Oreo Cows!

Oh my goodness! I cannot believe what I saw! We are making our trek to Indy for Jen's race and there they were, standing in a field not too far from Tyler, Texas. An entire field of Oreo cows - it is the greatest thing I have ever seen...well, possibly not the greatest, but certainly right up there near the top of a very long list of great things to see!

Could these beauties possibly be a kin to the Belted Galloway cattle I found on the internet? Jen had actually told me about such things - it seems there are some more of these adorable cattles (is that a word...cattles?) somewhere near Kerrville, Texas. If that is so, I am afraid I will not be satisfied with this photo I found when googling Oreo cows - and yes, that's just what I googled. I must find them and get an actual picture :0)

Talk about having your milk and cookies!!!

Indy or Bust!

Hotel reservations have been made, entry fees paid, and days off work scheduled. Only thing left to do is get there...and pay for gas! This will be Jen's first AMA Dragbike race in Indianapolis and what a treat that will be. Indy is the racing capital of the world, making racing at Indy just plain special :o) It all begins on August 1st - watch for updates.


In the mean time, here are a couple of pictures from the Bristol Race last month (thanks to Yvonne for being there to take them!)

Rule #1 - Drink lots of water

Always remember, and never forget - there is a lot of waiting in line at these races!

July 4 Motorcycle Shootout - Bang!

Friday evening Jen competed in a 4th of July Motorcycle Shootout at San Antonio Raceway where she proceeded to show those boys who was boss of the dragway. Jen pulled her best time down the San Antonio quarter mile at 9.23 seconds, 155 mph on her GSXR 1000.

At that point she had to make the decision as to what her ET (estimated time) would be for competition (can’t go too fast, and can’t go too slow), so she set it at 9.3 seconds - a new San Antonio track record for females. She purred (or should I say roared?) through the first few rounds of competition in the Street ET and the Pro ET classes when, during a break in the race competition, a cager (motorcycle racer's definition of a race car driver) went down the track dumping his whole load of synthetic oil along the entire ¼ mile!

Track officials worked until after 11:30 p.m. before announcing it a lost cause for the night. What a disappointment. She had those two races in the bag! So, although disappointed she didn’t get an opportunity to finish those boys off, it was still great to see them all shaking in their boots!

We are looking forward to Indy on August 2 & 3.

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Disclaimer: all posts on 'Butterflies' are the biased opinion of the Mom/Grammy/Daughter/Sister.

Old Tunnel ~ Fredericksburg, TX

Bat Crossing

Old Tunnel ~ Fredericksburg, Texas

Roger and I spent part of the July 4th holiday week in Fredericksburg, TX (home of the Enchanted Rock, only one of a multitude of great adventures to be found in this area). While there we experienced a ‘bat emergence’ (that is correct, I said BAT Emergence) at 'Old Tunnel' - a train tunnel through one of Fredericksburg’s very large 'hills' - the tunnel was built in 1913 and operated for less than 30 years.

Anyway, not to shorten the history lesson, but there are some 3 Million bats that fly out of that tunnel nightly for several months out of the year. Sadly, the mother bats recently left to have their babies in a nearby cave with a warmer temperature (baby bats like it at about 100 degrees!) and there were ONLY several hundred thousand bats that flew out during our visit. The mother bats will bring the babies back in August. We plan to visit again at that time.

The 'bat emergence' was an enlightening experience and we came away from it with far less fear of the tiny, cute? mammals!

Bristol ~ Eliminations

Try as she may she could not get that newly supersported GSXR 1000 to qualify any faster than a 9.3 in the quarter mile.

Out of frustration one of her Brock Performance teammates took her bike down the quarter mile to see if he could give her some pointers. His runs were in the 9.4 second range which is exactly what Jen had managed to do on it while practicing.

Still frustrated, yet at the same time relieved to know that it was not her, she will do the best she can in Bristol and take it to JOHNNY CHEESE for tuning before going to Indy.

So, live-timing still not working, we are relying on the old fashion telephone for updates. So far:

• Street Fighter - lost in the first round by .0026 second!
• Street ET - winner! Sorry don't have any details.
• Pro ET - winner! Again no details.
• Super Sport - no info yet.

Final results...

She was not so lucky in the rest of the weekend’s racing. Her newly super-sported GSXR continued to be ‘cantankerous’ and the Busa was just as cranky! She was able to make it only to the 2nd round in all four of her races – a big disappointment. After Johnny Cheese adds his magic touch to it, Jen will practice in San Antonio as much as possible until Indy. Looking back won't change anything - fix it, test it, race it!

bRiStOl ~ AMA Dragbike Races ~ Day 2, cont'd.

What a frustrating day - we have been unable to get race updates online due to what I suppose is technical difficulty. I guess we will just have to go to all the rest of the races if we want to know what's happening!

Anyway, Jen finally called - totally unaware that we did not have a clue how she was doing. She was a bit frustrated with her times, but we did our job of offering encouragement and suggestions. (It is nice to feel needed :-)) So, bottom line is, I am not sure where she actually qualified in any of the 4 classes she is running in. I know she has her work cut out for her tomorrow during eliminations.

In the mean time, Cousin Wayne is making sure she and her entire crew are well fed. Let's see, I believe they had wonderful hamburgers Thursday evening, delicous chicken wings and hot dogs on Friday evening and tonight it is spaghetti (a personal favorite). THANK YOU Cousin Wayne :)

The Interceptor!

If we push the riding mover forward about three feet, a small space becomes available in the shop. A space just about the right size to be INTERCEPTED by ANOTHER MOTORCYCLE! Not just any bike, but a special anniversary edition - a 2007 Honda VFR 800.

It is a very special bike. The previous owner, a man in his 60's with a long white beard, had put only 225 miles on it. His family said every mile had made him happy. (He died peacefully in his sleep soon after purchasing it.) We have a big responsibility now, making certain this bike has a good home.

Our salesman was insistant that we carry this gardian angel bell on the bike. He said it would protect the bike and rider from evil spirts and keep them safe! That said, and considering the bikes history, we thought it could not hurt to follow through. So before the bike even left the shop in El Campo, TX the little bell was securely attached to the bike. Believe in evil spirits or not, the little bell did its job warding off trouble - the bike was run off the road by an evil little white car on the way home. Fortunately there was a good shoulder on that road, and as I watched helplessly from my little Mazda, I could clearly see that the guardian bell was doing its job.

Following behind in the Mazda as Roger piloted the bike toward Corpus Christi, I could see streaks of lightening in the sky - sometimes 4 at once, the bright flashes lit up the sky over Victoria. We pulled into a Texas Department of Transportation parking lot to sit it out. (Protected once again.) Soon we were back on our way. We pulled into the driveway at around 5:30 p.m., road grime covered the new red, white and blue bike and the odometer now read well over 300 miles.

Now all shinny and clean, this special bike has found a new home - a small space in the shop where I am quite certain its guardian bell will keep it safe.