South of the Border – September 16, 2018


“P” may be for Ponca City, but for the September 16th Tom Kat ride, “P” was also for Perfect as we couldn’t have ordered up a more spectacular day for riding.  Clear skies, bright sunshine and not a breath of wind.  I would even go so far as to say that might have been the warmest Tom Kat ride we’ve ever had.  While most of us rode to the QuikTrip in Derby with jackets, they were quickly shed and we never saw them again.  Some of us packed our jackets in our saddle bags prior to leaving for the ride.  Not so with Nellie!  She took off her jacket and stowed it in between her bike and windshield…while riding to Ponca City!  That’s some skill right there!  That would have been a lost jacket if it were me.

When my Tom Kat, Greg, and I arrived at the QT at 8:30 on the dot, Kim and Kathryn were already there.  “How come you guys are here so early?” I asked.  Kim responded, “We had to stake out our No Tom Kat Zone.  Here’s the line (which she designated with her foot) and don’t you even think about crossing it if you got a man with you!” Duly noted Kim and Kathryn

Within minutes, beautiful bike after beautiful bike came pouring into the parking lot and just like Kim, we had our parking zone clearly designated…that is until a big ole rig pulled right smack dap in the middle of it.  Obviously, the driver doesn’t adhere to rules like the Kitties and Tom Kats do!  Fortunately, he didn’t stay long and we filled it up to guarantee that wouldn’t happen again. 

After making our greetings, getting beverages, breakfast burritos and donuts, I pulled out the flamed bag and starting pimping 50/50 tickets.  After witnessing my juggling struggle of tea, the bag, my phone, the tickets and money, Kathryn said, “You are bound to drop something, so why don’t you let me sell the tickets?”  I was happy to turn that over to Kathryn, who quickly enlisted the help of Annette, and I proceeded to snap picture after picture.  As I watched the time and took roll call, I noticed that a potential new member/guest rider and her Tom Kat, who I didn’t know and no one knew, weren’t there.  I checked every method for her to contact me and nope, not a word.  At this point, if she wasn’t on her way (in which case she wouldn’t see any messages from me), she wouldn’t make it on time.  I held a brief meeting to divide up the groups and announced that since the MIA rider was the reason we were stopping in Ark City for gas, we would no longer need to do that.  As we biked up to leave with Nellie’s Tom Kat, JT (who was caging it), in the lead of the first group and my Tom Kat, Greg, and I in the lead of the second group, I crossed my fingers that we weren’t leaving Mr. and Mrs. MIA behind. 

Greg and I quickly lost sight of the first group and we all settled in for a gorgeous ride in the Kansas countryside while George Michael, Neil Diamond, Air Supply and Whitney Houston pumped music into my ears.  Hey, don’t judge!  It’s my playlist and I make no apologies for my music taste, or lack thereof!   As we got closer and closer to the Oklahoma state line, I was watching my handlebar-mounted clock and I could see that by skipping the gas stop in Ark City, we were gong to be WAY early for our 11:30 reservation at the El Patio Mexican Grill and Cantina.  In fact, they might not even be open yet! That was an epic fail on the trip planner’s timeline which was, of course, developed by yours truly.  Had I thought of that sooner, we could have had a second beverage, a second breakfast burrito and several more donuts at the QuikTrip.  At my first opportunity, I told Greg the situation and he suggested we go ahead and get gas for the return trip.  Sounds like a plan to me!  Of course, I then stressed over the fact that the first group would be wondering and worried over what happened to us.  Now I’m stressed over Mr. and Mrs. MIA and what the other group might be thinking at the same time.  Fortunately, Freddy Mercury helped eased my anxiety.  Hey, I said no judging!

After a quick gas stop, we pulled into the El Patio parking lot where the first group was lounging on a bench and curbs and chatting with one another.  Not one person seemed to be worried about what happened to us.  Clearly, I way overthink things.  No sooner had we pulled in the parking lot, along came Sherri and her friend, Cheryl.  Is it confusing to have a friend with almost the exact same name?  Sherri and Cheryl had ridden in from Oklahoma City and although they were in the same state, they actually rode further than we did!  And this is why we call Sherri “Hard Core!”

I then went inside the restaurant and said, “I know we’re super early, but I wanted you to know that the Krome Kitties are here so when you’re ready, we’re ready.”  I gotta give mad props to the wait staff as they directed us to the el patio for al fresco dining (yes, I’m fully aware that I mixed two countries in the same sentence, but that’s how multi-cultural I am) and scrambled to get tables arranged in the shade for 23 people and menus in all of our hands.  And the scrambling didn’t end there.  They scurried about to keep chip baskets, salsa dishes and drinks full.  And amazingly, all 23 delicious meals came out at the same time!   This was even more remarkable when some of us went inside to use the restroom and saw the entire restaurant was packed!  This definitely deserves a five-star rating on Kelp, which is the Krome Kitty restaurant rating system.  That I just invented.  That we should start using.  Because it’s better than Yelp.

After digging out all the cash from the flamed bag, I turned it over to Bobbie to count and there was 110 smackeroos in there!  That meant that some lucky Kitty or Tom Kat was going home with 55 of them!  I gave David the honors of drawing the ticket.  Why David, you ask?  Well, even though his Kitty, Tricia, couldn’t attend the ride, David said he still wanted to go and he brought his friend Joe, too!  I figured any Tom Kat who attended the Tom Kat ride without being forced….uh, I mean, accompanied by a Kitty deserves some special recognition.  And apparently, he deserves being paid, too, because he drew his very own ticket!  David made me promise to not tell Tricia he won so I’m hoping by the time this is published, he has long spent the money and Tricia can’t confiscate it from him.  If not, well…my bad David!

And then it was time to reunite the pint-sized Tom Kats and I gotta say the Friedman Tom Kat is a little worse for wear compared to all the other still shiny, still got all their faces on, and still talking Tom Kats.  Thank you to Dorrin, Jim, and Al for taking such good care of your Toms!  JT, shame on you!  When I asked where his Tom Kat was, he said, “I don’t know.  The last time I saw him, he was in a storage compartment in the Slingshot.”  I asked, “You have no idea where he could be?”  To which JT replied, “Probably still in the Slingshot…which has been sold…to a stranger.”  Oh, the horror!  We did a photo shoot with the little guys and they said their good-byes for another year.  I hope the Friedman Tom Kat still has a face by then.

