What Ed and Judy did during Winter Break (1999-2000)...

Here are a few of the fun things we did while we had a little time off between Christmas and "New Millennium Day."

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First, there was the more-or-less impromptu ride to Superior on Christmas Eve Day. This started as a ride to Apache Junction to "just say hi to some folks," but it was easy to persuade Judy to ride on to Superior for breakfast. ;-)

	This was strictly a BMW ride, organized by Shelley of the Phoenix AZ BMW Rim Riders. Here we are parked in front of Los Hermanos, the one restaurant in Superior that was open.
	Three K1200RS's and one R1100RT rode together from Apache Junction to Superior. We met several other Beemerphiles at the restaurant. Mike is pictured here (with helmet), as is Shelley (sans helmet).
	Here's a glance at the rest of the group. Several of us had to return to town due to Christmas Eve plans. The harder core riders continued on to Winkleman and points beyond.

Then, there was the loop trip on Tuesday Dec. 28 up the Beeline Highway to Roosevelt Lake and Globe, and home via Superior (again!).

	Just four of us took this ride together. Scott and Ed on our Ducatis, Mike on his VFR 800, and mark on his oldie-but-goodie FJ1100. Here we've lined 'em up at the lookout near Roosevelt Dam.
	Here's another view of our trusty steeds, with the new (1996) suspension bridge as a backdrop.
	Do these guys look BAD or what? From the left: Mark, Mike, and Scott.
	Mike suggested that we explore the road (AZ 88, the Apache Trail) until the paved road turned to dirt (about 1/2 mile). At the end of this short stretch is a new rest area and a viewpoint that overlooks Roosevelt Dam.

On Friday, the morning of New Year's Eve, Judy and Ed attended the Fiesta Bowl Parade in downtown Phoenix.

	The Budweiser Clydesdales are always a favorite, wherever they go. It's hard to believe that a horse could be so huge yet so elegant.
	It's got to be a dog's life. Here the carriage dog takes a pre-parade snooze.
	Judy poses beside the City of Tempe float that sports a Town Lake motif.
	This is the colorful America West Airlines float. We later heard on the news that this float caught fire during the parade.
	Here are the Budweiser Clydesdales strutting their stuff in the parade. Also notice that the Bud Dalmation is fully awake and pacing the top of the beer wagon.
	Here's a sight to warm the heart -- members of the Rescue a Golden (Retriever) of Arizona association and their furry friends. Go to the RAGofAZ Web site for more pictures and info.

After over 20 years of regular use, our dinnerware was starting to look a bit too familiar, so we did some shopping for a replacement.

We can't exactly explain what prompted us to start a collection of Fiesta Ware. (Could it have been the Fiesta Bowl and the Fiesta Bowl Parade? This colorful stuff has been manufactured by the Homer Laughlin China Company since 1936, and it's still in style in a retro sort of way.

On the first day of the 21st Century, we took our traditional New Year's Day motorcycle ride to Tortilla Flat. What a perfect way to start the year!

	When we arrived at Tortilla Flat it was fairly uncrowded, aside from a few "winter visitors" and a flock of bicyclists. By the time we finished breakfast, the B.I.G. (British-Italian-German) motorcycle club had arrived in full strength.
	This bike is a personal favorite of Ed's, much like his Ducati but in yellow instead of red. Even the same style helmet (Kenny Roberts Jr. replica), other than color. This fellow has really good taste! One of these days I've got to meet him.
	What would a B.I.G. event be without some vintage Brit bikes? Here's a lovely example of a 1975 Norton Commando 850 Interstate.
	And here's a pretty Norton Commando Roadster. It looks rather nice in yellow, doesn't it? Mark, what year is this one?
	You never know what you're going to see on one of the New Year's Day rides. This Bimota SB8R Special is extremely rare (and "exclusive"). I've never seen so much carbon fiber on one motorcycle. This bike is so cool I've even included a link to its description at the Bimota/Italy web site.
	Here's another view of this gorgeous bike. Also an interesting view of Ron. Ed's Ducati is parked in front of the SB8R. When Ed started to back out of his space, the owner of the Bimota wisely moved his bike out of the way. You can trust me, honest!

And that's the end of this tail (er, tale). We sure did have some fun! We hope you enjoyed sharing these good times with us and wish you the best of everything in the New Year. That's all for now!!!

This page was last updated on April 20, 2001.