SUMMER 2008 TRAVEL UPDATE

WELL, HERE'S MY LATEST TRAVEL ROUTE FOR THE SUMMER OF 2008. AS DIESEL PRICES CONTINUE TO INCH UP, I'M SCRAPPING MY PLANS TO TRAVEL ALL THE WAY TO THE HARLEY-DAVIDSON 105TH ANNIVERSARY PARTY IN MILWAUKEE, WI. INSTEAD, I'VE DECIDED TO ATTEND THE MONTANA STATE HOG RALLY IN GREAT FALLS, MT IN LATE JUNE.



ONE FUN THING INCLUDED IN THE MONTANA HOG RALLY IS A PHOTOGRAPHY SCAVENGER HUNT. HERE'S A PARTIAL LIST OF THE 35 PHOTOS I'M WORKING ON TAKING:

(my first mate is a Pink Pig dressed in Pirate garb. The rally has a Pirate theme)

2. A picture of you, your bike and your “first mate” reading John Steinbeck’s “Travels With Charley, In Search of America.” (Bonus points – counts as two pictures - if you are reading the chapter on Montana.)

7. A picture of you, your bike, and your “first mate” with 3 Hooters® waitresses.

16. A picture of you, your “first mate” with a Walmart greeter.

19. A picture of you, you bike and your “first mate” in front of your home state capitol building. (Bonus points – counts as 2 pictures if it includes your Governor or equivalent.)

26. A picture of your “first mate” with the oldest veteran (in uniform) in your community.

27. A picture of you, your bike, your “first mate” and a grandma biker in leathers.

WISH ME LUCK!!!!

You think fuel prices are bad, that's just the beginning

YOU THINK THE FUEL PRICES ARE BAD, THAT'S JUST THE BEGINNING OF THE PROBLEMS WE ARE FACING IN OUR COUNTRY

Congressional Hispanics knock Democratic leaders
04/23/2008
By ERICA WERNER / Associated Press
http://tinyurl.com/4prock
The Congressional Hispanic Caucus denounced House Democratic leaders Wednesday as "spineless" and little better than Republicans for failing to take on comprehensive immigration reform.
Leaders of the all-Democratic caucus, which numbers two dozen, criticized their party leadership at a news conference for instead scheduling hearings on enforcement legislation and specific visa issues.

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Feds: Houston bus companies transported illegal drugs from Mexico
http://tinyurl.com/3hfw67

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Tucson Region
Shootout in Mexico briefly shuts Lukeville port
http://www.azstarnet.com/metro/235654

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Calderón defends immigrant workers: MEXICAN LABOR ESSENTIAL to U.S., HE SAYS
http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=222937

(WHAT HE DIDN'T SAY IS MX WANTS THE MONEY THEY SEND HOME TO MX!!!!!)

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Los Angeles 'is a Third World city'
http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=222863

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LA Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa asks legislature to declare forged documents legit
http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=222784
Concluding with his traditional "Viva la Raza!" Villaraigosa argued that the counterfeit documents were actually better than real documents and said he hoped the state legislature would declare the counterfeits as good as legitimate papers.

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Report uncovers hidden cost of immigration
http://www.phillyburbs.com/pb-dyn/news/319-04232008-1523493.html
By PHYLLIS SCHLAFLY
Are you having a hard time paying your bills, making your mortgage payments or putting your kids through college? You need to know how much of your hard-earned income the government is skimming off and diverting into handouts to immigrants and illegal immigrants.
You can read the depressing details in the new 70-page document called “The Economic and Fiscal Impact of Immigration” by Edwin S. Rubenstein (www.eagleforum.org/sources). A Manhattan Institute adjunct fellow with a mile-long scholarly resume, he has been doing financial analysis ever since he directed the studies of government waste for the Grace Commission of 1984.
The bottom line, which you need to know for your own bottom line, is that U.S. taxpayers are giving more than $9,000 a year in cash or benefits to each immigrant, a third of whom are in the country illegally. That's $36,000 for each immigrant household of four.
Because the United States has 37 million immigrants, legal and illegal, the national cost was more than $346 billion last year, which was twice our fiscal deficit. The cost of immigrants is so high because, as Rubenstein writes, “Immigrants are poorer, pay less tax and are more likely to receive public benefits than natives.”

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Family Values of some of our Illegal Aliens
http://www.americanpatrol.com/REFERENCE/FamilyValuesLink.html

YIKES!!!!

I stopped at this gas station today in Wickenburg, AZ. Luckily all the other stations I stopped at and saw today weren't quite this bad.

SOLD!!!

No, not the condo, again.

I sold one of my extra, unneeded Harley seats. I was going to donate my two unneeded seats to a thrift store but I decided there wasn't a big market for used Harley seats at a small thrift shop in Sun City, AZ. Then I thought "DUH," (or DA as someone I know says) I'll list it on Crag's List. Well, low and behold, I had a call yesterday and sold one of them today. All this extra money I've come upon is burning a hole in my pocket, so......

I bought a new bag for my bike from www.bikersfriend.com/index.html
Made in America




And I ordered a new medium weight jacket from Harley-Davidson
Probably made in a 3rd World Country


And I'm going to order a Campfire-in-a-can from
http://www.taylorgifts.com/prodetail~itemNo~25006.asp
Made in America

UPDATE: THIS ITEM SEEMS TO BE DISCONTINUED. THE NEW IMPROVED MODEL COST MORE THAN TWICE AS MUCH. :-(

MX Gunmen Rob U.S. Family of Small Plane in Mexico

FOR ALL MY RV FRIENDS WHO STILL TRAVEL TO MEXICO -

http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,351409,00.html

Gunmen Rob Visiting U.S. Family of Small Plane, Torch Car in Mexico

LOS CABOS, Mexico — Gunmen held up a family of U.S. tourists in Mexico on Tuesday and made off with their small plane, police said.
The robbers attacked the plane as the American couple and their two daughters, ages 6 and 8, were about to take off from a hotel airstrip in the Baja California beach town of Mulege.
Detective Juan Carlos de Jesus Jimenez said the thieves pulled a car in front of the six-seat Cessna Stationair, knocked out one of its windows and forced the tourists out at gunpoint. They then set fire to the car and flew off in the plane.

IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING THEY WANT, THEY WILL TAKE IT!!



The myth of Aztlan can best be explained by California's Santa Barbara School District's Chicano Studies textbook, "The Mexican American Heritage" by East Los Angeles high school teacher Carlos Jimenez. On page 84 there is a redrawn map of Mexico and the United States, showing Mexico with a full one-third more territory, all of it taken back from the United States. On page 107, it says "Latinos are now realizing that the power to control Aztlan may once again be in their hands."

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE

SUMMER!!!!!

Today I joined the Phoenix Area Cycle Riders for a short morning ride from Central Phoenix to Crackers and Company Cafe, located at 535 W Iron Ave, Mesa for brunch. http://www.crackersandcompanycafe.com
Following brunch we took a leisurely ride out to Saguaro Lake. On the way back to town we got to join the Phoenix Ironman Competition during the bicycle riding portion. The motorcycles won. :-)
Before I made it back to my house, the temp. was over 90 degrees. Tomorrow's forecast is for 98, Tuesday's is 94 and Wednesday's is a much more comfortable 84 degrees. Unfortunately, the Ironman Competition fell on the hottest day of the year, so far.





Saguaro Lake

All the Phoenix area lakes are full and looking good this spring

SOLD!!!

No, not the condo, the Yamaha Kodiak 4-Wheeler.


It was sad seeing him ride away on someone elses trailer, but Kodi has been neglected, not being ridden much. He now has a new home with a young family with 5 kids and 2 very energetic parents. They have a new toy, and I have a little cash.

A Beautiful day for a Ride

ROOSEVELT LAKE DAM
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Roosevelt_Dam

Once the largest man-made lake in the world, Roosevelt Lake is still the biggest of the six Salt River Project lakes and offers the most recreation opportunities. When full, the lake covers more than 19,000 acres near the confluence of Tonto Creek and the Salt River. Visitors can reach the lake by three routes: approximately 40 miles from Apache Junction, via the Apache Trail (Highway 88); 30 miles from Globe via Highway 188; or approximately 40 miles from the Beeline Highway (Highway 87) via Highway 188.








Another absolutely beautiful spring riding day in Arizona. I joined 10 members of the Phoenix Area Cycle Riders on the following 320 mile ride through the Tonto National Forest to Roosevelt Lake. I had never been there before. What a pleasant surprise. What a beautiful desert lake!! Around every corner and over every hill we were treated to a display of green and yellow covered hillsides sprinkled with majestic Saguaros with splashes of orange wild flowers.

"We will head out of town via the 10 to the 202 east to Country Club where we will exit the freeway then travel north on 87. Those of you on the east side please let me know if you will be meeting us at the gas station located on 87 just north of the 202 or if you will be waiting for us at the Shell station located on Shea in Fountain Hills located just west of 87. We will make both stops if we have members to pick up.

We will travel the Beeline Highway 50 miles east of Fountain Hills then turn right onto State Route 188 which will take us to Roosevelt Dam and a ride across the longest expansion bridge in the country. We will then ride through some beautiful twisties and scenery as we make our way to Guayo's on the Trail (Mexican Restaurant) where we will have brunch/lunch.

Following brunch/lunch we will travel east through the town of Globe and ride the Winkleman/Kearny loop before heading back to the valley via 60 to the Superstition Freeway."

Absolut apologizes for Mexican vodka ad

Absolut apologizes for Mexican vodka ad


MEXICO CITY -- The Absolut vodka company apologized Saturday for an ad campaign depicting the southwestern U.S. as part of Mexico amid angry calls for a boycott by U.S. consumers.

The campaign, which promotes ideal scenarios under the slogan "In an Absolut World," showed a 1830s-era map when Mexico included California, Texas and other southwestern states. Mexico still resents losing that territory in the 1848 Mexican-American War and the fight for Texas independence.

For the rest of the story:
http://www.latimes.com/news/nationworld/world/la-fg-absolut6apr06,0,308550.story

Goodbye USA, Hello United States of Mexico

BOYCOTT ABSOLUT VODKA!!!!



Vodka ad shows 'Absolut world' in which California, Arizona, others secede.

http://www.libertypost.org/cgi-bin/readart.cgi?ArtNum=221152

A new ad for Absolut vodka reconfigures North America according to the aspirations of many Mexicans, who believe the U.S. Southwest was stolen and should be returned.
Over a redrawn map of the U.S., the ad by the New York-based Absolut Spirits Co. declares, "In an Absolut World," noted columnist and blogger Michelle Malkin.
Major Hispanic civil rights groups in the U.S., such as the National Council of La Raza, are tied to movements advocating a "reconquista," or reconquest, of territory lost when Mexico signed the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe-Hidalgo at the end of the Mexican-American War.
As WND reported in 2006, Rep. Charles Norwood, R-Ga., called on La Raza to renounce its support of the Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan – which sees "The Race" as part of an ethnic group that one day will reclaim Aztlan, the mythical birthplace of the Aztecs. In Chicano folklore, Aztlan includes California, Arizona, Nevada, New Mexico and parts of Colorado and Texas.

In 2002, a prominent Chicano activist and University of California at Riverside professor, Armando Navarro, told WND he believed secession is inevitable if demographic and social trends continue.