My newfound goals are:

1. Marry someone wealthy. Too late for that one, how about: Exceed the expectations my clients have of me. That seems like a good goal. My clients don’t really care if I’m faster than a speeding bullet or can stop a powerful locomotive with just one hand. I believe they would be perfectly content if I were shot and run over by a train; provided I handled their case quickly, smoothly, and successfully.

2. Retire young. Nope, too late for that one too. How about: Always act, feel, and think as young as I do now. That works. I have to exercise a lot harder now than I used to, but it does make me feel much better. I learn more from my daughter than I have ever taught her. I’ve heard that imagination is the greatest aphrodisiac. I think once you are on the south side of 40, it is the only effective aphrodisiac.

3. Keep learning. Preferably something useful, but in any case, just keep learning new things. I’d like to learn to fly (in an airplane), scuba, surf, snow ski, several languages, and more than three songs on my guitar. I feel it is crucial to keep learning as you grow older, it distracts people from all the other things you are beginning to forget.

4. Improve my sense of humor. Its no trick to convulse yourself with laughter when somebody else slips on a banana peel and lands on their ass. The trick is to be able to laugh at yourself when you are sitting on the floor with a bruised bottom.

5. I would like to make enough money to support my wife in the style to which she would like to become accustomed. She has been my faithful and ardent supporter since we first got married. It doesn’t matter how many times something didn’t work out, how many mistakes I made, or what she has had to do without; she has cheerfully supported me in anything I wanted to do. I couldn’t get a better wife, but maybe I could do better for her.

Now comes the fun part. I get to pass the baton by tagging someone else. Actually, several someone elses according to the rules. I tag Atchuthan Sriskandarajah, Eugene Lee, Grant Griffiths, and David Z. Kaufman.

When you take the time to reflect on where you are and everything you have accomplished, are you happy with yourself? Do you forgive your own shortcomings as easily as you forgive others? I suspect a large number of people have developed the belief they don’t deserve to be happy or that they haven’t earned happiness yet. Everyday, I hear comments from others about how wonderful their lives will be once this problem goes away, or as soon as they finish this project, or if they win the lottery. I believe people have been trained to think this way. Why? I recall, or nearly recall, a line from the movie musical, “Music Man”, where Robert Preston says to Shirley Jones, “Oh, my dear, dear, sweet Marian. If you put off all of your living until tomorrow, you will find that you have collected nothing but a lot of empty yesterdays. I don’t know about you, but I’d like to make today worth living.” I always loved that line, enough if I didn’t quote it correctly. I was always pretty fond of Shirley Jones too. I even suffered through episodes of the Partridge Family just to see her. Are you putting your happiness off until tomorrow?

I like to watch people. All kinds of people. It is interesting to watch how their character and personality shape their physical appearance as the years go by. It is especially obvious with older people. You see the kind smile and glint in their eye together with the well-used smile lines in their face. Their appearance tells you volumes about how they have faced life. Other people have faces contorted from a lifetime of grumbling and complaining, ever discontent with their lot in life. Some people have faces that reflect fear, pain, and distrust. Indelible marks of their past etched into their faces. Is it fate? Is it just that some people have had wonderful lives while others were horribly abused? Did they make poor choices or have no choice at all? Is there a common element they all share?

I hypothesize that everyone faces nearly the same amount of problems in life. For some people, the problem might be whether they will be shot today, or have food to eat, or a place to sleep. Other people might be worried about a loved one or miss someone who has passed away. Someone else might be worried they won’t be asked to the senior prom or, that if they are asked, they can’t afford a nice dress. To someone looking in from the outside, they might be horrified by some peoples problems or deeply sympathetic to them. Some problems might seem trivial and unimportant. But, to the person facing the problem, it is a huge problem. Our own problems are very important, even if only to ourselves. If everyone has problems just as important to them as the problems suffered by their friends, neighbors, and total strangers; then the answer isn’t in what the problem is. The answer is in how you learn to deal with your problems.

