Lewisville Western Days Festival 2014

Can we say Hell of a Weekend?!?!YES we can! This weekend was a very active, exciting, and fun. We did so much that I'll be breaking it into two posts so be sure to come back next weekend for the finale of this weekends post!

What did we do and how did it all come into play? Well, earlier in the week Charles from the Protectos LEMC called and asked what we were doing Saturday night. "Not a thing" I responded. Then he asked if we wanted to go with him and his wife to the Lewisville Western Days Festival. He had extra tickets if we wanted them and he knows Kevin Fowler who was performing and we could meet him after the concert too! Well hell yeah we wanted to go! Who wouldn't?! Unless you don't like country music I suppose. A nice ride, nice festival, nice concert, good friends, an all around good time!

We met up Saturday evening and rode to Texas Roadhouse for dinner to begin the evening. Then we headed to the festival and because we were on bikes we found free parking right outside the entrance gate. HA! we didn't have to hike for miles to get to the festival! We were scanned for weapons and security gave Margaret a hard time about her camera. They tried to tell her professional grade cameras with removable lenses were not allowed in the event. We persisted that it wasn't a professional camera even though it was an SLR and they called a manager over to make the decision of whether we could take it in or not. The manager came by and after all the crap they gave us said there were no restrictions on cameras. Now that the camera gestapo let us through we began cranking up the media capturing. This was an arts and craft festival as well as live music. Craft booths were humming with activity and vendors promoting their wares. Lots of kid stuff too but we kind of veered away from all of that.

99.5 The Wolf Country Music Station was set up next to the main concert stage. They had a gigantic display was showing different activities of the festival. When the concerts were live they showed the concert on the screen as well for those that couldn't or didn't want to get up close to the stage. We signed up for prizes and personal meet and greets with Thompson Square who was also playing Saturday night. As usual, we didn't win anything, we never do, it's just how it goes with us.

There were a couple other smaller concert stages scattered about the festival grounds to keep you entertained with live music as you meandered about. We had some beers and some rum shots from a local rum company. They handed out those green glow sticks so we all grabbed one. I wrapped mine around the brim of my hat figuring this was all part of the entertainment and why we were here! There were lots of fried foods which we didn't eat but wanted too. Funnel cakes are a favorite of ours but we didn't want to put our bodies through the withdrawals from the fry and the sugar in them so smelling the things had to do. We met quite a few people that Charles and Janet introduced us to. They seemed to know half the people we passed by in the festival! I'll never remember all the names but if they read this then I want to say again "It was nice meeting you!"

Later in the evening when dark fell Thompson Square performed. We had never seen them before and it was an incredible show. They are very good artists and their music is wonderful. We managed to get into a couple different places up pretty close where we could even see the expressions on their faces. I took some video with the GoPro and because I'm on the tall side I was able to set the camera on manual settings using the Time Value setting and manually adjust the shutter speed. The pictures came out wonderful and I hope you'll enjoy seeing them. The GoPro clips are short but they were just for short segments to enhance and give an idea of the concert performance.

Next up to close out the concerts at the festival was Kevin Fowler. We have never seen him before so I was happy to get up as close as we were able so as to get some good media of his performance.  I have heard a couple of his songs and like them but did not expect the show he put on for us! He is a self professed beer band, not a romantic, and his music is energetic. Thompson Square was a good show for sure, but Kevin is a much better entertainer. He was funny, energetic, lively, and he knew how to motivate and engage the audience. There was much more cheering, hands and arms uplifting, screaming, and singing when he performed. All in all I enjoyed his performance far more. When Kevin Fowler finished I felt fulfilled. I know that sounds odd but his show was so good that when it was over there was a complete sense of satisfaction from it.

Charles bought Margaret a Kevin Fowler T-Shirt because she is working on getting her CHL and Kevin Fowler signed it for her. The picture below will explain how that is significant. After the show Charles and Janet introduced us to Kevin and we were able chat with him for awhile. Not only does he put on a great show hes a down to earth guy off stage as well.

Unfortunately the evening had to come to a close, and as with anything your having a good time doing, it ended too soon. Time accelerates when your having a good time, and slows when your not. We parted ways soon after leaving the festival and headed home. It was almost 2 AM, the roads were nearly clear, it was cool but not cold, no wind, clear skies, we took the George Bush Tollway most of the way home and since its a toll road it was even more deserted than other highways. The rumble of the Harley's under us was soothing as we cruised at a steady 75 mph for the hour ride back home. It was an absolute perfect afternoon and evening and we'll not forget the good time we had with good friends.

Thank you Charles and Janet for inviting us and having a great evening together.

Lewisville Western Days Festival 2014 Slideshow

Lewisville Western Days Festival 2014 Video

Mary's- Strawn, TX

Saturday again consisted of working on the house. Were trying to get a lot of exterior work done over the summer so we can focus on interior stuff this winter. Margaret had to work all day Sunday so we weren't able to do anything together the entire day.

However, while she worked I met up with the National Chapter and Fort Worth Chapter of the Protectors LEMC and rode with them to Strawn, TX for some Mary's chicken fried steak. It was a good ride there and we spent a couple hours hanging out and eating some of the best chicken fried steak there is.

Afterwards the two chapters went different directions and I went with the Fort Worth Chapter President and his wife. We wanted to get a few miles in on some back roads since it was such a beautiful day so we headed out north from Strawn and rode to Graford, TX and then back to Weatherford, TX. The roads around that area are very nice and the open landscape with the large hills in the far distance make for beautiful scenery to ride through. There were just enough clouds to give off some shade at times to offset the scorching sun and to cast nice shadow patterns on the landscape.

