Sunday, June 29, 2008

Born to be Wild!!!!!

What an adventure I had this weekend. It was the annual Funds for Freedom Mountain Bike Run that started here in Tehachapi from the local VFW. Well, since I started working at the motorcycle shop, I figured I would volunteer as a worker for our booth and I am glad I did. What an amazing site to see the estimated 1500 riders take off for their 160 mile run. I have never attended an event like this and it was an experience I will never forget. I have a whole new respect for the biker population. These folks are dedicated to not only their sport, but also for raising money for our vets and troops. They are also an interesting bunch! It was great entertainment just people watching. We were extremely busy in our booth and I was crowned the chaps lady since each time I showed up at the booth for my shift, I was approached by women to help them try on their chaps! Sold all the chaps we had with us! I was also impressed by how gentlemanly the guys were. I was expecting awful things, but they were all very polite and I wasn't even exposing any of my body parts:). If you have a chance to ever go to see one of these events, its worth the time to see at least the start of the runs. The rumble of the engines is an awesome sound and the patriotism shown by all is what America is all about! I have captured some of the event in pictures, but they do not do it justice. It's one of those....had to be there kind of things, especially the rumble of the engines, too cool!


Old glory was hung high in the beautiful Tehachapi Sky. When the trumpeters played the national anthem, you could have heard a pin drop!


The entrance to the event at the VFW


A sample of the bikes lined up on Tehachapi Blvd. For those of you familiar with Tehachapi Blvd., picture 6 rows across of Harley's from Curry Street, all the way down to the Best Western Motel. That's about 4 city blocks long.

Leather and bandanas were the preferred attire for the day
Apparently, if you start in the front of the pack, you have to have horns on your helmet so everyone can see you
Boobs are the best bottle holders when riding a bike. I saw lots of this all day long, even when they weren't riding.
Start your bikes! These were the escorts for the first leg of the ride which took them in to California City where the second set of escorts took over with the missing man flag.
Everybody was ready to roll! They come out in rows of two working left to right. It took about 15 minutes for all the bikes to roll out.
As the bikes kept rolling past, I noticed that most folks standing on the sidelines were indulging in the morning drink of choice....a bloody mary!
Girl Power!

Busy in the Booth!
The Monaghan Motorsports crew at work in the booth. I was busy out taking pictures while they kept selling!

This is the attire that I will be wearing at next year's event. Scott has also asked that I wear this look more often.

Monday, June 16, 2008

Dominic turns 8!

Sorry about the lateness of this post. Dominic turned 8 years old on June 10th and we celebrated his birthday on June 7th. Kristen pulled together a great beach party at the sailing center at Alamitos Bay. The weather was great and the food was perfect! Kristen grilled up some awesome tropical chicken kabobs and to go with the tropical theme she made a tropical pasta salad....yummy. I would have never thought to put fruit in a pasta salad but it works!

Dominic's friends from school came and they built a great sand castle with moats and everything, but the highlight of the party was the super soaker squirt guns. Seemed like it was boys ganging up on the girls at one point, but I think the girls loved it! Here are a few pictures from the day. I can't believe 8 years have passed by so quickly.



Aunt Joni and Uncle Dan

Boys and their toys!
Opening presents while the kids keep working on the sand castle.
Dominic read every card and thanked each person for their gifts. His mom is teaching him good manners
The mad rush for the cupcakes! they disappeared fast and they were tasty...I had 2 myself.

Aunt Joni helps Dominic gather all his gifts.

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

Dominic's First Communion

Well, yes I am a bit behind, but I am catching up now. Dominic took his first communion on May 10th. It was an interesting service and I learned a lot about Catholic ways that day. I have never attended a first communion before. Dom's entire class was involved and they all participated in reading bible verses, thanking teachers and helpers and then they all sang together. It was a nice day and then we celebrated at Cirevellos Pizza afterwards. Here are a few key photos

Dominic with his class before the service

All the kids singing-notice Dominic, he's looking right.

5 generations there that day.

Dominic hams it up-Kristen made the cake, it was yummy!

Beautiful!!!!!

This is why we love where we live. A few weeks back the weather was really wacky up here. Well, thanks to the dirty air in Bakersfield, we get some pretty awesome sunsets. Here is what it looked like the night of May 14th. You can actually see the lake reflecting the bright orange. I took several shots from around the back yard. Just lovely!