Day 24 Cooks Corner

Today was to be an eventful day. We off to Cooks Corner to meet Julie from the Pink Hummer. We were pretty excited about that as at one time it was planned that they were going to do the Conga with us. She actually did for a mile or two and that is what is is all about.

Anyway Carrie arrived at our motel, she came in burnin rubber for the ol boy that owned the place.  He was all worried that  we were some bad ass bikers and were going to start our mean machines up before 9 am. He was down right rude actually, and when it came time for the continental breakfast he stood right over us to make sure we didn't take more than we were suppose to. Lets just say I don't think he liked any kind of bikers.

Carrie arrived with Janna. The ride to Cooks Corner was beautiful, they really do have some nice roads to ride. A couple more gals met us there, whos names I can not remember. We had a great lunch and visit whilst waiting for Julie. We took a ton of pics of each other. I always like to get that banner shot of everyone that rode with us too and their autograph. While I was getting the banner out, over walked this couple. That would be Daisy and Cliff. They couldn't help themselves she said to find out what was with all the pink. So of course I  told the story, she donated some money and wished us good luck. I asked her if they could ride with us a little bit that day and she said sure. Well how about that, they both rode these awesome Choppers. How cool was that?? I remember Daisy saying she never wears pink, but that particular day, she had a pink bandanna on. 

 Janna, Carrie, Flo, Fancy, Wilbur, Daisy

 Fancy, Flo, Janna, Carrie

 Miss Daisy/Chopperdoll

Flo and Daisy

Janna, Fancy, Julie, Carrie, Flo

Julie arrived in here pink Hummer...She got to do a small part of the Conga too. It is pretty exciting as I look back meeting so many people that you only met on line. Or meeting people like Daisy for the first time and now we are good friends on FB. It really is a small world. 

It wasn't a great day for fundraising but it was a great day for fun. And that we did!! As it turned out there was no fundraising event but it was worth meeting these great people and like I said, we were loosing our mojo for fundraising. I kept hoping we would find it back.

Day 23 I think.. Meeting up with Carrie in California

 Today was the day we were waiting for. Meeting Carrie Kuehn. It was going to be a special moment. I think I had know Carrie for about 6 months by now on facebook. I had approached her out of the blue to see if she would be interested in donating a website for our cause. Long story short, Carrie was there for us without hesitation. We had become great friends online. She seemed to figure me out instantly. It was very important to us to meet her for her kindness. Also we were looking forward to meeting Brenda Fox and Ken Kosiorek and Julie Newall from the Baja 100. All of us had become good friend on FB therefor it was very important to meet them in person as they had been so kind and supportive of the Conga. Julie offered to put on a barbecue fundraiser. Ken had given me great advice. Brenda and I had become great friends and she was supporting the Conga on her site. We had the time and decided it had to be done, as long as we were riding,  fundraising and making money for the cause it didn't matter where we went. It was cool that they all live fairly close together.

We sure got a chuckle from Carrie when she came bombing in on her bike whipped off her helmet and said... See Flo, I made an effort and wore pink...lol her hair tie.. Carrie is just not a pink kinda chick, but we did manage to get a little more pink going on before the end of our 3 day stay.

It was just an instant friendship with Carrie, she had us laughing right away. She told us it wasn't hard to find us, just looking for pink. We had pretty much kept in close contact with her all along the road trip. Didn't take us long though to find out why Brenda had nick named her Turbo.. That gal can ride!! A few times in the  next couple of days, they would find the difference in coming from a small town, on Vancouver Island to Orange County California, or Malibu... Yikers!!!

There we got Carrie leading the 3 Canadian pink smurfs through the streets of California. Pay attention and keep up is all I could think about!!! Love ya Carrie!!!

Carrie got us to our motel, helped us with our bags, got us settled in, visited for awhile, interviewed me around the pool side. It was an early nite, tomorrow we were going to check out some roads in the area!!

Day 22 Kingsmen

5 minutes after we pulled in for gas in Kingsman

 Check it out, this lil dude is 6pack Danny

6pack an his wife plus there working buddy warshing our bikes... Yep warshing!!

This particular day cracks me up every time I think of this crew. Let me see if I can recall to the best of my ability. We were still on the look for the Harley Dealership that was suppose to be not too far away, as I still needed my headlight fixed. We weren't far, but still exhausted again from the heat. We pulled into the gas station, not for gas, but something cold and to dump water all over ourselves. We were beyond hot!! Standing inside the gas station to get out of the heat complaining and laughing at the same time saying, stuff like.. just when you think it couldn't be any hotter, it is!! Wilbur says only 100 more miles we really should make it to (forget the name) We were going to be meeting Carrie Kuehn next in Orange county California, so we needed to get as close as we could.