And speaking of photo shoot, several of us couldn’t pass up an opportunity to be an ass on an ass!  I’m not sure if El Patio intended for the donkey in the courtyard to be sat upon, but you put something like that in front of a bunch of Krome Kitties (and a Tom Kat) and you’re just begging for us to climb on it.  Just ask Lindsborg about their Dala horses! 

After cleaning our plates, or to-going what we couldn’t eat, we settled up the tabs, hit the restroom one last time and made our way to the bikes where they were sitting in the much hotter sun than it was when we arrived.  We herded the Kitties and Tom Kats for a group picture and then reassembled into our groups again for the return trip home.

When I got on my bike and turned the ignition switch, all I got was a whole lot of nothing.  I did it again…and again…and again with the same result.  The assumption was I had a dead battery, but no worries – I’ve got tools and jumper cables and plenty of bikes to get me jumped.  I told everyone to go ahead and leave and Greg and I would ride back with David and his friend, Joe, who were in the meantime, helping Greg get my bike seat off and getting tools out.  As I was telling Christine what happened, she said, “You know it’s the strangest thing, when I went to turn my ignition switch, it had been flipped to the accessory setting, which I would never do.  Someone must have messed with it.”  Who would be brave enough to mess with a bike when it’s accompanied by two dozen other bikes and they don’t know that we’re not the Sons of Anarchy?  That’s just crazy!

Well, they were doubly crazy, because after Greg and Joe got everything disassembled from my bike, we realized the exact same thing had happened to my bike and I was using muscle memory to flip the ignition, which resulted in it being turned off rather than being turn on.  I take full responsibility for being a dunce, but who would do that?  Must have been a PO’d cager for us taking up most of the parking spots!  Anywhoo, by the time we got my bike put back together again, there was just the four of us remaining and we made our way back to Wichita and thankfully, I don’t have to buy a new battery!  But I am an idiot, so there is that.

So, there you have it!  Another fun, gorgeous day on the bikes with our husbands, boyfriends, friends and family on the annual Tom Kat ride.  Thank you to all those who made the day so memorable and enjoyable!   And thank you to the ride leaders, Greg and JT, and to the ride sweeps, Nellie, Al and Dorrin for getting us there safely and without one missed turn.

Oh, and what happened to Mr. and Mrs. MIA? Well, I reached out to her after we returned from the ride and she said she didn’t know where to go or what time. “Really? I emailed you with all the details and you even responded.” I said.  Pause. Pause. Pause.  “Oh yeah, I totally forgot you emailed me.  I went back to look and sure enough, there’s two emails from you.  I guess it had it all along.  I must have had a blonde moment.”  Well, congratulations on trumping my bike ignition blunder!

Those on board for the South of the Border Tom Kat ride were Janice and Greg, Nellie and JT, Tresny and John, Christine and Dorrin with Zach, Linda and Jim, Kari and Daryl, Bobbie and Al, Sherrie and Cheryl, Kathryn, Kim, Chris, Annette, David and Joe.

Janice – KKMC Founder

South of the Border – September 16, 2018

“P” may be for Ponca City, but for the September 16th Tom Kat ride, “P” was also for Perfect as we couldn’t have ordered up a more spectacular day for riding.  Clear skies, bright sunshine and not a breath of wind.  I would even go so far as to say that might have been the warmest Tom Kat ride we’ve ever had.  While most of us rode to the QuikTrip in Derby with jackets, they were quickly shed and we never saw them again.  Some of us packed our jackets in our saddle bags prior to leaving for the ride.  Not so with Nellie Taylor!  She took off her jacket and stowed it in between her bike and windshield…while riding to Ponca City!  That’s some skill right there!  That would have been a lost jacket if it were me.

When my Tom Kat, Greg, and I arrived at the QT at 8:30 on the dot, Kim Jones and Kathryn Langrehr were already there.  “How come you guys are here so early?” I asked.  Kim responded, “We had to stake out our No Tom Kat Zone.  Here’s the line (which she designated with her foot) and don’t you even think about crossing it if you got a man with you!” Duly noted Kim and Kathryn

Within minutes, beautiful bike after beautiful bike came pouring into the parking lot and just like Kim, we had our parking zone clearly designated…that is until a big ole rig pulled right smack dap in the middle of it.  Obviously, the driver doesn’t adhere to rules like the Kitties and Tom Kats do!  Fortunately, he didn’t stay long and we filled it up to guarantee that wouldn’t happen again. 

After making our greetings, getting beverages, breakfast burritos and donuts, I pulled out the flamed bag and starting pimping 50/50 tickets.  After witnessing my juggling struggle of tea, the bag, my phone, the tickets and money, Kathryn Langrehr said, “You are bound to drop something, so why don’t you let me sell the tickets?”  I was happy to turn that over to Kathryn, who quickly enlisted the help of Annette South, and I proceeded to snap picture after picture.  As I watched the time and took roll call, I noticed that a potential new member/guest rider and her Tom Kat, who I didn’t know and no one knew, weren’t there.  I checked every method for her to contact me and nope, not a word.  At this point, if she wasn’t on her way (in which case she wouldn’t see any messages from me), she wouldn’t make it on time.  I held a brief meeting to divide up the groups and announced that since the MIA rider was the reason we were stopping in Ark City for gas, we would no longer need to do that.  As we biked up to leave with Nellie Taylor’s Tom Kat, JT (who was caging it), in the lead of the first group and my Tom Kat, Greg, and I in the lead of the second group, I crossed my fingers that we weren’t leaving Mr. and Mrs. MIA behind. 

Greg and I quickly lost sight of the first group and we all settled in for a gorgeous ride in the Kansas countryside while George Michael, Neil Diamond, Air Supply and Whitney Houston pumped music into my ears.  Hey, don’t judge!  It’s my playlist and I make no apologies for my music taste, or lack thereof!   As we got closer and closer to the Oklahoma state line, I was watching my handlebar-mounted clock and I could see that by skipping the gas stop in Ark City, we were gong to be WAY early for our 11:30 reservation at the El Patio Mexican Grill and Cantina.  In fact, they might not even be open yet! That was an epic fail on the trip planner’s timeline which was, of course, developed by yours truly.  Had I thought of that sooner, we could have had a second beverage, a second breakfast burrito and several more donuts at the QuikTrip.  At my first opportunity, I told Greg the situation and he suggested we go ahead and get gas for the return trip.  Sounds like a plan to me!  Of course, I then stressed over the fact that the first group would be wondering and worried over what happened to us.  Now I’m stressed over Mr. and Mrs. MIA and what the other group might be thinking at the same time.  Fortunately, Freddy Mercury helped eased my anxiety.  Hey, I said no judging!

