I grew up on beef and dairy farms in the Ada, OK area after being born in King City, CA. I graduated from Stonewall, OK HS in 1970, did 3 years under graduate study at East Central OK University, and graduated from OK State's College of Vet Med in 1977. I practiced in Alva, OK for 1 year, then Catherine and I moved to Tishomingo and set up our mixed animal general veterinary practice. We enjoyed raising our family there and being a part of the community. I retired from private practice and took a job as a staff veterinarian in the Animal Industry Division of the Oklahoma State Department of Agriculture in December 2006..
I got my '97 Wide Glide in March '97. It has about 103,000 miles on it now. I haven't been able to put many miles on it the last couple of years due to some shoulder surgery. I've had many memorable rides on it. Click on some of the links in the lower right column to read about some of them.
Catherine graduated from Lawton, OK Eisenhower HS in 1972, from OSU with a degree in Animal Science in 1976, and from Southeastern OK State with a degree in Elementary Education in 1995. She is going to Oklahoma University, where she got a MA in 2007 and is working on her PhD in math. She is a Graduate Assistant, so does some teaching. She rides a '97 883 Sportster and can outride most men in both safety and endurance. We enjoy riding on deserted two lane roads and exploring new areas, stopping to check something out if it looks good, and camping out a lot.
We have 2 sons. The oldest, Joe, is 28 and played football at University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, OK. He has his degree and is a personal banker for Wells Fargo Bank. He married a wonderful young lady named Staci in 2006 and they are the proud parents of Ainsley Jocelyn, who was born April 1, 2007. Catherine and I are grandparents now and we love it!!. Check out Ainsley's page. Mark is 26 and played baseball at Murray State College in Tishomingo, OK. He graduated from UCO with a degree in Journalism and is a chef in New York City at a restaurant called Dovetail. It has been open since mid December 2007 and has a 3 Star rating from the New York Times food critic, which is very difficult to do. He and his cousin Anne share an apartment in NYC and he is enjoying being a young urban man.
We live in Norman but still have our little farm near Fillmore, OK. We worship at Generations Church where we enjoy the fellowship and the community outreach the church participates in. When we are in Fillmore we attend Freedom Fellowship Church. The fellow Christians there and the pastor, Clint Freeman, have been a real blessings to us. They are Bible based churches where the congregations love to worship and praise God.
We are members of the Emmanuel Riders Chapter of the Christian Motorcyclist Association. The chapter meets at the Bar B Q Pit in Madill at 6:30 the 2nd Tuesday of each month. We became members in 2005 and the group has really been a blessing to us and we pray that we can be instruments of God along with them to help others.
I'm not a mechanic, so I'm gonna throw in a plug for my friend and owner of No Coast Choppers in Ardmore, OK, Larry Edmonds. He and his wife Andrea and their staff keep our bikes running so we can do this thing we enjoy so much.(see links)
Some of the places we enjoy riding to most are:
The "mountains" of Eastern OK. There are lots of hilly, winding 2 lane roads that have pretty scenery and make good day rides for us. For a weekend ride, going on into Hot Springs, AR is pretty and fun.
The Wichita Mountains and the Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge near Lawton, OK is a good fun day or weekend ride for us. We enjoy the scenery and the animals. For a fun meal, go to Meers, just north of the Refuge, for a Meers Burger. The little community of Medicine Park is fun to visit also.
We enjoy riding to Marietta, OK, then west on Hwy 32 and south on Hwy 89 across the Red River and down into Muenster, TX, which is a little German town. It is a good day ride, the roads are good without much traffic, and the scenery is pretty. We enjoy eating at The Center there. About 7 miles east of Muenster is Lindsay, TX and Dieter Bros Barbeque, which is a good place to eat.
The TX Hill Country around Fredericksburg and Luckenbach. There are lots of hills and curves and neat little towns and pretty scenery. And Luckenbach is a great place to hang out and listen to music. It's at least a 3 day trip for us.
The Rocky Mountains anywhere. Especially we like around Red River, NM and southern CO because the scenery is beautiful and the green chili is out of this world. If you're in the area visit the Vietnam Veterans National Memorial in Eagle Nest.
The area around Durango, CO is great for riding also. The ride from there to Silverton and on into Ouray is one of the most breathtaking I've seen. One of our fondest memories is pulling into the little town of Rico, CO on July 4, 2000, and landing right in the middle of the first parade they had in 20 years. It seemed the whole town had turned out and they were all in such high spirits, it was really infectious.
Probably our favorites are 2 week extended trips. We've been to California twice, Canada once, along with Utah and Kentucky. We love camping in the parks and forests and the meeting people and the outdoor activities that go with it.
As far as music goes, I like classic rock and country music mostly. I enjoy musicians like Ray Wylie Hubbard, Jerry Jeff Walker, David Allen Coe, Willie, Waylon, George Jones, Bob Dylan, Neil Young, and Bonnie Rait. My favorite band all time is the Beatles. May George and John rest in peace. For good music and a lot of fun attend the Bricktown Blues Fest in OKC in mid June. I spend most of my time listening now to contemporary Christian music. My favorite radio station is AIR1.
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