2011-01-15 Patti's (Mrs. Twn) 1 year closure

Fountain of sorrow, fountain of life, you've known that hollow sound of your own steps in flight.. you've had to hide sometimes, but now you are all right, and it's good to see your smiling face tonight...
(Jackson Browne, The next voice you hear)

Can't say the words better..

Chris, Tim's brother, sent email. A closure of sorts, for Patti. Chris may or may not be able to attend, due to weather and not feeling well.

The locals, however, were up to the ride and celebration of Patti's life. Fairlaner and Mrs. Fairlaner! , MCML and gfVal, Duff, were the crew.

Perhaps Patti is an unknown to you, the reader. May I fill in the blanks for you? Tim, Twowheelnut, was my best buddy. He was married to Patti. I did not know her all that well. Then Tim died of a heart attack. Patti was left with huge debt and uncertain surprises.

She did the best she could. She was strong. She wanted to form a riders club, no, not the right word, hostel, maybe? across the US and maybe world - places where a riding traveler could find home for a night or two.

She traveled to Australia after Tim died, to visit and regroup with family. Returning state side, unknown to her, the final verdict was in. Very shortly, and tragically, she was gone, cancer.

Shortly after Tim's death, some of us on the FJR forum banded together to help her. Duff, Gary, bless his heart, stood upfront and forward, helping to sort through Tim's stuff, selling what could, to help Patti.

The proceeds enabled Patti to 'dress' the condo up and sell it for a very good price given the market.

Returning from Australia, Patti was ill, and shortly thereafter died. crying

The family, the family.. so short of time, never, really, had closure.

So today, was the day.

May I start with the, uhh, realities of it all?

Got home Friday night to this, so had to change it out before the morning. Only took 1.5 hours, I'm getting faster!

Pleasantly surprised to see 62k indicating on the 3rd odo..

The morning was chilly, msDcarver layering up..

I always have to refrain from chuckling when she puts her helmet on - evidently helmets only go on with eyes closed!

The county recently graded the dirt road - very nice for now.

Soon enough it was 72F - woot woot! Eat your hearts out right coasters!

And then 74F... damn, to many layers, I'm sweating!

At the meet up point with Duff, some Wingers were refueling. The guy was totally cool. Said he had 4 daughters, the only peace he got was drinking Merlot or out alone riding the motobike.

The Duffster, the DuffDoode, the.....

Not to shabby for the middle of winter, eh?

Arrived in Santa Barbara at noon for lunch prior to attending Patti's event. MCML and gfVal.

Duff, cracking his bad self up over something...

Waiting on Fairlaner, why is it taking him so long to get there? Could it be because Mrs. Fairlaner was keeping our speed racer in line?

Yes folks, that's Fairlaner on Wing.

So very good to see Mrs. Fairlaner on a ride!

LOL - check out the Wings foot peg. Nary a scratch. Evidently Fairlaner forgot to mark it up with his grinder before leaving...

Hey doode - what up with the smoking? Run out of Chantix?

I like this pix of Joseph.

On to Patti's parents house. They had photos of Patti, and things that she made on display. Very nice. I took photos of the photos.

Patti.

Looking through some photographs I found inside a drawer
I was taken by a photograph of you
There were one or two I know that you would have liked a little more
But they didn’t show your spirit quite as true

You were turning ’round to see who was behind you
And I took your childish laughter by surprise
And at the moment that my camera happened to find you
There was just a trace of sorrow in your eyes
Jackson Browne

Tim and Patti, pre-FJR days.

Yeah, I know, check Tim out..

Patti and son, Paul.

Val, I like this shot of her.

Ready to head out, go home.

Over 154, West bound, Lake Cachuma.

Duff in action.

Holy crickets, batman, 75F!

No freaking way, 77 degrees F in January? Maybe them global warming peeps are right!

Beautiful sunset.

Night soon, and cold weather just ahead (55F) bawaaaah!

and home to the critters - Harley

Ducati

Summary - the family was very appreciative we took the time to remember Patti. They are really cool people. While there, Patti's girl friend, Cindy, IIRC, mentioned she still had some stuff of Tim's - bullet cameras, pix, and some memory chips - she said she would mail them to me!