After a quick gas stop, we pulled into the El Patio parking lot where the first group was lounging on a bench and curbs and chatting with one another.  Not one person seemed to be worried about what happened to us.  Clearly, I way overthink things.  No sooner had we pulled in the parking lot, along came Sherri Carver and her friend, Cheryl Volk.  Is it confusing to have a friend with almost the exact same name?  Sherri and Cheryl had ridden in from Oklahoma City and although they were in the same state, they actually rode further than we did!  And this is why we call Sherri “Hard Core!”

I then went inside the restaurant and said, “I know we’re super early, but I wanted you to know that the Krome Kitties are here so when you’re ready, we’re ready.”  I gotta give mad props to the wait staff as they directed us to the el patio for al fresco dining (yes, I’m fully aware that I mixed two countries in the same sentence, but that’s how multi-cultural I am) and scrambled to get tables arranged in the shade for 23 people and menus in all of our hands.  And the scrambling didn’t end there.  They scurried about to keep chip baskets, salsa dishes and drinks full.  And amazingly, all 23 delicious meals came out at the same time!   This was even more remarkable when some of us went inside to use the restroom and saw the entire restaurant was packed!  This definitely deserves a five-star rating on Kelp, which is the Krome Kitty restaurant rating system.  That I just invented.  That we should start using.  Because it’s better than Yelp.

After digging out all the cash from the flamed bag, I turned it over to Bobbie Cole to count and there was 110 smackeroos in there!  That meant that some lucky Kitty or Tom Kat was going home with 55 of them!  I gave David Carruthers the honors of drawing the ticket.  Why David, you ask?  Well, even though his Kitty, Tricia, couldn’t attend the ride, David said he still wanted to go and he brought his friend Joe, too!  I figured any Tom Kat who attended the Tom Kat ride without being forced….uh, I mean, accompanied by a Kitty deserves some special recognition.  And apparently, he deserves being paid, too, because he drew his very own ticket!  David made me promise to not tell Tricia he won so I’m hoping by the time this is published, he has long spent the money and Tricia can’t confiscate it from him.  If not, well…my bad David!

And then it was time to reunite the pint-sized Tom Kats and I gotta say the Friedman Tom Kat is a little worse for wear compared to all the other still shiny, still got all their faces on, and still talking Tom Kats.  Thank you to Dorrin Allsman, Jim Moreland, and Al Brumbaugh for taking such good care of your Toms!  JT Taylor, shame on you!  When I asked where his Tom Kat was, he said, “I don’t know.  The last time I saw him, he was in a storage compartment in the Slingshot.”  I asked, “You have no idea where he could be?”  To which JT replied, “Probably still in the Slingshot…which has been sold…to a stranger.”  Oh, the horror!  We did a photo shoot with the little guys and they said their good-byes for another year.  I hope the Friedman Tom Kat still has a face by then.

And speaking of photo shoot, several of us couldn’t pass up an opportunity to be an ass on an ass!  I’m not sure if El Patio intended for the donkey in the courtyard to be sat upon, but you put something like that in front of a bunch of Krome Kitties (and a Tom Kat) and you’re just begging for us to climb on it.  Just ask Lindsborg about their Dala horses! 

After cleaning our plates, or to-going what we couldn’t eat, we settled up the tabs, hit the restroom one last time and made our way to the bikes where they were sitting in the much hotter sun than it was when we arrived.  We herded the Kitties and Tom Kats for a group picture and then reassembled into our groups again for the return trip home.

When I got on my bike and turned the ignition switch, all I got was a whole lot of nothing.  I did it again…and again…and again with the same result.  The assumption was I had a dead battery, but no worries – I’ve got tools and jumper cables and plenty of bikes to get me jumped.  I told everyone to go ahead and leave and Greg and I would ride back with David Carruthers and his friend, Joe, who were in the meantime, helping Greg get my bike seat off and getting tools out.  As I was telling Christine Allsman what happened, she said, “You know it’s the strangest thing, when I went to turn my ignition switch, it had been flipped to the accessory setting, which I would never do.  Someone must have messed with it.”  Who would be brave enough to mess with a bike when it’s accompanied by two dozen other bikes and they don’t know that we’re not the Sons of Anarchy?  That’s just crazy!

Well, they were doubly crazy, because after Greg and Joe got everything disassembled from my bike, we realized the exact same thing had happened to my bike and I was using muscle memory to flip the ignition, which resulted in it being turned off rather than being turn on.  I take full responsibility for being a dunce, but who would do that?  Must have been a PO’d cager for us taking up most of the parking spots!  Anywhoo, by the time we got my bike put back together again, there was just the four of us remaining and we made our way back to Wichita and thankfully, I don’t have to buy a new battery!  But I am an idiot, so there is that.

So, there you have it!  Another fun, gorgeous day on the bikes with our husbands, boyfriends, friends and family on the annual Tom Kat ride.  Thank you to all those who made the day so memorable and enjoyable!   And thank you to the ride leaders, Greg and JT, and to the ride sweeps, Nellie Taylor, Al and Dorrin for getting us there safely and without one missed turn.

Oh, and what happened to Mr. and Mrs. MIA? Well, I reached out to her after we returned from the ride and she said she didn’t know where to go or what time. “Really? I emailed you with all the details and you even responded.” I said.  Pause. Pause. Pause.  “Oh yeah, I totally forgot you emailed me.  I went back to look and sure enough, there’s two emails from you.  I guess it had it all along.  I must have had a blonde moment.”  Well, congratulations on trumping my bike ignition blunder!

Those on board for the South of the Border Tom Kat ride were Janice and Greg Friedman, Nellie and JT Taylor, Tresny and John Janzen, Christine and Dorrin Allsman with Zach Herman, Linda and Jim Moreland, Kari and Daryl Miller, Bobbie Cole and Al Brumbaugh, Sherri Carver and Cheryl Volk, Kathryn Langrehr, Kim Jones, Chris Emond, Annette South, David Carruthers and Joe Erdman.

