Florence Rhody Days

So last weekend (May 19th) we attended the 100th Annual Rhody Days in Florence, Oregon (3 hours SW of Portland).  Florence is a small town on the coast of Oregon straight West from Eugene.  "Rhody" stands for Rhododendron which grows naturally and abundantly here in Oregon.  Why they are celebrating the plant I have no idea.  It really just becomes an excuse to have a party and a chance to show off your motorcycle.  Bikes of all kinds lined the streets.  Mostly Harley-Davidson bikes of course.  It was cool to see all the Harley riders.  Unlike Milwaukee, I don't see as many out here, and made me miss working there.

They also had a parade, which didn't involve floats or marching bands but old cars parading down main street.  There were alot of great looking cars.  I even saw Ray's old car.  One guy gave it some gas down the street, we could only hear the engine rev (not sure if he left skids marks or just revved it) anyway when he got to us this cop motioned him over and gave him a ticket.  The crowd "boo'd" him pretty loudly.  Note the 'SMOKING' license plate.

Of course the highlight of the parade and the logging truck.

I'm surprised there wasn't a tree hugger strapped to the log somewhere...

We were down in Eugene visiting Heidi's parents that Saturday.  Found a great chocolate shake (love 'em) place on the way to the coast.  Going to have to bring the bike next time and try out some of the trails around Eugene.  Looks like mostly paved trails but they do have a mountain bike club to check out as well.  Also need to check out more of the breweries down here.

Later.