Friendship Riders of Iowa

Chapter H January 2010 Meeting

2010-01-10T16:38:00.004-06:00

Saturday, January 9th, 2010 GWTA Chapter H, in Des Moines, Iowa had its first meeting of the decade. Newly elected Chapter Directors Pam & Bob Beverage presided over the meeting. This meeting was also special, because, for the 3rd year Chapter H has put together polar fleece blankets for Operation First Response. The blankets are made with two pieces of fabric and tied around the edges.

Operation First Response is a national organization formed to support our nation's wounded and injured armed forces Hero's with personal and financial needs. One of the first ways Operation First Response greets our soldiers is with a backpack containing a change of clothes, travel size hygiene products, a handmade blanket and a phone card.

Our meeting included some local business, discussion on our 2010 summer riding schedule and finished with a potluck dinner.

GL 1800 riders message board

2010-01-02T11:34:00.002-06:00

This is a great site to connect with other Gold wing riders.. There is also a section called the Dark side- a group of cyclists that use a car tire on the rear for their 1800. They have discussions on tires and the improved safety and handling with this tire.

http://www.gl1800riders.com/forums/index.php

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2010-01-02T11:26:00.002-06:00

Wishing everyone a very healthy, prosperous, successful, Happy New Year. I hope everyone had warm safe travels if they were out New Year's Eve and a wonderful New Year's day. This New Year's eve was amazing with a 2nd full moon in December making it a Blue Moon.. The next one is in 2028. There was also a lunar eclipse.
We hope everyone is staying warm and safe this cold winter in Iowa. We are looking forward to much warmer weather and the opportunity to ride again soon. Some of our members have moved south for the winter... wise ones!
We will have our first meeting of the New Year on Saturday, January 9th at the Chapter H club house. Starting at 1:00, doing our Operation First Response quilt project with meeting and potluck. We look forward to seeing everyone. This will be Pam and Bob's first meeting as CD's and we know they are going to be great!

See everyone soon!

January 2010 meeting

2009-12-12T21:28:00.002-06:00

Chapter H will have a meeting on January 9th at the Chapter H Club House. We will start at 1:00 p.m. Munchies in the afternoon and then Potluck in the late afternoon/evening. We are going to work on our blankets that we will be donating to Operation First Response.
Meeting will be to follow and conducted by our new Chapter Directors, Pam and Bob.

Chapter H Christmas Party

2009-12-12T21:07:00.004-06:00

We had our Chapter H Christmas Party tonight at Felix and Oscars in West Des Moines. Weather cooperated allowing several of our members to attend. Thank you to Dennis and Donna Pittman, our meeting area looked very festive and got us in the Holiday spirit. We had many good munchies as we visited as people arrived. We had supper with good food, a lot of laughs and great friendship.

Much to the surprise of Steve and Connie, they received a plaque of recognition for their years of service as Chapter Directors, a nice card and gift.

After the meal, we got in a circle and played a gift exchange game. Everyone brought a gift labeled male or female gift. We each started out with a gift and as a story was read about The Right family, as right or left was read, that was the direction the gift was passed. It was fun and some got confused about which direction to pass the gifts on next. At the end, each person ended up with a gift and opened it. We really enjoyed seeing some of our friends that hadn't been able to attend for awhile and we did get to talk on the phone to our "snow bird couple, Bill and Dee".
Thank you to everyone for making this a fun party.

December

2009-12-10T20:04:00.004-06:00

Wow, December already! The weather hadn't been too bad until this past few days when we were hit with a snow storm that became a blizzard. Our area ended up with almost 16 inches of snow and drifts that are several feet high. This is like the snow storms I remember as a kid. I hope everyone stayed safe warm and dry. At least we had electricity and heat even with all the strong winds. Already have so much snow piled in the yard, not sure where to put more if it comes. I am sure everyone has their own story about this storm that will be shared for some time.
Our snow birds sure had the right idea and now more will be leaving right before or after Christmas.

Our Chapter Christmas Party is this Saturday, December 12th at 4:00 p.m. at Felix and Oscars in West Des Moines. We will be bringing snacks and sweets for the party. We will be eating supper there at the restaurant. Members that want to participate in the gift exchange game - please remember your wrapped gift labeled man, woman or either. Sounds like the weather will be cold but no more of the white stuff forecast until late Sunday. Looking forward to fun and being with friends.

We hope that everyone has safe travels as they go to be with family over the Christmas season.
Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a prosperous safe fun New Year in 2010.

Our first meeting of the New Year will be January 9th but location and time will be different. More to come on that later.

November

2009-12-10T19:39:00.003-06:00

Time really flies by... Hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving. We are really grateful for all of our friends and family. We were really fortunate to have some great weather. We actually got to ride some in November.

Chapter H had their November meeting at Felix and Oscars in West Des Moines. Some of our members were not able to attend and we have our Snow birds in Arizona. I am ready for someone else to take over as Chapter Director. We have had a good time and have done a lot of things together as a chapter. We thank everyone in our group for all that they do and we are grateful for their friendship. Pam and Bob Beveridge have stepped up and will be the 2010 Chapter Directors and Secretary. Our chapter is very much like a family and we have a lot of fun together. We will continue to have our blog as our newsletter and will keep our rides at the same location.. meeting Monday nights at Wynsong Theater in Johnston leaving at 6:30. We look forward to meeting, riding and friendship together next year.

The weather was about in the 50s the last Saturday in November so we took a ride up around Boone. We saw a small town called Mongoina... it has a couple of big businesses and a few houses and is right near Boone. We ate a late lunch at Colorado Grill ... kind of like an Applebees or Okoboji. Food was pretty good. We got back before the sun went down as it cooled off quickly. Connie had her electric gear on and her heated seat turned on to stay warm.

Impromptu Gathering

2009-11-08T22:25:00.002-06:00

Monday night, November 9th we plan to meet at the Mexican Restaurant on the square in Winterset. We have been there before and the food is very good.

Reminder, our chapter meeting will be Saturday, November 14th at Felix and Oscars in West Des Moines, at 6:30 p.m.

November Impromptu Get together

2009-11-08T22:19:00.002-06:00

Monday, November 2nd, the chapter decided to have an impromptu gathering and check out the new Smokey Row restaurant that opened in Des Moines. It is just off 235 near Martin Luther King road. It is a corner shaped building. There is a lot of room in the restaurant with a small parking lot and some side street parking. We had a several come and we had a great time! The food was good and there were many choices of salads, sandwiches, coffees, teas, desserts and more.
We have had supper rides to the Smokey Row in Pleasantville and this is set up very similar.

River Boat view

2009-11-08T22:17:00.002-06:00

Fall colors

2009-11-08T22:00:00.002-06:00

Steve and Connie rode out to Dubuque the 3rd weekend in October hoping to see some great fall leaves. Some had changed but not as many as expected. We stopped at the Field of Dreams film spot and checked that out. The weather was cool and windy.
We did a Riverboat ride down the Mississippi River on a Paddleboat cruise. It was chilly that day and the leaves were not as bright and colorful as we had expected. We did get to see some bald eagles flying over head.

We took a long ride as the weather began to warm up some and rode by Breitbachs Restaurant in Ball Town. It is now open although we didn't go inside to see what it looked like or to eat. The outside of the building looks a lot like it did after it burned the first time.
We did see a few colorful leaves and had a long ride over into the Wisconsin side and back down and across the river to Dubuque.
It seems like the leaves became more brilliant and colorful during the week after we got back from this trip.
Now in November, most of the leaves are gone or piling up in the yards to be raked and bagged.

Iowa's Best Tenderloin

2009-11-08T21:50:00.002-06:00

Someone read in the newspaper that Goldies, in Prairie City, Iowa was voted as having the best tenderloins! So of course, we needed to go check this out!
Goldies is a very small ice cream stop that serves food. It has some tables and a few stools up to the counter. The tenderloins are very big and very good! Their ice cream is really good too!
The restaurant has been extremely busy more so than they every expected, since the article came out in the paper. We have been back several times and you may sometimes have to wait to find a place to sit, but the food is very good and worth the wait!

If you are 4 wheelin, go check out the Neal Smith Prairie/Wild Life refuge nearby. It is on gravel and you can drive through the park and see wildlife (unless they decide to hide from you). There is a large statue of a buffalo as you drive into Prairie City near the Caseys as you come into town.

Our first Chapter Meeting October 10th

2009-11-08T21:32:00.003-06:00

We had our first fall meeting of GWTA Chapter H Friendship Riders of Iowa on Saturday, October 10th at 6:30 p.m. at Felix and Oscars in West Des Moines. We reviewed our agenda and discussed several different things in our by-laws, keeping them the same. We renewed our Chapter Registration.
We discussed our Christmas party and it will be in December. More info to come later. We are having elections at our November meeting. We did vote on our Chapter Family of the Year for 2010! Congratulations to Pam and Bob.. we feel you are perfect to represent us.
our favorite Beveridges! :)
We continue to use our blog as our newsletter, so if you have something to add, please get it to us so we can put it on the blog. If you checked out a new restaurant, if you went to a GWTA event, something about your family, a trip or ride...whatever you want to share...
Nebraska Fall Follies.. there is some confusion on the dates, some say the second weekend in November and some say the weekend of the 21st. Not sure how many will be going this year.
We have some snow birds that are anxious to leave since the weather has been cooler already!
We are going to do the blankets again for Operation First Response at a get together in January. More details on that later.
The next Chapter Meeting is Saturday, November 14th at 6:30 p.m. at Felix and Oscars.

September Supper Rides and Impromtu

2009-11-08T21:26:00.004-06:00

Our September supper rides were fun. We had some that decided to 4 wheel it, but those of us that rode had a chilly ride but enjoyed the conversation and good time. We had several come to the Kin Folks supper and we had a great time!

