Because We Can - Thursday December 29, 2016

Yippee skippy, it's today, it's today!  The Because We Can Ride To Eat is today, hooray!!!!  Since we were only maybe 5 miles from the Far West Tavern where the RTE was being held, we again slept in and took our time getting dressed and the bikes loaded.  We awoke to another glorious day with clear skies and shining sun.  It was warm, well compared to what we have been riding through and I didn't even need any heated gear.  Man, it felt sooooo good to get on the bike without all that bulk on :-)  And, I could actually turn my head from side to side, lol.

We weren't the first to arrive although we got there early.  Ray Blair was part of the welcome crew.

 And Dean Tanji, our host was all smiles :-)

 I hadn't even taken off my jacket and the folks began to arrive en masse.  It was fun watching the riders roll in and park while waving and nodding and not hearing a thing because they still had their helmets and earplugs in!

 It was great to see Nancy Lefcourt!

 Dean and Rocky Mayer stroll through the parking lot, checking out the bikes and riders.  I was super happy to see Rocky because I had a custom BMS saddle that I got at the Rockmor Rally this past August and I had sent it to Rocky for some customization.  But, I also wanted heat and some tweaking on the seat.  So, as fortune has it, Rocky was at the RTE and I had brought the seat along so I was able to personally get a fitting and send the seat back with him to his shop for the tweaking and heat.  Oh yeah, baby, heated custom seat?  That's what I'm talking about.  Can't wait to get it back.  Thanks, Rocky!

 Look, look, look who showed up!!!!!!  Yes, that would be Eric.  Hahahaha!  No, look closer, it's Lisa Landry all the way from Texas.  Here she is hanging out with Eric and Heidi Still.  Heidi and her guy John rode in from Yuma, AZ.

 I was tickled to see Pat Ford ride in.  He came from Lake Havasu, AZ.  Pat will always have a special spot in my heart as he helped me on my first rally.  He's kind of crazy, he'll be riding the Iron Butt Rally again come June.  I think maybe this will be his fourth???

 Kurt Worden - usually I see him on a Ninja 250 but today he brought the big gun, a Moto Guzzi Norge 1200cc monster!  Whoa!  Actually, another rider, John (I don't know his last name) also showed up on a Norge but his was a sexy, fast red :-)

 Here is Heidi checking out the new arrivals.  You can see what a beautiful day it was!

 And then....it was time to invade the restaurant and decide what to eat.  Of course, everyone was talking, talking, talking and the poor servers exhibited a great deal of patience trying to get everyone's order taken.

 I was delighted to see Andy Mackey.  Of course he rode in on his BMW R1200GSA that has like 300,000 miles on it.  Rumor has it he'll be riding it in the Iron Butt Rally this June making it his third?  Maybe fourth.  Good luck, Andy.

 OMG!  Do you know who that is?  The guy in the middle?  The Ex Noble Grand Humbug?  Yes, peeps, that is "THE" "TURBO DAVE" or Dave Hicks to strangers ;-)  It was just fantastic to see him riding again.  2016 was a tough year for Turbo Dave and he is now back with a vengeance.

I stepped outside for a smoke and took the opportunity to take some photos of all the awesome bikes in the parking lot and out front on the street.

 Oh, here's that other Norge in front!  You could find just about anything here from a Ninja 650, Yamaha Super Tenere and FJR, Honda ST, BMW GS (both 800 and 1200), RT and GT along with a Goldwing or two and Ray Blair's Suzuki Wee Strom.

 It just makes me happy to see all these bikes and riders gathered together for a meal and a chat and then take off only to do it all over again in a year.  What great fun!

 Back in the restaurant, you would think there might be quiet time while we all ate our lunch but somehow we all managed to chat while eating.  The food was good.  Really good.  Eric and I split a bbq bacon cheese burger and opted for fresh fruit on the side rather than fries.  Hahahahaha!

I caught Ms. Landry sporting a DFF sticker on her forehead!  What a prankster ;-)

 I couldn't resist taking this picture.  I love the graphics on this saddlebag!

 Peter Perrin and John Cooper joined us for lunch.  Peter brought along his son who is now all grown up (how does that happen?) and he was riding his own Ninja 650.  Riding pillion on Peter's bike was his son's girlfriend.  Yay!  Keeping it in the family :-)

Heck darn it.  I didn't get a photo of Mark Fischer (Redneck Valdeez) but he was there, looking good, on his Honda Blackbird!  I didn't get pics of a lot of folks but I sure had a good time chatting with and sharing stories with everyone.  Gosh, another rider I didn't get a photo of but love dearly is Carroll Walker!  That dude is the stuff!!

So, all porked full of fine food, it was time for some peeps to depart for destinations unknown.  I hate that part.  Of course, nobody could leave right away.  Someone always, always, always has something else to say.  Just one more word or one more thought or one more "did you see".....

 But, alas, all were gone except Eric and me.  Somehow it's not unusual for me to be the last to leave.  I love these gatherings and hate to say goodbye.  Besides, we didn't have anywhere to be, so we hung in to the end.

It was a great RTE and I so much enjoyed seeing everyone and meeting some new folks too!  This very loose knit community of long distance riders is simply awesome.  They span all ages and what they choose to ride.  It doesn't matter - the common bond is riding and we all do a lot of that.  Thanks Dean Tanji for putting this together for the umpteenth year!  It was good.

 There we were, all alone in downtown Orcutt, CA.  Where to go?  Well, heck, darn, we're just a few miles from the Pacific Ocean.  Maybe we should go visit the ocean?  Okay!

We rode north on Highway 1.  What a treat!  Very little traffic and lots of good stuff to see.  A good deal of farmland and agriculture eventually giving way to towns dotting the coast.  It got busy at Pismo Beach but traffic again thinned out.  Eric was playing a motorcycle "tag" game so we made a stop here at Oceano.

He needed a picture of a caboose!  Score - but not so fast - by the time he got to the hotel and checked his tag game he'd been "Bruced" (meaning someone else got the tag first).  No matter, it was a pleasant stop in a cute little burg.

 Eventually, we ended up in Morro Bay at the Best Western.  Not quite ocean front, we we have a peek-a-boo view.

 See, that's the Pacific Ocean!

 Really, it is the Pacific Ocean :-)  Tomorrow, we'll ride down to the shore and snap a few pics before heading east and toward home.

 It's quite a nice Best Westie and I love that the roses are in full bloom, in December......life is good ;-)

There you have it, folks, the "Because We Can" Ride to Eat for 2016 at the Far West Tavern in Orcutt, CA.  A great event, awesome peeps, cool bikes and good food.  It was totally worth the 560.5 miles from our home in Ivins, UT.

We'll figure out our route for home tomorrow and start riding east.  Hopefully, the weather will cooperate and not get us wet or too cold.

Thank you for following along and stay turned, it's not over quite yet :-)

Cheers,
Cletha