Whelp...the station door opens and in walks 6pack!! Omg, take a good look at this guy, blacker than soot. he stood 5ft tall, all I could see was black skin white beady eyes, and then he nodded at me...howdy folks!!

All that came out of my mouth at that time, was... Holy crap you look HOT!!! He gave me this huge big smile, and said...Thankya maam, thankya very much,  know one has said that to me for along time!! I laughed and said, not that kind of hot, sorry the kind we are suffering right now. you look like you were baked in an oven. He smiled back at me and all I could see was the yeller teeth that proly hadn't been cleaned, ever maybe!!

So then he starts going on about he can take chrome, and shine er up like nothin in minutes. In a very strong accent, which made me crack up. He rambled on about his polishing big trucks etc, for instance those bikes I could have them clained n porlished like no one business.. he was hilarious to listen to. Your bikes need a warshin too. No shit sherlock, we got 4000 miles of bugs blood and grime. How much would you charge us I asked him, and how long would it take you??

He looked at them and said about half hour each bike, 15 bucks and if I wanted to I could pull it in the shade and he would start. So I did, and again,, I don't know what the heck I was thinking at over 100 degree and we are going to get our bikes cleaned. Well shall I just say sometimes I just don't think!! In the meantime, Fancy and Wilbur are giving me the evil eye behind my back, we still had a 100 miles to go, wtf is she doing?????

He had already started my bike and could feel what was actually going on. I convinced them to stay in Kingsmen get a motel and hire him to do all the bikes... Great idea Flo, finally!!! Off we go to get settled in told them where we would be staying and we would meet in an hour. Once we were showered and cooled off, we could think better and I realized what a tool I had been. We got hold of the motel manager and told them about who was coming to clean our bikes, and they said no problem. The average person might have been a little afraid by the way they looked. The wife had stubs for teeth and the buddy had no teeth. Scarey looking but three of the nicest people. Conga is like a box of choclates you just never know what your gonnna find!!

Bottom line they spent 3 hours on the bikes we paid them good money because we couldn't possibly use them, it was obvious that they needed it.

Just another eventful adventurous day on the Conga

Dawn dish Soap

Day 19 Route 66

The road to Route 66 were long straight and boring. Its' an old truckers route. This would be my second time there. Pretty much a one street town. It is definitely worth seeing for a bunch of memorabilia and stuff.

I knew as soon as we pulled in we would get another 15 minutes of fame. People from all over the world travel just to see this place. As a matter of fact there was another pretty big bunch of bikes from South America that had pulled in. We were taking pictures of them and visa versa. It didn't turn out to be that much of a fundraising spot this time. Probably about 100 bucks in a hours which is not bad as there  wasn't a whole lot of people.

This group of bikers were something to see themselves. Can you believe a guy would wear a speedo on a motorcycle with this boots... Eeeew, what a site that was, plus he had matching blue hair to go with it. They were probably on a mission of their own, so I should not judge.

By this time we were loosing our mojo so to speak. The fundraising was getting harder. It was getting difficult to tell our story or ask for donations. I'm sure it would come back to us, hopefully.

By the end of the day we were beyond tired again from riding in the heat, it was time to find a  place to stay and at least take a couple layers off our bike. Where would that be?? Hot hot hot it was getting to be again.

Day 18 Jerome Arizona

We were on our way to Jerome, Arizona. On the way we stopped at as many  little place like this one. Sadly this was in recievership, but it still it was worth stopping for to sit in the shade and remember days gone by.

Imagine driving through miles and miles of scenery like this. Magnificent!! The roads were really twisty too.

All of a sudden Wilbur pulls off to the side of the road, and says...we missed Jerome.. Fancy looks at him and said...oh well, by Jerome. Wilbur starts to beg us to go back. Me, I was into it...but I could tell by the look on Fancy's face, it was a no go!! She said, no problem, you two go, I will meet in the next town. She was pretty exhausted, after all the roads we had just done were for no wussy's....lol Wilbur gets off his bike and starts to plead... Please Fancy!! NOPE she said. I then knew that it was time to let her go, her limit and comfort zone had gone done and left her. I just gave her my smirk, and said you know it is not that faraway, and he really really wants to. Wilbur bats his blue eyes, come on Fancy, you can do it, I will even turn your bike around for you.  No, she said, I will turn my own bike around, let's just do it... Gaad dang Fuhr Factor, the things they make me do... I cracked up and told her she would have no problem after doing Mnt Evans.. This would be childs play....WRONG!!

