201 Honor the Peacekeepers!

March 11, 2017  I'm still concerned about Ruthie and her obsession with this 55 and older Park in Mesa.   Almost simultaneously I received an invitation to visit a classmate in Florence Arizona and an inquiry from a Jim, seems he is located by Tucson.  He had seen my Craigslist ad and thought we might be a fit  for a job on a ranch, sounds interesting maybe we can continue to ride and work for our lodging.  We have a busy day planned so I will wait and mention it to Ruthie later. 
     Michelle has been asked to ride with a group honoring Veterans today and we have joined her and her friend Nicole.  Should be a fun day and maybe Ruthie will forget about tiny houses.  

We didn't renew
our vows, although
I would have been
happy too.

Again what I thought should have been a few lines turns into a lengthy blurp ( for informational purposes I will explain that even though my spell check insists this is not a word.  It is,!  My thesaurus friend Deanna explained I have used it incorrectly evidently A blurp is the short sound a police siren might make.  a "blurb" is a short promotional piece accompanying a creative work. ).  it seems what I meant was a blurb, not blurp. Now if she could only fix the stuck "s" on my keyboard.  Now you understand why I'm behind on my blog. 
     It turned into a day filled with new friends and new experiences.  We rode with Michelle and her freind Nicole to Scottsdale Harley, 

Of course the arcade has a
motorcycle theme!

I couldn't believe it, this is going to take a while to explain.  Billed as the largest Harley dealer in the world it has a Movie theater, tattoo parlor, beauty shop, barber shop, arcade, and Church.   Yes you can buy a Harley, get gussied up with a new set of leathers renew your vows and perhaps the newlyweds could get matching tattoos commemorating the event.

Michelle in the foreground, Nicole
 adding encouragement.  A perfect
example of inappropriate
behavior on a motorcycle.

 All this without leaving the building.  They had customized a new Harley for each branch of the armed forces.  One of the new experiences was a bit intimidating, In an effort to get a panoramic picture of the motorcycles that filled the parking lot I found a view from the roof of the massive Harley building.  On my way to the edge of the roof I cut between a family sitting at a table and some gentlemen standing a few feet away.   Didn't make it.  Very quickly the "gentlemen"  blocked my path and asked me politely if I would go around the other way.  Even though it sounded like a request their size and stance told me it wasn't a request I should ignore.  Soon after I had taken my picture the "gentlemen" seemed comfortable with me and one wandered over to look at the crowd and have a cigarette. 

I thought it advisable to not inform him that it was a non-smoking rooftop.  Okay I just had to ask.  Who was the family?  Short reply, "He is a national officer." I didn't ask of what, By his appearance I was assuming a fringe motorcycle gang.  Not a Gold wing club officer I'm sure. 
     Impressive,  as was the ride.  Hundreds of motorcycles streaming out into the desert.  We are always uncomfortable
riding in a large group however to support the veterans we chose to do this one.  We had a police escort which gave us a little more comfort.


She knows this isn't a real cycle,
doesn't she??

 

.   The hundreds of motorcycles looks like a moving ribbon winding around the curves and over the hills.  Fun to witness.  The many cars and passerby's that stopped to wave, hold their hands over their hearts and some saluting made the ride emotional at times.  Bless the peacekeepers, Keep them safe! 
     Ruthie's out going friendly demeanor allows her to make friends wherever we go.  This young motorcycle rider from Sedona was no exception.  The ride snaked its way across the desert to the North on the North New River road ending at the Road Runner restaurant just off highway 17.   A place to relax listen to some music and grab a bite to eat before we disperse to find our own way home.  There are quite a few destinations like this with blues or western entertainment, or perhaps an evening of bull riding.  Some have open camp fires to give you an outdoorsy experience.   We were tired after the long ride to our rented tiny home, tomorrow I will tell her about the job offer.