2016....looking back Part #2...Terlingua and Big Bend Texas

As the winter dragged on from 2015 into 2016 one thing was quite evident...this winter was much warmer and less snow filled that the previous bitter and snow filled 14/15 season.  Still it dragged on and I looked forward to getting the TW down south to warmer weather and some good riding in.   March 2015 it was Moab, Utah, with a gang of 3 dozen...this year it would be just five of us.  Nick and I would haul our TW 200s to Big Bend National Park in south Texas...we would  be joined by our Dual Sport Adventure partner out of rural Auburn, Indiana, "Borneo" soon to become "Judge Borneo"...having retired his law practice and at the time running for a local Judgeship{which he would win and takes office January 1st}...Ebbanflood Jim from the outer banks of New York, who was with us in Moab as well, and a new guy to our group, but certainly not to motorcycles...Fort Wayne Gary, the owner of the local Harley dealership in that Indiana City....those 3 would be coming separate and riding larger bikes....

So the first Saturday in March, Nick and I loaded up his Ford 4 x 4 pick up and headed south....no stops overnight, just gas and pee breaks, we would arrive in the infamous Chili Town of Terlingua, Texas, on the north side of Big Bend.

After 30 hours or so of almost non stop driving, we decided a motel and a few beers and a nice long hand rolled cigar smoke would be good before heading into the Park the next day....so Sunday night we crashed at the Chisos Mining Motel in 'Downtown" Terlingua...

We drank a few, smoked a good cigar or two, and finally got a decent nights sleep, before heading into Big Bend the next morning, where we would camp and ride for the next week....except for one night with the other 3 at the Chisos Mountain Lodge{You can see the view, called "The Window"...one of the shots I took from the Restaurant walk way at the top of this post}.

All in all the 8 or 9 days went well...no accidents, plenty of riding, and frankly a few rides I didn't complete, which is why I will return this February and March, well at least that this the current plan.

More photos of the week at Big Bend Below.....

We would return the following week to Ohio, where flooding rains had caused a mess at my place and others....but knowing there was nothing that could be done if I had been home, I was glad to be gone for those 10 days or so....

Back to reality and part #3 coming up next.....

2016 in Review....Part #1

This will be my 11th and likely last series of 2016 postings{this is likely to go 3 or maybe 4 entries}...since I started this blog back in July of 2007 I have posted as many as 264 times {2008}per year and that dropped to 53 last year, and frankly blogs had started to die off....I have fought to keep this one, but even my interests had changed to social media outlets like Facebook....despite the fact I despise some of the stuff there and especially despise the owner, Mark Suckenberg...a left wing turd to the Nth degree...I hate the fact that I may be contributing to his massive and not earned wealth...but WTF?  Until somebody on the Right Side comes up with a equal or better outlet...Facebook will remain my main place to get political and other items off my chest....I will however keep plugging away on this Blog, however un~frequent it may be.

Looking Back at 2016...

As 2015 turned to January of the New Year...I spent my usual Bowl Bash at my best friend Rick Pearson's place in NE Indiana....beer{too much} food {way too much} and TV football{yeah, too much of that as well}...the Winter of 2015-16 proved to be one of the more mild and snowless seasons in many years...I only got the Snow Machine out twice...and even then not for more than 3 inches of the white stuff...I, frankly, just wanted to make sure the machine was working in fine fashion.

Nick and I did get the Dual Sport Yamahas' out on one too cold to ride day in January...maybe 30-33 degrees as we rode the back roads to Sidney, Ohio...froze our asses off...real stupid for two old farts:

February was mostly officiating Basketball, much like January and December....I figured out long ago that Basketball was my least favorite sport to officiate...a distant 3rd behind Baseball{by far my fav} and Football...probably comes from the fact that although I was a damn good baseball player, could play football{not that well} but I really sucked at roundball....

Anyway as we froze, we started making plans for another TW Dual Sport Adventure Ride....2016 would not be as intense as 2015 when we hit Moab, Utah{March}, the Great Lakes{July/Aught} and West Virginia and Southeast Ohio{early November}...This March we wanted to stay warm...or at least I wanted to ride in warmer weather...we had lucked out the year before...I wanted to "Luck Out" again in 2016.

