But made it, we had! We’d stopped in town to pick up some beer (of course) and after some hugs and handshakes, we settled right in and got to crackin’ the cans. Our first subject matter to talk about? The hidden cans from last Feb, of course. Had they found them all? Mark said Mary had just found another one, not two days earlier. I think that brought the total found to 17. Which meant there were…(should I say how many were left? That would give them an unfair advantage in terms of how much more searching might be needed). Actually, it doesn’t matter because we hid a lot more this time! :-D Anyway, having found 17 cans, that meant they’d missed 2. One of them was in the light fixtures over the island, and since we were kinda worried about leaving a loose metal object up inside a tight space that had wires in it, we figured it was better to remove it. That left just one of the original cans…which we left in it hiding spot, and then proceeded to find other spots to hide new ones. True; it doesn’t take much to entertain ourselves. (On a side note, we did notice that Mark and Mary were very attentive this weekend, and always seemed to make sure that at least one of them was in the kitchen with us at all times. It made hiding cans much harder…but we still had some success.)
Back to the business at hand. Mike was also making this trip with us, even though not ‘with’ us. Now living in Jersey, he made his own way and arrived shortly after we did. We’d already heard from Steph that Rob, who’d driven out the night before, had arrived and was catching up on some ZZZ’s, and would meet us at the Club. So, after hanging out at the house for a bit, it was time to pile up and head over to the club and see Mary (who was working the bar). The rain was still coming down quite well, so Mark was gracious enough to let us pile into his truck, rather than take the bikes over. I soon realized the true reason for his niceties, though. See, Zig was in the front seat and I was in the back, behind Mark. When we arrived at the Post, Mark got out, closed the door behind him and walked away – leaving me to rap on the window and wait for him to stop laughing and come back to let me out. Funny guy, that Mark.
All was soon forgiven once we got inside and started making the rounds, saying hello to friends not seen since…well, not that long ago. Since February, when we were last out for King’s retirement party. Still, though, we don’t get to see many of these folks very often, and it was great to once again be bellying up with them. Mary soon had us checking the temp of the Harley Oil as well, and the evening wore on with much laughter and revelry. Things have changed slightly at the Post; new leadership and such, so non-members (especially out of state trouble-makers) are not allowed behind the bar anymore. Not a problem, there’s still plenty of fun to be had on the customer side of the bar, and fun we had. As usual, we closed the place and then headed back to Mark and Mary’s to round out the evening with some more cracked cans, as well as shots of Apple Pie (moonshine). Yeah, our livers were already eyeing the door, looking to make a break for home, but there was no luck to be had by them. We held on to them tightly and wouldn’t let them out of our sight.
The next morning, we awoke to the familiar scent of breakfast being cooked by Mark. I don’t think this guy ever sleeps. He’s up with us until the wee hours, and then up before us the next morning, to get breakfast ready. I think he doesn’t go to bed at all, I think he stays up and thinks of ways to mess with us…
Anyway, we rose to eggs, toast and bacon – the breakfast of champions! (Ok, champion boozehounds, perhaps.) After filling our bellies and chit-chatting a couple hours away, we piled up onto the bikes and ran some errands. We needed to get food and beer for the pig roast later that day, as well as swing by the graves to say hello to Dana, Chuck and Gary. We shared a couple of brews with those guys, left our telltale quarters as markers, and then headed over to the Post to help get things under way – it’s time for the 2nd annual Pig-A-Palooza!
But who were we kidding? The Olean crew knows how to throw a party! Big John had had his smoker going all morning, getting this and that prepared and ready. Spiller’s giant grille showed up shortly thereafter, and then the cooking really set into motion. AS the afternoon wore on, more and more folks showed up and there were more hugs and handshakes all around. Food was brought, beers were bought and shots were shot. Tents were set up (many folks make the wise choice to not drive home), and the revelry lasted long, long into the wee hours. The bonfire was lit, stories were told - one person even brought some Chinese Lanterns and we all enjoyed watching them float higher and higher, eventually disappearing over the mountaintop behind us. It was indeed another fantastic time out in the town of Olean.
Time for some pics from the roast!
Here’s John’s smoker, fired up and going strong. (You can see the burn pile for the evening bonfire in the background.)
The burn pile had a mascot this year!
Time is up for the mascot...
