Chapter CA2S Silicon Valley Wings

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CA2S SHARK BYTESJune 2009

Sharky update: He’s been

recuperating at home, and seen out

on the town with his new

feathered friends. Rumor has it

they’ve also been shopping for new

clothes. You know how fashion

conscious those birds of a feather

can be.

NextChapter Meeting

Saturday, June 20Hometown Buffet @

McCarthy Ranch, Milpitas Breakfast @ 8 AM

Meeting @ 8:45 AM

Gold Wing Road Riders AssociationRegion F / California District

Chapter CA2SSilicon Valley Wings

What’s in this issue:

CD News: Page 2

ACD News: Page 3

Chapter News: Page 7

Chapter Pics: Pages 4-6

Our Sponsors: Page 8

DD News: Not avail at presstime

Calendar: Pages 9-10

Chapter Contact Info: Page 14

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It is so great to be living in California whereour riding season has already begun (did itever end?). The weather has been fantastic forthis time of year. Temperatures have beenfrom the low 80’s to even the 100’s in someareas. So, if you haven’t done so recently, it istime to get out and enjoy the outdoors. It’stime to ride. It’s time to explore and haveFUN. We have a number of rides coming upin the near future and I encourage all toparticipate. One really interesting excursionwill be our combined ride with ourWashington and Oregon chapters that is beingput together for June 28th thru July 5th byRon and Lana Peck (current Washingtonians,former San Joseans). Ron has put together avery concise itinerary that consists of sometime at the beautiful Oregon beaches as wellas some central Oregon river rafting and aride to Crater Lake and the surroundingcountryside of Southern Oregon. We willspend 3 nights at Harris State Beach inBrookings and then on to 4 nights at ShadyGrove where, on the 4th of July, will enjoy apancake breakfast, be part of a parade andthen enjoy a wonderful fireworks display. Ihave been informed that the last time weparticipated in the parade, we took 1st placeand Ron has the trophy to prove it. It’s not toolate to join up with us on any part of the trip.It’s going to be so much fun.

Well, as of publication time, we still do not haveour beloved SHARKY back home. It seems Kathywas supposed to bring him to our May chaptermeeting but somehow left him in her car INVALLEJO!! It goes without saying that this slipup earned her the coveted “wing nut” for thesecond time this year. So, in her honor, do notgive her a moments rest. Call her, E-mail her, andbadger her relentlessly. Find out if she has thewing-nut with her at all times. Hopefully, Sharkywill be back with us at our June meeting.Every negative has a positive. Kathy did manageto bring to our meeting the mascots from CA2K.We are in possession of 2 Krows and are in theprocess of helping them to evolve to a moreaquatic nature. They should be on display at ourJune chapter meeting before sending them back toJelly Belly Land.We don’t know about everyone else but we surehad a great time at the RV / Bike camping trip toComanche Lake last month even though therewasn’t a Goldwing to be found. We did howeverhave five recreational vehicles and three boats inattendance. This and the company helped to makethe Memorial Day weekend a very “memorable”experience. When you get the chance, be sure andask Jim Carr about his new drink concoctions. Itwas also great to finally meet “kill switch” AlBadoux. We have heard so much about his anticsin the past and I.Wing got to experience first handthat it is just not safe to ever turn you back on thisguy. He is relentless and very creative and a wholelot of fun. Many thanks to Al, Jim and Sherry,Gary and Laurie, Les and Verdi, Drew and Elaineand their gang for all the fun, food and festivities.So, let’s all get out in the great outdoors and havesome fun times in the month of June. If you have aride that you have always wanted to do, just“impromptu”. Put it out on the internet, give astart location and time, and you will be surprisedhow many will want to join you. Give it a try.Until then, be sure to ride safe and ride OFTEN.

grandpoohBOB and i.wing.

Chapter Director’s Message

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Chapter WassupBy Michael Melby, CA-2S ACD

Ride Reports

USS Hornet, May 16This ride to tour the aircraft carrier USS Hornet was

organized by the members of chapter 2N, who arranged fordocents and the catered lunch. It was unfortunate that it wasarranged for the same day as our chapter meeting, but MaryAnne and I were willing to make the sacrifice. The Californiaweather cooperated by providing us with a beautiful springday, sunny and warm. The drive up was uneventful,following breakfast with chapter 2S at our meeting place. Wehad to be alert driving through Oakland because the highwaysare in terrible shape. The Hornet is berthed in Alameda at theformer Naval Air Station Alameda. We parked just off thebow.

