Jalapeno Jelly Bellies!

On Saturday morning it is not ususual for us to jump into the car and travel the 1/4 mile down the road to the local Mexican Restaurant - Fermin's - for a taco.

My normal breakfast taco is bean, diced potato and freshly chopped jalapeno peppers - yum ;o) Add a glass of freshly brewed ice tea to the order and you have breakfast combo ala Cathy!

This particular morning Roger was complaining about his dry eyes and how he couldn't wait to get his breakfast so he could cover it with the all-natural dry eye & congestion cure of Fermin's pico de gallo and salsa.

This brought him to remember another great discovery - jalapeno Jelly Bellies. While on my mother's day adventures in the hill country last weekend, I stopped in at Camp Verde and filled a bag will all different varieties of Jelly Belly jelly beans. That's when I spied them - the jalapeno Jelly Bellies...I carefully added a small scoop of them to the bag of mixed flavors - peanut butter, cinnamon, fiery cinnamon, coconut, buttered popcorn, various fruit flavors...all mixed together with jalapeno! Then I promptly forgot about it.

Roger took his prize bag of Jelly Bellies to the office where he could share and munch on them at his leisure (and to ensure that I did not eat them all myself). Eventually he took one of the green beans and popped it into his mouth. What he expected was a sweet tart 'green' flavor of some sort. What he got was entirely something else! At first, not knowing what flavor this bean was, he found it simply chewy and un-sweet. A very short time later he discovered its true value. Another all-natural cure for dry eyes and congestion!

So, I did some Jelly Belly research and made a great discovery - "Caliente! That’s Spanish for HOT. This is one flavor not for the faint of heart. If you like your salsa hot enough to make you break out in a sweat, you’ll love this bean. [They] use real jalapeno pepper, no kidding." So, next time I go to Camp Verde I am getting an entire bag of jalapeno flavored Jelly Bellies...to keep around for medicinal purposes!

Motorcycle Drag Racing in Memphis

Wow! What else can I say? We had a great time (aside from the all night drive there and the all night drive back - sheesh!)

Where to begin...guess I'll start at the beginning.

Friday - We arrived in Mempis mid-morning hoping to get some practice in on the two bikes. "Rain, rain go away, come again some other day." Yep, rain AGAIN = no practice. We NEEDED practice! Rain = more time to sleep. We NEEDED the sleep, so guess it worked out.

Saturday - Time trials. No rain - finally! I wish I could tell you she earned another top qualifier, but not this time. However I can clearly see another one coming very soon. That said, she did very well...I think we will just start calling her the 'Texas Lady Intimidator' - she isn't intentionally intimidating. Line her up against a guy on a sports or wheelie bar bike and it just happens! Can't wait to see how intimidating she is when we get her GSXR 1000 back from Ohio after the engine gets 'super-sported' (then it will be a real race bike :0)) he...he...he!

Sunday - Eliminations (oh that sounds so final). It was a beautiful day with ample sunshine. In spite of that we kept our long sleeve shirts available for awhile. I don't want to bore you with details, but ultimately she went out in the first round in Super Sport and in Street Fighter :0( but put up a real good fight! And she competed through 3rd round in the Street ET and Pro ET classes losing by only 4/1000 of a second in Pro ET. We were very proud :0)

You meet the most interesting people at these events. There are the 'normal' types of people you expect to see -like Spiderman Larry McBride, Tom Perry, and Ricky Gadson. And then there is Wayne, from Wayne's World (aka Cousin Wayne). His last name is Robertson so we are practically related - but believe me when I tell you that is highly unlikely!

Wayne's World is where Roger goes for his morning coffee, where we go for lunch and dinner while at the track, where Jen goes for chocolate milk and cookies, and where we all gather to be entertained. We have found it convenient to park our little hauler and truck next to his motorhome while attending these events (easier to get to the food and entertainment faster). Wayne and his racing buddy, James, are from Virginia. They travel around to races all over the country to do what they love (race, of course). I am sure you will hear more about them throughout our racing adventures.

