Chapter 10

We finished eating breakfast with the five of us enjoying life. Sybil and Rob had stayed over so they could leave with Shelly and me when we left for the run north. We leathered up as the bikes were warming up. I had extra clothes in the trailer since Rob didn't have one and we volunteered the cargo space. Reggie gave us each a hug and a kiss, with the emphasis on Shelly and I, before she jumped in her Porsche and headed for the hospital.

We left the house and went up to the Wal-Mart to pick up the southern group. I think there were six bikes promised. When we got to the Wal-Mart, we saw eight plus us. That made ten for two groups to go to the McDonalds in Escondido.

We assigned CB channels and left right at 9. It was only twenty minutes or so up I-15 to the Escondido McDonalds and an easy ride, since all the traffic was going south. We made decent time and pulled into the parking lot right at 9:25. This left us thirty-five minutes to do a last minute lock-down on the equipment and get loaded up with coffee or water.

The witches were with us from Wal-Mart and didn't really have a chance to say anything. We didn't really care. JJ and Joy were there with Randy. As soon as Shelly got off the bike, he made a bee-line for her and wouldn't be put down until Joy came to the rescue. We looked at the McDonalds for coffee and that's about it. I refused to eat there. I just don't do that kind of fast food. I also steer clear of Starbucks, although not as religiously.

We had ten more bikes there so we had a group of twenty going to San Francisco on a slow ride even if it was up the 15 for the first 100 miles or so. We assigned our CB channels and conducted a safety brief for the riders while assigning riding groups. We would be traveling in four groups of five bikes and while we would be close to each other (line of sight) we would be separated by CB channel. Glenn, one of the other road captains, took the first group; I took the second group; Rob took the third group with Gary leading the fourth group. JJ would be the back door for the fourth group since his trike/sidecar stopped a lot faster than anything else we had with us. While we had separate channels assigned, all of the lead riders had FRS radios (chatterboxes) attached to their helmets so we could communicate with each other. Shelly, Joy and Sybil each had their own chatterbox radio and discrete channel so they could talk while we were on the road. I drew the line at cell phones.

We were just starting to saddle up when one of the "witches" came up to me and said, "I don't think you should be riding with us. You are treating Reggie badly and flaunting Shelly at her and us. This isn't the way a 'family' group should be."

Before I could say a word, Shelly jumped in with both feet. "Listen up, you old has-been Lez, Dom loves me, he loves Reggie and we both love him and each other. If you don't like it, you can ride with another group. You're just jealous because he's getting more pussy, and a higher quality, than you are. So put a sock in it and either ride or go home and wear out some "D" cells.

"Let's go, Lover, either they ride or sit on the sidewalk." Shelly then went over to the bike, got her helmet on, started up the Cherry Bomb, and slid onto the passenger seat.

I didn't say a thing. I got my helmet on and went to the bike. As I settled in, I saw the two witch's bikes leave the lot. It looked like we were eighteen. I got on the "command" channel and we settled up with two groups of four and two of five.

We left out of Escondido right at 10 AM in spite of the blow up. I think everyone there heard Shelly when she lowered the boom. What they didn't know was what caused it. I just left it alone. We'd hear about it when we got back, I was sure.

I could hear Shelly talking to Sybil and Joy over the intercom. I knew they would be well informed of everything we said and did by the time we got to our first comfort stop.

Our first stop was actually for lunch at Tom's Farm, the road-side tourist trap just north of Lake Elsinore. We pulled in just at 11:15 so we were not too tired to walk around. We all gathered at the Mexican eatery they have there and had a light lunch. I wanted to be at Mono Lake by dinner for a light meal, then on to Reno for the overnight. That was an easy 475 miles, give or take, and we could do what we wanted to do on the way if we wished. I was not a fan of the Iron Butt and 475 miles was a little longer than I wanted but it would put us in San Francisco the following evening with enough time to relax.

We had a typical easy ride. We passed slower traffic as a group, did rest stops when needed and no one was tired as we rolled into Reno at 9:30 that evening. Granted, it was a longer day than originally planned but no one was complaining. Dang I was glad we were on Wings instead of Harley's. We'd have died at the city limits and a Sport Bike just wasn't in the cards for a long ride.

Shelly and I, along with Rob and Sybil and JJ, Joy and Randy all pulled into Harrah's. The others said they would meet us at Circus Circus for breakfast at 7AM.

Randy was doing well and we checked in to our rooms. JJ said he and Joy wanted to take Randy to Circus Circus for an hour and would see us later. Sybil and Rob checked in with us and we decided it would be fun to just walk the strip for a little bit to get the blood flowing again. We were walking along just looking at the lights. The barkers and such were interesting but, overall, it was a little depressing. We walked a little farther then crossed over and headed back. We put in wake up calls for 5:30 and headed up to bed.

Rob and Sybil were in the room next to us and we settled in their room with a beer to unwind and talk about the day. Shelly was on my lap and Sybil was curled up with her head on Rob's lap. We all felt there would be trouble when we got back but we weren't too worried about it. Hell, I didn't HAVE to ride with a group, although we enjoyed it.

We called it a night and after hugs left for our own room. We were just getting undressed when we got a call from JJ and Joy asking us to wake them when we got up since they didn't know when our wake up calls were.