October was to be impromptu rides but as the weather seems to be getting cooler and surprise! snow!! we only had one ride, still with some 4 wheeling.

Applefest in Woodbine

2009-11-08T21:19:00.002-06:00

The last weekend in September, some of our members decided to ride over to Woodbine for Applefest. The temperatures were cool in the morning and we got a few sprinkles but when we got to Woodbine, the sun came out and it was a very nice day. The guys found a place to sit and visit and the girls took off up town and checked out the many gift and craft ideas at the craft show and checked out the flea market. We went back and joined the guys for the Chapter Z get together with really good food, entertainment and a camp fire.
We stayed at a motel and then worked our way back home going through the Loess Hills and back roads. It was a good weekend. We always enjoy it and we thank Chapter Z for their hospitality and great time!

Mrs Welaxn

Restaurant update The Rumor Mill is closed

2009-09-17T20:55:00.003-05:00

In case anyone was wondering, The Rumor Mill in St Charles is closed. It opened the next day with a new owner and a new name. Eats and Sweets. They do have pizza but it is not prepared in the cast iron skillets... they said because it takes too long. yes, it did seem to take longer but they were really good pizzas and stayed hot to the last bite. Some have already tried the new restaurant and said the food was ok.

Will just need to find another restaurant that serves good pizza prepared in cast iron skillets.

Supper Rides and More

2009-09-17T20:24:00.002-05:00

Wow, September already? Where is summer? We had a few hot days, then some really cool days, and now Indian summer. Leaves on the trees are already starting to change? What is going on?
We have had some good supper rides and some great places to eat. We had a mystery ride on August 31st and went to Benchwarmers in Ankeny. They always have good service and good food. We always are very careful around the TV Stands on the walls there. Don't want to receive a concussion like Glen got one time.
Labor Day, was To be announced, but with everyone gone doing things with family, we didn't have a ride.

Some went to the Davis Rally... It sounds like several riders had some difficulties. Dave and Betty Oleson from Minnesota had an accident and Dave is not doing well. Betty was having wrist surgery today, Thursday...Sending our heartfelt thoughts and prayers their way.

Monday Sept. 14th was our first ride led by our ride captain, Bill since they returned. We had a great ride to Georgio's in Colfax and had a good group there. Since Bill and Dee will be gone on their anniversary, we gave Dee a sympathy card, and then them both a 50th Anniversary card. Dee laughed.. not sure what Bill was really thinking :) We love you both and missed you being gone a whole month.

September 21st we are going to Italian Village in Adel...if it rains as forecast, we can 4 wheel it.

Monday, September 28th, we are going to Kin Folks in Altoona. That will be the last of our official supper rides.

Saturday, September 26th is Applefest in Woodbine. This is a great time. I think some of us plan to go for the day. Chapter Z Nebraska usually does a ride and is a chance to connect with more friends.

October will be Impromptu rides if anyone wants to ride and the weather is good.
Colorama is October 9-11 in Harrison Arkansas this year.

Some of us are not going to be able to go. Our first fall Chapter meeting is Saturday, October 1oth at Felix and Oscars in West Des Moines at 6:30 p.m. We have several very important issues to discuss at this meeting.

Everyone be very alert and Be safe

Restaurant in Davenport

2009-08-07T20:35:00.003-05:00

We love just going for a ride and ending up at a different town, sometimes state, just to try out a new restaurant. We rode with Darl and Melissa to Davenport, a weekend or so ago and ate at Thunder Bay. On Sunday's only, they have a Brunch buffet... you can have breakfast or lunch. The atmosphere reminds you of being in a log cabin, with fireplace, log furniture, and a canoe as a light over the table, (you would need to see it!) or an antler chandelier. The food was great, Breakfast buffet was REALLY good, and lunch side of buffet included smoked salmon, catfish and shrimp and more.
We rode the river road as far as Clinton and then headed back towards home on back roads. We were on some roads we hadn't been on before. The wind came up and was blowing pretty hard by afternoon.
Great ride and got home safely.

I love this great riding weather!

Tour Master riding Gear

2009-08-07T20:23:00.002-05:00

On hot days, A lot of people look at us like we are crazy and ask us how we can stand to wear our full gear when riding! We wear our jacket, riding pants, and gloves, and full face helmet
(with the flip down sun shades :)

We have the Tour Master Jacket and pants that have zip out linings. They have a quilted liner, rain liner, mesh jacket, and an outer layer. The same set up for the riding pants. They are a very nice, multi-season riding gear.

What people do not realize is that the mesh jacket and pants are actually very cool. The air flows through the mesh and keeps you quite cool. You can wear shorts under the mesh pants.
We also have gloves that have mesh between the fingers and an air dam on the back of the glove, allowing air to flow through.

There is a guy that I work with that bought a riding jacket and full face helmet. He hit a deer on his bike one day and after seeing how his riding gear protected him, it made me a believer in wearing this to keep safe.

August Supper Rides and More

2009-08-07T20:01:00.003-05:00

Monday, August 3rd, our supper ride was to Winterset to their Sports Page. We had 3 bikes and several drove (for various reasons). It was soooo good to see Don and LaVone there. She looks great and is happy to be out and about. Pam and Bob had made it back from Goldrush with many stories to tell as well. Patti was there back from their trip (Rick was out of town for work). Ask her about their Train ride, a package they had purchased at a Colorama auction. Bill and Dee, our newer retirees are off with their "camping train" on a month long trip somewhere in Colorado.

Sunday, August 9th is Iowa Chapter J's Fun Run... check out Iowa's site www.iowagwta.com
for details.

Remaining Monday night supper rides for August:

Next week, Monday August 10th we are going to Polk City Papa's Pizzeria
Monday, August 17th, LaCasa mexican in Indianola
Monday, August 24, Jimmy's BBQ in Boone

Iowa's GWTA Fun Fest (State event) is in Storm Lake Iowa, August 14th and 15th, with a fun run, food, auction and more.

Davis Rally is September 11, 12 and 13th, in New Hampton.
Don't forget Woodbines, Applefest, Saturday, September 26th. The town has quite a celebration and lots of friends to visit with.

Everyone please do safety checks on your bikes, tires, and trailors before taking off on a ride or long trip. It can save a lot of heartache and you can catch a problem before it is too late.
Everyone ride safe

July 27th Supper ride

2009-08-07T19:56:00.002-05:00

Monday, July 27th, was our supper ride to Hickory Park in Ames. We had good weather and a good group showed up. It was so good to see Donna ride her own bike to the restaurant. Jerry and Jan met us there.
We continue to send healing thoughts to LaVone and Don.

Heard about Jay

2009-08-07T19:53:00.002-05:00

After arriving home from our Goldrush vacation/trip, we heard that Jay Liniger from Iowa's Chapter J had an accident after blowing a trailor tire when he was in Arkansas. He is home recovering and we send our thoughts and prayers his way for a quick recovery.

Well wishes go out to anyone else that had difficulties to, at or on their way home from Goldrush.

Saturday, July 18th and then Home Sunday

2009-08-07T19:38:00.004-05:00

We got up, had breakfast and headed south and west. We passed the Trail of Tears State park and then crossed into Missouri. We rode into the Mark Twain Forrest, up and around some hilly, winding roads. There were many trees totally uprooted and laying all over the hillsides. It looked like a tornado had gone through. At a small town gas station, we found out that they had a storm in May that had involved a lot of wind and strong wind. Scientists decided that it was an Inland Hurricane. Hadn't heard of that before.

We rode some great roads and saw some awesome scenery. We landed in Rolla MO for the night. We found a new Super 8, very nice place to stay. Rolla is part of Route 66 and there was a gas station and curio shop nearby.

Sunday, we are up and on the rode again, this time on our way home to Iowa. It was a great trip and we had a really good time traveling with friends, seeing new scenery and visiting and making new friends. Everyone made it home safely.

Friday July 17th Goldrush is Over

2009-08-07T19:21:00.003-05:00

We needed to let the campers dry out so headed to breakfast. We ate at the Waffle House.. ask Bill about his "Most Embarrassing" moment...

We headed back to the campgrounds, folded up the campers. Jon and Rosalee headed to Tennesee to see "Elvis" and spend more time riding and enjoying the roads.

Rick and Patti are still camping with their family. Bill and Dee, and we headed towards home, taking the entire weekend to get there. We headed back up through Louisville and then took HWY 62, a wonderful winding twisty tree covered road. Amazing, after the rain, the weather is much cooler. We heard that Iowa was having a record low as well.

We stopped at a wonderful restaurant that overlooked the Ohio River... lunch with an amazing view.

My new friend!

We went through Indiana, back into western edge of Kentucky and were ready to start looking for a motel... only to find none available for miles. We found out that Kentucky has a town named Sturgis, and Little Sturgis was beginning for the weekend. Bikers were everywhere and the nearest motel available was about 100 miles away, in Benton Illinois. We finally arrived about 9:30 p.m. thankful to have a place to rest.

Thursday, July 16th, 2009 Goldrush Kentucky

2009-07-26T22:56:00.003-05:00

This is the last day of Goldrush. Everyone was having such a great time checking out the scenery. Some members were going to the Convention center and doing things there. Some of us decided to do more riding. We had heard about a castle in the near by area, so were on the hunt for it. We found it. It is an amazing castle. Apparently you can stay in it over night for a handsome price.

We decided to continue to ride and ended up at Frankfort, the capitol of Kentucky, and of course had to have "Kentucky Fried Chicken".... we had grilled ;)

We found this horse farm, where they mow the fields so the blue grass can come in. Some amazing farms here.

We had a great time and by the time we got back we were all ready to sit and cool off in the shade. We went to Sams for supper, then back to rest at the camp grounds.

