Memorial Day Ride 2016

Member  Of The Greatest Generation

May 30, 2016 marked the 2nd Memorial Day since my dad, WWII veteran and Purple Heart recipient, passed away.  During the previous 10 years or so I had spend some of each Memorial Day weekend with him.  It was my honor to take him to several Memorial Day services and accompany him in 2010 on Honor Flight. 

Wendell Osburn PFC 1st Army, 2nd Division, 9th Regiment, Company K, 3rd Platoon, 3rd Squad

I decided to take a ride and have a Memorial Day service and lunch with some fellow riders.  We gathered at a local gas station for fuel, food, drink and the pre-ride meeting.

Fueled up and waiting on others for the ride.

Bikes at the memorial

The ride was nice and cool in the morning thanks to some late night/early morning rain.  We were careful as some of the roads were still wet, but still managed to enjoy some "spirited" moments as we twisted through the country side towards the Audie Murphy Memorial at the Audie Murphy/American Cotton Museum in Greenville, TX.

Audie Murphy statute

Audie was a Texas boy!

 Several friends on cruisers welcomed us as we rode into the parking lot at the memorial.  After looking at bikes and the normal comments/jokes about each others bikes we took time to read quotes, names (from Hunt county) and information that were part of the memorial.

A nice gathering of bikers to remember the sacrifices made for our country

One veteran reading names of soldiers who gave the ultimate sacrifice

Reading the names is very sobering and humbling

The veterans in attendance were gathered for a photo.  We were all very honored to have them with us for the day.  A few words of appreciation for all our military, past, present and future, were said and a prayer for our country and armed forces was given.

Six veterans were with us and one join us at lunch.  It was an honor to have them with us.

After the time at the memorial we enjoyed lunch at a local hamburger establishment before a spirited ride home on dry roads.  Several riders chipped in and bought all the veterans lunch.

Thank you to all veterans and their families for the service and sacrifice made so we can go ride motorcycles with the freedoms and security we so often take for granted.  May God bless our armed forces and the USA.

I want to thank all my friends for sharing the ride and the time of remembrance with me.

 

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# Based on reviews, word of mouth and discussion with others I recommend this company.  I have an affiliate relationship with this business, which means if you follow this link and purchase, I will receive a small commission and will get to ride more!
 

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Not much room, but great burger.

I confess that I did not ride my bike to Burger Land, but I was on motorcycle business.  I was visiting some motorcycle dealerships in the North Texas area to talk to them about carrying the Moto Oz Detailing Products (yes, that was a shameless self serving plug, but I won't do that often :) ).  


It was time for lunch and I was in Paris, Texas.  I decided to drive to the downtown area and see if I could locate a local eatery before visiting with another dealership.  As I was heading south on Main St. I passed by a small, older looking, drive thru place that had a lot of vehicles parked around it.  All the vehicles caught my attention so I turned around to investigate.

** All photos are from Burger Land's Facebook photo album.  I had not planned to take pictures for the blog - I guess I should always be prepared.  **

There was a reason the parking lot was full.

The old marque sign in front of the place read "Burger Land."  It looked busy and I know that busy usually means something good when it comes to places to eat.  I parked in one of only two open space near the building.

This is the long side of the bar.

As soon as you open the door you can smell the homemade fries and burgers cooking.  The only seating in the place is the L shaped bar with stationary stools facing the "kitchen."  You can watch the "chef" cook your order.

Grill cooking up the burgers.

I ordered the cheeseburger, fries, and a drink.  As I sipped on my drink it was not long until the fresh cut french fries arrived hot & freshly fried.  I liked that I was served my fries hot even tho my burger was still cooking.  I seasoned the fries with the seasoned salt mixture that was provided and began to enjoy some of the best old-fashioned homemade fries that I had in a LONG time.  They were great.  I usually put ketchup on my fries, but not this time.  They were very tasty and cooked completely without burning them.


My cheeseburger arrived about 2 minutes later.  There is nothing special about the toasted bun, but there is no reason to doctor up the bun because the meat and fixin's were high quality.  The meat was flavorful, but not overly seasoned.  The lettuce was fresh and the pickles thick.  (No onions or tomatoes for me! Photo is not my burger.)

Hot fries and a great burger!

Normally a burger is just a burger, but the Burger Land's cheeseburger tickled my fancy.  I finished off the burger and fries and was already planning on a return trip.  The only negative is that if I am riding with 6 or more friends we might not be able to get in!  There was a picnic table and benches outside that would be nice when the weather cooperated.


Burger Land is open 10:30-8:00 Monday - Friday and 10:30-4:00 Saturday.  The address is 1301 N. Main, Paris Texas.  If you find yourself in Paris, TX and you want a good old-fashioned burger stop by Burger Land and enjoy!

 

Connect and follow Biker Oz on the following:

              

 

Please visit the following great companies:

THE ESSENTIALS FOR MODERATE SELF-IMPROVEMENT

 

Awesome gear for every rider!

Ordinary Biker Oz YouTube Channel has video reviews and more

* I have personally ordered from and/or visited these businesses and based on my experiences I recommend this company.  I have an affiliate relationship with the businesses, which means if you follow this link and purchase, I will receive a small commission and will get to ride more!
 

Feedback on these businesses is appreciated.  You may comment below.

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"Will Not Post A Review" list

You may have noticed that all of my reviews have been positive.  Not all are “glowing,” but none are negative.  I don’t really like ragging someone, but I do think I should communicate about places and items that I did not find worthy of writing about.

With that in mind I have decided to periodically post a “Will Not Post A Review” list.  I hope my silence communicates appropriately.

In no particular order here is my first:

                  Will Not Post A Review

1) True Grit Restaurant - Alamosa, CO

2) Chama Trails Inn - Chama, NM

3) Bar B Que Junction - Bowling Green, KY

4) Idaho Springs Motel - Idaho Springs, CO

5) Lea's Restaurant - Leonard, TX
6)Lewie's Burgers and Brew - Lead, SD

7) Maxima Spray and Shine Spray-On Detailer

Eating in Pagosa Springs

On the east side of Pagosa Springs where  US 180 & US 84 intersect you will find the appropriately named Junction Restaurant.  The Junction is very biker friendly, although the parking lot is not paved.  The scenery and ride to get there is awesome, especially if you ride over Wolf Creek Pass (10,857 ft) east of town.

The Junction is both a restaurant and a gift store.  The gift store had a good selection of t-shirts and collectibles.

The Junction serves up country cooking with a little southwest flair.  Standard country food was on the menu, i.e. burgers, chili, chicken fried steak...

We were greeted with smile and quickly seated (11:30 am).  The waitress filled our drink order and answered our questions about the menu and struck back at the joking around by members of our party.  She did a great job.

I had the green chili.  This is not a normal menu choice from me, but I am glad I ordered it.  The chili was served hot and it smelled great.  It was very flavorful and had some "kick" to it, but it was not too spicy.  The ground meet was good and I did not notice any gristle.  My son and other ordered the hamburger.  The burgers looked good - nothing great, but were good and satisfying burgers.  No one in the group complained about the meal, actually everyone enjoyed it and would stop by again.

The price was very reasonable for a tourist town and we found the service good.  The facilities were clean and decorated nicely in  country/mountain decor.

If you are in Pagosa Springs stop by the Junction Restaurant for a meal.  Try the green chili, I think you will enjoy it.