Friends for Fun, Safety and Knowledge

NC-H2 NC District GWRRA

Gazette Carolina Wings ● NC H2 ● Durham, NC ● May 2020Carolina Wings ● NC H2 ● Durham, NC ● May 2020

GWRRA Jere and Sherry Goodman Directors NC District Glenn and Joy Kennedy Directors NC-H2 Sid & Terry Chambers Directors sidchambers@nc.rr.com

Our Chapter Gatherings are suspended for the duration of the COVID-19 pandemic. Go for a ride but remember to keep your Social Distance. And keep safe.

Directors Sid & Terry Chambers

sidchambers@nc.rr.com 919-946-0083

Assistant Director Open

Ride Coordinator Sid & Terry Chambers

sidchambers@nc.rr.com 919-946-0083

Co-Ride Coordinator Dan Eakright

daneakright@gmail.com 919-451-3020

Membership Enhancement Coordinators

Frances & Hank Averette fjahla2@frontier.com

919-528-0538

Treasurer Dale Hyde

dalehyde2763@att.net 919-382-8097

Care Bear Bonnie Hinton

grasshopper4958@gmail.com 336-380-1505

Ticket Masters Rex & Diana Temple nch2cdrex@aol.com

919-528-0503

Couple of the Year Open

Newsletter Editor Webmaster William Prince

william.e.prince@gmail.com 252-536-9462

Chapter Listserv gwrranch2@googlegroups.com

Newsletter Distribution h2news@googlegroups.com

Only the Newsletter Editor can use this

Chapter Team On the CoverOn the Cover

Since we all can’t go anywhere, we all must find things to do around the house. I have been brushing up on my horticultural skills. This is a picture of my back-yard. This is a relaxing place to sit in the evening to enjoy the pond.

This month we will see some of our pictures from years go by. We are featuring recent years. Next month we may go back a little further if need be.

GazetteGazette

The GAZETTE is published monthly by GWRRA NC H2. Digi-tal copies are free upon request. Send an email to h2news-subscribe@googlegroups.com to request to be placed on our mail-ing list.

In the KnowIn the Know

Want to get first hand info on the Chapter’s calendar? Check out the Calendar page on the web-site. Details are published when they are first known and may be more detailed than they might be on the website’s front page on the newsletter. http://gwrra-nch2.org/calendar.htm.

Hidden NumberHidden Number

The Hidden Number game is sus-pended until the COVID-19 pan-demic is over and it is safe to re-turn to normal activities. Sorry for your inconvenience.

May 2020 - Page 3

B y now, I am sure everyone is wondering when this COVID-19 pandemic is go-

ing to end? I have had mixed feel-ings about what has happened to our country.in such a short amount of time. I have wondered why this virus is causing such an upheaval to America. Especially considering that the regular old flu is responsible for many more deaths than COVID-19 while the survival rate is 98%. What ever happened to quarantining the sick instead of the well people? Yes, I understand it is very contagious. But why is it OK for us to go to Lowe’s, Home Depot, Target, and Food Lion, but it is not OK for us to go church, get a haircut, or all of the other activities that have been shut down like baseball, NASCAR, and now GWRRA. Can-celing our Swap Meet was a hard decision. I can imagine how hard it was for Phoenix to cancel Wing Ding 42. Our District Staff also had to make a hard decision to cancel the Gold Wing give away at Wings Over the Smokies. Hope-fully, we will be able to have our district rally by then. And that should not deter us from attend-ing our rally just because there is no Gold Wing to give away. We all already have Gold Wings and the purpose of the rally is to ride and gather with our GWRRA fam-ily and friends. Life in America, as we know it, has been changed and I have this feel-ing that we are being manipulated

by forces who want the American way of life destroyed or changed from what it has been since our founding. Are our freedoms and liberties going to be affected by future pandemics? I certainly hope not. In the meantime, we just need to have some common sense which does not seem to be that common anymore. So, here we are at the beginning of May and I finally remembered that May is Motorcycle Awareness Month! Sadly, the main thing that I am aware of is my Gold Wing spends more time in the garage rather than on the road. I have managed to ride it enough to keep the battery charged, but nowhere like it normally is. We have al-ready missed out on a lot of chap-ter rides and other GWRRA events that have been cancelled. But there are signs that seem to indi-cate that all of our preventive measures are working. The curve is being flattened and some states are starting to open up. My 97 year old Mom lives in south Geor-gia and she was able to get her hair permed and styled on May 1st! There she was sitting in the hair salon chair with a mask and gloves on. I could not see her smile, but her eyes told me that she was smiling and she is a happy camper now. And speaking of hair, I need to get a haircut too. Maybe, I should ride my Wing to Georgia to get a haircut. While I am there, I may as well have some ice cream too!