September Road Trip – Tom Kat Ride – Ponca City, OK

It’s time for the annual Tom Kat ride! This is the one time during the season you are welcome to invite your significant other, spouse, friends and family to join you on a Kitty ride. When you RSVP, please indicate how many people you will be bringing and their names.

You probably noticed that we changed the destination for this ride. After discussing the great distance (170 miles), Kathryn Langrehr and I decided that that might be a little over ambitious to take a large group that far. Plus, we didn’t want to exclude anyone who wasn’t up for a 3.5 hour ride one way. So Ponca City, here we come!

Here are the details:

Meeting location: the QT on Rock Rd in Derby. 2801 N. Rock Rd in DERBY. This is the same QT we met at for the August ride if you attended that.

Meeting time: 8:30 am with kickstands up at 9:15 am.

Lunch: The El Patio Mexican Restaurant

Distance: 86 miles one way.

5 day forecast: sunny with a high of 84. 11 mph wind. Sounds fantastic!

Gas stop: we will have a guest rider with us who rides a Sportster. She will need to stop for gas before getting to Ponca City, so we will make a very quick stop in Ark City.

Rain Plan: if it’s raining in Ponca City that day, we will stay closer to home and will eat lunch at the Benton Airport. If it’s nice here, then we’ll ride to Benton. If it’s also raining here, we’ll cage it there.

Sightseeing option: the Marland Mansion is an option if enough of you are interested. It takes about two hours to go through it. If you aren’t interested in doing that, we could make a stop at Henry’s Candy Factory in Dexter on the way home. Please let me know which you prefer to do.

You know the drill, it’s Tom Kat month so you gotta bring your little Tom Kats that were gifted to the Toms a couple of years ago. Let’s see who can still find theirs!

What you need to bring (other than your plastic Tom Kat): cash for the 50/50 drawing (6 tickets for $5.00) and any shirts you want to have Kittified. We will be doing our last run of the season at the end of September.

What I will bring: the usual selection of patches, pins and a small amount of Kitty bandanas. Let me know if you would like anything else.

RSVPS due on Monday, September 10th. Please, pretty please respond by clicking Going on this post by that date so I can let the restaurant know how many of us to expect.

If your husband or boyfriend doesn’t ride, they are welcome to drive their car and join us for a fun day! If you don’t have one of the above, please don’t stay home because of that. There will be others who will be Tom Katless so you will not be alone.

Looking forward to another great Tom Kat Ride!

 

 

 

“P” is for Ponca, Pawhuska and Pig – May 20, 2017

We is kind.  We is beautiful.  We is smart.  For the Road Trip on Saturday, May 20th, we were especially smart.  You see, back in April at the Burrton ride, Kathryn approached me and said, “You know there can be up to a five hour wait for lunch at the Pioneer Women Mercantile, right?”  I replied, “Are you flipping kidding me?”  We can’t wait five hours to eat lunch!”  “Precisely.” Kathryn responded.  “I would suggest you ride to Ponca City and eat there and then ride to Pawhuska and avoid that whole line around the building thing.”  Following Kathryn’s advice, that’s exactly what we did.

Nellie, Maureen and I selected The Ground Round for our eatin’ spot and once again, we proved how smart we is.  First of all, as Dawn led us all into the restaurant parking lot, our Oklahoma Kitty, Sherri aka Hard Core Kitty, was just getting off her bike.  That, my dear Feline Friends, is what you call perfect timing.  Secondly, this parking lot was my absolute very favorite kind – wide open with not. one. single. car in it.  Ain’t no five hour wait in this joint, no sirree!  In lickety split time, we were all seated in a long stretch of tables and shedding layers and eyeballing menus.  While we waited for our food orders to arrive, I passed out the AWESOME member patches.  We all chit chatted through our meals and Dawn expressed her displeasure with those who don’t pay their taxes and then get to settle a $50,000 debt with the IRS for like 80 bucks.  How in the world did that come up in conversation, you ask?  Well, Sherri is a tax attorney; you can probably figure it out from there.  “How is that fair??”  Right, Dawn?  And then it was time for the most important part of the lunch – the 50/50 drawing!  There was a total of $45.00 in the flamed bag so that meant someone (not me) was going home with $23.00!  We gave our friendly and very helpful waitress the honors of drawing the ticket and …….  Sherri was the winner!  Ironically, Sherri had just thrown all kinds of money at me to pay for a shirt, Kitty Kap, patches and a spot pin.  Now, I was throwing it right back to her.  I’m now thinking maybe we might ought to change her nickname to Shrewd Sherri!

After our friendly and helpful waitress took a group picture and commented (or was it more like me saying?) how bad ass we were, we all filed outside and biked up for the long 44-mile journey to Pawhuska with Dawn in the lead.  Next stop – shopping!!

It didn’t take a Lewis and Clark expedition to figure out where the Pioneer Woman Mercantile was in Pawhuska.  Just look for a line of people wrapped around a building.  We is SO smart for avoiding all that standing and waiting by eating a tasty and quick meal in Ponca City!  Thank you Kathryn!  We masterfully pulled nine bikes into like three parking stalls and bypassed all those suckers (uh, I mean poor souls) to walk right into the Mercantile.  We all split up and agreed to meet back at the front door in one hour.

I was committed to finding a pig for Suz and recruited all Kitties to cover every inch of the place and report back.  Their marching orders – FIND ME A PIG!!  Here’s what we came up with – one small plain white piggy bank, which didn’t even have the Mercantile logo on it; small pink pig mugs; and little bowls with pigs on them.  What the heck??  Wouldn’t you think at a place called “Mercantile” there would be pigs?  There were plenty of cows, horses, chickens and every other barnyard animal, but no PIGS!  What do these people have against pork??  Well, in the end, I opted for the bowls but it was truly a very disappointing experience.  (Sad emoji face.)  After I recovered from the pig debacle, I wandered around the store and covertly took pictures of the Kitties shopping and caught Shelley in both her Ladylike and Sexylike poses.  We commandeered a young man to take our group picture in front of the store with our bags of goodies and then walked to the bikes to pack them all up and get ready for the trip home.

