Warm Fuzzies

It's been a quiet week around here, motorcycle-wise.  Been banging the keyboard during the daytime (while the outside people are melting in the ongoing heat wave we're enduring).

Anyway, I don't like to leave long stretches of emptiness on the blog, even when I don't have anything specific to write about.  So, when I have a chance, I like to peruse old pics which I haven't posted beforem, and toss one up from time to time.

Today's offering actually has a bit of a story behind it.  Ya see, on one of the excursions we (myself and the Olean crew) were making, on our way to Maine for the annual Labor Day festival, we stopped (as we usually do) at the top of Hogback Mountain to enjoy the scenery (and grab a Cherry Garcia ice cream pop).

(Those familiar with this particular stop will know of the Skyline Restaraunt which sits on the opposite side of the road from the gift shop.  It's been out of business for some time, and while the building itself seems to be in decent-enough shape, the staircase leading up from the roadway had fallen into a greater and greater state of disrepair as the years went by.)

At any rate, on this particular year, I noticed that someone had posted a sign by the decrepit staircase.  I tried to think back as to whether the sign had been there in years past, and I don't think it had been - meaning someone had the wit (or sarcasm) to put this sign up long after the establishment had closed (and long after the staircase was safe).

I couldn't pass up the opportunity to snap a pic of the sign in question.  And while I didn't wind up posting it in that year's Labor Day writeup, I did save it for a future post.  And since today seemed like a good day to throw something like that up on here, I went about finding the pic...

I looked everywhere...and then looked again...all my photo albums on my PC, on my laptop, even on my old laptop which I haven't used in over a year...

...but no luck.  Somehow along the way, I either deleted it, or didn't move it over to where I should have.  But the bottom line was that it was lost.

Damn, it was a great picture!

As a last resort, I figured I'd try my luck with the Google community.  Hell, that was a pretty decent snapshot, someone else must have taken it, too.  But would they have posted it, or just hung on to it and eventually lost it, like I did?

Well, as luck would have it, I did stumble upon a very similar photo that someone had taken and posted onto flickr.  It wasn't the exact photo I'd taken, but it was certainly close enough.  So without further ado, here is said picture;

I know; nothing mind-blowing, but still; I thought it was humorous.

Bikers.  We're especially welcome in places that are no longer open, and which have decrepit accessibility options.

Looking forward; I've got a memorial run down on Cape Cod tomorrow, in remembrance of fallen soldiers from Iraq and Afghanistan.  Sunday, I've got a Multiple Sclerosis fundraiser which should be a decent day.  Here's hoping everyone has a safe and productive weekend.

Ride Hard, Take Chances