I am sure that many of you are working around your homes and doing those projects that we all have put off for too long. Terry and I have also been very busy with those types of projects. Since we had sort of already started decluttering our home, we have had the time to “attack” this task with a renewed attitude. We are not done yet, but we are mak-ing some progress. One of my outside projects was to get my Easy Hauler motorcycle trailer back on the road. For many years, I had a Home Depot utility trailer with a rail that I used when-ever the Army decided it was time for us to move on to another as-signment. As my motorcycles kept getting larger, I had to keep extending the rail so the motorcy-cle would fit. But I kept using the same ramp to get the bike on the rail. My first Gold Wing was a 1982 GL1100 Aspencade. Since the wheel base was so much longer, I was not able to get it on the trailer unless I backed the trailer up to a curb. Plus that Wing was a lot heavier than our previous motorcycles. It was downright scary getting that Wing on and off the trailer. When we were returned from an overseas assignment from The Netherlands, my first stop when we got back to North Carolina in 1991 was to buy a new GL1500 and I also realized

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Chapter Directors Sid and Terry Chambers

Chapter Director’s MomentChapter Director’s Moment

May 2020 - Page 4

International Bob Berry

From December 2016 Recipe for a Great TripRecipe for a Great Trip

A ll great chefs know that if you want a special recipe to turn out absolutely

perfect it goes beyond selecting the freshest ingredients. Experi-ence also can be tasted in that special recipe; the experience of taking liberties with a basic rec-ipe and making it your own. The following is a recipe for a great trip. No, let me correct that – an amazing trip! Just as crème brûlée has that perfect thin, brit-tle crust hiding that creamy cus-tard underneath, our trip to New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, Nevada, and a tiny corner of California, reminded me of that perfect des-sert. With every passing day, the trip continued to get better and better, just as with every bite your favorite dessert or dish gets better and better.

Kurt and I headed out to Utah as our main destination, along with a brief stop in Las Vegas for a family memorial service and with spending time with old friends. Our goal was to get to Lubbock the first night. Travel was pretty uneventful, but little did we know what the next few days would give us.

From Lubbock we headed west to Holbrook, Arizona. We wan-dered through the Painted De-sert that flowed into the Petrified Forest National Park. This 28-mile ride through many overlooks of-fered colorful vistas up close, as

well as in the distance. The color palette was amazing. The layers offered peach, purple, reds and other perfectly blended colors, exposing the age of this area. The Petrified Forest was open grass-land that contained the remnants of conifer trees that once grew in the area. A mix of silt, mud and volcanic ash buried these logs. With a very slow decay rate, the logs were transformed into beau-tiful works of art!

We headed northwest to Cedar City, Utah, what we would call home for the next three days. The clouds looked ominous all day and finally as we headed into higher elevation, the clouds turned dark. So, we decided to stop and put on rain gear. No sooner did we have our jackets on, the sky opened up. Now, do you remember I said, “into higher elevation”? We were at 7,925 feet near Jacob Lake, Ari-

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2020 Murdock Basket Sign Up Sheet

January Hank and Frances Averette

February Sid and Terry Chambers

March n/a—Swap Meet

April Willie Rainey

May Jerry and Dale Hyde

June Dan and Mary Eakright

July Steve and Cathy Gillispie

August Gary Harris

September Keith and Darlena Helmer

October Rex and Diana Temple

November Ernest Cagle and Bonnie Hinton

December n/a - Gifts on Cycles

May 2020 - Page 5

District Glenn and Joy Kennedy

District Directors

U NCERTAINTY. It is the para-lyzing agent that can over-whelm logical decision-

making in most all aspects of our everyday lives. It is also the one factor that can render economic modeling unreliable and thereby derail plans for economic growth, even strangle entire economies.