We’ve all met people who groan and roll their eyes everytime a new problem presents itself. Some people scream, swear, and turn red in the face with every new problem. Other people just smile pleasantly and go quietly about solving the problem. A few rare individuals laugh cheerfully and joke about their predicament. Don’t kid yourself that your problems are more important than someone else’s problems. The secret is in how you face those problems and learn to deal with them effectively. Problems never go away completely. There are always new problems that will appear. Change the way you face problems if you want to be happier. Remember, its only a secret to you, because everyone else can see it in your face.

Colorful footage of the town’s Centro Historico predominates in this film, where Cross interviews American expatriates about what brought them to the town and how they feel about their new surroundings.

Jim Karger, who had been a high-powered lawyer in Dallas, said he knew from his first day of practice in 1976 that he’d made a serious vocational error, but he plodded on for twenty-five more years. He and his wife Kelly lived in a McMansion straight out of House and Garden, but one too many bourbons one night led him to ask “Is this it?” They sold the house, moved to San Miguel de Allende, and suffered queries about whether he’d gone insane. There were times he wanted to go back, missing the perks of his old life, but after a year or so he grew to accept himself as something other than his career. He said that he knew if he went back he’d end up putting in another twenty-five years and having “He was really a good lawyer” on his tombstone. San Miguel de Allende changed his relationship with money, he added, because there was no longer the need to eat out six nights a week, drive a fancy automobile, and travel to exotic places to relieve career stress. He thought it telling that none of the people he worked with have ever visited him. (I guess I should feel honored, because even though no one in Mexico particularly cares that I once was Martindale-Hubbell A-V and one of the Best Lawyers in America, my lawyer friends from the U.S. still visit me.)

Susan McKinney came to San Miguel to write a book eleven years ago, met a cute young Mexican boy, got pregnant, and stayed on to raise her family. She said she was searching for a lot of things, attributing the male culture of her childhood to making her feel like a nobody because of her gender.

After her husband of ten years committed suicide, Nancy Hooper came to San Miguel to raise her daughter.

All of the expatriates interviewed remarked upon how San Miguel de Allende had changed their lives. Could their lives just as easily have been transformed had they quit their old jobs – as a Navy nurse, lawyer, Levi-Strauss employee, psychotherapist, manager of Latin artists – and packed up and moved to Aiken, South Carolina or Bariloche? Spiritual healer Don Jesus would disagree, saying that San Miguel is algo magnetico, and Mayan healer Roland Torikian would agree with that assessment. The expats all cite the calmness and awareness of their town, the sociability of the people, and a live-and-let-live attitude.

The expatriates seem to relish living among a broader range of people, from all age groups and fields. One man likened the experience to jury duty, meeting people he’d never normally meet. The Mexicans portrayed in the film were selling flowers, butchering beef, cutting up poultry, caning chairs, and selling fruit. The absence of Mexicans sharing the same station, education and income level of the expatriates was noticeable.

Cross confesses that she had no close Mexican friends, just acquaintances she sees on the streets. She seemed comfortable with that, recognizing “I’m no longer part of the U.S. culture, and I’m not part of the Mexican culture.” It’s clear that she feels relaxed, comfortable with and positive toward her surroundings. She says that she feels free, because being connected to neither culture allows her to be herself. What she doesn’t state is that she is part of a culture – an expatriate culture.

The themes of Lost and Found in Mexico aren’t unique to San Miguel de Allende. Many expatriates who move to Mexico articulate the same ideas about finally finding a place they fit in, feeling out of place in the U.S., marveling at the color and styles of the indigenous folk. And probably just as many are noncommittal about where they live, leading hum-drum, everyday existences highlighted by a trip to Costco or Superama. Some of them didn’t move to Mexico to find or repair themselves. Some of them moved here, because they couldn’t afford to live a quality existence in the Old Country. Some may simply harbor a passion for bolillos. For every expatriate, there’s a story behind the move, and frankly most of them aren’t that exciting.

