NW STAR BQ Ride Recap—From the Back Seat…..
Thursday……..
Morning started early for us. We were on the road by 6am heading to meet up with Chapter 258 in Filmore. We did the 210 to the 5 to the 126. And as it happened, on th way, Someone in a truck kept pulling up next to us and waving and giving us thumbs up. Turned out it was Dave M. and he posted a pic of us later…… haha
We were the first ones at the fuel stop and were soon joined by Chief, Chuck, Eric, Debbie and Bob… Chuck filled us all in on what the route was going to be, where we would be stopping and other possible stops “in case of”… and we all got under way.
We went a pretty direct route. 126 to the 5 to the 99. We stopped for fuel in Bakersfield, Fresno and Oakwood, before climbing the mountain that took us into Tuolumne and the Black Oak Casino. Surprisingly enough we were one of the first groups, checking in. We arrived before 4pm. We got checked in, registered, got our bags, our shirts, patches, pins, and fun book, and had a light meal.
We hung out and watched as other groups pulled in. The back parking lot was filling quickly with bikes.
Friday……
Morning, we had breakfast in the Casino Cafe, and went to the back lot, where bikes were lining up for a ride to the Railroad Museum. Many of the members followed the line out . We opted to stay at the Casino and gamble on their money. A nice part of the welcome bag at registration. We chatted with members who were hanging out all around the hotel, the temperatures were rising fast and it was getting hotter.
Some of the members took rides to Sonora or to an Apple Farm for lunch.
Friday Night was a Meet and Greet at the Casino Bowling Alley. There were about 10 lanes with scrambled up Chapters as teams on them and everyone was having a fun time.Many Members sat on the observation tables and cheered on their members.
Saturday……
There was a lot of things going on. The parking lot was filling with venders, groups were leaving for the Poker Run, others going to the Caverns, and others hanging out waiting for the games. Again it was a hot day…
After breakfast, Rac decided to go on the Poker Run with Chapter 109, and I was helping with the games.
As I was sitting with one of the venders, I saw our own, Chapter 415, Tony, Edwardo, Luis, and Minita pull in, so I accompanied them around the hotel. Only to get a call from Rac, that he was back and joining us for lunch in the cafe. As it turned out he was having problems with the White Knight and came back.
I went down to the games which were starting at 1:30pm, and yes it was hot.
I met up with Ginger and we went to the registration desk to see if they needed help and check out the prizes and the Silent Auction Items. Chapter 212 had everything well under control and really didn’t need any extra help. I buddied up with a nice young man named Blake, 12 years old, who I hung out with off and on the rest of the day.
Jen had some great games set up and all the participants from the Northern groups, seemed to understand all of this.
Tricycle Races –(These trikes are reinforced) hand many takers. I won my first ride and lost the second.
Creeper Race — This was done with laying face down on a creeper (used for working under cars) and powering along with a plunger in each hand.
Water Balloon Catch- The person catching had to stand inside a hula hoop, on the floor, with a strainer on their head and catch the water balloon in the strainer and not step outside the hula hoop.
Wet Sponge Catch was the fourth event. The person caught the wet sponge in a fisherman’s net.
I did best at taking pictures. They all had this down and must have done these many times……..
The dunk tank was there, and they didn’t need anyone else, as hot as it was, everyone was volunteering for a dunking. Blake got it all started and soon they were charging people to throw at the dunk tank.
Early evening, we headed down to the Banquet Room. Soon they announced that they wanted everyone outside for a group shot. Everyone filled out and we all look up to the fourth floor and photos were taken. We all filed back into the room and we got to a table and soon the event started.
The MC for the night, started with a flag salute, announced prize winners, award winners, and gave his thanks all his helpers…. Ron Lopez talked Chili Cook Off and presented the Winners and the money collected for STAR Family to Ginger.
We got a meal, which was very good and done in a nicely moving buffet line.
Sunday…
Was supposed to be a fun ride back with Chuck and the 258, but with the problem Rac was having we left early and did what he called “a 1000 mile ride plan” back. We did the exact same way back and were home just after noon.
It was a great event. We want to thank Chuck and the 258 members for letting us ride with them. Chapter 212 and all the Chapter s that helped, 399,153,373,461 and 186 for a really nicely planned and executed event.
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