Baby, It's Cold Outside 2013

And, inside, too. Hence so few updates. I've been battling a never ending cold for the past month. It has, however, given me some time to pull all my winter gear out of the closet. It was a hard job finding those winter gloves, let me tell you! I've been out a little bit, cold and all, and I couldn't help but wonder how I survived two winters with out any decent wintery motorcycle gear. Where there's a will there's a way.

Blueberry is patiently waiting for me to change some oil. Sounds like a great Thanksgiving day project; Show some thanks to my faithful companion.

It turns out that I don't have the best luck when it comes to technology. I plugged a hard drive containing seven years' worth of pictures from random motorcycle/life adventures only to find that there's nothing there anymore. It be kaput. Drat. It didn't take a lot of brainstorming to find a silver lining. Perfect (legitimate) excuse for some extra motorcycle riding! Therefore, I'm not bummed at all.

Speaking of trips, I'm scouting out different adventures for the rest of 2013 and for 2014. Any small Oklahoma towns of interest? Any small towns with a salacious past? Would love some suggestions!

So Project (Color) Madness has been a hiatus as you've probably noticed through lack of pictures on Wanderings of Girl Ryder Facebook page. No more! I've got some new victims! And, a lot of new ideas. So stay tuned as Stone Turtle Ranch Lodging enters into Project (Color) Madness part II.

Besides spending a lot of time creating a Honey Do list for myself (that's time consuming seeing as the list just keeps growing. Yikes), I've also picked up the hobby of reading. Mighty fine considering I can barely navigate through my living quarters without bumping into books and motorcycle stuff. Even found one of my Keith Code books! Motorcycle + Book = Can't get much better especially if there's coffee involved.

I hope all y'all have an awesome, safe Thanksgiving holiday! Remember that EVERY day is a good day to be thankful!

Waurika Loop

Temple. Not much to comment about Temple... Sears owned a store there until the 50s. I believe a Chinese company bought that facility in the early 2000s... It used to be quite the local-business supporting town (44 small businesses back in the day) compared to the now-ish time frame (13 stores). Sad.

Hastings. Another town that changed its name. It was originally called Bayard (I wonder if they had sheep...Ba-yard- get it?) and was incorporated in 1902. In 1910, it had a population of approximately 727. Nowadays, it's under 200. It's this tiny little town and doesn't seem to have a lot to offer (from what I saw- didn't get to explore too much). But, back in its heyday, the town had a lot of newspapers (Free Lance, the Hastings News, the Hastings Telegraph, and the Hastings Herald), a pool, a movie theater, and, get this, an opera house. At the edge of town (if one can call it that- it's a corner town. You turn the corner and that was it) there was a historic marker for Hastings Baptist College. Yet, the building didn't look school-like at all. Once again, I should have stopped... Apparently it opened in 1906 and was relocated to Mangum, OK in 1912.

All I can see about Waurika is that it's an awesome little town. I'd move there in a heartbeat. Yes, the Waurikans are probably thinking "Oh God, No!"

Waurika means clear water. I wonder if they have a spring.
...Wait...they have a lake...which I've been to. Good thing I'm blonde and can blame my memory lapses on something. I'll dig up that ride sometime and post it, too.

I should have stopped in Comanche and Addington because I saw some interesting/amusing things. Oh well, next time.

Logged about 160 miles on this ride. It was the perfect way to celebrate the end of a semester!
Pictures from this ride can be found on WGR's Facebook page.