A kind and gentle documentary, Lost and Found in Mexico doesn’t pretend to be the final word on expatriates in Mexico, but it’s an entertaining and compelling excursion into the lives of those who lovingly call this place home.

http://staringatstrangers.typepad.com/staring_at_strangers/2007/04/years_ago_town_.html

He talked with a real estate agent who specialized in finding vacation homes in exotic locations and the agent said he would see what he could find. A week or two went by and the agent faxed over some pictures of a ranch he found in Montana that seemed ideal for the lawyer. The ranch included 3 sections of timber and pasture at the base of a mountain, a house, barn, and two corrals. The ranch would cost $1.4 million dollars which was about all the lawyer could afford, but it was beautiful. The more the lawyer looked at the pictures, the more he was certain this is how he should spend his final years. He called the real estate agent to close the deal and resigned from his law firm.

A few weeks later the Chicago lawyer arrived in Montana and began moving into his ranch home. For the first few weeks everything went perfect. There was good hunting, fishing, and a beautiful view in every direction; but the lawyer began to feel lonely. He didn’t think he would ever miss Chicago, but it was difficult to go from such a busy life to one of solitary seclusion. Then one day he saw a rider on horseback approaching his ranch. It was a giant of a man wearing chaps, spurs, a denim shirt, and a big ten gallon hat perched on top of his head. The lawyer thought this cowboy looked like a cross between John Wayne and Arnold Schwarzeneger. He didn’t know what the cowboy wanted, but he sure hoped he was friendly.

The cowboy waved his hat with a big, broad grin has he rode up and shouted, “Howdy, neighbor. My name is Bill.” The lawyer felt so he relieved and immediately responded, “Howdy friend, my name is Jim.” Bill got off his horse and shook Jim’s hand. He said, “Well Jim, I’m sorry it took so long for me to get over here and welcome you proper. I just finished fall roundup, but now I’m done for the winter and I should have lots of time for us to get acquainted. In fact, we’re having a party over at my place this Saturday to welcome you proper. There will be lots of food, whiskey, singing, dancing, and a little later, with some luck, maybe a little lovin’ going on. Now you have to come, we won’t take ‘no’ for an answer.” Jim thought this sounded great and said, “I’d love to come, it all sounds wonderful. Tell me, what should I bring?”. Bill replied, “Oh hell Jim, you don’t need to bother with bringing anything at all. It’ll just be the two of us.”

I see a similar game played by lawyers with the contracts they draft, except instead of hiding the pea, it might be called hiding the risk. You can almost envision the patter of a monte dealer saying, “Risk, risk, who’s got the risk”. This might be a fun game for corporate clients who have teams of attorneys on both sides playing the boardroom equivalent of football. What about the consumer contract though? The atypical, boilerplate, obnoxiously unbalanced adhesion contract. Do you find it offensive that a typical consumer contract disclaims everything since Noah and shifts the burden of every conceivable risk to the consumer? Aside from the issue of which provisions may not be enforceable in court and the provisions that are decidedly unenforceable; what about the cases that never make it to court. What effect does the language of such a contract have on consumers who never even call an attorney because they have read the contract and form the opinion that they have signed away their rights?

Is it the consumer’s fault for not seeking counsel? Perhaps, but it is the implicit intention of the attorneys who draft those contracts to create that false impression. It is not only the unsophisticated consumer who falls prey to this deceptive tactic. In fact, it is more likely to be the well-educated consumer who takes the time to read such a contract. Of course, they didn’t read it until a problem developed, but at least they read it. I find the imbalance in legal representation and unequal bargaining power to be personally and professionally offensive. If you agree this is a problem, what would you propose as a solution? New legislation supporting stronger consumer friendly laws? Lawsuits? If a lawsuit, under what cause of action?

I believe we may already have the necessary legislation if your state has adopted a version of the Uniform Unfair or Deceptive Trade Practices Act. This act has a very broad scope and a good selection of remedies, including attorney’s fees. I’d be interested in hearing from any of you who knows of unpublished or published cases where this approach has been used to discourage the use of unfair contracts. I’d also be interested to know whether you see this as a problem or just someone tilting at windmills.  Please take the time to post your thoughts and comments.

