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Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Friday, October 14, 2005 - 07:58 pm: | 
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FBRAT, Fri 9/9/05:
sunrise in Las Vegas (or thereabouts), Nevada, early Friday morning, with not nearly enough sleep, and a bunch of long, hot miles to do today.
so, like, ROCK 'N ROLL!
i wanted to get a documentary shot of something that said "Nellis" on it, just as the sun popped up, and this sign at the main gate across the street from our motel was the obvious choice.
try as i might, however, i couldn't frame the photo to get rid of the tanker truck in the background without also blocking the sunrise (a situation made all the more exacerbating by the fact i was standing in a VERY busy four-lane highway while taking the pic), so just pretend it isn't there. k?
k. 
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 15, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Friday, October 14, 2005 - 07:59 pm: |
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SSgt/TGFC (Tour Guide First Class) Josh Hjelmberg met us for breakfast. he had just gotten off work (i.e. graveyard shift), i.e. was putting in some serious hours making sure we were being entertained in a fitting fashion.
you'll note that Josh CAN flat foot the Uly. bastage. BBstacker looks on amused, wondering if am actually tall enough to legally operate this motorcycle...
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 16, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Friday, October 14, 2005 - 08:00 pm: |
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Josh was missin' his own Buell BIG time (his duty assignment at Nellis was only temporary so he had opted to leave his machine at home), and at this point i think he was quite ready to bring Madduck's Ulysses to life and ride off into the Nevada sunrise.
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 15, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Friday, October 14, 2005 - 08:01 pm: |
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Spidey, this is for you.
Josh had asked why i was hanging Spiderman stickers here, there and everywhere as i humped Madduck's Uly across the country. he dug the story, and asked for one.
there was one left on the first sheet you gave me in Appleton, and i handed the sheet to him and asked what he had in mind.
"It's going on a F-16," he said with a mischievous grin.
"WOW!" we said.
Josh promised a pic of the deed. if there IS a pic i haven't seen it yet, but i bet it's a good one.
SSgt Hjelmberg, first of all: i thank you for your service.
secondly, thank you for your help in making our FBRAT layover a good one. as you know the Las Vegas aspect of this gig had fought me tooth and nail from the get-go, and at the last minute you pulled a fully-grown rabbit out of your hat for us, my friend. thank you, thank you, thank you.
Josh, i hope you're well, and if you're lurking PLEASE squawk this channel and say hello.
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 15, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Friday, October 14, 2005 - 08:03 pm: |
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one last chore before Leaving Las Vegas: we HAD to get a pic proving that Madduck's Uly had been here.
fortunately the hour was early enough that traffic was relatively light, as we trolled the Strip looking for The Place. i didn't have a clue what we were looking for, but i was hoping i'd recognize it when we saw it.
this monument to legendary Las Vegas performers Siegfried and Roy in front of the Mirage was perfect. we rode up on the sidewalk and a gracious passerby offered to do the deed.
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 15, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Friday, October 14, 2005 - 08:03 pm: |
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"Siegfried and Roy combined white tigers with magic in a famously glitzy act that was the toast of Las Vegas in the 1990s. The two men first met while working on an ocean liner called The Bremen in 1959; Siegfried was a steward and part-time magician, and Roy (unlikely as it seems) had smuggled a pet cheetah on board. The pair became companions and partners in magic, touring the world and featuring big cats in many of their acts. In 1982 they began to specialize in rare white tigers, which became their signature animal. They settled permanently at the Mirage Resort on the Las Vegas strip in 1990, in a showroom built especially for them, where their splashy and spectacular show featured disappearing tigers, pyrotechnics, and outlandish costumes. The pair remained a Vegas staple until 3 October 2003, when Roy was critically injured when a tiger grabbed him by the throat and dragged him offstage during a performance. Their show at the Mirage was closed permanently, and the performing future of Siegfried and Roy remains unclear."
"Roy Horn Celebrated his 61st Birthday at The Secret Garden of Siegfried & Roy with the SARMOTI World Fan Club.
Roy made a surprise visit to meet with the members of the SARMOTI World Fan Club on Sunday, October 2, 2005 at The Secret Garden of Siegfried & Roy. Fans presented him with roses, birthday cake and generous salutations."
right on, Roy, happy birthday.