We met Cliff at the pier as we waited for chapter 2Nto arrive. As it turned out there were enough of us to requiretwo docents. We climbed through the ship, up and down,back and forth, for almost three hours, visiting crews quarters,the catapult mechanism, the anchor bay and forward controlroom, and the control tower. We also sat in the air crewbriefing room, toured the Combat Information Center, thenavigation center, the sick bay, and the securecommunications facilities. The docents also explained theoperation of the radar-controlled anti-aircraft guns anddemonstrated how the Landing Signal Officer guided theincoming aircraft onto the deck. The docents are very proudof the position of the Hornet as prime recovery ship forApollo 11 and 12, the first two lunar landing missions.

Although visitors are generally allowed the run ofthe ship, being part of a group led by a docent gets you accessto certain areas that are normally off limits, such as theCombat Information Center. The tour was a lot of work withall the ladders and narrow passageways, but it wasinformative and enjoyable; well worth the admission price.

See the Hornet pics on the next page…

Sonoma Lunch, May 30We had a very good turnout for this ride, 13 people

on seven bikes and a pickup to start. Jim and Sherry were inthe lead on their trike, and Virg and Sue in their pickupprovided guidance from the rear. The weather was expectedto be great, although the early going up the peninsula andthrough San Francisco across the Golden Gate Bridge wascool with those low clouds that shroud the bridge towers.Our first stop was the view point on the north end of thebridge, where we added Paul to the caravan.

After the potty break we continued north on US-101 to CA-37 in Novato. At Sears Point we turned off ofCA-37 onto CA-121, which we followed north into Sonoma.After lunch at the restaurant formerly known as Issa’s thesun came out and the ride warmed up a bit.

We exited north from Sonoma through the east sideof Santa Rosa and over to Calistoga, then south throughNapa and Vallejo. Along the way we passed many wineries,most with signs announcing tastings and other events.Traffic northbound through Napa and Rutherford was veryheavy, and we were thankful we were southbound.

Now that we were back by the bay we stopped atCalifornia Sport Touring for a potty break and to do a littleshopping (mostly for the guys). Then it was a high speedrun home. Mary Anne and I exited at Mission to cut over toI-880; then we stopped at In-N-Out Burger by MissionCollege for milkshakes.

It was a good ride with nearly perfect weather,about 240 miles door-to-door. There was a little bit ofexcitement in San Francisco as some people wanted to goone way and other people couldn’t keep up and took another.I’ll let Jim and Sherry tell you about that.

Also see Virg’s report on page 7

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USS Hornet. May 16

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Workshop. May 9

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Sonoma Ride. May 30

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JuneBirthdays

Betsy Taylor 6Larry Rossi 23Sherry Carr 24

AnniversariesRon & Betsy Taylor 22

CA2S NewsJOE ROSS rode his trike to the May Workshop.He’s getting to ride some, healing and strengthening,and can’t wait to get back to longer rides.

Memorial Day weekend trip to Camanche Lake was a‘ton-o-fun’. 8 couples and 3 boats. But no wings..

May 30th RIDE TO "ISSA'S" -- IN SONOMA.Virg’s report

After a nice visit with chapter members, we left Valcowith 5 bikes, 2 trikes and 1 truck. The big yellowtrike lead us to the vista point at the North end of theGolden Gate Bridge, where we took a brief break andwere joined by 1 more bike. We had 13 smiling, butchilly, faces on the ride. The route took us Northwhere we headed east on Hwy. 37 past InfinionRaceway. They had the old 1950's Morgon race carsas well as some real old timers. We headed on into theneat little town of Sonoma. Our destination-Issa'sRestaurant for some good food. Sue tried to call themon the phone to warn them of our impending visit.After dialing the number, the recording said "Thenumber you have called is no longer in service". Wewondered if they had closed for some reason but wewere hoping for the best. Sue and I knew we weredestined for the wing nut if the restaurant had closed.You can imagine our concern after telling Jim the bigblue cone shaped roof was Issa's. My heart sank whenI looked across the intersection and saw the buildingas I knew to be gray with the name Issa's painted inwhite letters had some how turned out to be a tanbuilding with bold red letters spelling out the namePALMS GRILL. My first thought was this place hasturned into a bar. So now, where do we eat? I got outof the truck and went inside before everyone wasready to go in. I wanted to check it out to see if theyserved food. Boy! was I in luck! The place had beentotally renovated now had a rich burgundy interiorwith plush burgundy upholstered booths and chairs.As I checked with the hostess to see if they had a tablethat would accommodate 13 hungry folks from SanJose, she found out that the conference room wasvacant until 1:00 PM. We all sat down and was