I named this posting category client management to focus attention on  the need to actively manage our clients. When I was in the Army, my best friend and confidant was a command sergeant major who had taken me under his wing. I learned a lot of things from CSM Janicek, but one thing he taught me stands out above the rest. He told me that the secret to being a good manager wasn’t to have the best employees, it was to get the best out of the employees that you have. Its a simple statement, with a mountain of meaning behind it.

Training your clients to be better clients shouldn’t require a whip and a chair. Communication is supposed to be a lawyers tool of choice. Teach your clients what they need to do, what they need to say and when, and how to live better lives for themselves. I didn’t say tell them what to do. Telling isn’t teaching. Teach them with stories about others. Make a lesson plan in your mind before you talk with each client. Talk to them on their level, don’t talk down to them as though they are misbehaving children or talk over their heads like law professors are often prone.  Keep trying different approaches, different techniques, until you see the light bulb go on in their eyes.

Of course, this is only free advice, and worth every penny. When I attend a function with other attorneys, I’m always listening for the attorney who has great clients that always stay in touch and deeply appreciate the service he has provided them. I know it isn’t the clients who are great, it is that attorney who is great.

• The South Carolina Bankruptcy & Consumer Law Blog
• The South Carolina Employment Law Blog

Sheryl is the mother of an amazing princess named Kayleigh, and the adopted mom for Rosemary the dog, Princess the cat, and Sam the kitten. She is also a writer, currently at work both on her first novel and a nonfiction book about chronic pain and its treatment in the U.S.

I liked this story on Inspired Solo:

Inspired Solo: Merl Ledford III

Mar 29th, 2007 by sherriesisk

From Legal Pad comes this heartwarming - no, really! - story of Merl Ledford, a California solo who took on the litigious monster machine that is the Recording Industry Association of America - and, apparently, won.

What happened was this: Barry Merchant got one of those form bully letters - what Legal Pad calls “milk-money shakedown” to the tune of four grand - from the RIAA. But instead of rolling over and opening up his bank account for the greedy tune-merchants, our Mr. Merchant went to see Inspired Solo Merl Ledford. What did Mr. Ledford do?

…to find out what Mr. Ledford did, visit Sheryl at Inspired Solo http://inspiredsolo.wordpress.com/2007/03/29/inspired-solo-merl-ledford-iii/

I need reading glasses to use the yellow pages. I can google for an address or phone number quicker and without the glasses. How will people find you on the internet? Eventually, the search engines will notice your website and you will start to build some traffic. There are a few simple things that you can do to speed up the process.

First, go to https://www.google.com/local/add/login? and create a business listing on the google network. You can provide your business name, business categories, address, phone and fax number, website url, and methods of payment accepted. This service is free and will help you get your name out there, at least among Google users.

Next go to http://advertising.superpages.com/spweb/portals/customer.portal and create a business listing on Superpages. You can do the same on Yahoo, MSN, and a number of other sites that provide business listings for free. There are a number of law related websites that will allow you to register your new website, but some are free, some charge, and some charge an arm and a leg. Use your own judgment. LawGuru might be a good site to look at. On LawGuru you can provide all of your business information, a link back to your website, and even post a photo. As an added benefit, you have the opportunity to answer legal questions posed by a number of people looking for free advice in your practice area and jurisdiction. It is your opportunity to educate and sometimes entice these individuals to do business with you. In any case, a number of people who haven’t posted a question have the opportunity to read your answers and just might call you if they are suitably impressed with your responses.

The opportunities are endless to get more exposure on the internet and limited only by your available time and imagination. I hope these tips get you off to a flying start.

Lets say you focus your practice on family law and bankruptcy. Shouldn’t you approach attorneys who do not practice in those areas to ask for referrals? Or better yet, meet with those attorneys to see if you are comfortable with making referrals to them. If a client has a problem outside your area of expertise, you need to either develop the necessary competence to represent the client or decline to represent the client. If you are going to decline representation, aren’t you providing your client with better service if you can recommend an attorney that you have met rather than leave your client to browse the yellow pages? I am not suggesting you give your client a stronger recommendation than is warranted by your knowledge of the other attorney. Just simply state you have met this attorney and you believe they will appreciate hearing from your client. Ask the client to report back to you with their impression of the attorney. Extend the level of service you are able to offer your clients by making selective referrals outside your practice area.

