The Virtual Bar and Grill

North Central Washington State – This is so cool, lots of hard work is going into this – The weekend of May 17 – 18, 2014, two great events come together for a fun time for Blues fans, bikers, wine aficionados, and people who love nature and meandering country roads. The Rally At The Border Blues Fest at Oroville’s Deep Bay Park is happening on Saturday with live music from 2 to 10 PM. Lordy, you have to be here for that! The Oroville Chamber of Commerce is fully behind this and has thrown out the welcome mat as by special arrangement, overnight camping for riders is available at the park.

Blues Bands from around the Pacific Northwest will blow you away, and the local wineries, restaurants, and miles of back road riding will provide for a very memorable weekend. Vickie Hinze, proprietor of the Pastime Bar and Grill (Link) in Oroville has been working with the city and local businesses to pull this event together. Local musician Mark Morris of the Deepwater Blues Band (Link) is rounding up the talent and his band will also be playing at the Blues Fest.

Also on Saturday, the Columbia River H.O.G. Chapter (Link) is holding the 12th annual Run for the Border from Wenatchee, WA north to the Canadian Border at Oroville, WA. The music should just be starting when the two-wheel fun is over.

On Sunday there will be a Poker Run, route is TBD at this time, but it is scheduled to begin at 9:00 AM. I’m kind of hoping it winds up through the Okanogan Highlands as that area is gorgeous. Update: I get my wish! (Link)

Additional details should be available in the coming week and will be published here. Please visit the Rally at the Border Blues Fest (Link) web site. Also visit the FaceBook page (Link) and browse the Okanogan Gazette-Tribune (Link) for additional information about the area.

Here are some details for Saturday.

SATURDAY May 17, 2014

10:00 AM	Columbia River HOG sponsored 12th Annual Run for the Border departs from Wenatchee for Oroville
2:00 to 10 PM	Blues Bands play at Deep Bay Park
1:00 to 5 PM	Local Wineries Barrel Tasting
5:00 to 7 PM	Cruise-In Car Show by North Country Car Club Gold Digger Park on Main Street
10:00 PM – 2 AM	Post Blues Fest Jam Session at Pastime Bar and Grill

 

Scroll down to see the posters – Please print and distribute them!

Posters suitable for printing and sharing:

Rally at the Border Blues Fest

Columbia River H.O.G. Chapter 12th Annual Run for the Border
Map to start of the Run for the Border, Wenatchee Food Pavilion (Link)

February 8, 2014
Updates will appear at the bottom of the article.

I sold my ’99 Road King last summer because I had so much leg and back pain I could barely walk. Around that same time I stopped taking Lipitor and literally within days my pain all but disappeared, and within a month it was gone. Like it never happened. As time marched on I began missing having a bike and considered the possibility of a lighter bike. In January I’d made the decision I could ride and shopped for an appropriate bike. I’ve always liked the FXR frame and the FXR2 and FXR3 versions of that bike model, and started looking.

I don’t normally shop Ebay for vehicles, but did want to see what was out there and stumbled onto a clean looking right-priced FXR2 located in Texas. Here’s what I found.

Manny from the dealership sent some electronic papers to esign, Mike Langley in sales began shepherding the process, Linda at the bank and former Dyna Low-Rider owner wired the funds, a call to HaulBikes.com got John the driver hooked up with the Dream Machines of Austin crew, and there’s now a spot in the garage for the arrival, about 3 weeks from now.

Hot damn!

Visit the Forums where the story will continue: http://thevirtualbarandgrill.com/community/index.php?topic=17.0

February 21, 2014 – First update

The bike was picked up by the shippers and it is headed to… Pennsylvania. Pennsylvania? Why? 🙂 They’re taking it there instead of Seattle so they can determine the best truck to put it on to take it to Seattle. Naturally I’m thinking the truck it is on now is the best truck for that, but I’m an IT guy, not a shipper (just having some fun here – no complaints). The shipper, btw, is HaulBikes.com (http://www.haulbikes.com), they have a good reputation, and my customer rep Chris does a good job of keeping me in the loop.

Here’s a photo of it being loaded on the “Long Way Home Hauler” 🙂

Here’s Mike’s business card in case you’re ever jonesing for some Texas iron.

February 26, 2014 – Second update

The driver, truck, and bike have arrived safely in York, Pennsylvania at the HaulBikes terminal and is awaiting driver assignment for the next leg. A quick visit to Bing maps gives us this route info. I doubt it was/will be so direct as there is lots of room in the truck for plenty of bikes to deliver.

Route from Texas to Pennsylvania to Seattle

That’s more miles than I’ve ridden in the last 5 years! It’ll be good to be back on the road again.

March 3, 2014 – Third update

No news from York, PA yet so surely there it sits. I’m looking at the calendar and the weather and thinking there’s no chance in hell that thing is going to meet the 3-week delivery date. There’s some problems with niche delivery services like this. To make money they need a full truck with destinations and pickups along the route. That introduces an element of chance to the process. During bike week or Sturgis this is less of a problem, but this is the dead of winter and the polar vortex has frozen the entire midsection of the US solid. The weather in the Pacific North Wet has been complete crap too, so it’s not like I’m missing out on any riding. I do have my fingers crossed though that if there is a bike parked above mine sitting in a Pennsylvania parking lot at -8º, it’s battery doesn’t burst and run all over my new ride!

March 12, 2014 – Fourth update

Some good gnus – the errant bike has found a truck for the ride west and now we’re waiting to find a driver. The 3-week estimate is out the window, but to be honest I think they know and I know that they really haven’t any idea what the delivery date will be. It is all best-effort and a certain amount of chance with weather and the need to make some money by not hauling an empty 18-wheeler across country.

Meanwhile, I have a U-Haul truck in the driveway outside to haul my furniture to our new home 300 miles from here. The timing is becoming a problem as I have to be here to receive the bike. Hell, if this was easy anybody could do it 🙂

March 17, 2014 – Fifth update

More good gnus – A driver, Bryan, has been assigned and the 3-day windows for delivery is March 25 – 27. Bryan will call to verify the actual day when it is known.

March 24, 2014 – Sixth update

Just got a call from the truck that they’ll be here tomorrow around 3:00 PM. Now to find a place to park a 90′ truck!

March 25, 2014 – Last update

It’s here!