My Memorial Day Trip…

The first bit of criticism I will take is for my tardiness in posting this. I have, after all, been home for over a week. The second criticism I’ll take is for telling you where I was… in Kalamazoo, Michigan at a Moped Rally. Yes, I said moped rally. Laugh all you want, we even call it the “comic book convention” from time to time.

My trip began with a flight into O’Hare Airport to one of my favorite cities in the US, Chicago. I didn’t spend much time in Chicago this trip but I did get the opportunity to go to Irazu for one of their delicious Oatmeal shakes. Ok, twice. If you haven’t been to Irazu, they have some of the best Costa Rican food on earth (possibly better than in Costa Rica?) but the real draw is their oatmeal shake. In fact, I Googled oatmeal shake the other day to see if I could find a recipe and about all I found was articles on Irazu. So if you’re in Chicago, check it out, its on Milwaukee in Bucktown.

The rest of my time in Chicago was spent at Warbux Mopeds which is new to Chicago and recently opened by a friend of mine. It was a very busy day there even though the shop was technically closed in preparation of Kalamazoo. The Chicago “moped gangs” named Peddy Cash, The Flooze and Murder Club were pretty much all there making last minute modifications and repairs to their mopeds.

The next day, we made the three hour trip to Kalamazoo. There’s nothing fascinating about the trip from Chicago to Kalamazoo. The only real landmark I recall is a truckstop somewhere in southwestern Michigan but I did get to smell the delicious smell of chocolate while leaving the city. For those of you who don’t know, Chicago smells like chocolate in certain parts thanks to the Blommer Chocolate Factory . Other parts smell like urine and vomit.

Every Memorial Day, Kalamazoo hosts the biggest moped rally in the nation and this year was no exception. In its tenth year, with record attendance numbers, moped enthusiasts and Moped Army members from around the country swarmed upon the tiny little town with the funny name. The weekend includes moped riding, lots of insane parties, music and so much more.

Its taken me over a week to begin writing this post and I still believe I am at a loss for words. It was an amazing trip. I had the opportunity to see my friends from all over the country (Tempe, AZ, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Chicago, New York, Louisville, and Cincinnati to name a few) as well as make some new ones. The premiere of the Moped to South America movie took place during the rally weekend and everywhere you turned there was another moped. There was an article written in the St. Paul Pioneer Press. You can read it HERE.

I’m going to let the pictures speak their 1000 words. Here’s the link to my Flickr Set. Enjoy!

After the weekend, I returned to Chicago for a day. Completely exhausted, I managed to pull myself together enough to get to the airport in time for my flight home. I can’t wait to do it again.

Next trip, the Pacific Northwest.