Rollin' On The River

After watching Henry's last basketball game of the season, Jared and I took his father-in-law's boat out on the river.  Actually, it was the intercostal waterway beginning at the Port of  Baton Rouge at Port Allen but who's counting?

Earlier that morning, I'd ridden into town on the Harley, ignoring the lower 40° temperatures, figuring it would eventually warm.  That was a bad guess....it didn't.  Anyway, we launched the boat and were on the water around 11:00 A.M. supposedly testing a new tachometer which never registered, maybe because it was defective or maybe because it was wired wrong, nevertheless, it didn't work on the old 70 hp Evinrude.  Even though we figured that out in the first 5 minutes, the notion of a river ride was there and before long, we were headed south on the Gulf Inter-Coastal Waterway that eventually makes it's way toward Morgan City and ultimately into the Gulf of Mexico.  Completed in 1949, it is part of a sophisticated network of waterways that connects the Mississippi River with waterways across the southern United States.

Even though the temperatures were cool on the water, the bright sun helped quite a bit as we enjoyed seeing life along the river, disturbing Louisiana Blue Herons, dodging the occasional log in the water and negotiating around ever present barge traffic.

One special treat was spotting a young Bald Eagle a few miles south of Bayou Choctaw.  I can still kick myself for forgetting my good camera and having to rely on the cell phone instead.

While we could have gone on and on, boat motors are not known for their gasoline efficiency so we turned around just south of the Bayou Jacob Road in Iberville Parish and made our way home.

A nice venture and experience for sure that was a little different, especially for me.

Monster!

I think we may have created a monster.

Saturday morning I took an early ride up to Baton Rouge, where my grandson Henry and his kindergarten buddies were engaged in the beginnings of a basketball team.  Unfortunately for Henry & Co., they were playing a muuuuuuch older group......first graders, but somehow they managed to score two or three times.  His dad (my son) is one of the coaches.

That was great in it's self but the real story begins after the game, when his dad just kidding around (or at least I thought he was kidding) asked Mr. Allstar Kindergarten Athlete if he wanted to ride with "Pop"....that would be me.

"Suuuuuurrre!", he said, with eyes as big as the headlights on the Harley.

We had planned on me dropping by their house after the game, so when they took off in the truck and I followed along later, I pondered how this was going to work out and at the same time trying to imagine the conversation that went on with Henry's mom when his dad came in saying their 5 year old was about to be inducted into the world of motorcycling.  The imagery of tattoos, chains and leather were probably floating around was drifting around there somewhere.

Never the less, as I leaned low turning into their driveway, all three were coming out to meet me.  Henry was adorned with an LSU kiddie football helmet reminiscent of Jack Nicholson's character in Easy Rider.

Henry's little legs were nowhere near long enough to touch the back foot boards so they suggested he sit on the gas tank and lean back on me.  After a brief reminder on what items were hot, he eagerly crawled on board astride the 5 gallon motorcycle tank and acquired a death grip on the mid part of the handlebars.  Asking if he was ready, and getting a head nod affirmation, I fired Boudreaux up and we circled the lawn and eased out on the street.

Although our cross country adventure was only few minutes  and just 4 or 5 blocks in the neighborhood,  it was a ride he will remember.  I would have loved to have taken him further but since he did not have a legal helmet and the possibility of a Baton Rouge policeman could have cruised by and found issues with our adventure, I thought it best to get him back as soon as possible.

He's already looking forward to another ride.

Freezing fingers and plastic shields

Around this time of the year, when the temperature drops and I take long(er) motorcycle trips, I'm usually able to stay comfortable with enough layers and leather.  My feet, stay relatively warm with thermal socks but regardless of how hard I try, at interstate speeds, the constant wind on my hands and fingers turn them into icicle digits.  I can't seem to find hand protection that can withstand  several hours of 70 mph blasts of 35 - 40° humid air defeating some really great ski gloves.

I've thought about heated grips, electric gloves, bat-wing fairings for the bike and all sorts of concoctions that either were non-effective, too expensive or simply too much trouble to deal with.