On the left - Roger stands just outside the door at Wayne's World with one of Wayne's coffee mugs. At right - Wayne cooks for any and all and does a great job (you have to understand - he does this in addition to racing his 2008 Hayabusa!)

Metals for boots - how many races does she have on those boots anyway? Luckily we were able to get some new metals for her boots from the Bates Leather lady at the Memphis track. Carefully, she and Michael removed the worn metals from the boots and installed the new ones. This reminds me of an oil change - okay, not a good analogy, but that is what it reminds me of - you know...after you get the oil changed in your car how much 'better' the car feels (well, mine does!). ANYWAY, those boots were feeling good after the new metals were installed, I am quite certain of it!

And, you can always use a good pair of toe socks to wear under those race boots! Toe socks also work well with slippers on a cool race morning. It must also be noted that all racers are jealous of Jen's unusual varity of toe socks!

Tires sometimes need replaced. Not only did we get two of the bike tires replaced while at the track, we'd also just re-shoed the hauler with new tires before leaving on this trip. It was feeling good too :0)

Flowers grow at the races too

And there was even time to label the pit bike! Glad we did too because there was one just like it at the track :0)

I am not planning to go to Bristol, TN for the June race even though I really would like to go. Off course Jen will be there with her newly super-sported GSXR to give those boys another run for their money. And of course I will let you know how she does, but it is the Indy race August 2-3 that I now look forward to attending. Hope to see you there!

An Enchanted Mother's Day ~ 2008

I saw beautiful cactus blooms on the Enchanted Rock for Mother’s Day...

... had a wonderful pre-Mother’s Day lunch with all my kids at the Burger Barn in Center Point, TX

I watched as youngest Grandboy Caden swung from a camel’s tail at Camp Verde, TX

…and ate dessert with AJ at Camp Verde

I watched as the boys pretended to be best friends…

…for about 15 seconds!!!

I took pictures of Grandboy AJ hiding behind an Enchanted Rock…

…and of Grandboy Caden

I got to spend time on the Enchanted Rock with ALL my kids on Mother’s Day

I watched as Will, Caden and Jen came out of the cave on top of Enchanted Rock

And took pictures of them all – Will, AJ, Caden, Kathy & Jen – on a very high place

And approved as AJ proclaimed himself King of the Enchanted Rock! AJ and Caden 'drove' the Fintstone car on the way to the top of the Rock.

We played in the Guadalupe River near Jen’s house (Jen made faces as I took pictures!)

And listened as AJ played a song on Aunt Jen’s French Horn

I’d say it was a great Mother’s Day weekend – infact,

I’d say it was the best Mother’s Day EVER!

Coming Soon !!

AMA Dragbike Race results/pics/prejudiced review of Memphis race...

Preview of events...boot repair!

At Memphis Motorsports Park for a qualifying run

Memphis - Day 1

Can you believe it!? Rain! Thunderstorms, lightening, tornadoes!! Whew...we lucked out of most of it, but it did rain us out of practice today.

Tomorrow and Sunday look good and we are looking forward to two great days of racing and a good night's sleep tonight :o) But food - first we need food!

We found a totally non-smoking LaQuinta! and are quite excited about that. However, when we stepped in to our non-smoking room in the totally non-smoking LaQuinta, guess what? Oh yes...it had been smoked in and there was no doubt about it. Fortunately we were able to get another room that actually smells smoke-free (lucky for us and for LaQuinta :~]

Coming soon - pics from Memphis

Memphis, here we come!

We are on the way to Memphis and the AMA Dragbike races! And isn't this just so neat...I am able to blog while in the truck because of our new mobile broadband! Technology - WOW - this is just so neat (oh...I already said that).

We've been on the road for quite some time now (enough to stop for gas already). Oh! But I forgot - I have mobile broadband! I can look at the map and track our little truck and hauler. Hold on just a minute and I will tell you where we are...

We are just leaving Waco - oh this is just too neat!

Well, I must go check my email, or maybe I will go shopping on Amazon.com before taking a nap :o)