My fiancé and I love to take off on out of town motorcycle trips whenever possible. She is a free spirit and will literally be packed up and suited up for a ride on a moments notice. She loves to ride shotgun on the back of my motorcycle and has literally ridden over 100k miles with me over the years. Not to brag, but my friends and brothers only wish that they had old ladies that wanted to ride like my old lady.

One Thursday during the summer, at around 5:00pm, I asked her if she had ever been to the Grand Canyon; she said no. I asked her if she wanted to take off that night on a little motorcycle run to the Grand Canyon. Her eyes lit up, she gave me that smile of hers, and I already knew the answer. (YES OF COURSE) I told her that to beat the heat in the California Mohave Desert, and the Arizona Desert, it would be better if we took off around midnight or 1:00am.

Before I get into the story of this particular motorcycle run to the Grand Canyon, I wanted to mention briefly that there are basically 3 types of motorcycle runs at least for me. One type of run is where I just take off on my motorcycle alone, and ride wherever I want. The second type of run is where I ride with my old lady (fiancée) on the back (shotgun) of my motorcycle and we take off on a run to wherever. (It is not the destination that counts; it’s the ride that matters!) The third type of run is where I roll on my motorcycle with my friends or brothers who also have their own motorcycles. (Group run)

Not that I do not love rolling in a pack with my friends and brothers, or even alone, however, my favorite runs of all are when my old lady and I just take off and do our own thing! There is no pressure and we can do what we want without having to accommodate a group of motorcycle riders. The best part of all is that can find those little spots off of the highway or road for a little extra curricular activity if you know what I mean :). Anyway getting back to this particular ride report…………..

After we both decided to do the run, I promptly inspected my motorcycle for anything loose; checked the air pressure in the tires; and checked the oil, while she packed the T-Bag for the run. The good thing about being together for so long is that she knows just what to pack for a run like this.

We planned the run for 4 days which was not set in stone. We could do an extra day or two if we wanted. I hate doing runs like this on a deadline. The best runs for me are spur of the moment with no time constraints. I will write more about this later.

I strapped the T-Bag onto the luggage rack on the back of the motorcycle and did some other prep work to get ready for the run, i.e. getting someone to cover for me at the office while I was away, notifying family and friends of where I was going, etc.

At around 1:00am, we took off from Chatsworth, California for another motorcycle adventure; this time to the Grand Canyon. We were both excited as always to just take off!

Our basic plan was to take the California 118 freeway east from Chatsworth, to the 405 north, which merges to the 5 north, to the 14 northeast, to the Pearblossom Highway east, to the 15 northeast, to the 40 east, and get a motel in one of my favorite little towns in Kingman Arizona. Click Here to see the map of our ride plan to the Grand Canyon.

The Pearblossom Highway which runs through the Mohave Desert is also known as the Highway of death. It is a very dangerous 2 lane, 60 or 70 mile stretch of desert road. It is dangerous in a cage or on a motorcycle. This is the same road that the famous comedian Sam Kinison was killed on. There are crosses everywhere on this road which mark the spot where someone has been killed.

When we left Chatsworth, it was still around 75 degrees out even at 1:00am. We were not in any kind of a rush to get to our destination, but I do love to open up the motorcycle on the highway and in the desert, so we made some good time to Victorville, California, where we stopped to have some breakfast. It was still dark and around 3:00am.

We left Victorville and proceeded northeast up the 15 to the 40 east. The weather was still warm in the desert even at this time, and so far it was a great run. We stopped every 100 miles or so to coffee up and to gas up. (Pit Stops) You do not want to take chances in the desert. It is better to stop every 100 miles or so and gas up rather than to risk running out of gas somewhere in the middle of the desert in the middle of the night. During our pit stops I checked the motorcycle and enjoyed a couple of Marlboro Lights. (I will try to quit soon!)