Rick and Patti's son, daughter-in-law and granddaughter arrived and camped with them, then were all going back to their house for a few days.

We had rain during the night so will let the campers dry a bit Friday a.m. before tearing down and slowly heading back to Iowa.

more to come....

Wednesday, July 15th Goldrush in Kentucky

2009-07-26T22:35:00.003-05:00

Wednesday, we decided to go check out the Kentucky Horse park, just down the road from the campgrounds. Man of War was buried there, there was a Thoroughbred museum and a working horse farm. You could spend hours there. 2010, Lexington will hold the World Equine Fair, first time in the United States.

We took off for a ride and found some really nice roads, up and down hills covered with a canopy of trees. We saw some beautiful areas of Kentucky.

There were many farms with horses and either the white or black wooden fences surrounding the farms. We stopped to get a drink of water at a gas station and the raindrops started, so we returned to the campgrounds. The rain caught up and we holed up in the campers for awhile. The shower didn't last long and we soon were all out at the picnic table in the shade. We went to supper at SAMS, a truckstop restaurant with really good food. They also serve a local favorite, Kentucky Browns... a large plate of 1/2 sandwich of turkey, covered with bacon, cheese, onion and more.

Congratulations to Rick for winning a trophy at the Bike show.

Pam and Bob had left early to go on down to see family since they were so close.

We had a relaxing evening at the campgrounds and enjoyed visiting with others.

A couple of vendors from the convention center, had heard about our "giant" campers and came out to see our Bunkhouse. We had the 8 X 10 add-a-room set up with the camper and they were amazed to find out that we had a king size bed and air conditioner. They were from Alabama and said they had started the first GWTA chapter in Alabama. We enjoyed their visit.

While doing laundry, we visited with a couple from Canada that were vacationing and wanting to see horses. We also visited with a gentleman from Denmark that was traveling. He loved the motorcycles and said the people in the United States were so friendly, helpful and interesting.

Tuesday, July 14th, 2009 Goldrush in Kentucky

2009-07-26T22:16:00.003-05:00

Tuesday a.m. was the Living Logo, some members went to do this.

We decided to go check out the country side.

We had breakfast and then decided to go for a ride. We headed out of town, with some U-turn practice out of the way :) We did find that at least in the area we rode, they do not really have gravel roads in Kentucky... some are very narrow and are tree covered, a lush canopy of trees overhead.

We went to the Daniel Boone National forest to ride. Beautiful hilly, winding, twisty roads, with lots of history in the area.

We passed tobacco fields, in various stages of growth. There were places in the trees where a green vine had invaded the area and totally covered everything in the area. Jon said it had been brought over from Europe as a ground cover but got out of control and can actually kill the trees and bushes that it covers.

We passed a building that had been used as a hospital during the Cival War. There was a fort that you could go see and so much more but ran out of time. We headed back to campgrounds to cool off, as the temperatures remained in the upper 80's with high humidity.

We enjoyed the coolness of the shade at our campsites.

There was so much to see and do at the convention center and to ride in the country side and see.

We visited with others in the campground and one of the GWTA members put together a group of us, about 25 GWTA members that were also camping there at the campgrounds, and we did a light parade for the campground. Other people that were camping sat in lawn chairs near their campers and along the road, and we covered the entire campground. Everyone seemed to have a great time.

Monday July 13th, Goldrush in Lexington, Kentucky

2009-07-26T22:00:00.002-05:00

Everyone was up early and went to breakfast and then the Convention center. It was great to have CB's and between other GWTA members, help locate the Center. We parked in a parking ramp near the center. Registration went smoothly and we had a little time to visit before going in. Iowa sat together. Chapter H, Friendship Riders of Iowa, had 10 members present at opening ceremonies. We received the schedule of events and found that next Year, Goldrush returns to Billings, Montana.

Congratulations to our Region C Family of the Year, Doug and Michelle Sullivan and daughter-
for being selected as the 2009 National Family of the Year.

At opening ceremonies, Region C donated over $1,000.00 for Helping Hands.
We went and checked out the Vendors and the guys all drooled over the chrome and lights.
There was even the opportunity to do some crab racing, with some of the proceeds going to Helping Hands.
We decided to do a short ride back to the campgrounds.
The horse farms are amazing with either white or black painted wooden fences surrounding the farms and horses. The fields are mowed so the blue grass can grow. The horses are treated like Royalty... It was beautiful.
We went to the Man o War Harley Tailgate party... Good BBQ and saw the Bowwow girls perform in the parking lot.
There was a light parade and ice cream stop afterwards. Some members attended the ride.

Goldrush Lexington Kentucky

2009-07-26T21:42:00.007-05:00

Sunday, we were up bright and early and off again. We heard from Pam and Bob and they had arrived safely at a town ahead of us and were leaving later than we were.

We were amazed to see so many working oil stations pumping oil in both Illinois and Indiana. We had the time change as we arrived in Indiana. Cell phones changed but the GPS on the 1800's did not.

We were surprised at the change in scenery as we went south in Indiana towards Louisville Kentucky... We were on some very winding, hilly, twisty roads. Would have been much more fun to ride not pulling the campers.

Not likely to find ice in the tunnel when it is 88 degrees with 98 % humidity!

We arrived safely at the Kentucky Horse Park Campground and set up camp. It was a very shady nice campground. We were just setting the finishing touches, when Pam and Bob and friends arrived. We ordered Pizza and had it delivered to our campers and had a picnic, cooling off and relaxing. Tomorrow was a big day! Rick and Patti arrived and set up across the drive from us.

Goldrush 2009 Lexington Kentucky

2009-07-26T21:34:00.002-05:00

Goldrush was a great time. It was held in Lexington Kentucky from July 13 to the 16th.
Chapter H, Friendship Riders of Iowa had 10 members present at Opening Ceremonies.

We left early Saturday a.m., July 11th and traveled with Bill and Dee, Jon and Rosalee ( and their Hitchhiker... as far as Knoxville!) It was a very warm day as the day progressed. We skirted through St Louis and landed in Carlyle, Illinois the first night.

Picture of the Guys

2009-07-08T21:47:00.001-05:00

OK, in the June post with the pictures.... The picture of the backs of Dennis, Jon, Steve and Bill looking out at the lake....

Don't you just wonder what the four guys are up to?

Mrs Welaxn :)

Members travel - Great Friends

2009-07-08T21:40:00.002-05:00

Our group loves to travel, many go to see children and family. Or just take a long weekend or a long ride to go out to eat!

Jan and Jerry go to Colorado and to see that beautiful grandbaby girl.

Don and LaVone are used to traveling but have had to put a hold on things for now until she is feeling and doing much better.

Bill and Dee, recent retirees, go to Missouri to see their kids and recently took a trip to New York to Americade rally, via their "train." Ask Bill about New York :) They returned in time to join us, go to Door County in Wisconsin and go to Region C in Chippewa Falls.

We have a wonderful group that support each other, visit, laugh and have a great time. Truly great friends!

July supper rides

2009-07-08T21:25:00.002-05:00

Our first ride in July was to Winterset to the Mexican Restaurant.
We celebrated all members birthdays with a cake, courtesy of Dee.

Many of our members will be going to Goldrush this year in Lexington Kentucky. Dates are July 13 to 16th. We will arrive by Sunday before and ride the area and return the end of the week. We look forward to seeing friends and making new ones as always. There is always a lot to see and do at Goldrush.

Supper rides
July 13th Sports Page in Indianola
July 20th Family Table in Osceola
July 27th Hickory Park in Ames

July is busy as well

2009-07-08T21:15:00.002-05:00

Hope everyone had a Happy 4th of July... We thank all the veterans and those serving our country for the many sacrifices they make and have made for our Freedoms. Everyone celebrated in their own way. We took a trip up to NW Iowa, SW Minnesota for the 4th of July Weekend. On our way up we saw in Sac City, the World's Largest Popcorn Ball... 900 pounds of popcorn! http://www.roadsideamerica.com/tip/9264

We stayed in Pipestone Minnesota, known for the stone that Native Americans considered sacred and used for making ceremonial pipes.
We stayed in Beresford South Dakota and watched Fireworks from our motel room window with a perfect view.

We send a special get well wish to one of our "Two Kids" and hope that she is recovering quickly so she can get this all over, put on her dancing shoes and be able to ride again. We miss you, LaVone.

June was a busy month

2009-07-08T20:44:00.005-05:00

Several members vacationed early before Region C Rally that was held in Chippewa Falls Wisconsin from June 12 to 14th, 2009.

We rode up and camped in a campground less than 1/2 mile from Lake Michigan. It was cool and rainy the first few days, but we saw many cool sites and rode up into Door County.

It was really windy and cool and decided not to take the Ferry to the island that day.

We did get to have some Very Fresh Fish at an ice Cream store, imagine that!

While we were gone we got the news that a friend and fellow GWTA rider was killed in a motorcycle accident. Bob Anderson loved to talk and was always there to visit with at Colorama and other events in other states. He will be missed. We send our heartfelt thoughts and prayers to his wife.

We arrived at Chippewa Falls for the GWTA Tail Gate party... There was a good show of members from different chapters and states. Chapter H had 12 members present. Great showing. We camped and rode some of the great rides.

We checked out the Ice Age National Trail... lakes left from a glacier ...

The food was good at Region C. We got to visit with some of our friends and made new ones.

We played "Dirty Bingo" and came home with some "prizes." They had many items for auction.

There was plenty to do and see. Next year Region C will be held in Spearfish, South Dakota.

Happy Father's Day to all the dads and grandfathers.

June supper rides, held on Monday nights were

Roadside Inn in Martensdale

Georgios in Colfax

PJ's in Panora-hottest day of the year so far

Rumor Mill in St Charles.

We have had some good supper rides and enjoy the friendship of all.