At this moment in our lives, there is an overwhelming level of uncer-tainty facing our entire world. What is our life going to look like when we come out from under this cloud created by the Corona-virus (COVID 19) pandemic? How many of these new lifestyle changes being thrust upon us will become integrated into our every-day lives going forward? Social distancing, travel restrictions, sheltering in place, masks, gloves, online ordering, home delivery, the demise of bricks and sticks retail/commercial, etc.? What will be the lasting impact upon the psyche of the population?

I cannot even begin to address the economic impact of the loss of jobs upon our finances, the value of real estate, the value of invest-ment portfolios, etc.

How do we give the “all clear” sig-nal and go back to our former way of life without there being a vac-cine or a cure? Neither of which are likely to come in the next few weeks or months.

Sound hopeless? But wait, there is hope, there is certainty, the strength of which we can use to go forward.

CERTAINTY of our spiritual faith.

CERTAINTY of the bonds of love and friendship that we have with our fellow GWRRA family members.

CERTAINTY that the rule of COVID 19 shall end.

CERTAINTY of a fresh start, that tomorrow is a new day.

CERTAINTY that we can over-come challenges with creativ-ity, ingenuity and yes, some sacrifice.

And CERTAINTY produces THANK-FULNESS.

THANKFUL for the many bless-ings each day offers.

THANKFUL for one another.

THANKFUL for small consid-erations. THANKFUL for things we’ve so much taken for granted, like toilet paper.

THANKFUL for health and medical care.

THANKFUL the abundance that we still experience, albeit in a slightly limited fashion.

THANKFUL for community and the ability to stay in touch.

THANKFUL for creativity that can merge with technology.

We need to relish these aspects of our lives. We need to nourish these qualities in our life.

I realize that this is made more difficult as we are now isolated from physical contact with one another.

We must become creative in find-ing ways to stay in touch, have fun together and keep these relation-ships important to us.

Navigating Uncharted Waters

Dale signs her tickers. (Swap Meet

2019)

May 2020 - Page 6

that it was time to buy a new trailer too. The Easy Hauler trailer did away with that very dangerous ramp used to get the motorcycle on the trailer. The frame with the rail lowered to the ground and it was very simple and safe to ride the Gold Wing onto the trailer, tie it down, and then raise the rail back up. Even though it has not gotten a lot of use since we re-tired from the Army, I have kept it just in case I needed it. It has also doubled as a 4 wheeled ATV car-rier for our boys plus it has hauled everything from bales of pine straw to lawn aerators and stump grinders. When I first bought the trailer, it had 12 inch wheels on it and those little tires seemed to wear out faster than normal. After I concluded that I needed bigger wheels and tires to carry big mo-torcycles, I replaced the tires and rims with a larger size. A few years ago, I took the trailer to Concord for Wings Over the Smokies so I could bring Don Harden’s Gold Wing back for him while he and Susan drove on to New Orleans in their car. But those bigger tires also had no tread on them after just one trip

to Concord and back. So the trailer has been parked for several years now. With COVID-19, I thought it would be a good time to see what was causing new tires to wear out so fast. After flipping the trailer up-side down and giving the wheels a good spin, I could see both tires were wobbling all over the place. So I rode over to Tractor Supply and ordered new hubs with new bearings After installing them with another new set of tires, I took it on a short test ride. After 4 miles with no load, the bearings were hot to the touch. I backed them off a little bit and then the wheel just rocked back and forth on the axle. It was a no win situa-tion. I thought about just junking all of that steel but decided to have a trailer expert see what was going on. I thought the spindle was worn which would be beyond my expertise to replace. Enter Patrick with Triangle Trailer Repair (TTR for short). Since TTR is a mo-bile trailer repair company, Patrick came to me. It took him about 5 minutes to diagnose the bearing problem. The new hubs had wheel bearings that had an inside diameter of 1 and 1/16th inch. The spindle was not worn! It was only one inch in diameter! He re-placed those bearings with the correct size and solved that prob-lem. But Patrick was not through. After looking at the tires on the trailer, we both agreed that the special axle on this trailer which allowed the frame to be lowered to the ground was bent. This meant the wheels were not rolling in a straight line. Consequently,

the trailer was constantly chang-ing direction which chewed up the tires and wore out the bearings. So Patrick and I removed the wheels with the tires and suspen-sion. He has taken that whole thing back to his shop so he can set up a jig to replace the bent portion with a stronger piece of reinforced steel for that axle. As Paul Harvey used to say, “And now the rest of the story,” you will have to wait a little bit to hear how this story ends!

