hawkiii
09-12-2011, 04:07 PM
Debbie and I took off Sunday morning for a ride. We got on I-80 east and started seeing a lot of bikes on the rode. We noticed a billboard for a motorcycle & tattoo show in the little town up the road. We decided we would go to the bike show. I missed the entrance so we made a u-turn and Debbie saw the admission price. $20.00 and no mention of what all would be taking place. We decided to pass on the $40.00 it would have cost to get in and decided to head for some lunch in the town of Woodland, CA. Not a very long ride but we thought we might run out to a casino after lunch. Well, they were having some sort of community get together with tours of some of the historic buildings in town. We had some lunch and decided to walk around town and check out the booths that were set up for the community activities. We walked by a store and a gentleman was sitting outside. He asked us if we were on the motorcycle across the street. We told him yes and he began to tell us of his days back in the early 1960's riding motorcycles across the country. Him and a friend of his decided to go for a ride one day and the next thing you know they are just picking out cities and taking off for them.
He talked of going into diners and not being served and eventually being run out of town on more than one occasion just for trying to get some lunch. This gentleman said he was toting some pretty long hair for the day and his friend was a big man with a massive beard. He said they had some great adventures but they also were pretty scared at times because of people's attitudes towards them. At some point they ended up purchasing pistols for thier safety. They worked odd jobs to make money to move on to the next town. At one point they hooked up with a commune of 15 or 20 adults and a bunch of kids. The group's bus had broken down so they were living in it where it died. He said they were on the road for about 1 1/2 or 2 years.
We enjoyed listening to his exploits. He appeared to be in his mid 70's I would guess. He was just a very interesting character.
He talked of going into diners and not being served and eventually being run out of town on more than one occasion just for trying to get some lunch. This gentleman said he was toting some pretty long hair for the day and his friend was a big man with a massive beard. He said they had some great adventures but they also were pretty scared at times because of people's attitudes towards them. At some point they ended up purchasing pistols for thier safety. They worked odd jobs to make money to move on to the next town. At one point they hooked up with a commune of 15 or 20 adults and a bunch of kids. The group's bus had broken down so they were living in it where it died. He said they were on the road for about 1 1/2 or 2 years.
We enjoyed listening to his exploits. He appeared to be in his mid 70's I would guess. He was just a very interesting character.