Route 66 World's largest Rocker

2009-06-02T22:45:00.004-05:00

We went to SE Missouri and camped at a KOA at Stanton Missouri. We found some amazing roads to ride, near Pitousi.. We had one that was 2 miles long with 97 curves, Rosalee counted!!

We also found a quaint gas station, restaurant that had seating for people in an old Railroad cabboose. It looked like you walked back in time to an old General store. Pretty cool.

We did ride on Route 66 and found the World's largest rocking chair. Amazing. It is in the Guiness book.

It is 42 feet, 4 inches tall

Weighs 27, 500 pounds

is 20 feet across!

There was a gift shop at the same location.
You can click on pictures to enlarge and view closer.

Monday night supper rides

2009-06-02T22:36:00.002-05:00

Monday night supper rides have started.. our first one was to Adel to the Italian villages. We had a good ride to it. Since Bill and Dee have retired, we have the option of someone different leading the rides if they choose. We also went to Benchwarmers in Ankeny.. no rain this time. We also got to watch Shawn Johnson on Dancing with the Stars.
We did a city/country ride to Los Tres Amigos.in Waukee. Ben and Sherrill met us there, as well as Jan.

Connie and i rode the Operation First Reponse Charity ride. PJ Sesker was really glad to see us. It was very chilly and windy so there were maybe a dozen bikes and several classic cars and trucks. The ride ended at the parking lot near Stoney Creek. Food was provided and a concert by Jason Brown, followed by an auction. It was a good day even though it was chilly.

We went to the Roadside Inn on June 1st, via 4 wheels because of the rain. We had a good time, as always.
June 8th is Smokey Row in Pleasantville. Several of us are going to go to Wisconsin early and ride and then end up at Chippewa Falls for Region C.
June 15th, we will ride to Georgio's in Colfax.
You can find a more complete list on the Iowa GWTA web site.

Happy May Day 1st Supper ride on Monday

2009-05-01T21:46:00.002-05:00

Happy May Day
My wife was asking this one: Does anyone remember the days as a kid when you took a small May basket, one that was made of construction paper or a paper cup and pipe cleaner handles, filled with violets and cookies or candy in it, sneaked up to a friends door, knocked on it and ran so they wouldn't see who left it? At least this was done in our small town on May 1st, May day. I don't think kids these days know anything about May baskets. My favorite was the snickerdoodle cookies.... they didn't make it to my friends house :) Maybe that dates us.....

Our first Chapter H supper ride starts Monday, May 4th. We meet in Johnston, Iowa, just north of Interstate 80, at the Wynnsong theater parking lot, and leave at 6:30 p.m. We will be going to Adel's Italian Villages after a nice ride. Weather sounds like it will be in upper 60's lower 70's until the sun goes down.

Connie and I took off on a quick weekend trip last Friday, destination.. Harrison, Arkansas (sunshine and warm temperatures and lots of green trees and flowers in bloom) to surprise Bill, Dee, Jon and Rosalee. We connected with them and had a nice evening meal on Saturday, breakfast together and headed back on Sunday. We heard horror stories about large storms and huge amounts of rain in Iowa and all around us but we kept dry all the way home. 1100 miles... It was a great trip!

See you Monday night...
Ride safe!
Steve

May 16th Operation First Response Charity Ride

2009-04-15T21:47:00.001-05:00

Schedule of events:
9:00am- 10:30am Registration 10:30am Drivers meeting
11:00am Cruise starts 12:00am- 3:00pm Car Show, auction & Concert
EMAIL: operationheroescruise@yahoo.com
_____________________________________________________________
Operation Heroes Cruise 2009 Registration and Release of Liability
Pre registration until May 1 - $15.00 After May 1 - $20.00
Mail to :Heroes Cruise 7102 Dakota Dr. West Des Moines, Ia. 50266
Make checks payable to: Operation Heroes Cruise
NAME_______________________________________________________
ADRESS_____________________________________________________
CITY __________________________ STATE___________ ZIP_______
PHONE_________________________
VEHICLE MAKE_______________ MODEL___________ YEAR_____

Release of Liability: In consideration of the acceptance of the right to participate, entrants and their guests, by the execution of this entry form release and discharge Operation First Response, the Rollin Relics Car Club, and anyone connected with the management and presentation of Operation Heroes Cruise of and from any and all known damages, injuries, losses, judgments and/or claims for any cause whatsoever that may be suffered to their person and/or property.

Signature of Participant_________________________ Date___________

Thanks to our Sponsors: Stoney Creek Inn & Buffalo Wild Wings

OPERATION

HEROES CRUISE
Presented by Stoney Creek Inn

WHEN: Saturday, May 16, 2009
WHERE: Starting at the Iowa Capital Building
( East 9th & Finkbine St. Des Moines, Iowa)
Ending at Stoney Creek Inn, Johnston, Ia.

WHAT: A fundraising cruise thru Des Moines, past scenic
sites ending in a car /bike show, auction & barbeque
with a concert by country music star Jason Brown

WHY: Many of our wounded HEROES need financial
assistance after returning home. Operation First
Response offers that support & help! WHO: Tom Ladd (Rollin Relics Car Club) 515-224-9147
P.J. Sesker-Green (Operation First Response) 515-986-5211
Dick Larsen (Rollin Relics Car Club) 515-957-8901

April Chapter H meeting

2009-04-15T21:35:00.002-05:00

Our April Chapter H meeting was held at Felix and Oscar's on Westtown Pkway and 50th. They are so attentive and really appreciate us being there. 2 couples rode to the meeting on their cycles.

After having a very filling meal, we had a short meeting. We had 18 members present. Some of our members are already traveling and enjoying the spring weather (Bill and Dee) :).

Our wallet ride schedules and member directory were handed out to all members. If you would like more please contact Steve Patton.

We discussed where we would have our fall meetings and it was decided to have them at the back meeting room at Felix and Oscar's in West Des Moines. They were very receptive and excited to have us come for monthly meetings in the fall, starting October 10th.

Monday night supper rides officially start Monday, May 4th leaving Wynnsong theater at 6:30 p.m.

Several members plan to attend Region C and to go to Goldrush. Some are leaving early and doing some riding before or after the events. Please check the Iowa site for more details on rides and events in our area.

Everyone ride safe, be safe and enjoy the wonderful riding season ahead.
Steve Patton,
Chapter H Director

Finally get to ride!

2009-04-13T21:34:00.005-05:00

Saturday, April 11th, was a great day and we decided to go for a long ride (about 350 miles or so). We went through Winterset, and waved at Jon and Rosalee as we passed their house as they were preparing their camper for a trip south in the next week or so.

We traveled down through St Charles and had lunch at the Welcome Center just off the interstate at Lamoni. They have added on to the center and now have a Maid Rite. It now has Amish style decor including seating that looks like buggy seats and hand made tables. You can see the rings of the wood in each piece.
http://www.traveliowa.com/attractiondetails.aspx?destid=11

We were unable to go check out the Nine Eagles State Park due to road construction and closure.

Watch out as you are riding on the county roads, as the farmers are in the fields and there is mud and rock in the road now.

Just north of Promise City, we saw 2 separate herds of buffalo. It is so cool to watch them graze on the grass that is beginning to green. They are such huge animals.

We rode through the (Town) of Confidence. Not a lot there. It has a nice little park...No gas station though.

We went to Lake Rathbuns' Honey Creek Resort to check it out. It is a very nice place facing the lake. You can reserve rooms, and some of the landscaping is still being completed. There are several "cabins" already up but not completed. They look quite fancy with most having a satelite dish off the roof. There are several more to be built. There were some people out playing golf on the golf course there.
http://honeycreekresort.com/

We went through Moravia past Sundown Lake. More new homes are being built here, Unionville, Drakesville, north of Bloomfield, through Ottumwa, near Eddyville we saw the Elk Farm, Elk meat for sale, then through Oskaloosa, Pella, and Monroe.

In Prairie City, near the Caseys, is a large statue of a Buffalo and info about the
Neal Smith National Wildlife Refuge. http://www.tallgrass.org/
I am not sure we would want to ride motorcycles through the Reserve. We have taken the car through it and it is quite an amazing place if you have not visited there.

We made it back just in time for our Chapter H meeting.

There is so much to see and do in our own state.

Chapter H April meeting

2009-04-04T11:00:00.003-05:00

Our April meeting for GWTA Chapter H, Friendship Riders of Iowa is Saturday, April 11th at 6:30 p.m. at Okoboji Grill in Johnston. If anyone has something they want to discuss please let us know. We will have individual pocket directories listing names and phone numbers for our members, available for those that want them and hopefully the ride schedule as well. Think about where we want to have our fall meetings, since this will be our last meeting before ride season starts.

Monday night supper rides officially start Monday, May 4th, 6:30 p.m. leaving from the Wynnsong Theater parking lot, in Johnston, Iowa.

To see what is going on for rides and events, please check out the Iowa GWTA site at

http://www.iowagwta.com/

You can see pictures of the Region C Quilt that you can buy raffle tickets for as well.

If you are planning on attending Region C and Goldrush, if you register soon, you can save some money.

We look forward to seeing you at the meeting.

Ride safe and be safe
Steve

Spring is here?

2009-04-04T10:53:00.002-05:00

Well, Spring is officially here and we have snow and blizzard warnings for here in Iowa for Sunday. I suppose the robins need to get some snow on their feathers before Spring officially arrives. We have done some riding but it seems less with all the rain and crazy weather.

Make sure that you have your protective gear as you ride and watch out for the potholes out in the roads. Many are being repaired but there are still several cracks and holes in the roads. Also watch out for the sand that has been applied due to the icy snowy roads. We have found many intersections that still have sand in them.

We are making plans for our many weekend rides and for vacations. There is so much even in our state to see that you could have great rides just on the weekend.

