Jewel Sams, One in a Million

Jewel Sams
Paducah, Kentucky

Jewel Sams is the man who installed the training wheels on my bike otherwise known as a Voyager Kit.  I love it and it keeps me and my bike from falling over.  

Last Sunday Sharon, Scott, Jimmy & I started out on a day trip which Sharon had invited us on.  We ended up in Princeton, Kentucky and decided to spend the night there.  I left a comment on my brother's blog telling him that we were close by and invited him and Laurel to come out and have a bite to eat with us, which they did.  We also saw Tina & Allen and their family that night and were treated by them to a smoothie from McDonald's. 

I really wanted to see Mr. Sams to get him to fix my bike since we were so close, but we all decided to head for home the next morning.  But as we started towards home Sharon made a suggestion that I couldn't refuse....

She told me to stay behind to visit with the family and to call Mr. Sams to see if he could check my bike out and fix it.  It was Labor Day, Allison, Jason and the kids were coming to see her dad & mom, and Laurel was cooking up a storm.  How could I go home with so many temptations begging me to stay?  Jimmy & I spent Monday with the family eating, visiting and just having a good time.  I called Mr. Sams on Labor Day and he told me to bring my bike to him the next morning and he would take a look at it.

We arrived at Jewel Sams house early and just as he promised he looked at my bike and said he needed to make some adjustments and went straight to work on it.  He worked on my bike as we sat by and drank cold pop from his fridge.  When he was finished we tried to pay him for a job well done and he wouldn't accept our cash.  It was like trying to stuff a little cash into grandma's apron....You stuff it in and she hands it right back to you.  This exchange went back and forth several times until I finally made a suggestion.  I told him that we were making a donation for the pop he offers to his patrons.  He still tried to give us our money back but we finally got him to keep some of it for the cold pop that's free for the taking.  He didn't take all of it because he said it was too much money, but I hope to make it up to him some way.  My brother Dennis suggested that we send him a gift since we know where he lives and that sounds like a nice thing for us to do for him.  Maybe several more cases of pop might be nice, because I don't think I can afford to send him parts for his old Indian motorcycle that he has restored beautifully plus added a Voyager Kit to it.    

How do you suppose a nice man like Mr.Sams stays in business?  We met him about 4 years ago and have referred everyone who has inquired about the extra wheels, the Voyager Kit, on my bike to him because he was so kind to us the first time we met him.  He couldn't of treated us any better if we had been his children.  We were so impressed by his kindness and his good heart.  I'm sure that everyone who has met Mr. Sams doesn't mind doing a little advertising for him.  Word of mouth goes a long way.

To see more pictures of Mr. Sams and his Indian, our travels with Sharon & Scott, and our visit with family CLICK HERE.       

A day full of surprises

The first thing that Jimmy did this morning was to wash each of our bikes. The bikes were still carrying dirt & sand from our trip out West. He changed the oil yesterday and checked out the tires and decided that we didn't need new tires just yet. We always put new tires on the bikes each year. Of course my training wheels are still the original wheels because they just won't wear out and that's a good thing, but my main tires wear out yearly.


The second surprise of the day was this waterlily. About an hour after I took this picture the second bloom opened up. You can see the bud to the right of this pink bloom.


The third surprise was that I caught Jybow hunting for moles. You can see where the mole has been digging holes in the grass and while I was standing there taking the picture the mole was actively pushing the soil up and down near Jybow's head. Jybow was pretending that she didn't care anything about the mole so that the mole would pop up & out of the ground, and then she would pounce on it and bring it to Jimmy. Jybow is Jimmy's cat.

Megan, Me, Sharon
3 Generations of biker ladies

The fourth surprise of the day was that Megan, Sharon & Zac came over for Megan's first motorcycle ride with us today. Apparently while we were gone on our trip Megan was practicing her riding skills. She had taken a motorcycle riding class at Eastern Kentucky University last semester and passed the class, and as a result of passing the class she got her motorcycle license. That's exactly how I got my license too except that my class was only three days long and Megan's was a whole semester.

We had an agenda today. Zac needed a new helmet. The day was overcast, very hot and it seemed as if the sky could open up and drop a load of rain down on us at any moment. Jimmy really didn't want to take the bikes out especially since he just cleaned them up, but he came anyway. We made it to the motorcycle shop without a drop of rain falling on us, but.......

...while we were inside trying on helmets, coats, gloves, sun glasses, etc. etc, the sky burst forth and let loose. The weather alert alarm sounded in the shop alerting all the bikers that they should stay put and continue to shop until the storm passes. We looked at everything but the rain was relentless and it seemed like it was never going to stop. The black clouds didn't look good and neither did the lightning, so we stayed inside until there was nothing left to see.