We go riding through Jerome and one street town basically, just follow Wilbur. I knew we were in trouble when he did a left and turn where it said, no left turn... Oh crap, no vehicles coming, if he can do it, I can do it. Snapped my head looking way up the mountain, made the turn alright, right onto a coble stone walk with dirt in the middle. All I could think of us..Frack...she aint going to make it, cause I am hating it right now. Thank God, I know that old friction zone. I was cursing my brother under my lips and all I could think about is how is she doing. I was pretty sure my brother was going to have to go get her. I pulled over where it was safe to do so. Looked behind me and there she was, she had gone around the proper way to get a run at it with out having to do that WICKED U-turn

I was laughing my head of going up that mountain thinking, there is not a hope in hell the Fuhr Factor is going to get away with out a lecture from the Princess! It was a nervous laugh. Im thinking or great.. now we got to back the dang thang, into gravel. We were well done by then and had the same thing on our minds Fancy and I. We got to the top... put down the kickstand, turned off the bike, and all we had to do look at Wilbur and he knew his Cabana Boy duties were about to kick into gear. In the meantime, we could not believe what we just accomplished again. We even made the poor boy bring up our bags for putting us through that because we as Queen and Princess decided we were not going back down it today.

It was a cool place after all. I used to be a hotel and apparently many many people died for wierd reasons. There was also a restaurant called the Asylum, so that sounded great place to unwind, as we had decided we really were insane.

We got all cleaned up to go for dinner. Wilbur didn't want to wear his hair that night so we told him seeing sit was such a special evening we were dining in an asylum, he must wear his pink tie that we blinged up for him.. yup Swartz crystals and all!!He was used to us by now, I mean really if he can wear pink ponytails why do you have a problem with pink, blingy tie, lol 

Relaxing in the Asylum. A pinkless night pretty much.

It's all good except for the fact we have all forgotten how to tie a tie. No problem he wore it anyway.

Here is our waiter.  Boy did he have a story to tell. First off he says to Wilbur... Oh wow man,do I love your tie buddy. I just so love it. There was my cue time to do a little fundraising. This guy loves it, he will sure donate. I said to him, you know if you were to offer him something for the tie, and all the monies  will go to Breast Cancer Research. He smiled and went to get us our drinks. I told Wilbur and Fancy while he was gone, we will get him to donate you watch!! WRONG!! He came back and said you know I really wish I could afford to by your tie, it is absolutely the coolest tie, I have ever seen. He began tell us he had his first Chemo treatment that day for Breast Cancer. We could not believe what we were hearing. The doctors told him if he had left it two more days he would have been a gonner. he said his partner notice one day that his breast had just folded in half.. Omg, we all looked at each  other reading each others mind.  Bro started loosing his tie, Fancy and I just looked at each other with watery eyes. We all knew we had to give this man the tie. He was just elated, told us he would were it all the time. We told him to at least wear it till we get home, and please know we are riding for you too. The next time he came out to serve our food, he had the biggest darn grin on his face. It certainly made ours!!

Day 16 Grand Canyon

What a great sleep we had in our separate rooms. We had booked them for two nights and they gave us a deal but because the place was so packed we would have to share a night tonight. That was okay as we were rested up.

We went down to our bikes and it started the pics, the questions, the stories. We knew instantly this was probably the best place to spend two nights anywhere. There was  a nice note left on one of our bikes.."Have a safe fun trip..from the Italians" 

It started immediately, we raising money and awareness instantly all ages from all countries. One the first day we had raised $500.00 in 5 hours. We sold magnets and key chains and bracelets like crazy.

People would drop what they are doing taking pictures of the Canyon and started taking pics of us. Especially when Wilbur decided he wanted to wear my helmet with the pigtails. He was hot and exhausted for riding thousands of mile with the hot pink wig.

How could you not want to stop and ask questions when a big burly biker dude is wearing a helmet like this and has boas attached to his bike. I rode behind him and saw those ponytails flopping in the wind, and him shaking his head like he was free.. I was laughing so hard I had to concentrate or the riding. I remember thinkin that must be what I look like going down the highway. Too funny, you really couldn't have a better Cabana boy taking care of us and just going with the Flo  helping make things happen where ever we did go.

We met some amazing people in the restaurant in the evening. There were lots from Norway and Germany that we socialized alot with. One gal, she went to all her friends and between them all donated $100 in a few short minutes.