We eventually made it to Kingman, Arizona. Kingman is a very small little town in the Arizona Desert. I came to know and love the small town back in the early 1990’s during my days as an Engineer before I became a lawyer. I always make a point to stop in or stay in Kingman, Arizona whenever I can. Kingman is a true old west town. I always stay at the same Motel 6 in Kingman, because there is a great old fashioned restaurant right next door, a couple of little stores nearby to get necessities as needed.

I like to stay at a Motel 6 when I am on motorcycle runs because in most cases you can park your motorcycle right in front of your room. When I am on an overnight motorcycle run I will not stay at a hotel/motel where I cannot park my motorcycle in front of my room! I like to be able to peek outside and check on the bike, and it is easier to unpack and pack the motorcycle if it is parked outside of the room!

Once we got to the Motel 6, and unpacked the motorcycle. We then proceeded to (censored by me due to the fact that there are just some things that are private ), and then get some shut eye.

When we awoke Friday at around noon, it was only around 116 degrees or so, not too bad for the Arizona Desert in the middle of summer. We then walked over to the restaurant I mentioned above and enjoyed a great meal. After the meal we hopped on the bike, and went on a short run to one of the little local markets I mentioned above, to get some refreshments for the rest of our run, and for the room. We then went back to the room and proceeded to (censored by me due to the fact that there are just some things that are private ).

The private parts of this motorcycle run that I will not discuss are in fact some of the best parts of this run and other long distance runs! There is nothing better for a relationship between a man and a woman, than a motorcycle run. If you do not know what I am talking about than you better buy a motorcycle and find out! Oh what fun it is to be a biker. The only reason the private parts are even mentioned is so that you can get a prospective on why this run took so long :).

At around 7:00pm or so, we eventually dragged ourselves out of the room again to take a motorcycle run in and around Kingman. We went to a famous steakhouse in town for dinner. After dinner we did some more riding in and around Kingman, and then went back to the room.

Our improvised plan was to leave early Saturday morning for the next leg of the run to the Grand Canyon. I knew that it would start to get hot in Kingman very early, but as we rode east on the 40 that it would start to get cooler as we headed towards the Alpine forest in Flagstaff.

On Saturday morning, we had breakfast, packed up the motorcycle, checked out of the room, and we were off by 10:00am. So much for the early morning start plan :). It was a great ride up the 40 towards the Grand Canyon. I ditched my helmet (yes, I admit that I sometimes do not follow my own safety advice) for the rest of the ride in Arizona. There is nothing like the freedom of having the wind in your hair and face. Anyway……

The run up the 40 towards Flagstaff, Arizona is a great run. It is all open highway with Desert vistas as far as the eye can see, until you start getting close to Flagstaff. The weather was perfect. We took our time and stopped every 100 miles or so as usual for pit stops. We eventually got to the 64 north which would lead us directly into the Grand Canyon National Park. There is nothing like the smell of Pine trees while on a motorcycle run.

The run from 64 to the Grand Canyon is mostly a straight shot through alpine forest. We stopped in a town off of the 64 for a pit stop. In this particular town they put on old west shows for tourist. While I was putting gas into my bike I noticed my old lady talking to a bunch of guys dressed up as cowboys, guns and all. There is no doubt that they were trying to hit on her because she was looking hot as usual. They followed her to my bike! The guns these cowboys were wearing were real Colt 6 shooters. Obviously the first thing I asked these guys was if the guns had blanks or real rounds in them :). Hey, you never know! They were blanks for the cowboy show, and one of the cowboys gave me a spent casing as a souvenir.

I ended up having a great conversation with these guys, which ended up delaying our ride for about ½ of an hour, but what the hell, we were in no rush. That is part of the enjoyment of a long distance motorcycle run is taking your time, meeting new people, and enjoying the run without being in a rush. I always say that the destination will always be there when you get there!

After our cowboy encounter we got back on the motorcycle and rode the last stretch to the Grand Canyon. When we got to the front gate, we paid the fee to enter the National Park, and we headed in. One of the advantages of being on a motorcycle is that you can basically park where no car can park, which is exactly what I did.