March 2016...Big Bend National Park, and Terlingua, Texas....

Plans came together to ride Big Bend along the Southern Texas/Mexican Border...we would meet up with Kurt the Judge, Fort Wayne Harley Guy Gary, and Jim from the New York Outer Banks of the Atlantic....they would either ride or in Jim's case ship their larger rides to Austin and then ride and hook up with Nick and me at Big Bend/Rio Grande Village Campsite.  Nick and I would load the TWs into the back of his Pick~Up and haul them the 1600 miles out of Celina.

Like the old fools we are, we drove straight through to Terlingua where we grabbed a motel and smoke cigars and downed beers before we got on the road south into the National Park the next morning...

Big Bend would be the first of only 2 "Major Rides" of 2016.....and photos from the Texas ride will be forthcoming in Part #2

Back Later>>>>

The Back Yard Harrier {Marsh} Hawk

For much of the last decade, a female Marsh Hawk has been visiting our back yard ..... I have posted photos before, including some where she dispatched and feasted on a wayward and unlucky Pigeon in our driveway....

She{I am assuming it the same one, size and markings are similar} came back a few weeks ago and has been around the back yard bird and Squirrel feeding area a couple of times over the past week...and I did manage to get a couple of decent shots off...with the camera that is:  The two most recent photos{yes it's the same bird she just has her feathers fluffed up in one} and bottom his the unlucky Pigeon as lunch in December 2013....

 

Tis' the Season....

I went through a stretch of a decade or more without getting a hint of a cold or virus during the winter or any season....that all changed during high school football officiating in 2015.  I came up with a cold, which turned into Bronchitis and because I refused to get it taken care of,  it lasted about 3 months...happens when you reach middle 60s....well that was the catalyst , and in the past 15 months I have had the virus 3 times, and I may, or hopefully not, becoming up on event #4.  At this point it "just a cold" and I still managed to get in my games at Delphos St. Johns last evening....we will see how it shakes out, but no more will I allow it to linger....off to the urgent care site I will go if it's not better in the next day or so, or worse yet, it gets worse!

With High School Basketball fully underway and the Christmas Holiday Season upon us times will be busy. Last weekend we went down to Lebanon, Ohio, for our annual Christmas Train excursion with youngest son Hal, his wife, and the Grandsons....


I continue to watch the post election news with a jaundiced view....the far left loons and their panic and hysteria over Trump's Victory is something else to behold....including the media, they are a group of Anti American Misfits, who should just pull the trigger on their miserable selves and be done with it, thus putting them out of their, and our,  misery....the Founding Fathers are, without a doubt, spinning in their graves watching this from the Great Beyond.

I would be remiss if I didn't recall that today, December 7th, is the 75th Anniversary of Pearl Harbor, when the Japs, for reasons likely only known to them and FDR, targeted the tiny Island Base....I visited the Arizona Memorial when I was on R&R from Vietnam in April 1970....the nearly 29 years post Attack seems like a long time ago, back then...and now?  75 years....where have the days since April 1970 gone?

Back Later....

Photos:  top~Pearl Harbor 12/7/1941  Grandsons K~Man and Kam on the Lebanon to Cincinnati Christmas Train, and PRH in Hawaii on R&R April 1970

Pissing Off "The Haters" Ohio State Makes the CFB Final Four

Almost as much fun as having "Thee" Ohio State Buckeyes making the National Championship Playoffs for the 2nd time in three years{they won it all in 2014} is the gnashing of teeth by those that hate this team...

Guess that's why I root for Duke in Basketball and OSU in Football...sure as far as the latter, I'm from Ohio, son Sam graduated from OSU in 2012....but the loathing from those that despise both Duke Roundball and OSU Football is a sight to behold....I enjoy poking my fingers in the eyes, Social Media Speaking, of the "Haters"....