Dawn found a beautiful little road to begin our trip home which reminded me of Thunder Road out of Augusta with lots of turns and some hills.  Everything was a brilliant green what with all the cool and wet weather we’ve been having and it was a very relaxing and serene ride.  That is until the pothole from hell that several of the Kitties fell into.  I was right behind Christine when all of a sudden, she bounced like she was on a trampoline!  I swear I thought she was going to come clear off her bike!  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something fly off her bike and as I was zooming past at about 70 miles per hour, I thought, “Huh, that looked like a key on a key ring.”  But knowing there’s no way a key was going to come out of an ignition like that, I didn’t give it too much thought.  Until…..we stopped in Winfield for gas.  Christine pulled in line behind some other Kitties and switched off her bike to wait her turn.  When she went to turn it back on, all she got was a whole lot of nothing.  You see, these newfangled bikes have a Fob that has to be near the bike in order for it to start.  Turns out that Fob was nowhere near the bike and somewhere near that pothole from hell.  Guess my quick assessment of a key on a key ring flying by me was spot on.  Linda came to the rescue and said, “I know how to start it.  All you have to have is your code.”  “Code?  I don’t know my code,” replied Christine.  “Here, let me get my phone and call my husband, Dorrin, to give it to me.  Oh wait, my phone is in my saddle bags and I can’t open my saddle bags without the key.”  We all started throwing phones at her and she got hold of Dorrin.  Dorrin asked silly questions like how did your Fob fly out of your pocket and if it wasn’t in your pocket, how did your Fob fly out of your windshield pouch?  Christine decided this wasn’t the time to get into the fact that her key wasn’t securely tucked away in her pocket or windshield pouch, but rather laying in a cubby hole on her dash.  Some things are better left unsaid, right Christine?  Dorrin provided the code and after quite a few minutes of Linda and Christine hovering over her bike, we finally heard it fire up!  In unison, we all said, DO NOT SHUT THAT OFF UNTIL YOU’RE IN YOUR GARAGE!  While we were patiently waiting for Christine and Linda to break into her ignition system, a grumpy Winfieldite told us we needed to get our bikes out away from the gas pumps, despite the fact that there were many other pumps to choose from.  Our Enforcer Maureen, said “Since you asked us so meanly, we’re going to move them but we ain’t gonna be quick about it!”  This guy must not have realized what a rough and tumble biker gang we are – he’s lucky we didn’t get our lipsticks out and defame his car!

Now fast forward to the next day and Dorrin is determined to find that key Fob so he packed up his biker gang member Christine and headed off to retrace our steps of the day before.  Christine and I exchanged several texts that Sunday morning trying to determine where I saw it fly by me and I made a comment something along the lines of a needle in a haystack.  What I was silently thinking was, “There’s a snowball’s chance in Hell she’s going to find that.”  Well, Hell froze over on Sunday, May 21st, when I got a text from Christine saying “We found it!!”  Feeling quite confident she was fibbing to me, I demanded pictures to prove it.  And then she sent pictures!  I’ll be damned if they didn’t find that key Fob, along with about a dozen sticks of Trident gum that also flew off her bike, laying alongside the road.  The Fob is a little worse for wear and it’s anybody’s guess as to whether it’ll actually ever work again, but the Eagle Eye Allsmans proved me wrong.  If you’re ever actually looking for a needle in a haystack, might I suggest you contact Christine and Dorrin?  I just have one question….how is that they could find a Fob in the middle of nowhere and I couldn’t find one darn pig in a country store??  To quote Dawn, how is that fair?!

And so it goes for the second Road Trip of the 2017 season.  Thank you, Dawn, for leading us to and fro without one turnaround and thank you Nellie and Maureen for planning a fun day of riding, eating and shopping.  Those on board for the “P” is for Ponca City, Pawhuska and Pig Road Trip were Janice, Sherri, Melaina, Maureen, Nellie, Linda, Dawn, Shelley and Eagle Eye Christine.

Janice, KKMC Founder

 

 

 

 

 

“P” is for Ponca, Pawhuska and Pig – May 20, 2017

We is kind.  We is beautiful.  We is smart.  For the Road Trip on Saturday, May 20th, we were especially smart.  You see, back in April at the Burrton ride, Kathryn Langrehr approached me and said, “You know there can be up to a five hour wait for lunch at the Pioneer Women Mercantile, right?”  I replied, “Are you flipping kidding me?”  We can’t wait five hours to eat lunch!”  “Precisely.” Kathryn responded.  “I would suggest you ride to Ponca City and eat there and then ride to Pawhuska and avoid that whole line around the building thing.”  Following Kathryn’s advice, that’s exactly what we did.

Nellie Taylor, Maureen Stout and I selected The Ground Round for our eatin’ spot and once again, we proved how smart we is.  First of all, as Dawn Morse led us all into the restaurant parking lot, our Oklahoma Kitty, Sherri Carver aka Hard Core Kitty, was just getting off her bike.  That, my dear Feline Friends, is what you call perfect timing.  Secondly, this parking lot was my absolute very favorite kind – wide open with not. one. single. car in it.  Ain’t no five hour wait in this joint, no sirree!  In lickety split time, we were all seated in a long stretch of tables and shedding layers and eyeballing menus.  While we waited for our food orders to arrive, I passed out the AWESOME member patches, which, by the way, will be given to you the next time I see you so let me see you soon!  We all chit chatted through our meals and Dawn Morse expressed her displeasure with those who don’t pay their taxes and then get to settle a $50,000 debt with the IRS for like 80 bucks.  How in the world did that come up in conversation, you ask?  Well, Sherri Carver is a tax attorney; you can probably figure it out from there.  “How is that fair??”  Right, Dawn?  And then it was time for the most important part of the lunch – the 50/50 drawing!  There was a total of $45.00 in the flamed bag so that meant someone (not me) was going home with $23.00!  We gave our friendly and very helpful waitress the honors of drawing the ticket and …….  Sherri Carver was the winner!  Ironically, Sherri had just thrown all kinds of money at me to pay for a shirt, Kitty Kap, patches and a spot pin.  Now, I was throwing it right back to her.  I’m now thinking maybe we might ought to change her nickname to Shrewd Sherri!