The morning we were about to leave, Fancy go called into the office. Wonderin if there had been a problem at first. She then came back and told us, they just could not charge us full amount for our say. They hoped we understood that they could not give it to us for free as much as they would have like to. Wow, we were shocked, especially being the room was $250.00. They wished us well and thanked us for coming and also for doing what we were doing.

It was very exciting at the Grand Canyon.. We always get sad when we leave for a new destination. Especially when the one you leave has been so good, so rewarding. There is nothing like putting a smile on hundreds of people in a day,not to mention doing it for a great cause. 

day 15 4 Corners.

Wow, on this day we got up at 5am to hit the road early as it was already 95degree temp. We were pretty sure, we wouldn't get too far in this heat. Our goal was to find a place to get my head light fixed again, and head to the Grand Canyon. We didn't get very far and one of my highway pegs fell off. Just another small issue. The scenery was magnificent. I had seen the country before, but know my brother had not. He was just loving it so we stopped many times along the way to take photos. The heat was creepin up on us really fast though. 

Our first stop would be the Four Corners so we could snag all four states. 

Of course every time we stop we have the people swarming around us so then we get to raise a little money. We did okay at this stop but because we were so early there was not a whole lot of people there.

Fancy looks cold but not in this heat it was to block the sun..

Here we are at the 4 Corners.

This is one of my favorite photo ops. They call it the elephants feet. I remember on the first Conga in 08 I have a picture of my Queen laying on her side in front of one,as I was stupid enough to ride down there in the white soft sand. Luckily I was not alone.

We made it to the Grand Canyon that evening where we planned to stay a couple days as there is alot to see, and Wilbur had never seen it before. He was in for a surprise. Well actually so were we.

We were instant celebrities as soon as we pulled up, people were wanting their pictures taken. Even when we were not around our bikes the bikes were famous. People were out there snapping shots left right and center. I would sick Fancy or Wilbur on the folk with the cameras. Everyone was more than willing to give us a little donation for a picture.

We shocked at the prices of the rooms at first, but then realized we were lucky to have gotten a room at that time, and knew we could not go any farther in the state we were in after all the heat to look for something cheaper. The rooms were totally awesome of course and we felt like the Queen, Princess, and Prince....lol Wilbur had adopted the name Prince along the road...Prince Wilbur. He certainly was until it came to bed time..No matter how tired we were, we could not sleep with Prince Wilbur the Bear, if you know what I mean. We were on a lucky street here, as the expensive room had two suites. It was worth it to us to pay the extra to get a good nights sleep. We always split the rooms 3 ways no matter the cost, as there was 3 of us , it was only fair, and we were happy to have our Prince on the road with us.

Some were into the Conga and some weren't!!

Tomorrow through the Grand Canyon we could tell was going to be an awesome day. Alot of tourists from all over the world doing the Conga and supporting our cause.

Day 14 Durango

We lucked in when we found Durango Harley Dealership. They were having a big event with live music and a barbeque, with great sales. Here is the manager of the store with us. She donated a great shirt for our raffles. Great place!

I could help take a pic of this shirt!!

Back at the hotel, we find another survivor.

Chillaxin with my brother Eric, Wilbur has kinda left the building.

Flofancy

Do to late, very late blogging, I have no idea how much money we have raised at this point. I do remember how kind everyone was in the town of Durango. It is a lovely little tourist town with lots to see. Every store we stopped in gave us a little something for our raffles. My saddle bags and tour pack were over flowing. Thank goodness these were small pieces of jewlery we could tuck in nooks and cranny's. 

Again we were beyond tired, and called it an early day. 

Day 14

We settled in for the night at a Casino. Later we went next door to a restaurant and the place was packed. Of course we made Wilbur keep his hair on, as it was always the biggest attention getter. He seems to get real brave behind his hair. He went around to all the tables collection donations and giving away Conga Bracelets. The kids just loved them as you can see. I don't really remember how much we collected that night but it was a couple hundred bucks in an hour or so. Finally we were asked to not do that, but we were welcome to stand out side and collect. They were very nice to us and as you can see most had fun playing with Wilburs wig.

Day 13 the dessert New Mexico

Just before we left never Harris replaced my head light. Luckily he had and old one he didn't need and he was kind enough to give it to me. That saved me a few bucks at least for a couple hours or so. We were headed to New Mexico in the scorching heat.  I don't even think we go out of the state of Colorado, when this  pick up truck goes flying by us on a double lane, with shit flying out of his truck. He must have had loose gravel, because it hit my headlight, the glass shattered and was flying at me. The rock some how hit my finger and it instantly swelled  up. It scared the crap out of me so I pulled over to the side of the road. Wilbur and Fancy were pretty far ahead. I knew Wilbur would be back to see if I was okay. We couldn't believe it, we were now on the look for the next Harley dealership to replace it. I think I had the new one for a couple hours. Win some and loose some. No worries, our next destination Sand Dunes.

