Saturday AIM expo update

What a great day to be at a motorcycle show.   Weather updates in Phoenix showed rain totals of 1-3 inches today!  It was sunny and warm here in Vegas.   I checked the webcam at the dog boarding place...the play area is partially open to the elements, so the webcam showed one idiot dog out in the rain while the rest were sitting under the awnings.   And thankfully, that one idiot dog was not ours 😃.

The AIM expo is in its 6th year, first time in Vegas, and now expanded to allow the public to attend for selected days.   We got there about 10:30, left at 3...lots to see.   At the end of the day, we got to meet the Director of the show, she saw my Aprilia t-shirt and asked if we had one.  She owns and rides an Aprilia Tuono.  As Stu told her, he rarely meets Aprilia owners and has never met a woman Tuono owner.   She was incredibly nice and got us a ride through the bowels of the hotel to the taxi stand.

Here are some photos of us and Bob and Gail Johnson meandering around various exhibits.

Random photos below of the show.

Friday summary

We left Phoenix a bit after 8 am, Lucy was dropped off at the penitentiary at 7.  The trip was lovely, gas stops or breaks in North Phoenix, Wikieup, Kingman.  Headwinds most of the way so gas mileage was less than 45 mpg but it didn’t feel really gusty.

Staying at the usual hotel, the Orleans, for the weekend and the room was quite nice.
We met Bob and Gail at 5:30 for dinner at the Paris Hotel Buffet.  We have been going to the buffet there for at least 10 years.   While the food was good, it has lost some of its charm for us.  Stu missed the Stone Crabs (now they serve snow crab).  I noticed it has changed from a buffet specializing in French food from various regions of France...to a generic buffet.  So I missed the beef bougignon (spelling?).   None to be found.  Sigh. Needless to say, we didn’t starve ;)

Here is a photo of Stu getting settled in the room.

Friday 5:45 am radar.

Radar this am, big rain just heading into Phoenix.  Apparently a complete surprise to the weather channels. Forecasting rain at exactly our departure time.  We have rain gear 👀.

October 12-14 AIM motorcycle expo in Vegas prep

Thursday afternoon, October 11th.

The AIM expo is a large annual motorcycle dealer show, open to the public during the weekend, where all sorts of bikes and gear are exhibited.   We have never attended this show before, so it should be an adventure to see.

Stu is in the garage making sure all the pre-flight has been done for the trip to Vegas.   This time, the modern bike is getting a workout...well, modern being the 2015 Triumph.

Lucy gets dropped off at the penitentiary Friday morning, and off we go.   The dog boarding facility has a webcam which lets folks see their dogs during exercise periods.   And of course, we are insane enough to log on to make sure our dog is okay.  Yes indeed, we have become the crazy dog people we used to talk about.

Weather forecasts have been useless, depending on the day or hour we look, Friday and Monday travel days are either windy, rainy, sunny or mixed.  Sigh.  As of 2 pm Thursday, it appears the weather gods will smile on us those two days and let us get to Vegas and back without rain or wind over 20 mph....we shall see 🙄.

Saturday Prescott VJMC rally

Action packed day. 9 am ride with the herd to Jerome, then some folks went on to Sedona. We broke off in Jerome (we are really not fond of group rides) and so we did a scenic tour of Camp Verde.  We stopped at Montezuma’s castle but didn’t have our park pass.  Back through Prescott valley to the hotel.  By then, we decided we wanted to come home a bit early.  So we packed up and headed south, we were home by 5:30.   Yeah!  Two days of flawless and problem free riding, 350 miles on the 47 year old Honda!  Perhaps our Aprilia will get a hint ;)

Photos of assorted bikes and bike owners before the ride this am.

Friday trip to Prescott

7 am trip to drop beloved dog at the weekend penitentiary.  We left at 8, tail trunk packed to the gills!

Gas in Wickenburg then up to the hotel.  Lots of old bikes in the hotel parking lot, photos later as the groups get together.  

Boot photo is of an industry friend of Stu’s, Matt Riley, from Racetec.   Stu has never met him in person...takes a rally to meet up.   Balance of photos are from dinner at the palace saloon.  Alas, in these modern times, the opium den in the basement and the whore house upstairs are no longer operational.  The opium den might come back into favor...

Sept 7-9 Prescott Vintage Japanese Motorcycle Club weekend

We finished getting the 1971 Honda CB500 all ready for the trip.  New tires last week.  Also Stu did the mounting bracket and wiring for the GPS.   Assume we will be the only 47 year old bike with GPS there.

We leave Friday morning at 8, picking up Mark Hirschbiel at 9, then on to Prescott via Wickenburg and Yarnell Hill.

Lucy, our packing assistant, was exhausted after the evening of  packing:

Stu’s birthday is tomorrow as well, hope to find some birthday cake tomorrow night!