Entries Tagged 'FUBAR' ↓

It’s been a long day and we pull into the driveway at last. Too bad our work is not done. The trailer is loaded with  other toys  – a four wheel ATV, kayak, my bicycle,  the pressure washer. Other stuff that just seems to accumulate. G-Dog (my bad; I referred to him as G-Man in the last post – I’m only married to him – you’d think I’d know this stuff by now) unloads the trailer and I start counting straps. We’re missing a set. Oh I remember; they’re still in the car from taking our daughter and her Buell back to school a few months ago. Trailer hooked up to the car, all lights working and all straps accounted for. G-Dog calls to change his flight arrangements. Again, we experience the kindness of strangers – the person he talks to saves us some money. Now we can relax a bit and get some sleep. It’s going to be an early day making the trek back down to Key West.

We pull out by 8 am and make good time. The sun and water dazzle as the day before – tough to watch other bikes pass us – sigh….

Arrive around noon and stop to gas the vehicles before dropping off the rental car.  A quick phone call to the towing service guys to open the gate. We get the bikes loaded and secured and the experienced tow driver offers to back it out for us. Thank You! G-Dog had already tried to maneuver the trailer around in this tight space. Watch out for that 5 foot drop off disguised by tall grass – this could have been an even more dramatic story.  When it takes the experienced truck driver a few tries to get the trailer backed out of the compound, I feel a little better about my own trailer backing skills.

Lunch time and  G-Dog has a great idea – let’s stop at No Name Pub. What a great idea. It’s amazing how fast time goes by. I thought we’d been there only a year ago. Turns out it’s more like 2 years! How does that happen? We enjoy lunch and their signature Amber Ale. We tried to find the dollar bill tacked on the ceiling 2 years ago, but it was already covered over. Content with full bellies we make the rest of the long drive home.

Ken, our mechanic and the best around, agreed to meet us at his shop. Iron Pony safely in Ken’s service bay,  we head home with Pearl – are those tears I see? She doesn’t like separation any more than I do. But we’re big girls and we’ll make the best of it.

Back home, we reverse yesterday’s drill – get the trailer back in the garage and re-load the toys. G-Dog runs the ATV around the block a few times – you have to play with the toys once and a while – and drives it up on the trailer. Button up everything, soak in the hot tub for a bit and then snuggle in for the night. Mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm. What a long weekend! We drift off to sleep tucked in close to one another…

A few hours later I wake up – my throat and nostrils on fire.  “G, do you smell gasoline?”  We walk down the hall toward the garage as the fumes intensify. WTF? It’s 1:30 in the morning, we’re both exhausted from weekend drama that’s already unfolded and now there’s gasoline all over the garage. Apparently the ATV decided it was a good time to let us know it had a problem. Our cop neighbor was up late and came over to see what was going on – “You guys are never up this late. Everything ok?” Thank You. Again, the kindness of others. Eric helps G-Dog drain the tank and clean up the gas out of the garage so I could go back to bed. Those knights in shining armor – gotta love them.  Next day the ATV goes to the doctor too.

While G takes the ATV for service I take a walk. And then I see it – the reason for at least some of the weekend calamity. Since G has been living and working in a different state, I’ve been taking care of all things at home. If G’s bike had not been disabled, we would not have moved the ATV off the trailer and its problem would have manifested another time – like when I would have to deal with it by myself. I may be a strong and independent woman – but that would have put me over the deep edge – sent me to the funny farm. And so it turned out that everything was taken care of when I had the love of my life there to help – a much better scenario… For all of us.

Still not sure about the reason for the damage to my bike, but I did file an insurance claim. Maybe someday I’ll understand this too. In the meantime,  we’re waiting to hear about  Iron Pony and the ATV…

So we find open spots in motorcycle parking in front of the old town hall, just down the street from Sloppy Joe’s. It’s mostly mopeds, a few motorcycles and we’d parked there before. This works. Stow our gear and head over to Hog’s Breath for a cold one, a bit of lunch and a lot of entertainment. This was supposed to be a day trip, so we head back to the bikes after lunch. G: “what the h*ll, why’s my mirror cocked like this?” Me: “Did you bump it on the way out?” G: “No, and take a look at your seat and gas tank – someone went between our bikes with something sharp.” Me: “My sexy seat – it’s ruined. That kind of tear means I’ll have to get it re-covered. Damn, I’ve only had it a few months. And that gouge in the gas tank goes down to the metal.” We’re still trying to figure out why someone would go between the bikes – especially since they were on the end of the row. Couldn’t walk around? Probably some drunken fool with no sense.

After that shock we go to fire up the bikes and Iron Pony refuses to start. This is not funny – AAA coverage is only 100 miles, we’re 180 miles from home and G has a flight back to NC tomorrow morning. Guess again. Sure glad we asked our pet sitter to check in on the dogs for us since we would get home late. Seriously though, road coverage for the bikes was the best investment we made this year. Whether with AAA or some other company, get it – it’s paid for itself two times over so far.

Waiting for the tow truck to arrive, we evaluate our options. Can we tow it all the way home? Probably not since the towing company is local. Can G ride bitch all the way home? Really? Does the tow company have a secure lot we can leave the bike overnight? We’ll have to get a rental car. Do I ride my bike home alone in the dark or leave both bikes and drive together in the rental car?

When the tow truck arrives, we make arrangements to leave both bikes in their storage area. Here’s where you gotta love the kindness of strangers. They let us leave the bikes overnight free of charge. Plus they gave us a phone number to call so someone could unlock the gate when we brought my bike back after getting the rental car and the next day when we returned with the trailer.

And G actually does ride bitch on my bike for the first time ever to get the rental car.  You know, you see a lot of weird stuff in Key West, but I think this was over the top for a lot of people – it’s not every day you see a guy riding behind a woman on a motorcycle – we sure got a lot of second looks. So glad we decided not to do that all the way home!

Rental car secured and Pearl tucked up next to Iron Pony in the lot, we (finally) head home.

One of my most sacred beliefs is that everything happens for a reason and this was no different. It just took another 24 hours to understand why…

AAA card or the phone number of your knight in shining armor? Why not both? Or in our case AAA cards and two knights…

300 miles from home on a 2300 mile round trip and my daughter’s little Buell signals it’s death with two loud backfires and puff of smoke. It’s back home but in the hospital today – I think it’s an electrical problem – we’ll know more tomorrow.

Our entire trip makes several stories, but the ending is best.  AAA is great, but the husband and brother and fellow motorcyclists are far better.  Stay tuned – more to come (and pics).