Shelly and I took a shower and washed each other's back. A long slow cuddle and soft kisses helped us drift off to sleep in each other's arms. Dreams of the three of us must have been on both our minds as we woke up at 4 AM. We re-cuddled and drifted back to sleep. About 5AM, I felt Shelly waking me up with a loving between my legs. I stayed in one place just to relish the soft warmth of her ministrations. I was just on the brink when I pulled her up to me. I let her slide down on me and, once seated, just flexed muscles at each other until we both satisfied our early morning urge.

I had just stepped into the bathroom when room service phoned and I heard the knock on the door letting us know the coffee was there. Shelly jumped up and grabbed a 5 spot off the dresser. Still naked she opened the door and caught the bell man before he left Rob and Sybil's door. She handed him the $5 and thanked him as I heard, "No, THANK YOU!"

I called to Shelly and she was in the shower in a flash. We just finished drying each other when we remembered to call JJ and Joy. We had the door propped open and Randy came in while we were drinking our coffee after getting dressed for the day.

He climbed up in Shelly's lap and started talking about the Circus he saw last night. I'm glad there was something for the younger ones to do besides play pinball. JJ and Joy came in, each carrying coffee cups. Sybil and Rob were right behind them. We finished our coffees and, gathering our belongings, checked out early. We walked down the street to Circus Circus and decided they were going to lose money on us at the breakfast buffet.

Let me tell you, the day of the $1.99 All-You-Can-Eat Buffet is long gone. Now it's $11.99 and they don't care if you're a little kid or not.

Shelly dug into her pocket while we were in line and put 75 cents into a quarter slot. After one pull, she started jumping up and down. I looked over and saw that she had hit a $300 jackpot. Hell, that paid for our meal, gas and room! It doesn't get much better.

We spotted the rest of the crowd in a corner and joined them for the breakfast. After making an initial strafing run, we settled down. The others all wanted to know what happened in Escondido, even if they had gotten a little of it a bit at a time.

Shelly spoke right up again and told them what was said and what her response was. I think most of the folks were put off a little at what the two had tried to do with us and Gary, one of the road captains, who happened to also be gay, just said they were jealous at the quality of my partners. Everyone had a laugh over that then just left it alone. Joy had taken Randy to the breakfast bar so he was spared the details even if he didn't understand it. He was still upset that his "Aunt Shelly" was mad.

We used the opportunity to settle up the final route to San Francisco over I-80. I knew my way around San Francisco and knew where everyone was staying so it was decided I would lead us into the city and then make the circuit of the motels to drop folks off. Most were staying close to the Embarcadero. We were staying at the Mark Hopkins. We knew we all liked our Wings and the creature comforts that came with them. Well, there are creature comforts and then there are CREATURE COMFORTS. The Mark Hopkins was right up there.

We left Reno at 9 AM and immediately started to climb the Sierra Madres. Or at least I think those were the mountains we crossed. We got off I-80 and gassed at one of the truck stops in Sacramento. We didn't even want to stop for a burger. I planned on us being in San Francisco by 4PM.

We were just getting on the Bay Bridge at 3:55PM and Angel Island at 4PM. Talk about timing it well. As soon as we got off the bridge we passed Earthquake MacGoon's and then went along the Embarcadero to Pier 39. I swung around through the area dropping folks at the hotels they had booked. Shelly and I, along with the other two bikes, went on to the Mark Hopkins after Gary peeled off for North Beach area.

We pulled into the circular drive of the Mark and went in to register. We no sooner got to the desk when Shelly and I were hit with an auburn-haired dynamo. Reggie had made it in earlier and we were all set to just go to our rooms. I got our room number and went out to park the bike, accompanied by JJ and Rob. We pulled into the underground parking and found spaces that were empty.

I popped the lid on the trailer and Rob grabbed his bags while I took mine and Shelly's. I figured Reggie would have her bag already in the room. We went up and discovered we had the end of one floor to ourselves. We all settled down for a little while over coffee that Reggie had ordered for us.

I had no sooner poured a cup when Reggie asked Shelly, "What the hell did you do, say or scream at Gracie and her partner?"

Shelly went over everything then told her, "All I said was they were jealous of the fact that Dom was getting more and better than they were."

"Well, they want the whole club to vote us out of the chapter. They are on the phone tree calling everyone."

"Like that is going to keep me from doing what I want?" I said. "We'll just have to attend the meeting next weekend and see what kind of trouble they are trying to cause."

I was going to call for a taxi that could accommodate all of us when Reggie said, "Just call down to the concierge and get the house car." She obviously had more to do with this kind of stuff than I did.

I called and found it easier to arrange and probably less than a taxi. I called the rest of the group and told them where we were going. Most wanted to hit Fisherman's Wharf so we did the local thing instead of the tourist thing.

We just climbed into the limo and I asked if he would take us to "O Solo Mio" at Chestnut and Steiner.

"No problem, have you been there before?"

"I was stationed across the bay for a while and tried to eat my way through the city. I failed miserably!" I replied.

"We'll be there in 10 minutes. Let me call ahead and get you on the list."

I knew O Solo Mio didn't take reservations but it was worth the wait. Calling ahead just didn't occur to me at the time. Ten minutes later, we were there and the owner came out to escort us in. I looked at the driver, he only smiled and said, "We have an 'arrangement.'"