After the laborious work on the house Saturday the ride with the Protectors on Sunday was the perfect close to the weekend with good company and a relaxing ride on a fine day. 

I want to thank the Protectors for having me along as their guest on the ride!

Fort Worth Harley Water 4 Life Ride 2014

This weekend was Fort Worth Harley's annual Water 4 Life Ride. This is the 5th year running for this charity event and my 3rd year participating. Water 4 Life is a program through World Vision that drills clean water wells for villages that have none in Africa. For every person on a bike Fort Worth Harley donated $50.00 to the charity. All you had to do was show up, sign in, and they would donate.

The day was cold and overcast which affected attendance this year. It was still a good event and turnout even with rain in the forecast. The ride began at Fort Worth Harley and took a 20 mile route to get to Billy Bobs Texas. There was a police escort to help with safety and block off intersections as the procession rode through. We enjoyed the ride and it was especially exciting riding through the Fort Worth Stockyards. The time was about 12:30 pm when the procession rolled through the stockyards and it was packed with tourists and sightseers. The noise was deafening from the bikes as the exhaust noise echoed off the buildings as we rolled through. People didn't seem to mind though and were waving and taking pictures and video as we went through. 

Upon arrival at Billy Bobs we took our seats in the bull riding arena and listened to a short presentation about the charity. There were drawings for prizes if you had purchased a raffle ticket. Prizes included a cruise, leather jackets, gift certificates, and a 2014 Harley Davidson Street Bob. Between raffle ticket sales, corporate sponsors, and the amount donated by the dealership for each person on a bike, $34,000 was raised.

Fort Worth Harley Water 4 Life Ride 2014 Slideshow

Fort Worth Harley Water 4 Life Ride 2014 Video

Back on the Road for Labor Day 2014

3 weeks to the day I got my bike back from the shop. Harley had quite a time with this problem. They found that a power supply wire coming out of the power relay box had stopped conducting current and had to replace it. Faulty copper was the cause. It's interesting because that same problem occurred years ago on my Ford Explorer with a wire that supplied current to the ignition switch. Anyways, I'm happy with the work and Fort Worth Harley for taking care of the problem for me. As always, they have been wonderful to work with and have always taken care of our bikes when we've had any problems.

With the bike running again we decided to take a ride on Labor day since it has been almost a month since we have been able to go out together. I didn't plan on riding as much as we ended up doing. If we had gone on any day but Monday it would have been better. The day was scorching hot, we left at 9 am and didn't get back until 6 pm. Normally that would be fine but I had to go to work the next day and it left me with no recovery time from a long hard hot day.

We started the morning by riding to Burleson, TX to have breakfast at The Porch. This little restaurant has become our favorite morning ride destination and it puts us in a great location for continued riding afterwards. I had planned on riding to Jacksboro, TX to try some lunch at The Green Frog restaurant since they have very good reviews. From where we were it was about 130 miles to get there. Margaret still wanted to go so I decided to go through Granbury, TX and stop there to take a break since the day would be heating up quickly. When we got to Granbury there was a bike event taking place that we didn't expect.

The Biker Bash Texas is put on by Full Armor Biker Church, and is a Christian bike ministry event. We were there on Labor Day when the event was beginning to wind down. As a result we missed the bulk of the action that took place on Saturday and Sunday. I talked shortly with Doc who was an integral part of putting this event together and he said on Saturday there were over 900 bikes that showed up. That's a very nice turnout. There were still things happening though which we were able to enjoy. The band was playing and there were still a lot of booths set up. Leather goods, patches, clothing, tattooing, pin stripping, food, bike contests, prayer tents, and more were still going strong. We wandered around for a couple hours, took pictures and video, and talked to various vendors, tradesmen, and riders while we enjoyed the event. Next year well be sure to go earlier when things are going full force.

It was about 2 pm when we left and now the heat was really coming down on us. It took an hour and a half to get to Jacksboro, TX only to find out The Green Frog was closed! That's not what their website was showing in the morning before we left. I had no idea if there was another restaurant in Jacksboro that might be open and by now we were both so hot we didn't want to ride around the town looking for something. I knew a place in Springtown, TX which was 30 minutes away that would be open and has some personal historical significance to it as well so we headed out for that restaurant.

The restaurant we went too is Howells Cafe. I don't know how long its been open but the last time I was there was 40 years ago. It's not gourmet specialty food, it's just simple home cooking at a great price. Every thing was fresh cooked to order, not frozen, canned, and microwaved like many restaurants seem to do now out of convenience. The historical significance of this place is that I grew up in another small town about 30 minutes away until I was 11 years old. My father rode a Goldwing and we would often ride out to Howells in the evening with a couple of friends that also rode to have coffee. Obviously I was a passenger with my father at this age. The ride to get coffee was more of a reason to take a short cool evening ride than anything else. Our parents would talk about riding, dream trips on bikes, and wild tales of all sorts while we kids would eat homemade pie and listen to their stories intently. We would often wonder if some of the crazy stories they would tell were real or made up and even to this day I don't know. I just know it was always fun, interesting, and allowed us to stay up late on school nights. It was nice to show Margaret a place related to riding that I had frequented growing up that was still open.

We stayed at Howells for a couple hours and chatted about whatever came to mind. Not quite the same far out stories that we heard when I was a kid here but this time the stories were ours. It was nice to talk about memories and make some of our own before heading home.

Labor Day 2014 Slideshow

Labor Day 2014 Video