We have been to the Rumor Mill and the Pizza's are very good. They were very busy the night we were there and that is good for them. We heard that Breitbachs restaurant hopes to be open in June. We really enjoy the food there when in the area.

Our First Impromptu Ride

2009-03-16T22:03:00.002-05:00

Some of our Chapter members got together tonight, Monday March 16th and went on our first Impromptu ride. The weather was warm, in the 70's and windy, imagine that!? And we heard it was in the 50's this weekend in Southern Texas, Jon and Rosalee?
It feels so good to be out on the bikes, riding in the warm sunshine on dry pavement, enjoying the view, fresh air... so WELAXN!!!
We met at our usual time, 6:30 p.m. at the Wynnsong Theater parking lot in Johnston and Bill took us on a scenic ride. You will have to see his motorcycle! We arrived at the Italian Villages in Adel and had supper. Dee met us there. The La Villa sandwich is pretty good!

We had a safe ride home and ready to go again soon. Love this riding weather.

Be safe
Steve

Our March Chapter Meeting

2009-03-16T21:57:00.002-05:00

Chapter H meeting night.

As with a lot of our motorcycle events, trips and now meetings, you had better be prepared for the unexpected. Which we all are and we know how to have a good time no matter what.
Our March 14th meeting night at Okoboji Bar & Grill started off that way,
with a small snafu. Our reserved meeting room mistakenly got reserved for a wedding party. Who are we to mess with soon to be newly weds?
So Connie grabbed a phone book to look for potential restaurants and Donna Pittman got on the phone and we ended up at the Felix & Oscar’s on Westtown Pkwy and 50th in West DesMoines. On such short notice they did a great job!! We had a private area, and nice waitress and plenty of good food and wonderful conversation. We had a great turnout, 18 members in all.
We have the 2008 ride schedule set up. All the restaurants are good and now all we need is the perfect weather for Monday nights and we are in business.

We may have to have an alternating road captain this year, it seems like our Mr. Dependable Bill has officially acquired the retired title with the sale of the meat locker in Winterset, so Bill and Dee may miss a few Monday night rides due to traveling to unknown destinations. Best to both of you! You both deserve the freedom. So we may have a different road captain
from time to time, but somehow we will manage to work it out, and it should provide for some joking and ribbing along the way.
JD

Have you heard the latest RUMOR???

2009-03-11T19:27:00.004-05:00

NO Rumor.... The Rumor Mill is open in St. Charles, Iowa. This restaurant had a fire a couple of years ago at Christmas time and is just now opening. It has the Best Pizza cooked in a cast iron skillet! It stays hot all the way to the last bite!
We first found this restaurant on a Charity ride a couple of years ago and really enjoy the ride there and the pizza and sandwiches.

Maybe this will be one of our supper ride destinations!

Chapter H meeting this Saturday, March 14th

2009-03-11T19:18:00.002-05:00

GWTA Friendship Riders of Iowa, Chapter H is having our March meeting, this Saturday, March 14th, at Okoboji Grill in Johnston. Be there about 6:30 p.m. Will eat first and then have our meeting. We should have our supper rides figured out by then. If you have anything you would like to discuss, please get to Steve before Saturday.

As weather warms up, we may have impromptu rides in April but actually riding season will be every Monday night, leaving at 6:30 p.m. from Wynnsong theater parking lot, starting May 4th.

If you have pictures or a story about a ride or trip, please email to us to put on the blog.

See you Saturday
Steve

Guess what we found?

2009-03-11T19:13:00.003-05:00

Some of our members were checking their cameras and guess what was found? A couple of cool pictures from the Chapter H Christmas Party in December 2008. Check these out!

We already have our 2009 Christmas party planned for Saturday, December 5 at Okoboji Grill in Johnston. More details will be planned in the fall.

New additions to the DeGann family

2009-03-01T15:46:00.002-06:00

Congratulations to the 3 new additions to Jerry and Jan's family. They now have 3 new puppies to occupy their time and give them joy! Just ask Jerry, he can show you pictures!

Operation First Response Charity Ride

2009-03-01T15:33:00.003-06:00

Operation First Response is a charity that our chapter has donated to for the past two years.

There is a Charity ride scheduled May 16 for Operation First Response.

A Heroes Cruise

It starts at the Iowa State Capital Building (East 9th and Finkbine St, Des Moines, Iowa) and ends at Camp Dodge.

It is a fundraising cruise through Des Moines past scenic sites ending in a car/bike show & barbeque with a concert by Jason Brown, country music star!

Many of our wounded Heroes need financial assistance after returning home. Operation First Response tries to offer support and help!

PJ Sesker-Green (Operation First Response) 515-986-5211

More details to come

Our Chapter's Family of the Year 2009

2009-03-01T15:27:00.002-06:00

Rick and Patti Harvey are Chapter H Friendship Riders of Iowa's Family of the Year.

They have been involved in many parts of GWTA, including past State Directors, attending chapter, State, Regional and National events.

March 7th is the State meeting where they will represent our chapter, go through an interview process, where the State Family of the Year will be selected from all of the Iowa Chapters.

Congratulations Rick and Patti!
http://www.iowagwta.com/ChapterHFamilyOfTheYear.html

February 14, 2009 Chapter H meeting

2009-02-15T15:48:00.006-06:00

Friendship Riders of Iowa had their February meeting yesterday, Saturday, February 14th at 6:30 p.m. at Okoboji Grille in Johnston. Some of our members are in the warm south as Snow Birds or vacationing (the wise ones! :))
Since it was Valentine's Day, a long stem rose was given to each of the women in our Chapter!
Dennis and Donna Pittman, baked all day long and brought some yummy Valentine Cupcakes. Pam and Bob brought homemade Valentine Candy! The men received a special "gift!" of candy!

After having our meal, PJ Sesker and husband arrived and we donated 8 Fleece Quilts and Dee Kirkpatrick knitted 8 pairs of slippers. All were donated to our couragious wounded soldiers that will receive these through PJ and Operation First Response. We gave PJ a rose for Valentine's Day and our appreciation for all that she does for our soldiers.

There will be a special Operation First Response Charity ride in May. She said there were changes in the flyer that was currently out and updates would come soon.

We reviewed our list of restaurants for Chapter rides and will receive the list at our next meeting, March 14th, 2009.
We talked about Kansas City Spring Fling in Kansas City and will get more information on it. Some found information that it is April 18th but we thought it had been moved to later in the month due to the cooler weather lately at that time of year. Some like to camp and will be looking at camping options.
We decided to have our Chapter H Christmas Party at Okoboji Grill in Johnston on Saturday, December 5th starting about 4 pm with our meal a little later. More to come on this later.

Our supper rides will be Monday nights starting the first Monday in May, May 4th. Stay tuned for more details!

Everyone stay safe if you go out to ride. Watch the roads and watch the other drivers!
Steve

Happy Valentine's Day to everyone!

2009-02-15T15:45:00.001-06:00

I know this is a day late but Happy Valentine's Day to everyone. This snow storm tried to dampen everyone's spirits but we had a great Day!

30 degrees is a heatwave?

2009-01-18T21:38:00.005-06:00

It is the middle of January and it feels as though we have been in a deep freeze. Seems strange to feel that 30 degrees above zero is a heat wave!

Just realized that I hadn't mentioned our officers in the chapter. A big thank you to each one and to every member in our chapter that make it such an enjoyable group!
Our officers remain the same with the following exceptions.
Bill Kirkpatrick is now our ride captain.
Jerry DeGann is receiving emails and distributing them to help out the CD.
Our blog is our newsletter and other information is distrbuted by inter-chapter emails and phone calls.

Chapter H regular meeting will be held Saturday,
February 14th, (yes, Valentine's Day) at 6:30 p.m. at Okoboji Grille in Johnston, (near Wynnsong Theaters.)

For more GWTA events, please check out Iowa’s State Web site at: www.iowagwta.com

Everyone be healthy and be safe.

January 2009 Chapter H Meeting

2009-01-11T13:37:00.004-06:00

Friendship Riders of Iowa had their January meeting at Okoboji Grille in Johnston on Saturday, January 10th at 6:30 p.m. We had 11 members present at the meeting. At the beginning of the meeting, we called Jon and Rosalee, who are wintering (and riding) in south Texas and they were complaining of rain..poor babies!
We had met earlier in the day to work on Blankets for Operation First Response, and some of the members were not able to make it to the meeting later.
We will work on choosing restaurants for our Monday night supper rides for 2009, at our next meeting, on February 14th at Okoboji Grille in Johnston, at 6:30 p.m.
We will present the blankets that we finished and the slippers that Dee made, to PJ Sesker for Operation First Response http://www.operationfirstresponse.org
at the February Meeting.
We updated information on our Chapter Directory and will try to have them available to anyone that wants one.
Anyone interested in camping and going to Kansas City Spring Fling the end of April, please contact Patti Harvey so she can get camp sites reserved.

Looking for warm weather so we can ride! After just receiving about 8 inches of new snow and forecasting more snow and blizzard conditions on Monday, we are more than ready for riding season to begin soon!
Everyone be safe and see you soon
Steve

Chapter H club house meeting January 10, 2009

2009-01-11T13:29:00.004-06:00

Chapter H members got together at the Chapter H club house and worked on blankets to donate to Operation First Response. We had snacks, friendship and fun. Even the guys contributed on the blankets. We plan to present them to PJ Sesker at our February 14th meeting at Okoboji Grill in Johnston, Iowa.

Happy New Year 2009

2009-01-04T20:39:00.002-06:00

Wishing everyone a very Happy New Year, a year of good health, happiness, wealth, love, family and friends. And lots of safe riding!
With the snow and ice, we have not gotten to ride. Hoping the weather is better soon.
Some of our members are snow birds or have gone south to visit their families during the holidays. After hearing our temps compared to where they were visiting, second thoughts about returning to Iowa were formed. Welcome to Iowa!!