greeted by our friendly waitress. Our drink orderswere taken and served quickly. We placed ourfood orders and didn't have to wait too long fortheir arrival. Everyone seemed to think the foodwas very good and almost too plentiful. (Ask thosewho ordered the six inch high Palm Burger). Theprices were unbelievably reasonable. The breakfastprices ran from $7.00 - $13.00 for steak & eggs.Lunch prices ran from $7.00 - $12.00. If you careto have dinner there the highest dinner plate is$18.00 for a Rib Eye Steak. Sue and I wererelieved that the place was there, the service wasimpeccable and the food was great. (Hopefully thewing nut award goes elsewhere!)We took a route home down the beautiful Hwy.12 (passing lots of wineries and grape vineyards) toCalistoga Road. This is a very lazy-curvy road thatcomes out at Calistoga and heads down Hwy. 29to Napa. We bypassed Napa (no B. & J. ice cream) and went on to a Sport Touring MotorcycleAccessory shop, known by a member of the group,in Hercules. After a few purchases we headeddown Hwy. 4 to I-680. We all seemed to have hada great day with friends, good food and a very niceride. I think the mileage checked out somewhereabout 250 miles for the day. We were homearound 4:30-5:00 PM.

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And now a kind word for our sponsors:

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June 2009

Sunday Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday

Satday

1 2PlanningMeetingMeet atHoldersCountry Inn6:45pm startDinner 6:00

3 4 5 6Woolgrowers Ride. In LosBanos. Meet @ Holiday InnLeave 2:30.

7 8 9 10 11 12 13

14Tomoles Bay RideMeet @Valco. Leave 9AM

15 16 17 18 19Mailboat Ride w/CAC. Oregon

20Chapter MeetingMeet at Hometown Buffet,212 Ranch Dr. “McCarthyRanch Shopping Center”,Milpitas. Starts promptly at8:45 AM, Breakfast 8:00AM.

Mailboat Ride w/ CAC.Oregon

21Mailboat Ride w/ CAC.Oregon

22 23 24 25 26 27

28 29 30

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July 2009

Sunday Monday

Tuesday

Wednesday

Thursday

Friday Saturday

1 2 3 4

5 6 7PlanningMeetingMeet atHoldersCountry Inn6:45pm startDinner 6:00

8 9 10 11Workshop @ Carr’s. 9AM

12PLP6325 San Ignacio Ave.10:00 Start Time

13 14 15 16 17 18Chapter MeetingMeet at Hometown Buffet,212 Ranch Dr. “McCarthyRanch Shopping Center”,Milpitas. Starts promptly at8:45 AM, Breakfast 8:00AM.

19 20 21 22 23 24 252 Pass Ride 120/108Meet at Omega RestaurantCalivaras/Park VictoriaLeave at 8:00am

262 Pass Ride 120/108Continuation

27 28 29 30 31

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Gold Wing Road Riders Association

Region and District Staff

Region F Director Neil Zack [email protected] 505-994-4150Region F Director (ProTem)

Melissa Eason (ExecutiveDirector)

623-581-2500

District Directors Anita & JR Alkire [email protected] 858-922-2251District Educators John & Joan Garrett [email protected] 951-679-4987

Chapter CA2S Staff Members

Chapter Directors Bob & Irene Neitro [email protected] 408-934-0408Ass’t. Chapter Directors Mike & MaryAnne Melby [email protected] 408-963-8392Chapter Educator Ron Green [email protected] 408-262-8180Chapter Couple (COY) John & Debbie Watt [email protected] 408-287-4147Chapter Individual (IOY) John Raser [email protected] 408-268-0367Tour Director Ron Green [email protected] 408-262-8180Newsletter Editor Danny Shewey [email protected] 408-729-0548Treasurer Douglas Loyd [email protected] 408-259-8334Photographers Mike Melby [email protected] 408-963-8392Web Master John Raser [email protected] 408-268-0367Chapter Store Verdi Jercha [email protected] 408-247-1701Membership Coordinator Jim & Sherry Carr [email protected] 408-506-2553Ride for KidsCollection Manager