After our friendly and helpful waitress took a group picture and commented (or was it more like me saying?) how bad ass we were, we all filed outside and biked up for the long 44-mile journey to Pawhuska with Dawn Morse in the lead.  Next stop – shopping!!

It didn’t take a Lewis and Clark expedition to figure out where the Pioneer Woman Mercantile was in Pawhuska.  Just look for a line of people wrapped around a building.  We is SO smart for avoiding all that standing and waiting by eating a tasty and quick meal in Ponca City!  Thank you Kathryn Langrehr!  We masterfully pulled nine bikes into like three parking stalls and bypassed all those suckers (uh, I mean poor souls) to walk right into the Mercantile.  We all split up and agreed to meet back at the front door in one hour.

I was committed to finding a pig for Suz Tiede and recruited all Kitties to cover every inch of the place and report back.  Their marching orders – FIND ME A PIG!!  Here’s what we came up with – one small plain white piggy bank, which didn’t even have the Mercantile logo on it; small pink pig mugs; and little bowls with pigs on them.  What the heck??  Wouldn’t you think at a place called “Mercantile” there would be pigs?  There were plenty of cows, horses, chickens and every other barnyard animal, but no PIGS!  What do these people have against pork??  Well, in the end, I opted for the bowls but it was truly a very disappointing experience.  (Sad emoji face.)  After I recovered from the pig debacle, I wandered around the store and covertly took pictures of the Kitties shopping and caught Shelley Bonnell in both her Ladylike and Sexylike poses.  We commandeered a young man to take our group picture in front of the store with our bags of goodies and then walked to the bikes to pack them all up and get ready for the trip home.

Dawn Morse found a beautiful little road to begin our trip home which reminded me of Thunder Road out of Augusta with lots of turns and some hills.  Everything was a brilliant green what with all the cool and wet weather we’ve been having and it was a very relaxing and serene ride.  That is until the pothole from hell that several of the Kitties fell into.  I was right behind Christine Allsman when all of a sudden, she bounced like she was on a trampoline!  I swear I thought she was going to come clear off her bike!  Out of the corner of my eye, I saw something fly off her bike and as I was zooming past at about 70 miles per hour, I thought, “Huh, that looked like a key on a key ring.”  But knowing there’s no way a key was going to come out of an ignition like that, I didn’t give it too much thought.  Until…..we stopped in Winfield for gas.  Christine pulled in line behind some other Kitties and switched off her bike to wait her turn.  When she went to turn it back on, all she got was a whole lot of nothing.  You see, these newfangled bikes have a Fob that has to be near the bike in order for it to start.  Turns out that Fob was nowhere near the bike and somewhere near that pothole from hell.  Guess my quick assessment of a key on a key ring flying by me was spot on.  Linda Moreland came to the rescue and said, “I know how to start it.  All you have to have is your code.”  “Code?  I don’t know my code,” replied Christine.  “Here, let me get my phone and call my husband, Dorrin, to give it to me.  Oh wait, my phone is in my saddle bags and I can’t open my saddle bags without the key.”  We all started throwing phones at her and she got hold of Dorrin.  Dorrin asked silly questions like how did your Fob fly out of your pocket and if it wasn’t in your pocket, how did your Fob fly out of your windshield pouch?  Christine decided this wasn’t the time to get into the fact that her key wasn’t securely tucked away in her pocket or windshield pouch, but rather laying in a cubby hole on her dash.  Some things are better left unsaid, right Christine?  Dorrin provided the code and after quite a few minutes of Linda and Christine hovering over her bike, we finally heard it fire up!  In unison, we all said, DO NOT SHUT THAT OFF UNTIL YOU’RE IN YOUR GARAGE!  While we were patiently waiting for Christine and Linda to break into her ignition system, a grumpy Winfieldite told us we needed to get our bikes out away from the gas pumps, despite the fact that there were many other pumps to choose from.  Our Enforcer Maureen Stout, said “Since you asked us so meanly, we’re going to move them but we ain’t gonna be quick about it!”  This guy must not have realized what a rough and tumble biker gang we are – he’s lucky we didn’t get our lipsticks out and defame his car!

Now fast forward to the next day and Dorrin is determined to find that key Fob so he packed up his biker gang member Christine and headed off to retrace our steps of the day before.  Christine and I exchanged several texts that Sunday morning trying to determine where I saw it fly by me and I made a comment something along the lines of a needle in a haystack.  What I was silently thinking was, “There’s a snowball’s chance in Hell she’s going to find that.”  Well, Hell froze over on Sunday, May 21st, when I got a text from Christine saying “We found it!!”  Feeling quite confident she was fibbing to me, I demanded pictures to prove it.  And then she sent pictures!  I’ll be damned if they didn’t find that key Fob, along with about a dozen sticks of Trident gum that also flew off her bike, laying alongside the road.  The Fob is a little worse for wear and it’s anybody’s guess as to whether it’ll actually ever work again, but the Eagle Eye Allsmans proved me wrong.  If you’re ever actually looking for a needle in a haystack, might I suggest you contact Christine and Dorrin?  I just have one question….how is that they could find a Fob in the middle of nowhere and I couldn’t find one darn pig in a country store??  To quote Dawn Morse, how is that fair?!

And so it goes for the second Road Trip of the 2017 season.  Thank you, Dawn Morse, for leading us to and fro without one turnaround and thank you Nellie Taylor and Maureen Stout for planning a fun day of riding, eating and shopping.  Those on board for the “P” is for Ponca City, Pawhuska and Pig Road Trip were Janice Friedman, Sherri Carver, Melaina Phares, Maureen Stout, Nellie Taylor, Linda Moreland, Dawn Morse, Shelley Bonnell and Eagle Eye Christine Allsman.