A reminder of our meeting on Saturday, January 10th at 6:30 p.m. at Okoboji Grille. For those that want to work on the project for Operation First Response, we are meeting at the club house at about 1:00 p.m. Saturday. If you wish to bring snacks that is fine and then when finished, will go to the meeting afterwards.

We look forward to seeing everyone.
Be careful walking and driving out there.
Steve

March 2009 Motorcycle Safety Forum

2008-12-21T21:47:00.002-06:00

For those of you that have attended the Safety Forum, this is a worthwhile day.
It is held and they listen to us, the riders and use some of our ideas and suggestions to help make safety a priority and awareness for all

Below is a link to the page with information for the 2009 day. March 13th "Gear Up 4 Safety"
www.ucs.iastate.edu/mnet/motorcycle/home.html
You may need to type the link to open this.

January 2009 Chapter meeting

2008-12-21T21:32:00.001-06:00

Just a reminder to everyone as you plan your January, 2009.

Our first meeting of the New Year is Saturday, January 10th, 2009 at 6:30 p.m. at Okoboji Grille in Johnston. More to come on this.

Hope everyone has a Happy and Safe New Year

Chapter H Christmas Party and more

2008-12-21T21:20:00.004-06:00

Friendship Riders of Iowa had their Christmas party on Saturday December 13th. We actually got to have it on the date scheduled this year, although it did conflict with some other member's work Christmas parties! It was held at the Country Kitchen on NE 14th street. Everyone that made it had a good time. There were laughs, friendship and food, of course. Home made goodies to share. The gift exchange was enjoyed, from comments heard.

Some of our members have decided to become snow birds and have gone south for the winter. We will miss them and look forward to getting together for some fun times and rides soon!

This is already been extreme weather and only this weekend, is it officially winter. The wind chills are below zero and snow every other day or so! Spring can't come soon enough! Weather report from Texas is temps in the 40's and above and Jon and Rosalee plans to ride almost every day!

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a safe, Happy and prosperous New Year.
Dreaming of days of warm temps and great riding weather!
Steve

Chapter H Christmas Party

2008-12-07T20:28:00.002-06:00

Just a reminder that in December we do not have a meeting. We have our Christmas party planned on Saturday, December 13, at 6:00 p.m. at the Country Kitchen on NE 14th St. We plan to eat supper there and then have our gift exchange. Bring a wrapped gift marked male or female or either and will do our Gift game as directed by Patti.

Happy Thanksgiving

2008-11-27T21:13:00.002-06:00

We want to wish everyone a Happy Thanksgiving. We are grateful for the abundance of friends, good times and memories that we have shared in this past year. We enjoy getting together and sharing laughs, food and friendship with all our Chapter H family.

Have a relaxing day and feel deep gratitude for all that we have and enjoy.

Steve

Start planning for 2009

2008-11-20T21:23:00.002-06:00

We already have some dates for events in 2009.

February 7, 2009 GWTA Chapter I 5th Annual February Thaw Valley West Inn, WDM

February 28, 2009 Minnesota’s Freeze Your Tush North Branch, Minnesota-

March 21/22, 2009 Illinois Event TBA

June 7, 2009 Chapter B and L Fun Run Lake Manawa

June 12/14, 2009 Region C Rally Chippewa Falls, WI

June 28, 2009 Chapter P Fun Run TBA

July 13-16, 2009 Gold Rush- Lexington, Kentucky

August 14 15, 2009 Iowa Fun Fest Storm Lake, Iowa

October 9/11 Colorama Eureka Springs

November Nebraska Fall Follies Grand Island

Iowa's "Romans" represented at Nebraska Fall Follies

2008-11-20T21:15:00.002-06:00

Rick and Patti won first place in Toga Costumes at Nebraska's Fall Follies.

Our Chapter Director

2008-11-17T19:44:00.001-06:00

The answer to the "what's wrong with this picture?"

Chapter H meeting Elections and Family of the Year

2008-11-17T19:30:00.003-06:00

Chapter H had it's meeting on November 15th, at Okoboji Grille in Johnston. We had 18 members present. We said Happy Birthday to Rick Harvey.
Elections were done by ballot. Steve Patton will remain Chapter Director in name, for 2009. Bill Kirkpatrick volunteered to be the ride captain for 2009. Other officer positions will be confirmed in January.

Congratulations to Rick and Patti Harvey, our 2009 Family of the Year!

Also to Bob and Pam, everyone deserves this honored position.

We will keep our supper rides every Monday night leaving from Wynnsong theater parking lot. Our winter meetings will remain on the second Saturday evening of the month, except in October and November, so that those that want to attend Colorama and Nebraska Fall Follies,may do so. Our chapter bylaws are to stand as they are.

Our Christmas Party is at Country Kitchen on NE 14th Street, in Des Moines on December 13th at 6:00 p.m. We will be having a meal there and then gift exchange game. Please bring your own Homemade Christmas candy.

Our next actual meeting will be Saturday, January 10, 2009, 6:30 p.m. at Okoboji Grille.

Please check your GWTA card and see if it is time to renew. We wish to keep everyone in our GWTA family and enjoy the benefits of this group.

ICE In Case of Emergency

2008-11-17T19:29:00.002-06:00

ICE - 'In Case of Emergency'
We all carry our mobile phones with names & numbers stored in its memory but nobody, other than ourselves, knows which of these numbers belong to our closest family or friends.

If we were to be involved in an accident or were taken ill, the people attending us would have our mobile phone but wouldn' t know who to call. Yes, there are hundreds of numbers stored but which one is the contact person in case of an emergency? Hence this 'ICE' (In Case of Emergency) Campaign
The concept of 'ICE' is catching on quickly. It is a method of contact during emergency situations. As cell(mobile) phones are carried by the majority of the population, all you need to do is store the number of a contact person or persons who should be contacted during emergency under the name 'ICE' ( In Case Of Emergency).
The idea was thought up by a paramedic who found that when he went to the scenes of accidents, there were always mobile phones with patients, but they didn't know which number to call. He therefore thought that it would be a good idea if there was a nationally recognized name for this purpose. In an emergency situation, Emergency Service personnel and hospital Staff would be able to quickly contact the right person by simply dialing the number you have stored as 'ICE.'
For more than one contact name simply enter ICE1, ICE2 and ICE3 etc. A great idea that will make a difference!
Let's spread the concept of ICE by storing an ICE number in our Mobile phones today!
It really could save your life, or put a loved one's mind at rest. ICE will speak for you when you are not able to.

Iowa Lawmakers Repay OHV Money

2008-11-11T20:05:00.001-06:00

Iowa Lawmakers Repay OHV Money

Iowa lawmakers will finally repay the $775,000
they took from the Off-Highway Vehicle Fund
six years ago to balance the state budget.

Lawmakers raided the trails fund in 2002 when
they needed money to help make up a $9 million
shortfall in the state’s Medicaid program.

For years, Iowa riders have paid registration
fees on their off-highway motorcycles and ATV’s,
knowing that the money was earmarked for a
special fund to build and maintain OHV riding
areas.

The $775,000 will be available to make
improvements to the state’s eight OHV parks,
several of which have been closed because of
recent flood and rain damage.

“Off-Highway riders already paid their fair
share into the state’s budget through normal
taxes,” says Royce Wood, AMA government
affairs manager. “Raiding the trail fund meant
that trail riders had to pay twice to reduce the
state deficit, so it’s good to see that they are
getting the trail fund money back.
American Motorcyclist October 2008

More good Iowa news……….

Gypsum City OHV Park, Fort Dodge Iowa
opened July 8th, 2008. A new 300 acre park
can now be a play ground for Iowa’s off road
playing families.
Some 5-6 years in the making, organizers hope
the park will eventually grow to 1500 arces.
The park is built on mining land and will include
15 miles of trails, a motocross track and a practice
track for the beginning ATV riders.

The park came together through the effort of
government agencies, state lawmakers, non-
profit groups and four gypsum companies.

The park will be managed by the Wheelers club
of Webster County.

Local officials are hoping that the park will add
some $70,000 per weekend to the local economy.

Motorcycle News

2008-11-09T10:04:00.002-06:00

The international Motorcycle Show is coming to Minneapolis, MN
Feb. 13-15, 2009. Last year some of our members made the trek north-
bound to see the show. Mark your calendars. It’s a good way to break
the winter blues……………………..

The motorcycle noise issue is raising its ugly head again, and No folks
it’s not just Harley’s. Many states and cities are monitoring motorcycle
noise, and it is evolving into a serious threat. Excess noise can result in
being pulled over and issued a ticket for up to $700 for not having
your exhaust to EPA standards. Worst case scenario is that motorcycles
would have to meet a much lower decibel limit. This new technology would
result in added weight and costs to bikes.
In Denver aftermarket pipes cannot exceed 82 decibels. New York City is
attempting to ban all motorcycles in certain areas of the city and from driving
in the HOV lanes on the freeways.

Speed….Speed….Speed The race is on for speed and the competition is fierce!
In 2006 Chris Carr in Denis Manning’s BUB No.7 set the world speed record at
350.884 MPH. In 2008 Sam Wheeler had a one way average of 352.00 MPH, but
at the same event Rocky Robinson piloted Mike Akatiff’s “Act Attack” to a two
way average of 360.913 MPH at Bonneville September 26. What speeds will 2009
bring? Time will tell.