I hope and pray that we all can look back at these days when America came together and worked to eliminate this virus. Please continue to pray for an ef-fective treatment and prevention medicines.

(Continued from page 3)

Chapter Directors

J.O. claims his prize (2018)

The gang’s all here (2017) Time for the children. (2017)

Sid & Terry Chambers May 21

Willie & Gwen Rainey

May 21

Jerry Hyde 1993

Dale Hyde

1997

Delores Prince 2017

Willie Rainey

2016

Terry Chambers May 21

May 2020 - Page 8

zona. Time for some simple de-ductions: rain, elevation and plummeting temperatures equals … snow/hail.

As the rain came down, my shield fogged on my helmet and I could see or at least I thought I was see-ing, little white stuff on the ground. So, I lifted my shield and got BB pellets at my face. I told Kurt that it was not snow but hail. We were on a two-lane road with nothing around. Just as we came to the top of the mountain there was a road to the left that would take you to the Grand Canyon (which was closed due to snow), and to the right, a gas station with an overhang! How sweet it was to find. We pulled over and took sev-eral videos and pictures of the storm and waited until it let up. Well, time to get going and get to Cedar City.

We headed to one of the most amazing places on earth. Zion Na-tional Park. How can I describe to you the amazement of these mountains? The majesty. These are immutable structures but at the same time changing struc-tures. The views change, from not just angles, but how the sun kisses one side of the mountain from moment to moment. They are overwhelming.

Up early the next day, we ride in a car to Death Valley in California for some hiking and sightseeing. Death Valley – The home of old borax mines and yes, the famous 20-mule team. But there is more to the area than the mules. Did

you know that Death Valley’s Bad-water Basin is the lowest eleva-tion in North America at 282 feet below sea level? Crazy, right? In this vast area that takes you from rock formations to sand dunes there is one oasis – Furnace Creek. It is appropriately named; in fact in 1913 they recorded a temperature of 134 degrees.

Maybe this heat explains the rocks moving in the Racetrack Playa. This area in Death Valley contains rocks that move on their own. You can see the little tracks that the rocks leave behind on their jour-ney. Well, I guess even in the most remote areas no rock goes un-turned. Another fun fact about Death Valley – It is the home of the youngest active volcano in the USA. The Ubehebe Crater (volcano) was active just 200 years ago. She is half a mile wide and 777 feet deep.

The weather the next morning was not looking good from the border of New Mexico all the way back to Houston. But, you have to put some miles behind you. Our goal was to make it to Van Horn, Texas by nightfall. So I pulled out my trusty paper map and found a route that kept us off I-10. Ari-zona’s Route 70 led us through one more reservation. This time: Apache. Not much to see other than a large casino and vast open ranges.

This was a unique vacation be-cause it was not one of those when you plan and plan then in the blink of an eye it is over. We enjoyed the time. It didn’t feel

rushed. Somehow, some way, it was at a perfect pace. Yes, there were times the weather was bad and due to that, not every meal was at a nice restaurant. But, when you find that perfect recipe you don’t change a thing the next time you make it. I averaged 450 pictures a day – not all great but so worth it. A couple of fun facts: We rode a total of 3,632.6 miles. We used a total of 107.27 gallons of gas – for an average of 33.9 miles per gallon. We spent a total of $296.92 on gas.

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Randy, our exalted leader from 2013.

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May 2020 - Page 10

Because of the COVID-19 pan-demic all GWRRA rides and

meetings (along with almost eve-rything else in North Carolina

and much of the country) have been suspended until further no-tice. Stay home and stay safe. If

you must go riding, a motorcycle provides a natural Social Dis-

tance. Then eat your takeout at a distance.

As conditions become more fa-

vorable more places will be opened. Check the District web-site for information on meetings.