Douglas Loyd [email protected] 408-259-8334

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OUR REGULAR MEETING PLACES

Monthly Meetings—The third Saturday of each month. The meeting starts promptly at 8:45AM, and is usually over by 10:45 AM. Hometown Buffet, 212 Ranch Dr. (408) 935-0893“McCarthy Ranch Shopping Center”, Milpitas. Business meeting, Safety Talk, 50/50 raffle,General camaraderie. Any rider of Honda Gold Wing and Valkyrie motorcycles, or anyonewho just loves to ride.

TGIF – Beginning Jan 2009, these rides have been suspended for awhile.

Rides going NorthEast - Mervyn's parking lot on E. Calaveras Blvd. Milpitas (hwy 237 &680)

Rides North to SF - Mercado Theater Santa Clara on Frontage Rd. off Great AmericaParkway. This is the meeting place for rides that take us North along Hwys 101 or 85 (SanFrancisco, Marin, Eureka).

Rides South - Holiday Inn at Bernal Rd and 101 South.

Disclaimer: Please note all meetings are subject to change, both in location and times to meet.If you are interested in a ride or event and have questions, please call or email any staff membernoted in the newsletter or on the web. http://www.ca2s.org.

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Meeting Date & Time Chapter Meeting Location

1st Saturday 9:14 AMBreakfast 8:30 AM

Ca1A Greenhouse Cafe, 1169 Commerce Ctr Dr., Lancaster

3rd Sunday 8:30 AMBreakfast 8:00AM

Ca1D Elks Lodge, 8108 E. Alondra Blvd., Paramount

2nd Saturday 8:30 AMBreakfast 8:00 AM

Ca1F Broken Yolk Café, 1851 Garnet Ave., San Diego

1st Sunday 8:30 AMBreakfast 8:00 AM

Ca1I Covina Bowl, 1060 W. San Bernardino Rd., Covina

Last Saturday, 9:00 AMBreakfast 8:30 AM

Ca1K Lulu's Café, 16900 Roscoe Blvd., Van Nuys


Ca1L IHOP Restaurant, 212 Madonna Rd, San Luis Obispo

2nd Sunday 9:00 AMBreakfast 8:00 AM

Ca1M Elks Club, 2055 Elks Drive, San Bernardino

3rd Saturday 8:30 AMBreakfast 7:30 AM

Ca1N Grandma BB's, 539 Vista Bella, Oceanside

2nd Sunday 8:00 AMBreakfast 7:30AM

Ca1Q Hof's Hut, 7005 Knott Ave., Buena Park

1st Sunday 8:00 AMBreakfast 7:00 AM

Ca1R Knowlwoods Restaurant, 14952 Sand Canyon, Irvine


Ca1S Carrow’s Restaurant, 2401 Harbor Blvd, Ventura

3rd Sunday 8:00 AMBreakfast 7:30 AM

Ca1V Grumpy Golfer, 14144 Green Tree Blvd. Victorville

1st Sunday 8:30 AM Ca1Y Bakers Square, 936 North H St, Lompoc


Ca1Z Home Town Buffet, 40390 Margarita Rd., Temecula


Ca2A Neilson's Restaurant, 137 S. M St., Tulare

3rd Sunday 8:45 AMBreakfast 8:00 AM

CaC Denny’s Restaurant, 7900 Collegetown Dr, Sacramento

2nd Saturday 9:00 AMBreakfast 8:30AM

Ca2J Hometown Buffet, 2050 Diamond Blvd., Concord

4th Sunday 9:00 AMBreakfast 8:00 AM

Ca2K Jack & Linda’s Country Café , 2390 N Texas St, Fairfield


Ca2N Pine Rest & Lounge, 19601 Hess Ave, Sonora


Ca2Q Athen’s Burger Rest, 6999 Dublin Blvd, Dublin


Ca2R Sang’s Café, 131 Main St, Salinas


Ca2S Hometown Buffet, 212 Ranch Dr. “McCarthy RanchShopping Center”, Milpitas


Ca2W Brooks Ranch, 4131 S Chestnut Ave, Fresno

California Chapter Meetings and Locations

Documents

Chapter CA2S Silicon Valley Wings