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 15, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Friday, October 14, 2005 - 08:04 pm: |
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the exposure down low is way off but this is a wider view of our Las Vegas "Siegfried and Roy" photo stop.
note "all" of the traffic on the Strip, one of the benefits of getting up when everyone else is going to bed.
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 16, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Friday, October 14, 2005 - 08:05 pm: |
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two shots of the Venetian, right across the Strip from the Mirage.
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 15, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Friday, October 14, 2005 - 08:06 pm: |
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cubic frikkin' dollars.
(psssst! hey Court, if you're lurking, any Buell-related pix from the Venetian you can share???)
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 15, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Friday, October 14, 2005 - 08:07 pm: |
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one last docu-shot, then it was time to get out of town.
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 16, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Friday, October 14, 2005 - 08:09 pm: |
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cooking along on Old Spanish Trail, about an hour out of Vegas, pointed in the general direction of Death Valley.
out here, the speed limit is pretty much an exercise in right wrist restraint.
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 16, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Friday, October 14, 2005 - 08:11 pm: |
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still on Old Spanish Trail, on the first significant curve me 'n D have seen since central Utah.
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 16, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Friday, October 14, 2005 - 08:12 pm: |
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twisted sisters.
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 16, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Friday, October 14, 2005 - 08:13 pm: |
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from the same vantage point, looking back towards Las Vegas, Nevada (and, if you use your imagination a bit, Appleton, Wisconsin).
you CAN catch air on that whoop down below...
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 16, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Friday, October 14, 2005 - 08:14 pm: |
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we made a quick stop at Tecopa Hot Springs.
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 16, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Friday, October 14, 2005 - 08:14 pm: |
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there are several places to soak away your cares here in town, altho this pool is a little too "inorganic" for my tastes.
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 16, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Friday, October 14, 2005 - 08:15 pm: |
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Vic Lopez, manager of the Tecopa Hot Springs Pool House, gets a little Uly on him.
see the stop sign in the background?
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 16, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Friday, October 14, 2005 - 08:16 pm: |
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Vic got tired of constantly replacing it due to errant motorhome drivers.
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 16, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Friday, October 14, 2005 - 08:16 pm: |
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nowadays, even errant firemen can't knock it down.
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 16, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Friday, October 14, 2005 - 08:17 pm: |
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speaking of being knocked down (and almost knocked out) BBstacker was tending to a new wound.
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 16, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Friday, October 14, 2005 - 08:18 pm: |
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during our dash on Old Spanish Trails ol' BB went wide in a corner and drifted into some big marbles, or, as he so eloquently called them, "baby heads."
one of said heads jumped up and pranged his idler pulley on the way by!
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 16, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Friday, October 14, 2005 - 08:19 pm: |
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the force was with him, however, as he collected himself and the bike, quickly reconfigured his trajectory, and neatly avoided the puckerbrush.
a little work with a file to make sure there were no burrs for the belt to contend with and we were back in our saddles. onward!
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 16, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Friday, October 14, 2005 - 08:20 pm: |
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Shoshone, CA, and the most expensive fuel of the trip so far.
Alex no doubt has some non-fond memories of Charlie Brown's gas station (and the @#$%! nozzle that wouldn't shut off) from his RANE ride last year...
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 16, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Friday, October 14, 2005 - 08:22 pm: |
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is this the first Uly to be here?
maybe.
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 16, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Friday, October 14, 2005 - 08:25 pm: |
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meanwhile, all eyes are on BBstacker's belt and idler pulley. onward!
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 16, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Friday, October 14, 2005 - 08:26 pm: |
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we're in the Monument, but Death Valley proper is beyond those mountains, up and over Jubilee Pass and then down, down, down, down, down...
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 16, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Friday, October 14, 2005 - 08:26 pm: |
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objects in mirror...
...are Buells.
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 16, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Friday, October 14, 2005 - 08:27 pm: |
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THIS, ladies and germs...
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 16, 2005) |
Jerry_haughton
| | Posted on Friday, October 14, 2005 - 08:27 pm: |
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...is Death Valley.
(Message edited by jerry_haughton on October 16, 2005) |
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