More info coming…. Keep checking the Friendship Blog……

Fall in all it's beauty

2008-11-02T20:28:00.004-06:00

When we heard the weather was going to be warm and perfect for riding, we put together a last minute ride and left Saturday morning, early on November 1st. We took back roads, through Southern Iowa and into Missouri. We rode some awesome back roads and went through several small towns. We arrived at Hermann Missouri, but there were no rooms as Octoberfest celebrations were coming to a close. The hotels and Bed and breakfasts were all full. It is a German town along the Missouri river with a winery and many intersting shops and more. We found a place to stop for the night. We remembered to reset our watches and took off early this morning, Sunday. We wound our way back towards home. We passed the road going to Mexico, Florida and Louisiana. We did make it to Paris, on our way back home! We rode over Mark Twain lake and saw some of the most beautiful reds, orange and yellow leaves on the trees. The temps were in the 70's and the sun was shining. We got back late afternoon from a wonderful weekend ride.

What's wrong with this picture?

2008-11-02T20:23:00.001-06:00

OK, so please look closely at this picture. What is wrong with it? (look closely at Steve)

Everyone had a laugh at our first meeting October 15th.

Everyone passed the test for being observant and paying attention to him. ;)

Breitbach Restaurant in Balltown

2008-11-02T20:21:00.001-06:00

Sad news. The Breitbach restaurant in Balltown, that was just rebuilt and opened in June, burned to the ground again. We were forunate enough to get to eat there over Labor Day weekend before it burned. We have not heard if they will be rebuilding or it that is the end of the restaurant.

Chapter H meeting

2008-10-23T20:42:00.002-05:00

Friendship Riders of Iowa had their regular meeting on Saturday, October 18th at the Okoboji Grille at noon. We had several members present. A few rode their motorcycles in 50 degree temps. We discussed several issues and will have elections in November, including Chapter Director position, Family of the year and review of the Chapter By-laws.

Our next meeting is November 15th at 6:30 p.m. at Okoboji Grille on 86th Street in Urbandale.

Christmas party is December 13th, 6:00 p.m. at Country Kitchen on NE 14th ST.

Weather permitting, several members plan to ride to the Nebraska Fall Follies, the second Saturday in November. Their theme is "Toga Party."

If you have something you would like discussed on the blog or at our next meeting, please get in touch with me.

Colorama Pics

2008-10-23T20:31:00.003-05:00

Winding Twisty roads with "mountains" in view. Riders on the Friday night supper ride.

Golden Gate Bridge

Chapter H notes in October

2008-10-23T20:13:00.002-05:00

Rick and Patti Harvey canceled their Harvey BBQ the first weekend in October.
Colorama, Missouri's annual get together was held October 11th, at Eureka Springs. Steve and Connie, Jon and Rosalee took off Thursday afternoon before and met Rick and Patti in Bethany.

We rode on down after staying in Lamar, MO. Just outside of Eurkeka Springs, we found a small motorcycle accessories store and shopped some. We left there and arrived at the KOA on Friday about noon. We found a restaurant called the Smokehouse that is known for it's homemade biscuit for Biscuit and Gravy. It is huge and should be shared with at least 2 people. Be prepared for meal and a "show." :) George and Peggy joined us in the afternoon. We got camp set up and then prepared for our evening supper ride. Wiliferd had a new motorcycle without a CB so Steve was the tour guide. We saw some interesting sites including a place where the owner has most of his buildings that look like castles. In another area there were statues of zoo animals. We crossed the large Beaver Dam, went through the town of Beaver, across their "Golden Gate Bridge", through the older part of Eureka Springs where all of the unique shops are and ended up at the restaurant. We had a very large group and had a good time. Some went back to their motels and we went back to the campgrounds.

Saturday morning, many registered and there were several different rides you could go on. We wanted to go a route that was a combination of several of the maps, so took off and did our own ride. We found some wonderful twisting roads, Pigs Trail, Dinosaur Tail, Toothpick, and Devil's Den state park. We went over to Highway 7 and checked out Arkansas Grand Canyon and the Cliff Restaurant. The leaves are turning some but still beautiful area.
Saturday evening was BBQ catered from a local restaurant. It was very good. There was a silent auction and a lot of give-aways. There was instruction on GPS and then a campfire.

Many left and headed home on Sunday. Jon and Rosalee and Steve and Connie decided to stay and enjoy some more riding. We found some more beautiful roads. We took camp down on Monday and it was upper 70's and sunshine. As we got closer to Kansas City, it became cooler and looked like rain. We put on rain gear and by the time we were in Kansas City it was misting and pouring near Bethany. By the time we got into Iowa, it was raining and 4o's. Connie says, Thank you to my heated seat!

Applefest in Woobine, Iowa

2008-10-23T20:04:00.003-05:00

Applefest is a fall celebration in the town of Woodbine, Iowa, over in Western part of Iowa.

http://woodbineia.org/Applefest.pdf

Their celebration is always that last Saturday of September. They have car shows, craft fairs, flea market, apple pie, many things made with apples and more. We rode over and joined Nebraska's Chapter Z for an afternoon ride and then joined them for their Hog roast and meal.
Nebraska's Chapter G was having a campout and meal at a campground a few miles away.

It was a beautiful fall day. If you are looking for something to do the same time next year, consider Woodbine's Applefest.

Breitbach Restaurant in Balltown

2008-09-14T17:23:00.003-05:00

We checked out Balltown's restaurant that had been remodeled after a fire last December. Breitbach's restaurant was Iowa's oldest restaurant. They had a breakfast buffet that was pretty good. The restaurant looks much different but is still decorated with some antique items. It is a good experience with a nice ride to Balltown. Be sure to walk out to the scenic view. Worth the time to check out!

Chapter H Monday night rides and More

2008-09-14T16:58:00.001-05:00

Chapter H Monday night scheduled rides continue through the end of September. We had to change some of the rides up near Ames due to cooler and rainy weather. We are riding to restaurants that are closer to Des Moines. October Monday rides really depend on what Iowa's weather is going to do.

There are some GWTA events yet to come. September 27th at Woodbine, Iowa is Applefest. The town has a celebration around Apples, apple pie, caramel apples, craft fair and more. Chapter Z Nebraska is having a hogroast and Nebraska's Chapter G is camping at a State Park nearby.

Rick and Patti Harvey have their annual BBQ at their new home the first Saturday in October.

Colorama is the second weekend in October at Eureka Springs. Leaves are already changing in Iowa now and should be beautiful by then.

Nebraska has their state event, A TOGA party, the second weekend in November at Grand Island, Nebraska.
If you are intersested in riding to one of the events, get in contact with us to see if a group is planning to go.

The Patriot Rock in Iowa

2008-09-14T16:47:00.000-05:00

We went on a ride one very hot summer day and wanted to see what Bubba had created this year at the Rock. It is truly an awesome work of art and a tribute to ALL of our soldiers and Veterans.

You can find Iowa's Patriot Rock south of I-80 on Highway 25 north of Greenfield, Iowa. This rock was once covered by graffitti but is now a work of art that is changed every year by Memorial Day.

Iowa's Fun Fest at Storm Lake

2008-09-14T15:49:00.009-05:00

Iowa's Fun Fest was held at Storm Lake August 22-25th. We arrived on Friday and set up camp. Some moteled but several brought their campers and we circled our campers. Friday night we had hot dogs and potato salad and everyone visited. There was also a campfire in the evening. There were incredible sunsets over the water there with wind energy windmills in the background.

Saturday A.M. everyone registered and began the day of the Fun run by drawing a card, guessing how many M & M's were in the jar and then took off on the ride. First stop was at Storm Lake Honda. We had to see how many pieces of Bubble gum we could grasp with our hands and that was our score for that stop. Larry at Storm Lake Honda provided breakfast pizza and something to drink. It was a great stop. We had trivia questions that we could look for the answers as we went on the ride. We stopped at The Grotto where we had a ping pong ball toss, next stop was a frog draw, *we rode past some of Iowa's wind energy farms* and then back to the campground for our final card draw. Darrell and Judy Peters and others of Chapter L did a great job on this Fun Run. It was interesting and fun.

We had an auction, 50/50 both Friday and Saturday nights. Hyvee catered a great meal for Saturday. Several played the games in the afternoon. Larry from Storm Lake was honored for all that he

has done for some of our GWTA members. The GAMES: It was a series of things to be done. First, the team plank walking. Pic above shows Pam and Bob then they walked holding a plastic egg on a spoon, and then kicked 3 balls to the other end of the game field getting them in all in a small area. Then they had to pick up beans with chopsticks. This was a timed event. Rick H from Nebraska and "snookum" had a little trouble with the plank walk and received the "whoopie cushion" award.

State Director Rick Harvey was attached to a tree and for $1.oo you could throw a water balloon at him. Money from this was donated to Helping Hands. A challenge was made between Rick Harvey and Rick H from Nebraska to do this at Goldrush in 2009 to see who could raise the most for Helping Hands.

Rick and Patti Harvey notified everyone that they are resigning as Iowa's State Directors. We thank them for all that they have done and all the hard work on Iowa's Fun Fest and trying to keep "Iowa on the Move."

2009 Iowa Fun Fest will be in Storm Lake with camping but the date is changing to the weekend before. More info on that too come.

Chapter J has fun run

2008-09-14T15:46:00.004-05:00

August 17th Several of our members went to Clarinda area for Chapter J's Fun Run with money raised for a little boy that had lost his leg and fingers in a lawn mower incident. We had a good ride with one of our stops at Bedford and had Strawberry Shortcake. The poker run was fun, good friends and money was given to the little boy and his mom at the end of the event. It was a great day for a ride.

Iowa has some unique things to see and places to go

2008-08-14T20:18:00.002-05:00

OK, so everyone likes to go check out unique and interesting places, right?

Well, Iowa has it's share. I have to admit, many we have not seen.

We did find something NOT on the list.... the world's largest rocking horse, in ROLFE, Iowa. SEE a previous post for pictures.

