hello

I have better control of the bike! any way after meeting her at the gate we made our way back to the stage area because it was getting close to the time for the flag raising! this is a ceremony I try not to miss! the veterans clubs do the flag raising and to us veterans it is important! there is one old friend that I have to get a pic of it for! missed you there this time! shortly after the flag raising we started the games! now this is where the pic got all mixed up oh the cards so they are out of order! I was glad the Kid didn't make it this year because I had a shot at the slow race. Actually I miss seeing him. maybe some day he will come back. I got lucky and didn't have to race Daryl he is the one on the old Ironhead! then in the keg roll I was ahead but the barrel went out about 4 ft from the finish! Tina took the winnie bite hands down! we did the double slow race but for some reason I put my foot down about 5 ft into it! I let the big guys do the bowling ball toss! for fun a couple of us did the triple slow race just to entertain the cowd! Alvin and I have been trying to get this game going as a regular! the crowd likes to watch it. so far Capt Abate, Red, Alvin, Dirty Dave, and myself have been having fun with it! every one has fun with the games either playing in them or watching them. they even still do the kick start contest. the amount of people in it is getting smaller every year because the old bikes with kick starters are going away! after all the games were over I went to get pic of the bike show and then back to the stage to photograph the tattoo contest. then

I was out wondering around shooting pic of the rest of the party I had to go up behind the stage area to take care of something while I was up there I found a couple of old timers I know having a good time! I had to take a couple of pic of them even though one made some nasty threats if I put them up, the other one made some more if I didn't. oh well I added them. from there it was more music and fun All over the camp! to include Dave Short and the no Whiners which do a Hank Williams tribute!   finally about 1230 it was time for the stage show!  The stage show is always a good one with a large crowd. I like to get the action on stage but also turn around and get some of the crowd too. sometimes theses are pretty interesting! everyone has a good time! I think Smokie and Holms may have the most fun! after the show the band came back on stage to play while I did a little more wondering and taking pictures! about 3:30 I finally went to bed! I woke up pretty early on Sunday morning some one started there bike and thought you need to rev it up several times to get it warm instead of letting it idle. ok so I drug my butt out of bed at about 730 and made my way over to CMA for some coffee. after a couple of large cups I went back to camp and started tearing down. by 10.00 and had my bike loaded by 11am I stopped by the gate to talk to Pam before I left! and was on the road home. The weather was good light wind warm and clear, the ride home was not near long enough but considering how tired I was it was probably a good thing it wasnt! I was backing my bike into the garage by 2:30
   Well till next time!
             The Picture Man

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