With out a doubt this picture does not capture the Sand Dunes. We hung around there for a little while. All these stopping places are a great way to raise money. People just can't help asking what our story is.

So off we go to our next destination. Again, we had people honking at us, even trains were pulling their horns. An amazing site watching the two pink bikes in front of me, owning the whole highway. 

Fancy and I ride alot together so we pretty much can read how each other handle the road like slowing down or changing pace, how to take the curves etc. We also got to know Bro Wilbur. He would be keeping a steady pace, the speed limit..then head goes down, he slow right down.. Fancy and I realize he is playing with his dang ipod.. It worried me at first, I would always think about him falling asleep.

The heat is getting unbearable!! We all knew we would not make a full day of riding when you want to pull over every 15 minutes soak yourself down and hoping the bikes would cool of too. We would be getting off the bikes in hysterics trying to describe how effin hot it was. 

I cant remember where it was but we came to this tiny little Mexican village out in the middle of no where. I kept looking at my gas gage, thinking that it might be a great idea to find some fuel. Wilbur was thinking the same thing so we pulled up to this work yard to ask someone, he said the next town with fuel is 30 miles thata way. Wilbur was pretty darn sure he was not going to make it. I was iffy on mine but thought I should just make it. Which meant Fancy would be fine to. Down the road a little ways there is this guy standing there with  his work sign and a radio. There was us and him and nothing else around for miles except for the other guy on the end of his radio, who knows how many miles down the road. He looked at us,and away and back again....Hijola!!! (Son of a!!) He couldn't believe what he was seeing, 3 pink smurfs...lol We chatted it up a bit then started talking on his radio again. His buddy on the other end was pretending to be an Cop, told him to get off his frequency. He had him going for awhile. They were just bored and playing. I heard him call him a Cabarone (ass in a nice way). I told him to tell them 3 pink smurfs were coming that way on motorcycles with feathers flying wanting money. He did and there was a lot of laughter then he waved us through. We were honking our horns and pulling feathers off our boas and letting them fly waving good by. A little fun on the highway.

So now the question was, are we going to make it to the next gas station or not?? We did just the speed limit as a matter of fact a little under. Fancy and I smilin at each other shaking our head at Wilbur, nervous at the same time we were going to be caught on the side of the road in this heat. I looked in my mirrors, and thought to myself....I THINK WE GOT US A CONVOY!!! There was a whole lot of truckers waiting to pass the pink Smurfs The must have been thinking we were out of our minds never mind on the verge of running out of full. We waived them on by, again honking away they were. Whelp...we made it, most definitely running on fumes.!!!

Day 12 Leaving Denver to New Mexico

It was a sad day leaving Denver. That left us down to us 3 Canadians, not that we weren't having an absolute blast, it was time to move on and say goodby to my buddy Doc.. We never laughed so hard as we did hangin with all these wonderful gals and guys and now saying good by to her was not easy. We promised not to cry because we would see each other next year It was time to move on to our next adventure. We knew we were headed to Socal to meet some new friends and to raise some awareness and money along the way. Bro had never seen the Grand Canyon so that was on our route. We would then head to meet Carrie Kuehn for CA and Brenda Fox, and the Pink Hummer. These are women that have given us great support. Carrie especially had donated her time and built us a website as she agreed with me mine sucked...lol Check it out Conga Website If you need a website built she is the gal. 

I was really looking forward to meeting Brenda Fox too, we had been talking alot and she was promoting the Conga on her site. The Pink Hummer said she would put on a barbeque and fundraiser. So we had the time, and couldn't think of a better place to ride, to meet  some more great online friends.

Cindy/Texasred gave us all her key fobs that she made to give as gifts for donations along the way. They were one hot ticket. We would tell people for a buck you get a thankyou for a couple you can take a picture, for 5 you can have a picture with our helmets on,and for $10 you can have a special made Conga key fob. One guy, can't remember where, gave me $100 bucks for one.  We always felt better when we had something to hand out.

We were heading to the desert and it was getting HOT!! Wilbur still stuck it out with the  wig, he knew how well it attracted attention. Attention meant donations. What a great sport.

 Our stops were getting more and more frequent as the heat really set in. Mind you every stop meant a donation of some sort.

Wilbur workin it!!

My Conga Biker Bear, this is his second Conga.

She just wanted her pic taken with us.