It's sheer pandemonium!!!

It's brewing ... but I don't know if it will taste any good. [Mar 23, 2006]

Interestingly enough, a year has almost lapsed from the last central coast trip.  How easy it is for time to slip through our little fingers, but enough babble. It is now time to start planning the '06 trip.  March has roller around the corner, April will come and go, and  May will spring on us so fast that you can't even say "Follies your Midas" once.  Yes!  Time to pack it up and get out of the woods.  Get out of the woods man!  Get out of the woods!

So far, the planning for the trip has been interesting.  We have invited more people this year, and boy is it a turn out.  It looks like the old gang from last year will be going and a bunch more folks added on top.  Of course, with all the upgrades that everybody has done, this year's trip is on all different bikes.  The only returning bikes will be Eugene's bike, since he purchased my F650GS from me for his riding pleasures, and Primo's bike, Honda F4I.

I got smart this time, I booked the camp grounds early so we don't have to pull that trick we did last year and wait for a cancellation.  Even if we ended up in hotels, who knows if we're going to get a room since we probably have to reserve that ahead of time, also.  Oh yes, the pleasures of being tied down to a specific date.  It's good in a sense because we're forced to do it no matter what. "... Come hell or high water."  The group is substantial this year.  It's in the neighborhood of 14-16 people.  Wow!!  That means organizing this thing is going to be like herding cats.  Looking at the age of this group, people are definitely going to be opinionated.  That means ... pandemonium.  Par for the course I guess.

This trip was originally planned to be support vehicle free, but after closer examination, it can't be done without a car.  Why? Because the feeding logistics is going to be a nightmare, if I'm not careful.  If we were going to restaurant everything, it wouldn't be an issue.  However, we're camping' out babe!  This means there's going to be plenty of cooking going on.  Cooking for 14-16 hungry people is not going to be easy.  One portable grill is not enough.  So this time around, two grills and a couple camp stoves.  Hopefully this is enough to feed the hungry howling  wolves.  Having been a cooks at various fine establishments like Fuddruckers,  an image springs into my mind around dinner and breakfast time ... STAMPED!!  Everybody will want to be fed right now, right here, and "...where's the mayo?"  A lot of hungry mouths means a lot of griping.  To make all those empty stomachs happy, I have to have the support vehicle carry all the grills, stove(s), and cooking utensils to handle the job.  Then it's just a matter of flippin' burgers and whatever else like the olden days.


The anticipation grows. [April 10, 2006]

It is now approximately three weeks to the trip.  It is confirmed, a minimum of 15 and very possible 16 people are going on the trip.  This is the larges party I've been involved with.  I know there plenty of other motocycle buffs out there that have been on trips with 20+ or 30+ people.  The question is, how do you keep everything together?

There is still a lot more planning and prepping to do.  I still have to make the unique arm bands to identify people on the trip.  I will also need to make markings for the support vehicle.  In this way, if we get separated, it's easy to quickly identify our vehicles.  Of course, this stuff is all scratch built so I better get cracking and stop playing Oblivion.  It is a dawgawn addicting game though.  Well, as an aside from spending hours in front of the LCD wacking away at gobblins, bears, and daedra, I have been prepping my bike for the trip.  Everything for the bike is almost in place including the MP3 player.  I'm currently waiting on camp stove equipment to come in from the REI store so I can once and for all test the new grill and the old grill.  I'm still planning on bringing the camp stoves and additional cooking surfaces.  I have to check up with everybody and see if there are any cancelations.


Came and gone. [May 23, 2006]

It has been three weeks since the trip came and went.  The three days was fun and went fast.  A lot happened.  Here is a recount of all that went on.  Unfortunately some people couldn't make it due to illness and/or committments, but that's OK.  There's always next year and other rides.

Page 1 - [...And they're off!!] - May 4th, 5th
Page 2 - [Loopy in Guada-loopy] - May 6th
Page 3 - [Just a couple more drops of petrol] - May 7th

Written on: Mar 23, 2006
Last modified: June 8, 2006