Voyages on Two (and Four) Wheels – September 11 2011 – Ten Years Later

Starting off a post is usually the toughest part.  I have to get my mind going and start some creative energies stirring.  Today isn’t one of those days.

September 11, 2001 was a horrible day that I’ll never forget.  I’ve written about it a few times (use the search function on the upper right to find all the posts), but the original one with my best account of my experience that day is here.  I don’t know really what more there is to say about it that I haven’t already said.  Instead, I’m going to focus on today for the most part.  The day started with a shoot out in the desert and due to the dirt road, I was in the car for a change.  I’ve done a bit of dirt road and gravel on the V-Star, but I don’t know that I’ll ever take it to this place.

11 September 2011 - Scattering our friend Christina's ashes the way she wanted

 Before anyone thinks differently, this was not my idea!  Christina was a member of Nevada Shooters, a gunsmith, had worked construction, and loved tinkering with mechanical things like cars.  We were sad to learn that she’d passed away earlier this year due to brain cancer.  I hadn’t been too close to Christina but I remember that she was extremely nice, always helpful, and a great person to have around at our shoots.

The way I understand it, she’d wanted to go out with a bang and to have her ashes scattered over a gun range.  After her sister said a few words, her wish was granted.  Her ashes were placed on a fairly substantial charge of tannerite which was then set off by a .50 caliber rifle bullet   That smoke you see by the mountain is the aftermath of the shot and I think she would have truly loved it

I made sure to stop and chat with Christina’s sister a little while later.  Christina had owned a gun store in El Cajon, CA near San Diego and we’d discussed San Diego quite a bit.  I may not have known her all that well, but I knew her well enough and will miss her.  I explained this and I hope I gave her sister a little more support during a very tough time.

Godspeed, Christina and may you rest in peace.

11 September 2011 - Stopped in Red Rock Canyon

 Some of the people from the shoot went to Dean’s Place (a local Italian restaurant which is very friendly with the gun community) to eat and chat over truly good food.  I considered going, but I was getting rather tired again and still wanted to get in a bit of a ride to settle my mind.  September 11 has always been a day for remembrance and introspection for me, but Christina’s memorial shoot added a bit more than usual.

I got home, checked the weather on the computer, swapped flip flops for boots, and headed out on the bike.  I didn’t have anything in mind except going for a ride through Red Rock and getting a pic of my bike with the September 11 memorial decal on the saddle bag.  I met back up with a guy named Nick I’d met before out there and we talked for quite a while about all sorts of stuff.  He’s just gotten into riding with his first motorcycle as well.  I don’t want to spoil the future fun and tell everything about it right now, but I will say that it’s a Harley

11 September 2011 - Panorama - Storm clouds and rain in Red Rock Canyon

11 September 2011 - Panorama - More storm clouds and rain in Red Rock Canyon

11 September 2011 - Panorama - Half of the clouds in sunset, the others still in sunlight

11 September 2011 - Panorama - Golden light filtering through the broken clouds

11 September 2011 - Panorama - Sunset glowing on a few of the clouds

11 September 2011 - Panorama - Clouds glowing from within as sunset illuminates their tops

11 September 2011 - Panorama - Sunset illuminating a cloud like a smouldering coal in a campfire

11 September 2011 - Panorama - Last light of day on the highest clouds

It’s getting late and not only do I have to work tomorrow, but we’re all working ten hour shifts instead of eight so I’m going to wrap this post up fairly quickly   Our weather her in Fabulous Las Vegas has been a bit mixed this past week.  We’ve had a few thunderstorms lately and the temperatures are coming back down into the reasonable (under 100°) range.  Tonight the atmosphere was rather more unsettled than usual.  We only got a few drops in Red Rock, but I got a decent light show a bit later from a thunderstorm over by Lake Mead on my way home   Oh yeah – We also got some broken clouds that indicated a very cool sunset might present itself

I think the pictures came out fairly well considering I went handheld for all the pics   One of these days I’ll remember that I have tripods in the one of my saddle bags   In any case, I hope you like ‘em

In closing, let’s remember those who’ve sacrificed for us and those who continue to do so today.  I’m going to remember them and my thanks will always go out to them.  Here’s hoping it all gets better from here   Have a great week, everyone