drinking…but we are known as the crazy chapter who likes to have a wild and crazy time!

For those of us who were not drinking, we decided to go on a motorcycle ride to check out the area. The rain had stopped, so it was a perfect opportunity to get out and ride. We asked Randy and Robin (FL BK V) to join us, but they had to run some errands and were going to catch up to us. In the meantime, while Randy was getting on his bike, he found a camouflaged shirt in his bike and walked it over to Cory, offering if he wanted to borrow it for the night, in case he wanted to sneak up on Jimmy! We all laughed! Cory, Jimmy, Don and I headed out. Cory said that he needed stop at Walmart to get some things for his overnight stay, since he hadn’t planned on spending the night, he didn’t have anything with him (change of clothes, toothbrush, deodorant, etc). We got a lot of looks from the migrant workers, who all seemed to be shopping at Walmart at the time we pulled up to do our shopping.

I have never had so much fun in Walmart in my entire life! Don was egging them on by pointing out different things they needed to buy. At one point, Cory and Don stopped in the lingerie department, and each grabbed a very large, fully padded bra. They put them on their heads and looked like some kind of creatures from another planet! People walked by and looked frightened!

Cory and Jimmy wanted to get an outfit for the evening (I know what you are thinking!), to have FUN with! They wanted something crazy to walk into the lounge with, as they have hung around with Don and I long enough to know, that we probably had something up our own sleeves!

They each found a funny pair of boxer shorts to wear on the sale rack (there is a reason they are on the sale rack, guys!). The 3 guys got matching funny shirts, we found his deodorant and personal items, but not after screwing around in the boys underwear department! Cory wanted some with Super Heroes on them! Oh brother…………..

We couldn’t leave Walmart before Cory went over to the toy department to check out all the new toys! (He is like a kid in an adult body!) Thankfully, with his 2 jackets he had to pack, he didn’t have room for any toy purchases!

We left Walmart and rode over to the dam to see if we could see the lock and the man made dikes. Of course, all the way there, Jimmy and Cory were singing on the radios that they wanted to see the dam dikes! My gosh, those 2 take the most simplest thing and turn it into a funny adventure!

We ran into Randy and Robin (BK V) over by the water. I told them it was a relief they didn’t go into Walmart with us! I explained that we would probably never be welcome in there again! I’m sure Security was still trying to figure out the video tapes of the store, especially in the lingerie department!

We tooled around the damn, lock and dikes and then, headed back to the hotel, but first, stopping by for some photo opportunities! We laughed as we took funny photos and people drove by honking and laughing at us! Oh you know, you have to have fun!

We went back to the hotel and went to our rooms to put on our special outfits. We found our members still in the lounge. Barb, Peter D, their daughter and 2 grandchildren were in the lobby. Barb looked so happy and content!!! You could see the love for her child and grandchildren! It was a beautiful site!

Cory and Jimmy walked in with their outfits and we could hear the laughter roaring from the place! Their mardi-gras beads really set off the outfit, especially the pink and purple ones that Jimmy gave Cory to wear (those 2 nut-cases!). Don and I entered last, dressed as ghosts! It was an interesting walk down the stairs, with our “ghost outfits” (old hotel tablecloths with eyes cut out of them)! A little hard to see going down the stairs, but we could hear the laughter as we walked through the lobby! Hey, it IS a haunted hotel, after all!!!!!! The gals at the front desk laughed so hard (and some, were even behind the fun and frolic those “costumes” provided!)

We crashed a party that was being set up in one of the banquet rooms. Some very elderly women were having a sorority Easter gathering and we walked in and they hooted and hollered, laughing so hard! Of course, Cory and Jimmy were attracted to one lady, perhaps in her 80’s! She explained that she was single and the guys really played that up! They took pictures with the sweet, old dear and oh, what stories she will start when she shares those photos with her friends back home! They invited us back, once their guests had arrived, later in the evening! Gosh, we were making a lot of public engagements that evening, being asked to “appear” in different parts of the hotel! We had so much fun!

The lounge was booming with fun, where everyone was sitting around, visiting, laughing and having fun. It was interesting to see some stand up and try to walk to the restroom, sideways, if you will.

We sat around listening to others ghost stories, who had previously visited the hotel. We ordered our dinner in the lounge and shared stories and laughter with Bill and Carol (BK IV) and Randy and Robin (BK V), the others who spent the night with our chapter. We are always good for fun and laughter and great get togethers!

A few of us were invited to tour some “haunted” spots in the hotel, after hours, which was a lot of fun! (Of course, even the most normal things are fun with Jimmy and Cory). Of course, we didn’t see any ghosts, but one look and Cory and Jimmy’s “outfits”, and I’m sure they were scared to death! (no pun intended!)

We decided on a 8 AM meeting for our free breakfast. By 9 AM, a few of us were by our bikes, ready to get on the road. Some others had already left (those traveling by car), so the next round left @ 9:15: Cory, Jimmy, Don and I. The others were going to leave between 10-10:30, and depending on which route you wanted to take, depended on who you rode with. Some wanted to hurry home to do chores (work on Monday), others wanted to take their time.

Cory was so excited to wear his new Impact Jacket – he was so proud that he won with the highest bid and wore it proudly!

We got on the road and by 10:15, wanted to stop for gasoline before we got on the highway. We pulled in, obviously, 3 different pumps., and from our pump, we heard a loud sound of air and then, complete laughter – LOUD laughter!

Don was busy pumping the gas so I walked over to see Cory, in his bright yellow, Impact Jacket, all pumped up, like the Michelin Man! His arms were out and his head was held straight, looking like a little boy with a snow suit on (those of you who have lived in the snow, know what I’m talking about!). Jimmy was holding his stomach laughing, and I could hear Cory saying, “Can you give me a hand?” We laughed so hard! I told him that Alex R would be so happy to hear that the coat worked and kept him SAFE while he was pumping his gas!

We should have placed bets, like a lottery on when the coat would go off (like someone having a baby, where you do a lotto, what day will it be born? boy or girl, or who will win the Superbowl?) It was exactly within 1 hour since he put the coat on, until it went off! He forgot that he was plugged into it and got off to pump his gas. Cory said he will need to get some additional cartridges!

Oh, we laughed so hard, that our stomachs hurt! 12 members (only 1 motorcycle) and 1 guest met at Aniello's Restaurant in St. Pete for dinner. This is an Italian restaurant with great garlic knots and bread, no actually with great food, large portions and good prices. It was an evening of good times and laughter with good friends along with the eating of good food. What more could you ask for (maybe a few more members)? Til next time--

Karen Lumpkin Ride Reporter

March 14, 2009 Saturday - 15 members and 1 guest met at CMS for the breakfast ride. After the usual tire kicking session while we were waiting for all to arrive, the group decided to go north to one of Tony and Roland's favorite places, the Starz Cafe in New Port Richey. Roland led us on a nice ride to the destination. We have been to Starz before and as usual the service, price, and food were excellent. After breakfast smaller groups did the Saturday fun things. Til next time---