Daniel Palm

In August I got the bug for a new truck.  I had a 2009 Dodge Ram 1500 crew cab, and it was OK for the most part.  There were three things in particular that bugged me about it.   First and foremost was the engine.  The Dodge hemi is a great engine, no doubt, but it’s not a Cummins turbo diesel.  I had a truck with a Cummins a few years ago and have regretted getting rid of it ever since.  Second was the size of the bed.  The 1500, when coupled with a crew cab only has a 5’6″ bed.  It’s short, and in my opinion looks funny.  My new truck has a crew cab and an 8 foot bed!  The third thing was the thing they call an EVIC (electronic vehicle information center).  On the 1500 it was so dim I couldn’t read it in the daytime.  I took it back to the dealer a bunch and every time I complained about it they looked at me like I was retarded.  The new truck’s EVIC is bright and readable in direct sunlight, and it provides a lot more information than it’s predecessor.

I couldn’t find exactly what I wanted, so I ordered a truck from the factory.  I had never done that before, and it was an interesting experience.  The story can be found here.  The new truck’s Color is called Sagebrush.  In the sun it’s bright and sparkly, in the shade it’s kind of greenish-brown.  The pic below kind of shows what I’m talking about.

2012 Ram truck sun/shade

I went to the Motorcops for Kids Toy Run held in November.  It’s put on by the Garland Motorcops and the local Shriners Temple.  I know, all we ever see motorcops doing is giving out tickets, and traffic enforcement is their primary responsibility, but at least once a year  they get together and help some kids have a great Christmas.  At the annual event they give away a brand new motorcycle every year.  Every year I buy a couple of raffle tickets and consider it part of my donation to the cause.  Well, this year I WON THE MOTORCYCLE!  Unbelievable isn’t it?  Nobody ever wins those things, at least nobody I know.  Here’s a picture of my friends and I after the drawing:

The motorcycle was a Harley Davidson Fat Boy Low.  The FBL is a beautiful bike, however, I get more use out of a touring machine than a boulevard cruiser.  After the initial shock wore off, and before I took possession of the bike I began talking to the sponsoring dealer, Dallas Harley Davidson.  They were quite agreeable and more than fair in the negotiations, which was very refreshing considering the attitude of Harley dealers around the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex.  So we worked a deal in which I traded my current bike in and the raffle prize on a Harley Davidson CVO Ultra Classic.  The top-of-the-line, all-out motorcycle.  I figured it was a once-in-a-lifetime chance, so I went for it.  I took possession of it a couple of days before Christmas, and I am still in shock.  Of course, since then temperatures have plummeted and the ground has been coated in ice for the most part, but I’m trying to ride it.  Here’s a picture of the new baby:

It’s one of those days in DFW today.  Hot enough to make the soles of your shoes stick to the pavement as you walk to your air-conditioned car.  I rode my bike to work today, but after riding home for lunch I wisely opted to drive back in the truck.  For proof, the pic above is a screenshot from the weatherbug app on my droid powered phone.

Stay cool!

Yesterday my friend Ken and I left the DFW area heading for the holy grail of motorcycle rallies: Sturgis. Yes, I am finally getting to go to the great two-wheeled mecca in the north. The trip has been in the planning for about a year now and now all the anticipation has turned to excitement. I know, we’re actually going the week before the rally, but it will still be an adventure. Most of the vendors set up early and though not quite the number that will be there next week, there will still be a healthy crowd.

We left DFW yesterday morning about 9 am. The ride was for the most part uneventful. The weather was warm when we left, with low humidity. That means on thing in Texas: HEAT! I think it got very close to 100 degrees if not warmer by the time we got to Childress fro lunch. The ride from Childress to Amarillo was stifling. Going across the northeast corner of New Mexico we were getting weather alerts on our GPS’s. Of course, at that time the sky was clear blue with a relentless sun beating down on us. As we rode closer to Colorado we began to see the rain on the horizon. We pressed on, the temperature dropping, the rain falling, and we started to get chilled. Make that COLD! We rode until we intersected with I-25, where we put on our rainsuits before heading over Raton Pass. In the pass it got very wet and very cold. Thank goodness we stopped and dressed for the occasion! We spent the night in Trinidad, Co.

I’ll be posting pictures and updates throughout the trip on this page.  I also brought along a SPoT satellite tracker. You can track our progress in real time at this website: http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=0KMDAx7e1x294GujATgWqnAspToMenK5m