We then got off of the bike and walked to the rim of the Grand Canyon. Now there is no way to truly explain in words for those of you who have never been to the Grand Canyon, what the experience of walking up to the rim is like other than to say that when you first see the Grand Canyon live and in person, you know that there is a God. It is as though the hand of God touched this place, and opened up the most beautiful canyon you will ever see in the world. I have been to the Grand Canyon many times; this was the first time for my fiancé; she literally had tears in her eyes when she first saw it from the rim.

We spent the entire day and into the evening hours trolling around the Grand Canyon. What was unusual to me was that we were the only bikers in the park that day. I did not see any other motorcycles anywhere in the park. So my old lady and I kind of became tourist attractions for the other tourist. We had all kinds of people from Asia, Europe, and even America requesting to have their pictures taken with us. No biggie, I have kind of gotten used to it. (This maybe a subject for another future article)

I posed for a few pictures for my own personal album, while standing inches away from a straight 1 mile drop to the Canyon floor. Don’t ask me why!

The best part of the day was sundown at the Grand Canyon. All of the tourist staked out spots on the rocks and ground to watch the sundown, and so did we. There were literally hundred of human beings all over the park that day. At around 5 minutes before sundown, you could not hear a word. Everyone magically just stopped talking. If you could just imagine the most awe inspiring and beautiful site that you have ever seen in your life, you would understand why. There is just no reason to talk. You are witnessing the hand of god before you. The pictures I took do not do justice to the site of sundown at the Grand Canyon.

After sundown, everyone applauded like they were at the movies or something. My old lady and I shared one hell of a kiss. I could see that the Grand Canyon experience truly touched her soul. It made me happy to see her so happy.

We lingered in the park after dark acting like teenagers. (Another private moment ) By the time we got on the bike it was around 9:30pm. By this time we were starving because we had not eaten. We found some local restaurant that was about to close. They told us that they could not serve us food but that we could have a piece of pie. That was one hell of a good piece of apple pie.

We then got back on the motorcycle knowing that we had a long ride ahead of us to get back to Kingman. While I was on the 64 I noticed Moose and Deer warning signs. I did give a second second thought to the signs until I saw a deer standing by the side of the road on the edge of my spot lights. At that moment I realized that there was a real danger that one of those animals could run out into the road and ruin our whole trip. I slowed down, way down. I could swear that I saw glowing eyes on the side of the road during the ride back up to the 40. It started getting cold too, so we put our leathers on for the long trip back to Kingman. Due to the fact that I slowed down for the Deer and Moose warnings, we were significantly delayed, but it did not matter because we were in no rush anyway.

Riding through Arizona at night is a trip because it is pitch dark and there is very little traffic on the highway. We owned the 64 to the 40 except for a few cars that were heading in the opposite direction to the Grand Canyon. The ever present scent of Pine trees was in the air.

Once we got onto the 40, I was bone tired. We could have headed up to Flagstaff and got a room which would have been much quicker and much colder, or we could just ride through to Kingman. I decided to spare my old lady the cold and to ride through to Kingman. Once we were out of the twisting part of the 40 west, and back down to flat level road on the desert floor, I decided to take a pit stop to coffee up and get some gas. This is when the scariest part of the run happened.

I saw an off ramp to one of those gas stations that are lit up in the middle of nowhere. Just the kind of place I like to stop at 1:00am or so for a pit stop. When we took the off ramp and proceeded to turn left, we hit a patch of gravel and almost went down. I was very tired when this happened and to this day do not know how I managed to hold the bike up through the gravel patch. I say it was by the grace of god that we did not go down. I could not see the gravel, and there was no warning. The road was full of gravel all the way to the gas station. I could see it in my headlights and spotlights.

When we got to the gas station my heart was racing. My old lady was freaked out too. She had ridden with me long enough to know the feel of the motorcycle even from the back. She also knew that we had almost gone down. Suffice is to say we took our time at this pit stop and enjoyed some hot coffee.

We eventually got back on the 40 towards Kingman. By the time we got to the Motel 6, it was between 3:30am and 4:00am. We unpacked the motorcycle and proceeded to ride straight to an all night Denny’s up the street to get a real meal. I never had a grand slam breakfast that tasted so good. It was one hell of a day!