With Ohio State sitting home, due to the tie breaker set up in the Big Ten, the #2 Ranked Buckeyes were almost assured of a spot in the Final 4....but don't tell that to Penn State fans or the others that hate OSU Football.  They wanted that spot, because if the Nit Wit Lions won the B1G over Wisconsin{which they did in come from behind fashion} they, despite 2 early season loses, including a 49-10 ass kicking at Michigan, OSU's Arch Rival{who the Buckeyes defeated in two overtimes the week before} would have beaten Ohio State and won the Big Ten Title....Frankly good arguments...but no way that PSU's "Resume" was close to Ohio State's and the Selection Committee thought the same...thus here are the Final Four:

With Penn State on the outside at #5....and they get the Rose Bowl against USC...a game they might be capable of winning...a #4 slotted PSU team, IMO, would have had almost NO chance of beating #1 Alabama....neither does Washington.  On the other side, Ohio State and their opponent Clemson, both have a better match-up vs the defending Champions....OSU beat Bama in the 2014 Semis on their way to the crown....and this young team, while not yet as good as the 14 squad are certainly on that way....

In all honesty I think Penn State, Wisconsin, Michigan, and even Oklahoma, are better than Washington....but you know the committee really doesn't want 2 teams from one conference vying for the title come January 9th plus the Sooners shot themselves in the foot early on by losing to Houston at a Texas site and at home to the Buckeyes....and you can't blame the committee, that would be a ratings disaster, having say Michigan and OSU in the Championship Game....well except for Big Ten Fans and those of us here in the Midwest.


In the meantime, for Penn State fans and other "Haters" ....Suck It Up Buttercups....the Committee has spoken and there is not a damn thing you can do, but bitch about it....

Now That the Election is Over.....

Sure there is still the Electoral College, and that moron, Jill the Fake Hebrew Stein,  working with the Nazi George Soros and his money to undermine the Election Results....but for the most part, we sit and wait to see how much damage the Kenyan Queen can do in his last 7 weeks in office...but for all intense purposes, Trump is putting together his post election team, and we will see if he can put his supporters at ease and deliver on his promise to "Make America Great Again".  I,  of course, have my doubts...but then again, I was a Ted Cruz supporter from the get-go, and although I am happy that Trump won....I am not a TrumpBot in Good Standing, by any means...time will tell if he can change the Polluted States of America that the Far and Near Left have created....

This morning on facebook{of all places} I got into a conversation about a vehicle accident we had nearly 50 years ago in Lima, Ohio, with my late brother Mike's 1964 Dodge...


....Bob Jones and PRH back in 1968


Mike was stationed in Thailand in the Air Force at the time, and let me use his Dodge for the year he was to be gone....and I did use and abuse it...being the 18 year old I was....with no sense or no sense of responsibility.  I rolled the vehicle on July 4, 1967, outside Bowling Green, Ohio, on an ill thought out trip to the Amusement Park, Cedar Point...spent the summer paying off the damage money, I had borrowed from mom...some $500. 

Late in the Summer my next door neighbor Bob Jones,  one of a handful of Childhood Best Friends I had, headed Lima to shop...what the Hell for?  I have no idea...this was nearly 50 years ago remember...we were just out of High School and less than a year from getting drafted[we both choose to join the military the next Summer of 68...him in the Navy, me the Air Force}. 

Driving down Cable Road, at a normal plus rate of speed, probably a bit fast but nothing overly so, I crossed a intersection in the

{Here is a 64 Dodge much like Brother Mikes}Dodge when some elderly lady{probably about my age now} pulled her Buick Special in front of the Dodge, and she and her Buick received the worst of it.<64 brother="" dodge="" font="" like="" mike="" much="" s="">


The Dodge, with the exception of a small dent on the driver side headlight ring had zero damage...the Buick was towed from the scene.  The lady tried to convince the cop that "He was driving to fast"....the officer responded...."The skid marks stay different, besides, you pulled out in front of him"

The story, not so remarkable...the wreck near Bowling Green, much more so....but I put out this information only to inform you that, some people have more than remarkable memories....

Bob Jones, 6 months my senior, must be one....he remember the car make and color, the women was driving, and the rest of the details....I had remembered the story, and had told my 92 year old mom the same story{without the clear details} that Bob wrote this morning, when Patricia and I took her to the Eye Doctor in Lima last week....and we passed the exact location...