Then we waited outside by the wall with all of our names on it.

Jimmy met a new friend while we waited.

We took pictures of ourselves while we waited.

Jimmy tried on Zac's new Col.Clink (from Hogan's Hero's) helmet and we decided that it looked better on Zac.


Megan being new at riding had to have a massage along the way. I being old at riding had to have those same massages en route to Arizona & Nevada.... I know your pain Megan.


Here we are. We were a group of five and we're each standing by our bikes. You just can't see me because I'm standing next to the red bike.

Still waiting for the rain to stop and taking pictures.

Me and my grandson Zac

Jimmy is bringing over something...it's his new cap! He loves his new baseball cap and he has to show it off to everyone. Ron gave it to him while we were visiting. I think David & Jerry saw it, then Allison & Jason, then Dennis & Laurel, then Suzanne & Sharon and now Zac is being honored by getting to see Jimmy's new cap.

Here's a closer look at his Roadkill Cafe baseball cap.

Megan and her mother Sharon

Another way that we killed time waiting for the rain to stop.

We left Megan's motorcycle at the leather shop and she got behind me on the trike and we went to a restaurant to eat and wait for the rain to stop, and the road to dry off, before we could allow Megan to get back on her bike. Since she is a new rider we couldn't take the chance on her getting hurt or sliding around in the rain. Of course her visibility was also a main concern to all of us. We had to keep our baby safe.

Meet the rest of my family....

L-R: (brother)David, (stepmom)Gladys, Me, (brother)Ron & (brother)Jerry

First of all I have to mention that there were two family members missing that Jimmy & I didn't get to see, and that was my baby brother Gilbert & his wife Jenny. I hope to get to see them later on this year if all goes as planned.

My brothers & sister Diane are a barrel of laughs to be around and I never laughed so much in all of my life. I had forgotten how much fun it was to be around them all and it could become habit forming. And I even discovered that their wives are even funnier than they are! LOL. Yvonne really cracked me up when she wasn't busy taking care of grandchildren.

Jerry, (sister)Diane, Me, David.
Diane drove all the way in from California to see us.

Don't know who these two are...

Jo Lynn & Ron drove in from Arizona.

Ron's granddaughter Sara with Lola & Poncho,
our favorite pooches!!!

Pat & Jerry

Roxanna & Ron, Jr.

We went fishing at a lake in Williams, Arizona
with Ron, Jo Lynn, Sara, Ron Jr., Roxanna.
Jimmy & Sara were the only two who caught
any fish.

Pat & Jerry

Yvonne & David

My new sister Jo & Me

This is Zack.
We met his mom Stacey and his dad Tim briefly
before they left for St.Louis,
and I didn't get a picture of them.

Having breakfast

Laurel, Allison, Me, Jimmy

Dennis aka Tomas

Me, Natasha, Eliana, Jimmy, Talon
(Dennis & Laurel's grandchildren)

Allison, Me, Natasha

Our trip West was so much fun that I can't begin to tell you all about it right now and will from time to time post more pictures and tell you about all of the things that Jimmy & I did with the family while out in Arizona, Nevada and YES Kentucky too. Jimmy even let me gamble away a whole dollar, but I lost it all at the slot machines. Oh well, we all can't be so lucky!

Did I mention that I rode my own bike all the way to Nevada and back? That was quite a feat for me and my shoulders are still just a tiny little bit sore.

CLICK HERE to see more pictures of our trip.

QUIT BLOWING YOUR HORN!!!

First of all, I had to put these next two pictures up here to show you what Jimmy did today. He had watched Megan take pictures of herself with her mom and decided that he would give it a shot. He didn't do a bad job for his first try either. We're not quite centered but we're at least in the picture and that's more than I can say about the pictures that I took today. :)

Me and Jimmy

In this 3rd picture we are on our way home. That's Brian & Reva on that motorcycle and we are rushing home on the interstate because we let the time get away from us and we have just enough time to get home before Brandon gets home from school. I hadn't taken any riding pictures today so this was my last chance. I sped up to get right beside them so that I could take their picture but I over shot them just a little and missed the shot. It's not easy taking a picture when you are the one driving. You just have to aim the camera and hope that they are in the shot so it takes several shots sometimes. I slowed up a little to let them catch up and fired off a few more shots when this annoying State Trooper who was right behind me started blowing his horn and scared the bajeebees out of me. I had no idea that he was right behind me and I was wondering why Brian & Reva were making such funny faces and looking so weired.
I speeded on up and quickly moved into Brian & Reva's lane in front of them and the State Trooper flew by me and kept on going. WHOOOSH....what a close call!

