We're back. The movie was ok - had a laugh; had a cringe. But I reckon Carol and I had a road trip that was full of enough 'incidents' to make a short sequel. Pulled the pin from work at 3:30 and raced home to get geared up and mobile by 4:00 pm. Figured it'd take us the best part of a couple of hours to get down to Brissy and find Myer Central and the cinema complex. Got handed the keys to the Piaggio, " 'cause I don't feel comfortable taking it out of the shed". By the time I bring both the X9 and the FJR around to the back door, Carol is putting on her open face. Apparently it's too hot to wear the full face. She also decided she's going to wear the contacts, instead of glasses. Making sure the L plate is firmly in place, we head out the drive and meander through Toowoomba towards the range - Carol in front and me following. The trip down the range was velly slow - slower than normal. I'm thinking perhaps she's nervous, after the incident of boiling the brake fluid going down Mt Glorious. I wish that she'd get out of the right lane, so that other traffic could pass. Eventually, we get down the bottom and into Withcott. Carol pulls over to a side street and stops. I stop. "What's wrong". I look over, and she's crying. Oh shit. "What's wrong?" Seems the wind blowing in under the visor of the open face helmet has dried out her eyes and contacts. "I can't see". Ahhh. That'd explain the lack of speed and the lack of lane changing. Sheesh! "Do you wanna dump the Piaggio here and double into Brissy on the FJR?" No! While Carol waits at the servo - and please get a couple of bottles of water - I swing around and head back up to Toowoomba. Get back, find glasses, plus case, plus clip-on sunnies, and shoot back to Withcott. Hand over the glasses. Fanging for a cold drink. Where's the water. "I decided I wanted iced tea". Where's the water? Didn't get anything, coz you don't like iced tea. With a dark cloud hovering over my helmet, we set off to Brissy. Made reasonable time considering, but not enough to make up for lost time. Got there at about 6:30. Into the Myer carpark. One look at the painted carpark floor, and the ramp going down, and the Piaggio stopped - "I'm not taking the scoot down there - it looks slippery". Finally coaxed Carol down. **** - we're late. Straight over to the lifts, and up to the cinema complex. Got there, and there was no sign of knowing anyone who may have had anything to do with organising this exercise. Shit shit shit. I left Boxer's number at home. Figured I'd line up for tickets. Carol decides she's going to hunt around. Fronts some official looking bloke and says "We're with the motorcycle group for Wild Hogs". He directs her to the lass at the foot of the steps. Quickly I'm summonsed, and the lass says "Cinema 8. Go in, they're already there". In we go, and find a seat. Phew! Finally here. Just as I'm settling down - "Some coke and pop corn?" Back to the end of the queue I go. Finally get everything and walk back in. It's dark. It's started. Find way back to seat. Ok. I enjoyed the movie. It was fun. It was predictable, but there were a few laughs. The cringing is almost expected from that type of fillum these days - I mean, like the good guys weren't ever gonna win, right? Still - enjoyable. Absolutely LOVED the oriental martial arts biker - the comic effect was berry noice. Flick finished, we get up and leave. Ok. Let's get outta the city. How about we stop at Blacksoil for a cuppa? Deal. Remarkably enough, we make it out and to Blacksoil - but bloody slowly. WTF? It can't be the contacts. Pull in at Blacksoil. What's the matter. Can't see. Why? Dark tinted visor, and don't like riding with the visor open. Shit! Where's the clear visor? What clear visor. Shit shit! Have a cuppa and settle down. Decide on a leisurely ride back to Toowoomba. Out to the bikes. Is it gonna rain? Nah. Never bloody rains. They've been predicting rain for weeks, and it's not happened. 10 minutes out of Blacksoil, and the sky falls down. Fuckedy **** **** ****. Within 20 seconds, I'm swimming in my jocks, and my boots have filled with water. Carol pulls over to the side of the road. Are those tears or is it the rain? Oops. Both. Glasses have fogged up. Can't see. (Can't see is beginning to become a popular theme). Right-O. I'll lead, you follow my tail-lights. Off we go. 5 minutes later, the headlights following me pull out into the right lane and passes. Shit! It's not Carol. It's a bloody one-eyed dick. Can't see anything else in the rear view. I pull over. After a while, as I"m getting a real sick feeling in the pit of my stomach, Carol catches up. This time they ARE tears - big time. Seems she couldn't tell the difference between my tail lights and the red reflectors on the guide posts. We nurse both bikes to the Freedom servo, and pull in to wait it out. About an hour later, after a stiff cuppa coffee helped dry the tears, we contemplated ditching the Piaggio and coming back for it in the morning. The rain started to ease - Carol's spirits started to raise. We set off for Toowoomba again. The further we went, the less it rained, and the faster the Piaggio got. Sheer bloody mindedness got the upper hand - she was flying. This could turn out pretty good after all. Soaked, yes - but not too cold. Just as we got to the bottom of the range, the rain started again. Seems every drop of spilt diesel, that ever landed on the range road, was coming out of the road surface - brought out by the rain. I could smell it - strong. All the way up, I waited for the inevitable. It never happened. We got home just after mid-night. The last word I heard from Carol before sleeping was "I'm so over tonight". --- Cheers PeterC [aka MildThing] '01 Yamaha FJR1300 www.dmcsc.org.au http://eladesom.com.au/ulysses/ # 37181
Which explains why I didn't see any sign of the yellow outfit I was looking for. --- Cheers PeterC [aka MildThing] '01 Yamaha FJR1300 www.dmcsc.org.au http://eladesom.com.au/ulysses/ # 37181
[wipes tears from eyes] And the worst part is that this will all become YOUR FAULT Peter! -- Clem "If I don't answer you, it's because I believe my point has been made in the current post or others on the subject or that the points of argument presented are illogical." ..... Toosmoky
Michelle, gNat and [mumble grumble] were late too but had a good laugh. They asked me to pass on their gratitude.
They are most welcome we will have to do it again soon (note to self send a camera crew to Toowoomba, will have to win Funniest Home Videos with that entry). Boxer
Jeezus! I think it's love. justAL ----- Original Message ----- From: "Peter Cremasco" <> Newsgroups: aus.motorcycles Sent: Tuesday, March 06, 2007 10:40 PM Subject: Wild Hogz
Trust me when I tell you - it was all my fault from the beginning. --- Cheers PeterC [aka MildThing] '01 Yamaha FJR1300 www.dmcsc.org.au http://eladesom.com.au/ulysses/ # 37181
_I'd_ love to do it again. I can only hazard a guess at what Carol's response will be. Thanks for arranging things. Made a change from the normal stuff we do. I'm sure that, at some stage, the camera would've been shoved up someone's exhaust. --- Cheers PeterC [aka MildThing] '01 Yamaha FJR1300 www.dmcsc.org.au http://eladesom.com.au/ulysses/ # 37181