Welcome to the bonfire! Folks sat close, at first. Then moved chairs back a bit. Then moved them back again. And again, and again. Pretty soon, there wasn’t anyone within 40’ of it as it was just too big, and too hot. What a great fire!
Sunday morning found us stirring and rolling out of our tents at different times, then making our way over to the food table where Big John and Spiller had once again been busy preparing sustenance for all around. Bacon, pork hash, eggs, toast…what more could a large group of hungover partiers ask for? Well, maybe some water or juice, but those were readily available, too, and all was right with the world.
There had been talk the day before of going for a ride to check out the amazing scenery that this area offers. Different plans were tossed around until finally a decision was made; we’d be doing a mini-pub run. Sure, why not? Both Rob and Mike had to head home to be back at their respective jobs on Monday, but not us out-of-staters! We got to play for another day. We packed up our tenting gear, headed back to Mark & Mary’s to clean up, then it was back to the Post to meet up with the other riders. Oh, and have some lunch, too, thanks to John and Spiller, once again. (Man, the people out there love to feed you and keep you happy!)
When it was time to roll out, we had 10 bikes – definitely not shabby at all, considering the plan had only been put together a day earlier. There was even ad added surprise; Bub brought out his bike! We were commenting how we’d never ridden with Bub before, and as it turned out, he’d had the same thought, prompting him to go get it!
(Unfortunately, his back acted up before long and he was only able to make a couple of the stops with us, before having to go back and get his van.)
Our first stop; The Corner Bar. Nice, small place. Had the makings of a rough clientele, though. Couple of signs put up by the owner, warning against fighting, and drug use. Even further; they had their own “no longer welcome” list!
Next stop; Same Old Kitchen. This place was out in the middle of nowhere, but that’s ok – it’s fantastic scenery out here!
Moving on – Rixford Grille. They had a nice deck out on the back and we hung out, shared more road stories, and enjoyed the cheap beers...
And here's the cheap beers; during Sunday afternoons, this place offers 10oz cans for a buck apiece! Sweet!
Then it was back to the Post. When we got there, we found that folks had pretty much cleared out at this point. We helped do a little bit of cleanup (mostly of food leftovers – we tend to eat a lot), but the Olean folks really hadn’t left much for us to do except kick back with a few more frosties and chat about the ride. It was about this time that Spinney offered up a fantastic idea; going forward, why not hold an official Dana run on the Sunday after the pig roast? It would make it easy to plan – lots of folks would be around for the pig roast, anyway, and Sunday was an open, kick-around day anyway, so why not make it a Dana run? Maybe make it a dice run, too? Hell yeah, that idea was greeted warmly, and hopefully it’ll come to pass next year.
The afternoon was waning into the early evening, leaving just a few lonely bikers behind.
Mark had been talking about how warm the water in their pool was, and I was up for a swim, so we headed back to the house, changed, and took a dip. It was a nice way to wind down the daylight hours. After that, it was time to head on inside and relax the evening away. Mark, however, set right to work, defrosting sausage to be used in the following morning’s breakfast. I’m telling you; the guy doesn’t stop.
The next morning, Mark was again up to his usual tricks; he was in the middle of preparing breakfast before anyone else was even up. This morning’s menu? Sausage and biscuits, eggs, toast & bacon. A delicious feed! (If he’s not careful, we may wind up heading out there more often…)
No time for kicking back and yakking the morning away, though. It was time for the long ride back home. We packed up, said our goodbyes, and rolled on outta town. The ride home was pretty uneventful, but there was one thing I found humorous enough to mention; our first gas stop. Not till we’d pulled in, shut down, and turned to start the gassing-up process, did we realize what was going on.
You can have any grade of gasoline you want, as long as it’s Regular.
And that was it. The weather held out for us and we made it back in good time. Our seats (and livers) were a bit sore, but our minds were full of awesome memories of another fantastic weekend spent with the Olean crew. We can’t wait to do it all over again next year at the 3rd annual Pig-A-Palooza! No, really…we can’t wait…which is why we’ll be heading back out there in a month for the annual Labor Day / Maine Event extravaganza!
Thanks once again to everyone out there who helped show us Massholes another amazing time, and huge thanks to Mark and Mary for putting us up (and putting up with us!)! See everyone in a month!
Ride Hard, Take Chances
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