We woke up around 1:00pm on Sunday, and proceeded to (censored by me due to the fact that there are just some things that are private ). Oh well right? We then went to the same old fashioned restaurant mentioned above for a late breakfast/lunch; whatever you want to call it. The temperature was around 110 degrees or so but I was not too concerned; I should have been.

During our meal we decided that we were going to ride straight home from Kingman, because we were informed by cell phone from a neighbor that was taking care of our dogs while we were gone, that John (one of our Siberian Huskies) had gotten out of our property and had run away.

After the meal I foolishly mounted the bike with no helmet and a sleeveless shirt to do the ride home. When we left Kingman it was around 110 degrees. While riding towards Needles, California, I noticed that my skin felt like it was burning hot. It felt like a very hot blow dryer was cooking me. It was so hot that I felt like I was going to pass out. In all of my years of riding I have never felt this kind of sensation before. I knew that if I did not pull over that I was going to pass out as we were crossing the Colorado River.

We found a Denny’s and went in. We found out that the temperature outside at this time in Needles was around 126 degrees or even higher. I was having what I later found out to be a heat stroke.

It did not affect my old lady like it affected me because I was blocking the wind for her, she had a leather jacket on which prevented the hot wind from hitting her skin, and she had a full face helmet on.

To make a long story short, I immediately asked for a glass of ice and lemonade. I put the ice on my face, head, and skin. When I went into the bathroom to rinse my face and wet my hair I noticed that I had red blotches all over my skin. I was literally being cooked as I rode from Kingman to Needles. In all of my years of riding, I had never to this point had an experience like this. It was so hot, and doing 80 miles per hour in that heat almost wiped me out. My heart was racing, I felt sick to my stomach. It was a very bad experience.

We ended up staying in that Denny’s for about 3 hours so that I could recover, and so that it would hopefully cool down. I must have drunk no less than 10 glasses of lemonade while we were there. I put ice on my head the entire time. The locals told us that once we got out of the Needles area that it would cool down as we went more west. They told me that I was crazy for riding in the heat. Let me just say this, just going out into the parking lot to have a smoke was unbearable; that is how hot it was!

When we eventually left Needles the temperature was down to around 115 degrees, and it was around 4:00pm on Sunday. The only reason why we decided to ride it out and not just get a room in Laughlin, Nevada, was because our dog John was on the loose and we wanted to get back to find him.

Once back on the road, I got back into my grove and really enjoyed the run home. While on the 40 headed towards the 15, we encountered a massive dust storm in the desert. We made a pit stop and I met this really nice older guy who was riding a Honda VTX. We had a smoke and shot the shit for a while before we got back on the road.

When we hit the 15, we encountered bumper to bumper traffic from all of the people headed back to Los Angeles from Las Vegas. The traffic was due to road construction and an accident. The traffic was so bad that it was virtually stopped. There really was no room for lane splitting, but I went for it anyway. It eventually got too dangerous to lane split because there was no room in between the cars. I decided to take an off ramp that lead to no where to have a smoke. We took some pictures and just looked at the line of lights that represented the traffic we would have to go though to get home.

We eventually got back on the 15 and finally made it back to Pearblossom Highway for the last couple of legs home. There was a massive brush fire eating up the San Bernardino Mountains and the Angeles National Forest. It was very bizarre riding on the Pearblossom Highway on the way home watching the fire to our left up in the hills. The smoke from the fire blanketed the Desert Floor and kind of just stayed there because there was no breeze. It was an interesting ride home to say the least.

When we finally pulled into our property at around 2:00am we were both tired and spent. Guess who was waiting for us at the front gate of our property; John, our Siberian Husky that ran away while we were gone. If it had not been for that damm dog we would have spent a couple of days in Laughlin Nevada. However, he was a sight for sore eyes.

We have since taken precautions to prevent our dogs from getting off of our property while we are on runs.

I thought I would share a detailed experience of one of my motorcycle runs to the Grand Canyon. I cannot wait to do it again!

By Norman Gregory Fernandez, Esq., © 2007