Monday, May 7, 2007

Lady in Pink

One thing I didn't share yet about our trip was a really nice couple we met the last night we were there. While we were waiting in line to eat Saturday evening, I saw a little lady dressed all in pink standing across from where we were.


She definitely grabbed your attention. As you can see, she was in all pink, from her hat to her boots. As we were standing in the food line, the lady in front of us and her daughter were talking about her, too. Nothing derogatory, just how unique she was. She definitely did stand out in the crowd. Then as we were standing there, the lady in front of us showed us the pictures she had taken of the gal's bike. It was (no surprise) pink, and it had Disney characters painted all over it. We decided that we HAD to go take a look at it before they left the Rally site that day. Pretty much everybody who was there that afternoon, though, would be there at least until the motorcycle was given away at the end of the closing ceremonies, so we didn't worry too much about missing them.

We ate dinner and then sat and listened as the different prizes were given out during the closing ceremonies of the Rally. At the end, we bid my mom and her boyfriend farewell and safe travels since they headed home right at the end. After we told them goodbye, we saw the pink hat of the gal in pink heading over to where several motorcycles were parked. The hubby told me we'd better hurry if I wanted to get a picture of the motorcycle before they headed out. So we hurried over to where we had seen them go, and I was able to see the motorcycle. They were just getting ready to pull out, so I got her attention and asked her if I could get a quick photo.

I could tell that she was used to having her picture taken with her motorcycle (she would have to be), because she just nodded and gave me a big smile and I snapped a quick shot. The picture came out really good. The hubby and I have decided that we're going to have a nice sized print made of her and her motorcycle and hang it in our princess's room. I think I've mentioned before that she loves pink (after all, her room is all in pink), and she just loves Disney. I think A's only disappointment when we showed her the picture later was that it wasn't a Disney Princesses motorcycle.

After I took the picture, they went on their way, and we got on our bikes and headed back to the hotel ourselves. That was the night that we parked our motorcycles at the hotel and walked to the restaurant an club down the street to have a few drinks. On our way to the restaurant, we passed an area where several people who had trailered their motorcycles to the rally had parked their trailers for the weekend. As we got closer, we saw the Disney bike parked there just inside the parking area, so decided to stop and talk to them and perhaps take more photos.


We stopped and talked to the couple, and they were just as nice as they could be. I got another picture of her motorcycle from a different angle. I took out the letters of her license plate because I didn't think it was my place to put it out there. I will tell you, though, that her license plate makes sure that anyone who sees it knows that she loves pink. We asked her why she didn't enter her motorcycle in the bike show, and she told us that it was for "Harley's only." that's too bad. It's not a Harley...it's made by Ridley, but it is a sweet ride. Who says that a girl who rides a motorcycle (and a full size one that that) can't be a girly-girl? This gal is about as girly as they come!

We talked about the different motorcycles we have ridden, the different ones they have, and the experiences we have had. I told her about how I had dropped my mom's Sportster in the parking lot of our hotel a couple of nights before, and she was telling me that she'd had a Sportster too. She was talking about how that thing just "kept falling over in the driveway" and she had decided that the problem was with the bike, not with her. Since she's quite a bit shorter than I am I tend to agree with her. Contrary to popular belief, the Sportster is not a great bike for a short person despite the fact that it's the smallest of the Harleys. As I've mentioned a couple of times within the last week or so, it's lots more top-heavy than most. But I digress. We found out that they are from Wilmington and that they had been asked to bring their motorcycles to Fayetteville the weekend following the Rally by the person who had done their paint jobs. If I understood them correctly, the person who did the custom paint jobs on their motorcycles was recently awarded the contract to paint the new Harley-Davidson motorcycles. They weren't sure if they would be able to make it or not, but we told them that we would ride by the open house and visit with them if they were able to come.

So Saturday afternoon, we decided to take a break from moving and organizing to go by the local dealership for a bit. After all, they were having their open house, our new friends from Wilmington might be there, and I had bought a raffle ticket back in December for the new motorcycle and trailer they were giving away. We got there, and almost immediately saw the Disney bike. It's hard to miss. So we walked over and let the kids get a good look at it in person.

I got another good picture of it on Saturday. After we looked at it for a bit, the hubby asked me where the owners were. I looked around for a minute and found the tell-tale pink hat. So we went over and said hello, and hung out with them for the rest of the afternoon.

She took my kids and got them some cotton candy. It was free, but they just thought it was great that she took them over there. Then we went over and watched motorcycle stunts. We were right behind the boundary, so each time the stunt riders would get close, the kids would back right up against the adult who was standing behind them. For my princess, that just happened to be the nice lady who loves pink as much as she does. After the stunt show at the dealership, there was going to be a stunt where a motorcycle was jumped over 10 BMWs at the BMW dealership next door. Most folks walked over to watch that, but the hubby really didn't want to go watch it "just in case," so we stayed at the H-D dealership, got some lunch and walked around looking at the different vendors.

The husband of the couple from Wilmington has a chopper with a Carolina Hurricanes paint theme. It's really sharp, and definitely very unique. It was entered in the bike show in the custom class. Most of these shows are Harley only, and his isn't a Harley-Davidson motorcycle. But the officials were convinced to open a new class for complete custom cycles (after all, it doesn't take much for a Harley to be considered 'custom'), and there were actually several motorcycles entered into the category. Oh, as a side note, there were only like two bikes entered in the class that my motorcycle would have fallen in, so I was really wishing that I had ridden mine over and entered it. I almost did ride it over there and have the hubby and kids follow me.

Here's a picture of his motorcycle. He ended up winning first prize for his category, and I thought it was well deserved. That is a sweet chopper! It's a Ridley, and I read an article about those bikes, and apparently they have an automatic transmission. That's interesting. I'm not sure I could get used to riding a motorcycle with an automatic transmission now that I've gotten used to riding and shifting gears. I think I'd be lost without having something to do with both my hands and both my feet. I guess it's like beginning to drive a car with an automatic transmission after years of driving a stick-shift, though. Just have to get used to it.

This couple is the perfect example of what is best about the biker community and going to Rallies like the one in the Outer Banks last weekend. You can make some of the best friends. We exchanged numbers on Saturday, and they told us to call them if we're ever riding towards Wilmington or Myrtle Beach, and promised to call us the next time they're in the Fayetteville area.
I just LOVE making new friends!