Motorcycle Diaries

THE RUBBER BISKIT ROAD SHOW PRESENTS, "NEVER SAY NEVER: AN EPIC JOURNEY - VOLUME ONE, PART TWO: IT'S GOING TO BE A BUMPY NIGHT

In Part Two of Never Say Never: An Epic Journey - Volume One you will meet Romani Craftsman Walter Hummel, his wife Priscilla and their children as they head west towards a new life in a new land. You will also meet a giant of a woman, Harriet Hummel-Wickman. You will continue this Epic Journey through Oklahoma with The GYPSY as he travels to Kansas on his motorcycle to lay Shirley's remains to rest. You will explore the past while moving forward towards the final goal.
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New Episodes Drop Every Tuesday At 5:00am CT. Join Us Next Week For Part Three: Frankly My Dear I Don't Give A Damn.

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The Rubber Biskit Road Show Presents, "Never Say Never: An Epic Journey - Volume One, Part One: Off To See The Wizard

Join The GYPSY as he takes you on an Epic Journey into his life, the life of his family and the life of his mother; Shirley Elizabeth Hummel, who suffered from mental illness her entire life.
Shirley's story is not an easy one to hear. At times you will be uncomfortable with her situation. Other times you may laugh or fill the warmth that all to often eluded her. You may even find yourself angry and horrified at the situations and tragedies that drove Shirley further and further into her illness. The one thing you will not leave with is ignorance.
The telling of Shirley's story will educate and inform you. You will come away with an understanding of the highs and lows that mental illness plays in the sufferer as well as the family, friends and acquaintances of the mentally ill.

In Part One of Never Say Never: An Epic Journey - Volume One you will meet Shirley Elizabeth Hummel. You will also meet her son The GYPSY as well as her father and mother. You will start this Epic Journey in Texas with The GYPSY as he travels to Kansas on his motorcycle to lay Shirley's remains to rest. You will explore the past while moving forward towards the final goal.

Each Tuesday On The Rubber Biskit Road Show The GYPSY will present a new chapter of his novel "Never Say Never: An Epic Journey - Volume One"

Next Weeks Episode: It Is Going To Be A Bumpy Night

The Rubber Biskit Road Show: With The GYPSY Like a Rubber Biskit I have spent my life bouncing from here to there and back to here again. I have created, guided and been the inspiration for many people, projects and events. I cannot sit still and must be constantly doing something, going so...

Silver Streak and I took a little ride today being that the weather was so nice out. I have to admit that the temperature was right, air was right and the road was smooth.
We rode Highway 24 East to Lawrence. At the junction of us 40 and US 24 are the infamous teepees. Once the site of the Teepee Motel. The large teepee appears to be someone's home now while the former gift shop and restaurant are empty and for lease. I honestly do not understand why these teepees have not been made an historic landmark. Hopefully they are historically protected buildings.
Silver Streak and I turned around at the teepees and headed back West on Highway 24 towards Topeka. Halfway between Lawrence and Topeka there is a small turn off where there is an historic marker. When I was a child this was a rest area. My mother used to carry an empty gallon jug in the trunk of her car. Every time we passed by the rest area we would stop so that Mom could fill her jug from the well water spicket in the rest area. She would take a long drink from the spicket and say, "There is nothing better in the world then ice cold well water." She would fill her empty gallon jug stick it in the trunk of the car and down the road we would travel until the next time that we would pull into the rest area so that my mother could quench her well water addiction.
There was something else about that rest area that was shared by all the other rest areas in the state of Kansas. There was a sign that had a kangaroo cartoon character on it. In the pouch of the kangaroo was miscellaneous scraps of trash. The kangaroo held a pointed stick upon which there was a piece of paper on the end. Above the kangaroos head were the words, "$500 fine for littering." My mom would click her tongue, shake her head and say, "That is so stupid there are no kangaroos in Kansas. Why didn't they use an opossum it's a marsupial too." Thus my mother's disgust with that sign taught me what a marsupial was.
The only thing that really remains of the former rest area is the historical marker. Now I am sure that at some point in my childhood my mother read but marker to me. It's what she did, she always read historical markers to us children. It was from her that my love of History grew. So today I decided to have a look at that marker.
The story that the marker tells is of the Kansa Indians who the state of Kansas is named after. The story tells of the theft of their lands and their genocide. It also relates that Charles Curtis, the first Native American Vice President of the United States, spent the remainder of his days with his mother on what was left of their reservation two and a half miles Southeast of that marker.
The story made me sad. I'm not going to get political here, I'm not going to point fingers and I'm not going to stand up and have righteous indignation just because my wife, my daughter, two of my sons and my grandchildren are Native American. All I'm going to say is that sometimes it pays to stop for a minute read a historical marker learn the lesson that it has to tell and hopefully we become better people from knowing the story. We have the power to make our world a better place and to see that things like what happened to the Native Americans never happen to any group of people again.
After making this stop Silver Streak and I headed on back into Topeka and back to home. I put Silver Street to bed in his garage and I came downstairs to see my beautiful Native Wife fixing us a very nice dinner of beef and noodles. It's a wonder I don't weigh 500 lb married to such a wonderful cook. But I can tell you this; if you could gain weight from Love I should weigh a ton right now.
So until God grants us another wonderful day like today so Silver Streak and I can go out and find what we can find, see what we can see and share it with you I wish you many blessings and a good evening.
-The GYPSY-
www.RubberBiskit.com

The Silver Streak and I went for an early morning ride. We got to know each other pretty well. I believe we are going to be great friends.

This motorcycle club was started by the late Larry "Prez" Patterson and Tom Mayfield. Located in Northeast Kansas and later expanded to a Missouri chapter, the Missouri Reapers, with President Robert Hyatt and VP Gary McBride.
The GYPSY was the Missouri Reapers Business Manager.
We lost Larry in 2009. We continue to ride and party together as friends, and have had a renewed interest in the club and it's history. We were a great group of friends, spending time with each other and getting away from the stress of work and mainstream America.
The club's motto, "It's The Brother, Not The Bike" still stands true today. Though the majority of us ride Harley's, there was a day there were only a small group that did. We based our membership on the rider. Not what he had the money to buy or not to buy. We rode hard. Traveled all over together. Spent a lot of time together. We were a true brotherhood and remain so today.
We know if we need something, we are only a phone call away from each other. Little by little we keep finding members who have slipped out of touch with each other and our group is growing.