 

 

 

Puttering Around Ponca City – April 16, 2016

Indecison.  Nine times out of ten, that’s how all the April rides start – do we go or do we stay?  Keeping with tradition, this April ride was no different.  Suz Tiede and I traded texts all week leading up to the Saturday, April 16th ride day.  We scrutinized the weather forecast multiple times a day and each time the chance of rain dropped be even 1%, we would shoot off another text and say, “Did you see the rain forecast is now only 59% instead of 60%?!”  Knowing it would be a game day decision, I went to bed on Friday night and just hoped for the best.  What I woke up to on Saturday morning definitely wasn’t the “best” but it was dry and the radar that Suz and I had become best friends with said, “Damn girls, you’re driving me crazy this week!  If you want to go so bad, then just get the heck out of here and I’ll hold off dumping water until after you get back.”  Knowing Mr. Radar could be pranking us, I posted on Facebook to pack rain suits, but we got a break and we’re taking it!  So, ten Kitties rolled into the Derby Quik Trip parking lot, all leathered up and ready to ride.  Well, nearly everyone.  One Kitty rolled in all canvassed up and ready to ride.  Maureen Stout thought “dress warm” meant a canvas jacket with a long-sleeved shirt or two underneath.  It only took the ride to Derby to realize the error her ways and announced leather doesn’t always have to mean leather.  “Did you know you can make your own leather by putting a nylon rain jacket over top of a canvas jacket?”  That Maureen – always a rebel!

After saying our hellos, exchanging hugs, welcoming new member Shelley Donnell to the group, selling 50/50 tickets and gassing up, we rolled out of the QT parking lot with Linda Moreland in the lead and Nellie Taylor and her Batmobile bringing up the rear.  Next stop – Ponca City, USA!

The ride to Ponca City was uneventful and by eventful, I mean we didn’t get rained on.  Sure, there were a few drizzles that had us all holding our breath that it wasn’t the start of a bad thing, but Mr. Radar held true to his word and Linda Moreland led 10 dry and happy, albeit windblown, Kitties right to the parking lot of Enrique’s Mexican Restaurant.

Let’s just make it official, shall we?  From this day forward, I declare that April rides will forever be known as the Suz Tiede Family Reunion Ride.  Last April, we were greeted by and had lunch with Suz’s family in Attica.  This year we were greeted by and had lunch with Suz’s family in Ponca City.  Suz, since you appear to have family scattered all over the states of Kansas and Oklahoma, please start now in finding us more family to greet and eat with us next April.  There to welcome us to Ponca City were Uncle CW (no one seems to know what CW stands for but I like to think it’s for Cats (gone) Wild), Aunt Nona, Cousin Kimmie and her husband, Big Steve (really, he should be known as Huge Steve because this guy is T.A.L.L.!)

After getting to know Suz’s family; enjoying some pillow chips and salsa; chowing on some darn good Mexican food; and thoroughly discussing the merits of fried pie, it was time to finally give yours truly the 50/50 proceeds.  I mean, at some point odds are I gotta win, right?  Well, no I sure don’t gotta!  Cousin Kimmie did the honors (or dishonor if you’re a loser like me) and pulled the winning ticket for the $25.00 which happened to be in Rebel Maureen Stout’s hot little paws.  Damn!  Robbed again!  Someday Little Orange and Black Flame Bag, you’ll be mine…all mine I say!

Not wanting to push our luck by overstaying our welcome in Ponca City and risking Mr. Radar turning on the faucet, we decided to forego the Marland Mansion tour.  Instead Huge Steve and Cousin Kimmie (who rides a big ole Harley because after all, you can’t put Huge Steve on a small ole Harley) offered to lead us to a few points of interest in Ponca City.  By now, we had lost Kathryn Langrehr and Shelley Bonnell who had opted to leave from the restaurant to head back home.  So, eight Kitties rode to the first sightseeing stop on the tour, which was the Pioneer Woman monument.  This is a bronze sculpture donated to Ponca City by none other than E.W. Marland (original owner of the Marland Mansion) in 1930.  It was to honor the heroic character of the women who braved the dangers and endured the hardships typical of the daily lives of the pioneers in this country.  (Given this criterion, don’t you think there should be a Krome Kitty monument?  After all, we brave danger and endure hardships all the time.  Please refer to the Oh Hail No ride for an example.)  It was very awe inspiring, but what we really saw was PHOTO OP!  The statue is erected on a pyramid of stones which E.W. Marland thoughtlessly failed to provide steps to.  I mean how is one to get up to the first level without steps?  I’ll tell you how, you belly flop your way up, that’s how!  With a not so gentle butt push from a sister Kitty, I managed to roll myself up to the top level.  I then look up from my prone position to see Linda Moreland and Maureen Stout already there, standing upright.  Those aren’t Krome Kitties, those are Mountain Lions with all their nimbleness and sprightliness!

After making a drive-by the Marland Mansion and wishing the weather would have been more cooperative and vowing to take another go at it in the future, we rode the short distance to Standing Bear Park where there is a 22-foot bronze statue erected in honor of Standing Bear, a Ponca Native American Chief.  Again, what we saw in addition to something actually taller than Huge Steve was PHOTO OP!  Sue Morrissey and Sueanne Rugh opted to keep Huge Steve and Cousin Kimmie company at the bikes, while the other six Kitties hiked our way through the park to the monument.  We snapped lots of pictures, Suz Tiede took a refreshment break and then it was time to go find that infamous fried pie that Sueanne Rugh raved about during the entire lunch.  Huge Steve offered to lead us to pie nirvana, which he thought was about 15 miles away.  Soon we were pulling into a gas station along Interstate 35 and I thought, “This is where the fried pie is?”  Turns out it is where Huge Steve THOUGHT it was, but after consulting with Know It All Google, we discovered it was another 5 or 6 miles away.  Again, not wanting push our luck, we gassed up and decided to let the south winds push us back to Wichita.  We said our good-byes to Huge Steve and Cousin Kimmie and as we were pulling away, they called, “Y’all come back now, ya hear?”  To which we replied, “You bet your sweet fried pie we will!”  A colossal thank you to Huge Steve and Cousin Kimmie for being our welcoming committee, our tour guide and our new friends in Ponca City!  You guys are the best!

So, that’s how we spent the day that almost never happened puttering around Ponca City.  It was a great way to start Season #12 and a big ole’ Kitty Kiss goes to Suz Tiede and Denise Johnson for planning a fun-filled day for us!  Those on board for the “Putteirng Around Ponca City” trip was Janice Friedman, Suz Tiede, Kathryn Langrehr, Shelley Bonnell, Sue Morrissey, Sueanne Rugh, Maureen Stout, Christine Allsman, Nellie Taylor and Linda Moreland.