The other point of this being....with winter fast approaching, basketball season officiating in full mode, and Dual Sport Motorcycle riding done for the year{likely until next March}...so I've tweaked the Blog and will do some more so, and hopefully will get back to posting on a {a least] Semi Regular Basis...it's been awhile, and frankly, despite the Holidays coming up, and time with Family, especially the Grandsons, on the way....I need to keep my mind much more active that it has been.....

So, here we go!

back later>>>

 

Welcome to Hillary's Election Night{Mare}

Even though I was never a big Trump Supporter, voted in the Primary for Cruz, and still think he, and even Rubio, were much better choices...I enjoyed the Heck out of the way he drove and still drives the Left Crazy....I'm still wonder how any Straight, White, Christians could vote for "Killary"?...but then again,  I realize, NONE COULD!  Her "supporters' are those, for the most part, to stupid and uninformed to actually think for themselves.

Making it so much more sweet that the Murdering Witch of Benghazi will never again be in our collective faces....4 years from now...with her declining health issues, legal issues{unless The Kenyan Pardons her in full before leaving office} She won't be around to smell up the American Landscape.

And with that I give you my "Salute" to Killary and her supporters....with my Middle Finger Raised and a Smile on my Face:

Hillary's Election Night{Mare}

click above^^^^

Trump Wins! Hey Libs..."Suck It Up"

Not a Trump Supporter am I, started out as a Ted Cruz voter in the Ohio Primary...but eventually realized it was The Donald or "Killary"....leaving me with ZERO options other than Trump that had a chance.  

Thankfully the Iron Maiden has been banished forever from the political scene...it's doubtful her health will allow her to survive until 2020 let alone win....Hopefully the entire Klinton Crime Family is out of our political lives, FOREVER!  

And take the Bush Clan with you on the way out....and the Kenyan Grifter and "Man~Chelle" as well....

Back Later>>>>

Baseball.....

The World Series of 2016 moves back to Cleveland tomorrow night, with the Tribe up 3 games to 2 over the Cubs, after Chicago avoided elimination with a 3-2, eight out save by closer and former Red, Aroldis Chapman...the Indians still have the large advantage heading home needing to win just a single game, while the Cubbies need two out of those two.

I fell in love with Baseball in probably 1955 or so, playing in the pine tree lined center park at Alston's Cottages, our first home in Florida, where we moved from Ohio in the fall of 1954.... for the 60 plus years of playing, coaching, and umpiring, none of the other sports has come close to my affection for baseball and the game, sounds, and smell of the game....to be sure, professional baseball is nothing like it was growing up in the 1950s and 60s, but the game itself, away from MLB is still basically the same.  Yes American kids, for the most part, no longer have that feel for the game, but it stays alive with the youngsters in the Islands of the Caribbean still holding it in high regards, and thus the sports will continue to thrive and live on for generations to come....at least in the warm weather climates.

I was never a great player, but I was decent...and probably at my best catching Fast Pitch Softball{the cousin of baseball} while stationed in both Nha Trang, Vietnam, and Griffiss AFB, in Rome, Upstate New York....

Coming Home to Ohio, I coached Little League, then when the boys were old enough I coached them through the 190s...great coach?  Hardly...I knew the game, but I choose to coach for the fun of it, rather than the wins...at least that's what I tell myself...and for the last 17 years I have umpired at the High School level, and umpiring at the highest levels of that game for most of the past decade, including 6 of the last State ACME Tournaments, and being selected during the spring of each year to go deep into the post season tournaments.

However watching the game in Chicago last night{not really having a dog in the fight} with two teams whose fan bases have not seen a WS Title in decades, neither since before I was born, I reflected back on baseball and how it was, and how it should be today, but will never be again.

Growing up in the age of innocence in South Florida, we didn't have a local or area team, so it came down to "rooting" for one of the teams whose state you came from{few of us were native born Floridians back then} or one of the major market teams....me, and most of my buddies, latched onto the New York Yankees back in the day...what was not to root for?  The Had Whitey, Yogi, Moose, Bobby Richardson, Casey, and of course Mickey Mantle, "The Mick"!  We all wanted to be "The Mick"....as it turned out, Mantle, like the rest of us, was a flawed human being, but we didn't know or care for that matter....the media wasn't full of ESPN and Politically Correct Left Wing writers and so called "Journalists" ...it was a game, played by everyday joes, who, for the most part, played baseball 6 to 8 months a year, and worked regular jobs in the off season...there were no Million and Multi Million Dollar Contracts back in 1956....