This is the BEST shot I got of them.
Sorry guys.
*
And Jimmy wins the Award for Best Pictures of the Day!

A quiet Sunday

My 21 year old grandson Zac stopped by to see us today along with our old neighbors who had moved out of the state into Ohio. We had planned on riding a little but our old friends, Millie & Charlie stayed to visit for a couple of hours so we ended up just riding about 83 miles to Texas Roadhouse to get something to eat.

It took us a while to get to the restaurant because Zac took every possible back road that he could find to get there. When we got to the restaurant Jimmy asked Zac if he was a wanted man in Richmond, because he totally avoided going through it and from our house that's almost a direct route to Lexington...but who ever takes direct routes to anywhere when you're riding anyway.

Other than Zac's visit we pretty much rested today and didn't do much of anything. I spent most of the morning looking at old pictures and sorting out some more pictures to put on Facebook for the Shattler's to see. The rest of my family on Facebook have already seem them, but since I was just happily reunited with the Shattler's, I'd like to share the pictures with them. I have enjoyed going through all of David, Staci and Jerry's pictures and have enjoyed seeing the families they now have. I have also enjoyed talking to Ron on the phone although I can't seem to get used to calling him Ron when I have always thought of him as Ronnie. It's the same with my own brother Dennis now being called Tomas or Tom...I can't do it so he'll always be Dennis to me.


Let me share a little story here about Dennis. One day I called him when Eli was home and answered the phone. Of course I asked for Dennis and he promptly told me that I had the wrong number and hung up the phone. I called back thinking that I might have accidentally dialed the wrong number, but I was certain that Eli had answered. When Eli answered again, I asked for Dennis again and he hung up on me again, so I called back and asked to speak to his dad and he said, "Oh, do you want to speak to Tom?" I don't know why I didn't think to just say, "This is aunt Sandy Eli, let me talk to Dennis." He probably would have asked me who Dennis was. hehehe.



Here are Zac and Jimmy on their bikes as we are getting ready to leave the restaurant. Although Jimmy rides 12 months out of the year, I'm a fair-weather rider, but when the temperature reaches 70 degrees we pretty much park the car & the jeep and they only get moved to mow under them : )

I hope everyone had a nice Sunday...I know I did! It's ALWAYS nice talking with the ones you love and having grandchildren stop by to visit. And it was also nice seeing Millie & Charlie again.

I'm really looking forward to next week, but it seems like a long time from now. XOXOXO and Hug the one you're with.

The Present, The Past and sometime we'll get into the future

We went on another bike ride yesterday and Jimmy said that it was up to me where we rode, so I took him down through Kentucky, over to Virginia and then on to Tennessee and then home again. I think I bit off more than I could chew and boy was I ever pooped. We rode 309 miles and all he wanted to do was to ride down to London, Kentucky's Golden Corral for an early supper. I love being spontaneous and I'm not into too much planning because it seems to spoil all the fun. The way I see it is, if you plan something then you expect to have fun and it's not always as much fun as you thought it would be...too much build-up & hype before the trip actually begins.
I thought I'd kill two birds with one stone and stop to check to see if we had received any mail, but found that our airmail letter hadn't even been picked up yet. I almost went postal because that bill was due yesterday. What is the mail coming to and now they want to cut back the service to only five days a week and the rate is going up two cents sometime in May again.

This is my handsome husband. Can you believe that he'll be 73 this year? He lets me do anything I want and caters to my every whim. Sometimes I have a hard time believing that we have spent the last 15 years together 24/7 with only an occasional mini trip by me. We've been retired during our whole marriage and have done a lot of traveling around the United States by motorcycle because he hates vacationing in cars. One time my son-in-law Ray, daughter Suzanne, grandson Matt and I kidnapped him and told him we were going out to dinner, and took him off to the Smokey Mountains in Tennessee/North Carolina and held him for ransom...nobody paid so we held him hostage for a few days before we brought him home.

Before I met Jimmy I made of list of requirements that any man had to pass before I would consider them as possible suitors and Jimmy passed with flying colors. First on my list was "must like to ride motorcycles" and it didn't matter if they had one because I could buy them one. Next on my list was, "must be older than I" because I was getting tired of dating younger men. Next on the list was, " no present alcohol or drug use." The list was longer but I've probably already bored you enough. I've always been a straight-laced tomboy dare-devil sort of girl and I'll do anything as long as it's legal. I thrive on adrenalin rushes and have always been attracted to bad boys on motorcycles, but luckily they were never attracted to me and I had to buy my own.