Puttering Around Ponca City – April 16, 2016

Indecison.  Nine times out of ten, that’s how all the April rides start – do we go or do we stay?  Keeping with tradition, this April ride was no different.  Suz and I traded texts all week leading up to the Saturday, April 16th ride day.  We scrutinized the weather forecast multiple times a day and each time the chance of rain dropped be even 1%, we would shoot off another text and say, “Did you see the rain forecast is now only 59% instead of 60%?!”  Knowing it would be a game day decision, I went to bed on Friday night and just hoped for the best.  What I woke up to on Saturday morning definitely wasn’t the “best” but it was dry and the radar that Suz and I had become best friends with said, “Damn girls, you’re driving me crazy this week!  If you want to go so bad, then just get the heck out of here and I’ll hold off dumping water until after you get back.”  Knowing Mr. Radar could be pranking us, I posted on Facebook to pack rain suits, but we got a break and we’re taking it!  So, ten Kitties rolled into the Derby Quik Trip parking lot, all leathered up and ready to ride.  Well, nearly everyone.  One Kitty rolled in all canvassed up and ready to ride.  Maureen thought “dress warm” meant a canvas jacket with a long-sleeved shirt or two underneath.  It only took the ride to Derby to realize the error her ways and announced leather doesn’t always have to mean leather.  “Did you know you can make your own leather by putting a nylon rain jacket over top of a canvas jacket?”  That Maureen – always a rebel!

After saying our hellos, exchanging hugs, welcoming new member Shelley to the group, selling 50/50 tickets and gassing up, we rolled out of the QT parking lot with Linda in the lead and Nellie and her Batmobile bringing up the rear.  Next stop – Ponca City, USA!

The ride to Ponca City was uneventful and by eventful, I mean we didn’t get rained on.  Sure, there were a few drizzles that had us all holding our breath that it wasn’t the start of a bad thing, but Mr. Radar held true to his word and Linda led 10 dry and happy, albeit windblown, Kitties right to the parking lot of Enrique’s Mexican Restaurant.

Let’s just make it official, shall we?  From this day forward, I declare that April rides will forever be known as the Suz Family Reunion Ride.  Last April, we were greeted by and had lunch with Suz’s family in Attica.  This year we were greeted by and had lunch with Suz’s family in Ponca City.  Suz, since you appear to have family scattered all over the states of Kansas and Oklahoma, please start now in finding us more family to greet and eat with us next April.  There to welcome us to Ponca City were Uncle CW (no one seems to know what CW stands for but I like to think it’s for Cats (gone) Wild), Aunt Nona, Cousin Kimmie and her husband, Big Steve (really, he should be known as Huge Steve because this guy is T.A.L.L.!)

After getting to know Suz’s family; enjoying some pillow chips and salsa; chowing on some darn good Mexican food; and thoroughly discussing the merits of fried pie, it was time to finally give yours truly the 50/50 proceeds.  I mean, at some point odds are I gotta win, right?  Well, no I sure don’t gotta!  Cousin Kimmie did the honors (or dishonor if you’re a loser like me) and pulled the winning ticket for the $25.00 which happened to be in Rebel Maureen’s hot little paws.  Damn!  Robbed again!  Someday Little Orange and Black Flame Bag, you’ll be mine…all mine I say!

Not wanting to push our luck by overstaying our welcome in Ponca City and risking Mr. Radar turning on the faucet, we decided to forego the Marland Mansion tour.  Instead Huge Steve and Cousin Kimmie (who rides a big ole Harley because after all, you can’t put Huge Steve on a small ole Harley) offered to lead us to a few points of interest in Ponca City.  By now, we had lost Kathryn and Shelley who had opted to leave from the restaurant to head back home.  So, eight Kitties rode to the first sightseeing stop on the tour, which was the Pioneer Woman monument.  This is a bronze sculpture donated to Ponca City by none other than E.W. Marland (original owner of the Marland Mansion) in 1930.  It was to honor the heroic character of the women who braved the dangers and endured the hardships typical of the daily lives of the pioneers in this country.  (Given this criterion, don’t you think there should be a Krome Kitty monument?  After all, we brave danger and endure hardships all the time.)  It was very awe inspiring, but what we really saw was PHOTO OP!  The statue is erected on a pyramid of stones which E.W. Marland thoughtlessly failed to provide steps to.  I mean how is one to get up to the first level without steps?  I’ll tell you how, you belly flop your way up, that’s how!  With a not so gentle butt push from a sister Kitty, I managed to roll myself up to the top level.  I then look up from my prone position to see Linda and Maureen already there, standing upright.  Those aren’t Krome Kitties, those are Mountain Lions with all their nimbleness and sprightliness!

After making a drive-by the Marland Mansion and wishing the weather would have been more cooperative and vowing to take another go at it in the future, we rode the short distance to Standing Bear Park where there is a 22-foot bronze statue erected in honor of Standing Bear, a Ponca Native American Chief.  Again, what we saw in addition to something actually taller than Huge Steve was PHOTO OP!  Sue and Sueanne opted to keep Huge Steve and Cousin Kimmie company at the bikes, while the other six Kitties hiked our way through the park to the monument.  We snapped lots of pictures, Suz took a refreshment break and then it was time to go find that infamous fried pie that Sueanne raved about during the entire lunch.  Huge Steve offered to lead us to pie nirvana, which he thought was about 15 miles away.  Soon we were pulling into a gas station along Interstate 35 and I thought, “This is where the fried pie is?”  Turns out it is where Huge Steve THOUGHT it was, but after consulting with Know It All Google, we discovered it was another 5 or 6 miles away.  Again, not wanting push our luck, we gassed up and decided to let the south winds push us back to Wichita.  We said our good-byes to Huge Steve and Cousin Kimmie and as we were pulling away, they called, “Y’all come back now, ya hear?”  To which we replied, “You bet your sweet fried pie we will!”  A colossal thank you to Huge Steve and Cousin Kimmie for being our welcoming committee, our tour guide and our new friends in Ponca City!  You guys are the best!

So, that’s how we spent the day that almost never happened puttering around Ponca City.  It was a great way to start Season #12 and a big ole’ Kitty Kiss goes to Suz and Denise for planning a fun-filled day for us!  Those on board for the “Putteirng Around Ponca City” trip was Janice, Suz, Kathryn, Shelley, Sue, Sueanne, Maureen, Christine, Nellie and Linda.

 

Janice – Founder of KKMC