I remember that morning as if it just happened two and a half years ago. We were getting ready to go to Ruidoso. We loved the mountains. She was in her element with the crisp cool morning and the winding roads. We would meat out in the garage every morning be for heading out. As I opened the door she was there waiting for me. My heart would leap. She was not my first but she was by far my favorite. She was breath taking. She was exactly what I had dreamed about for years. I believed we would be together till death parted us. As I opened the overhead door the morning rushed in on us. I breathed deeply.
She had been acting funny that week so I thought it would be good for her to be checked out before we left for Ruidoso. We loaded up and headed for the shop. When we got there we noticed that one of her bags was locked so we headed back to the house to get the key. She look kind of funny with only one bag on but I did not mind. She was still my pride and joy, my dream come true. I had only received her a few months earlier. The first time I saw her I was in love. She was a FLHRI, solid black with lots of chrome. In layman’s terms, a Harley Davidson Road King, 2003 anniversary model. She had a big bore kit with cams and the sweetest pipes you ever heard. She was not so loud as to be ob obnoxious but if you twisted the throttle you could set off car alarms. I could listen to her scream all day.

I turned north on Buffalo Gap road and headed for the house. As I came to the curve in the road in front of Sonic I slowed down. This curve always made me nerves. It was always busy and there was an uncomfortable intersection in the middle of the curve. I was following a small white car and had left plenty of distance between us. As I leaned her over to tack the curve I noticed a truck in the opposite turn lane waiting for us to pass. I then saw a car clip the back of the truck and swerve into our lane. I was on my breaks.

You have to remember this was my dream bike. I loved her. We had just returned from a trip of a lifetime. My son lived in Seattle at the time and we went to see him. Who ever said the hardest part of a trip is the first step never lived in Texas. It was getting dark before I saw Texas in my rear view mirror. I stopped in Eagles Nest NM. When I got up the next morning It was obvious I was not in Texas any more. I loaded her up, strapped on my leathers and off we went. After riding the mountains around Taos we headed for the border, actually it was four borders. But because of bad road signs I made a wrong turn and was headed south along the NM, Arizona border. It was ok because the scenery was beautiful.

I pulled up to the Grand Canyon just as the sun was setting and took a picture of my bike with sun setting behind the Grand Canyon. The next morning we headed to Las Vegas baby, crossing the Hover dam. It was 118 degrees with stop and go traffic over the dam. Vegas was not much better at 114 degrees on the strip after sun down. All I wanted to do was drive my bike down the strip. That did not last long. The next day I hade my bike serviced at the Las Vegas Harley shop and bought a t shirt that read Las Vegas Harley Davidson Hotter than Hell. I thought it appropriate. Then we headed to San Francisco via Bakersfield. The next day we crossed the Golden Gate Bridge and headed down the cost on Hyw 1. After a while we got back on Hyw 101 and road through the Napa Valley. That knight we camped next to a Red Wood tree as big around as my house. Seattle was on the agenda for the next day but first I took a picture of my bike in a cut out Read Wood.

We crossed Oregon only to stop and fight the gas attendant as to who was going to pump the gas into my new 2003 anniversary model HD Road King. Did I mention she was beautiful? Solid black with lots of chrome, and boy could she scream.

After spending a few days with my son (my wife and daughter who had flown in),I then headed for Montana. I had spent some time in Anaconda as a boy. The mountains in Montana are lonely, just as I like them. We stayed the knight in Butte and the next day we road through Yellowstone, along side the Grand Tetons and stayed the night in Jackson Hole WY. I met my brother-in-law in Colorado and spent the next couple of days riding the mountains. What a trip, it was if I had died and gone to heaven.



I watched the car in front of me mushroom head on into the coming car. I always worried what I would say in a situation such as I was in. I was surprised, all I said to my self was “here we go”. The way the intersection is designed I was able to go strait as the other car curved. If you do not know, when you get on the breaks of a bike the rear wheel comes around. I was headed strait for a curb. I knew if I hit the curb with my bike sideways it would tear up my bike and I know I told you about my anniversary model Road King. So I let off the breaks and straitened out the bike. The curb was still coming and looked even bigger. I was trying to figure out how to get my bike over the curb without damaging it when out of the corner of my eye I see the car still coming. I watch and hear it hit the back of my bike. The next thing I remember is a fire cutting me in half. I felt my knees coming up and did not know why. As I was sliding on my back I opened my eyes and saw my legs strait out. I knew I had broken my back.

As they loaded me into the ambulance I knew my world had just been turned upside down. Through the physical and mental pain I herd a voice. All of the sudden every fiber of my body and mind was filed with peace. “What you have is greater than legs.” I knew immediately what that meant. I was loved by God. There is nothing greater than love, not even my lower body and God’s love is even greater than a 2003 anniversary model Road king. Now that is True love.