The Game, and America were better back then....they will never be like that again, life and time moves on....we grow old and then, like "The Mick" and Yogi, pass on....

Doing some reading on this years World Series I came across a "blog" of sorts from the 1927 Yankees, considered by some as the greatest team in Baseball Histroy{I will toss in the 1961 Yankees and 75/76 Big Red Machine as my personal picks}...the blog or diary, penned by Myles Thomas{most of you have never heard of him, have you?} of that team, and is an excellent and funny at times, read:

Myles Thomas 1927 Yankees Diary

Kick back and enjoy....I'll be back later:
Photos:  Bronze Cast Glove of Mickey Mantle given to me by my mon....Me and brother Mike{1946-2016} when we played for the Venice Elks LL Team in 1957{I played on the "farm team" my on the big squad that year} Me at the Pine lined park at Alston's Cottage in 1954 and you can see the trees we played under, along with our "House" marked by the X in the bottom photo.

Musical Videos and Slideshows

In the process of putting together various pieces of my life in a series of Video/Slideshows of old and newer Photographs....

Follow this Link...15 and growing daily and weekly:

Pat Houseworth Video Photo Slideshows

Enjoy...back later

Monroe Station Burns to the Ground {Everglades}

Back in August 2008, when this Blog was but a year old, I posted photos and recollection of my Jeep Wrangler visit in February 2006 to the Everglades and of gators, Loop Road, and Monroe Station...

Monroe Station Everglades Loop Rd  

This past weekend, after nearly 90 years of sitting along the Tamiami Trial, the historic structure burned to the ground:

Monroe Station Burns   

I was planning a ride along Loop Road on the Yamaha TW200 this past February, but a trip to Big Bend in Texas caused me to change plans...and put them on hold until next winter....for now, that trip is still planned, but it won't be the same, with the landmark that was {likely} torched this weekend past.

Loop Road is on a semi wild part of the north edge of the "Glades" ... if not to wet a 2 wheel drive is easy enough to travel with, all the way from Monroe Station, east towards Miami, where it hooks up with US 41 {Tamiami Trail} again....or of course you can travel from the east to west and come out at Monroe Station...sadly however, there will be no "Historical Point" to see...Sure, the building as been abandoned for nearly 30 years, but the history was deep...a product of a different life in south Florida, destroyed by fire and most of all by "Big Brother", the Federal Government, which is seems needs it's money grubbing, power hungry, hands on every bit of our

lives in the 21st Century....

Is it any wonder, true patriots, like me, despise this corrupt Government, in it's current state ?   The founding fathers weep....not only for places like Monroe Station, but for a Republic that once was, but will never be again...

All photos mine, from 2006, along Loop Road, except the historic 1940s photo from the National Park Service at the top and the Map of Loop Road...

Back Later>>>>

2016.....45 Day in

And this is my first post on this Blog for the year....

As I enter my 9th year{beginning "A Day......" in July 2007} things have went from 250+ posts a year downwards to "On Occasion" ....and here is my first post of the "new" year, at 45 days into it.

First off:

Basketball Season is winding down, and I have just next week, a couple of assignments, to go...

Also 7 days into my 30 day ban from Facebook....up until now I have been booted several times, but those were of the 7 day variety....this latest puts a new meaning to the term.."The Little Faggot, with the Earrings...." when it comes to Mark "Suckenberg" and his group of far left morons, running that Political Correct Cesspool....my days over there, even when let back on, are pretty much numbered....

And finally, I will begin posting more on this Blog when I "Arrive Alive" back from the upcoming Dual Sport Motorcycle Adventure in the Big Bend National Park of south Texas....hopefully it will be as enjoyable as last year was in Moab, Utah....time will tell, and hopefully enough Photos and Stories to share...

In the Meantime....for now I will be posting photos from my latest work over on the "other blog"

Pat Houseworth Photography

Back Later.....

Photo~A look from this morning, at the Sun Rising over the Icy Surface of Grand Lake.....