Recently, someone sent me a link showing some clear acrylic wind screens that would block the wind and looked like something I could deal with.  They were not too big, not all that expensive and didn't require batteries or electrical hookups, all for $89 plus tax and shipping.  I began thinking on these and figured, "What the heck?  I can make my own!"

Bouncing the idea off my brother-in-law and with a general design in my head, made my way to Home Depot for some materials.  There, I bought a pair of corner braces ($2.87), 3' metal strap ($6), box of nuts and bolts ($3) and a sheet of Lexan ($18) clear plastic.  The Lexan has more flexibility than plexiglas, relatively flexible, can be shaped with heat and most important, is not quite as likely to split or shadow when drilling or sawing it.

After settling on a general design, I cut out a rough draft on cardboard and mounted it on the corner braces that I had attached to the mirror bolts on the handlebars.  Applying masking tape to both sides of the plastic, I transfered the shape from my template with a marker and cut it out with a jig-saw.  The reason for masking tape is two fold; (1) the tape gives you something to trace the pattern to and (2) further reduces the chance of the Lexan splitting or shattering when the jig-saw starts it's cut.  After the shape was cut, I sanded the edges and drilled holes for the mounting brackets to attach the Lexan.  It should be noted here, I recommend using Lexan by brand because my first attempt was with plain plexiglas which shattered when I attempted to cut it out.  It was cheaper but not near as strong.  Add another $8.00 plus gas back to Home Depot on the cost.

It took a bit of time to adjust the angle to be aesthetically appealing and to be effective in blocking the wind  but I believe I have something I can live with for the next 3 months when the weather warms.  This coming weekend, I probably will refine the shape a bit more to remove a few flat spots and make it more rounded.

Hopefully, my new hand shields will keep my hands from losing all feeling on my next 500 mile ride in January or February.

Detroit again

My third run at Detroit will be a short lived version, lasting just two weeks.

Since the clocks have gone back to standard time and the days have gotten shorter, there has been little, if any, exploration time.  When I arrived last weekend, the trees were at their zenith in autumn colors and by mid week, the rain and wind had put most of them onto the streets and ground.  Now, the tree tops are virtually bare and the gray skies afford little to be excited about. There's even a little bite in the air that makes you glad you brought a jacket.

However, I have a need to get out for some reason and since I am one to always seek a bargain and the temptation of finding a unique lens for the camera at a low-ball price,  drives me to pawn shops and thrift stores. So, out I go with smart-phone in hand, Googling "pawn shops" and choosing one, I begin following the turn by turn direction of the provided GPS Navigator.

My first stop was the American Jewelry and Loan.  At 10 a.m., it was already a popular place and the crowded parking lot only sharpened my dodging skills as I avoided running over frenzied pedestrians.  A young clipboard wielding lady greeted me at the door and asked as I walked in, "What brings you here today?"  With a blink, I responded that I was there just to browse around.  With a cheeky smile, she beckoned me to just, "go on in!"   Wow, that's different.

I have to tell you, the patrons of this store aren't the high tea crowd and felt a little out of the place for being (a) noticeably non-local, (b) over 50 and (c) no visible body art.  As I made my way through, I saw an entourage of media people with at least 3 large format video cameras flanked by sound techs and boom microphone grips.

At this point, the lightbulb went off in my head and so I whipped out the Android again and googled "TV pawn store shows" and found myself in the beginnings of a taping session for the truTV's Hardcore Pawn documentary series where the obstinate owner regularly gets in it with his customers.  It's the cheesier knockoff of the more popular Pawn Stars filmed in Las Vegas.  The owner apparently had not arrived, so the crews were drifting around the store getting various shots of patrons.  I have an idea most were there for the TV hullabaloo except maybe a dozen or so lined up to either make a payment or to un-hock something of value they had previously taken a loan on.

Seeing nothing that sparked my interest and not wanting to be part of a TV episode, I made my way out through aisles of fur coats and jewelry cases toward the door.  Outside, I did manage to check out a way overpriced Harley-Davidson before getting out on the freeway to dodge refrigerators in the lanes and getting an eyeful of decaying buildings on the horizon.

This is not the garden spot of the world, especially with winter coming on.

 Lagniappe: Just for fun, since we're talking pawn shops.