Photos of Johnstown PA’s 2009 Thunder in the Valley

Bands, Bars, Cars and Mason Jars

Okay, there were no mason jars, except for what I found cleaning Mom’s garage, but there were plenty of cars and bars and bikes and trikes, and more great jams than Donnie Iris can shake his dipstick at. Saturday was the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen in Johnstown, PA. This event is going to take 7 stand-alone galleries and 3 posts just to catch a glimpse of what a blast every moment was. For convenience sake, I’ve combined 4 of the galleries into this post and set aside Wheels and Wings and Parade of Lights for their own posts, but, as always, you can catch the individual gallery links up at the top of the post.

The Company You Keep

The quality of life is often determined by the quality of those you choose to keep around you. This year’s rally was top-shelf because of the moments I got to share with Karen, the En Brothers (Glenn and Ken – no relation), Ken’s new friend Theresa, and, the lightning in my thunder, the Lovely Brenda. And we got to meet plenty of other fine folk along the way, and it seems, since Satori Sunday that I’ve acquired the habit of meeting old friends I never knew I ever knew. All in all, I had me a real good time.

Location, location, location…

I’ve got thousands of biker pics on the hard drive, and hundreds on the site. This year was time to branch out and see what else could be seen. We took in the sights at Richland Fire Hall, Ebensburg’s Wheels and Wings, and along Graham Ave. in Windber. The En Bros. and I even incorporated the World Famous Windber Walking Tour into our visit. I missed Beavedale Hill Climbs and Cernic’s Somerset party, and blew off Greenhouse Park and Cambria County Fairgrounds. We hit a lot of bars, Hurdle’s, TNC, Windber Hotel, Town Tavern, Crousey’s, Jerry’s, Ohio Street Lounge; but left many undiscovered. Maybe next year. Ate lots of great food: snack at Clark Powells (no wonder their pizza has a county-wide reputation), breakfast at Erikson Field (Geistown-Richland Lions), lunch at the Knights of Columbus (best halupki ever), and dinner split between TNC (blow-you-away baked Italian hoagie) and Town Tavern (just a quick chef salad, cause I’m not getting enough veggies). Again, next year I’ll have to try harder on the food.

Jammin is My Life

The Wheels Rock! Course, any band that covers Tom Waits, Bob Dylan and Gram Parsons, as well as writes their own excellent material, is okay by me. Check out their MySpace page up above. Nice to catch up with The World’s Greatest Cover Band, The Desperados, once again. Michael Obrian and Full Kilt (also linked above) rounded out the cream of the crop. The Desperados don’t need no stinkin’ website. WHOA! Almost forgot. Honeys abounded once agan. I LOVE this town and I love my life. Thank you Jesus.