I once fell in love, well really twice with a motorcycle. The first time was when I was young and a friend (Emory Mulchin) of my older brothers took me for a ride to Disneyland on his bike. I made up my mind that day that I would have one someday. I only rode on it once, but I was hooked. Several years pass by and fast forward to age 43 and someone on a motorcycle starts parking on the hill over-looking the pond at Shady Oaks and watches me work around the pond every afternoon. I didn't care about the person, but I loved hearing the rumble of the motorcycle as it approached and I looked forward to hearing it come by. I never found out who it was but I didn't care because I only liked the sound of his bike. I know I'm weird...and besides I was married and Jim (not to be confused with Jimmy) hated bikes with a passion and it wasn't until we got divorced that I finally bought my own bike, then two, three, four, five & six. I told you, I love bikes and I've thankfully passed on that gene to my offspring.

Now lets get back to yesterday's ride. I saw buffalo in two different places. I guess every state now has live buffalo. I didn't get a picture because honestly I was traveling too fast and they caught me off guard. I'm assuming that Shady Oaks once had buffalo roaming around there because the area there is called Buffalo Hollow. When the old timers talk about places they say, "back there in Buffalo is where I saw that bear," or something like that. I've heard Jimmy say that he played there in Buffalo. What a coincidence....that's where I lived, his play ground.

One of these days I'll share with you the story of how Jimmy & I met and how I put off a date with him for 4 years...did I mention that he's a patient man?

Just plain happy

I don't know what has come over me but I'm happier and feeling better than I have felt in months. My head and chest congestion are all gone too, but I think the cats are making me sneeze. It's either the cats or my laptop and Jimmy says that we aren't giving up the cats so it's going to have to be my laptop...fat chance of that.

My morning started with an early morning phone call of which I am getting very fond of getting...so please don't stop calling who ever you are? It used to be wrong numbers for the local airport, but now I get a phone call from someone I actually know...isn't that sweet.

Sharon & I first started our morning by going to the local H.S. and walking on their walking trail. It's much more enjoyable walking on the walking trail than walking on the track and going around in circles. At least this way we walk near a creek. The picture above was taken on a little bridge overlooking the creek but we didn't go out into that clearing behind us, but preferred to walk where we were shaded by trees. Sharon is a marathon runner and this morning she made me walk for a solid 40 minutes with only a 3 minute stop for pictures. She likes to torture me. hehehe.

If you'd like to see more torture pictures and me being almost attacked by a shadow bird CLICK HERE.



Next thing we did, after we took a shower and changed our clothes of course, was get on our bikes and go for a ride. Here I'm showing some skin for all to see. Nobody tells you that your shirt is blowing up in the air when they pass...they just smile really big, maybe even giggle or laugh out-loud and wave Hi. You're left thinking that they're really having a nice day and you smile back.

These pictures are so great because I took them myself. Back in the days when I was a back seat rider I could actually snap some nice pictures, but now that I'm in control of the bike the pictures often miss their targets. Oh well, we all can't be perfect. Someone suggested that I bolt a camera on my helmet but I don't wear a helmet if I don't have too. Besides that, the camera would be facing forward and it would be much more dangerous to turn around in the seat just to take a picture...I guess I could just put the bike on cruise control : )


Sharon & Jimmy always make me ride in front, I'm the leader of the pack. I think it's just because if a car pulls out in front of us that I'll get hit first, but they say it's so that they can watch me better so that I don't get hurt, hahaha, I don't believe that for a minute. They just want to cash in on my $100 Life Insurance Policy and go on a shopping spree. That's my hair in case you're wondering and that's Sharon followed by Jimmy. If you click on the pictures you might be able to see them better, but this story is really about my hair.


See I haven't even combed my hair yet. I just got off the bike and it looks like this. It's a little knotted and windblown but I'm happy with it. It's better than helmet hair and I think Sharon did a good job on it...except she didn't cut off the grey pieces like I asked her too...she never does what I ask her to, but at least she doesn't charge me for haircuts.

We had a good time today. We even went to Lake Linville and circled around the lake until we found the house Scott is helping to build. We just wanted to tease him & his boss Jonathan because they have to work while we're out enjoying the day and doing what they both like to do most.

Unfortunately the ride started out with a little mishap that resulted in road rash as Sharon was on her way to meet us. No hospitalization or emergency room call was needed...the cell phone survived although it broke into three pieces and was almost run over by several cars. As soon as Sharon felt her cell phone slide out of her pocket she saw it hit the blacktop and explode into peices. She came to a screeching halt, and ran to retrieve the pieces while dodging cars...that marathon running came in handy and she saved the phone. She put the broken pieces back together and we field tested it and it worked. Unfortunately Jimmy was very disappointed that it still worked because he has threatened to take all our cell phones away while we ride.

All in all it was a nice day and tomorrow is even going to be better! Too bad that you have to work Scott.