Check out the link we may need to go check some of these out.
Ok, the world's largest Cheeto? that has to be rank by now.....

www.roadsideamerica.com/location/ia/all

You can click on some of the links for more information and locations.

Let us know if you have seen any of these and what you thought about them.

We did see the water towers in Stanton and checked out a restaurant on the main street known for their Fruit of the forest pies. They have interesting crepe pancakes and some berry syrup that is tasty!

Don and LaVone go to Germany

2008-08-14T20:13:00.001-05:00

We once again flew over the big pond to Germany in July...our 4th time there.
This trip was a bit different than the others. Before, we have always traveled
on our own, this time we connected with friends we became acquainted with
while there in 2005 in a hotel dining room. These friends are also the ones
that visited us here in 2006.

We arrived in Frankfurt at 7:45 A M. They are 7 hours ahead of the U S....the
flight was a little over 8 hrs. By the time we had arrived, we were ready to go
to bed, but by their clock, it was time to rise and shine!!! They met us at the
airport and then we were driving on the Autobahn. They live 1 1/2 hours from
the airport...between Frankfurt and Cologne. We hadn't been on the Autobahn
very long when we came upon a horrific accident...2 trucks and don't know how
many cars. All three lanes were shut down, helicopters flying overhead, and men
in white suits and their vehicles driving around us on the shoulder....must have been
a chemical spill to clean up. We sat there for 3 hrs before they got one lane cleared.
It was a terrible sight as we passed by ..no doubt people were killed. By the time we
arrived at their home, we had been up for 29 hours!!! Excitement kept us going we think!!

They rented an apartment for us to stay in..about a 5 minute walk from their home. Seems
this is common in their area as this is what this apartment is used for. We slept the rest
of the afternoon and then they took us out to eat that night.

This is the only area of Germany that we hadn't toured before. It is strictly wine country.
The terrain is quite rugged...strait up & down with grape vines growing everywhere. We
wondered how they ever got those grapes planted. Perhaps they had one leg shorter
than the other!!!! We saw the grapes being trimmed with a machine that looked somewhat
like a narrow garden tractor going up & down the hillsides. Also saw helicopters flying
overhead spraying the vines. By the way.....their wine is excellent!!!

They took us many places while we were there...everything in very close proximity
to their home...no overnight stays on the road like they had while they were with us.
It was hard for them to believe the vastness here and how far we have to travel to see
anything different.

We went to 2 museums..one was an outdoor museum of farm history, similar to
Living History Farms, but much older..1600-1700) and covered a much larger area.
It was very different and interesting. At one point, we saw this large design hanging
in the middle of the road...a circular hanging with many loops....very beautiful.
We were surprised to learn that it was made of hens eggs. The symbol and design
was a traditional celebration in the spring that was meant to bring happiness and a
prosperous year. The other museum was in Bonn, German History Museum. It was
also such a learning experience for us. They were great at explaining everything to us.
It involved history before, during, and after the east-west division. The German people
were not pleased with that situation. They showed films of that period also. It was a
moving experience for us to watch those people trying to cross to the west and when
the wall came down.

We went to a castle that overlooked the Rhine River...interesting and the views
from that high up were spectacular!!! We took a cog train part of the way up and
walked a VERY STEEP climb to reach the top.

I must mention...we walked like we have NEVER walked before!!! Some of the
places we toured, we're thinking we must have walked almost a half mile from
the parking lot....straight up & down and very steep all the way! Good thing
we are in pretty good shape for our age....we kept up with them!!! Now we
know why those Germans, young and old, have walking sticks!!!! Maybe we
should have purchased some while there!!!

We saw a very large and very old church in Cologne. It's hard to imagine
the height size of such a gothic structure and how they every got it built.
The stained glass windows were very high.

We toured two wineries. One was quite modern with wonderful food, wine, and
music. Again we walked a long ways to get there. As for the other one, we would
have never found it on our own. It was out in the country on a road we would call
a path...parked the car and WALKED UP AND DOWN AGAIN FOR A GOOD HALF
MILE!!! Had a bottle of wine and food they highly recommended. We had a plate
of cheese and some small rounds of bread that had a white spread with small
pieces of meat in it. It was quite tasty and we ate quite a few slices before we
learned the spread was LARD!!! Oh lordy....we slowed down and took a few gulps
of wine!!! Cholesterol City here we come!!! However, the lard is nothing like ours. It
is processed much different from ours. It very white, shiny, very smooth for spreading.
Another German experience!!!

The shopping is very different from America. Very high quality merchandise everywhere.
Walmart was there for 7 years and left. The Germans thought it was cheap junk and
didn't patronize them. Germans shop locally and support their own. With the conversion,
gas was $9.92 per gal. Their small villages makes ours look sick. Their business
districts in those small towns were at least twice the size of downtown Ames and some
bigger. The towns are very clean with well kept stores...even the very old structures.
Many of them dated back to the 1600 & 1700's. The food in their restaurants is quality
food. The small villages, have many hotels and restaurants with beer gardens. We
seldom ate inside while there.

We went to two flea markets.....just huge! No junk for sale...all quality merchandise with
a lot of it being hand made. These two flea markets are only held once a year for one
week only. It was a wonderful experience for us and the shopping was so unusual and
great!!!

We also had a boat trip on the Rhine River!!!! It was nothing like the Mississippi to be on.
There were no open spaces anywhere. We were constantly looking on both sides of the
boat at castles, churches, mansions, restaurants along with villages....just beautiful.
We stopped off at some villages and had lunch in Bonn with more shopping. One
day we took a ferry across the river to a neat little village full of old structures, good
food and great shopping.

Our last night there, they took us to a very nice restaurant high on the mountain side.
That required a long steep walk to get there and then climbed steep steps...it was well
worth it. The view of the Rhine was out of this world.

Their oldest son had passed the written test portion to get his license....he was so proud!!
That had taken a year of schooling....he still has to pass the driving test. It's quite rigid
and involves driving on the Autobahn. He is 17 and can only drive with one of his parents
till he is 18...then he can drive alone. Doesn't get his permanent license till he's 21.
The cost of the class is 1,200 Euros and the permanent license cost another 1,200 Euros.
Of course it's much more money than that in American dollars....not cheap!!

This is the highlights of our trip...it was just WONDERFUL!!! It was very hard to say
our goodbyes...we're so far apart. It is a truly wonderful experience to have such a
great friendship with a foreign family.

In spite of all that good food..(Kerstin is also an excellent cook) their great wine and
beer and with all that steep walking, I discovered I had lost 5 pounds when we got home!!
We should go there more often...it would be good for us!!!

Don & LaVone

Rides

2008-08-14T20:02:00.005-05:00

August 9, 2008 Randy and Jen, our Region C directors were in Des Moines taking care of some business and asked if we were doing a ride. Several from our chapter got together and headed for about a 2 hour ride south, through some of southern Iowa's beautiful twisty roads. We arrived at Ozzie's Red Barn, near Lake Rathbun. They had a large group of 60 there and had just put in orders, so we were either going someplace else or could order salads and pizza. We chose the latter. We finished our meal and rode back to Des Moines. It was great weather for riding and had a good time.

If you are looking for a place to eat that has ice cream, salads and sandwiches or serves Breakfast all day, near Moravia, check out Angels! It has an interesting fountain with textured leaves and trees on the wall inside, at the front of the restaurant and angels as decor.

This past Monday night we were supposed to go to Indianola to the Sports Page. We were notified by Dave, that the restaurant was closed for remodeling. So now where to go. We were pleasantly surprised to be joined by Darrel and Carolyn Blair. We had a good group and headed to Colfax, Georgio's for sandwiches and/or pizza. It was a beautiful night for a ride.

Iowa's State Fun Fest at Storm Lake

2008-07-30T20:13:00.002-05:00

Remember Iowa's Fun Fest, August 22-24th at Storm Lake, Iowa. This should be a fun event and has a very nice campground by the lake. There is a lot to see and do around the town and a great ride is planned as well. You can print off your registration from from the Iowa site
www.iowagwta.com
and if you pre-register by August 1st, you get it at a cheaper rate.

Chapter H is responsible to sell 50/50 tickets on Friday and Saturday.

There is a State meeting for all State and Chapter Directors, including assistant and State Safety Director, Sunday a.m.

Chapter J has a fun run, August 17th. Check out the State site for more information on this as well.

We continue to have weekly Monday night supper rides, starting from Wynsong Theater Parking lot, in Johnston, leaving at 6:30 p.m.

Don't forget to pre-register for Colorama, being held this year at Eureka Springs.

Ride Iowa

2008-07-30T20:08:00.002-05:00

Connie and I did the Ride Iowa event, Saturday, July 26th, a ride to raise money for March of Dimes. We met Pam and Bob Beverage there. We started out at the Newton Speedway, where for $10.00 you could ride on the race track with your motorcycle. There was a lot of bikes there, not sure of the exact count. We left the speedway in a long parade of bikes through Newton, Colfax and ended up at Baxter for a meal, music and bike show and more.

It is amazing to see all the motorcycles for miles ahead and behind you. We had fun last year and felt this was a good cause to ride for.

Sunday, July 20th headed home from Goldrush

2008-07-30T19:55:00.002-05:00

After a quick breakfast, we were on our way home on I-80. We had several hours of riding and wanted to get home at a decent hour since some of us needed to go back to work on Monday. The "retired ones" were ready to get home too, I think :).
It was a very warm day and we drank plenty of liquids, had ice available and used our Chilly pads as well.
The Tourmaster Air pants, jacket and gloves were amazingly cool. We had always thought it would make you too hot, but keeps the sun off the skin and air flowing through the mesh, even hot air, was cooler with them on. Plus, you could wear shorts with the air pants on.
Everyone arrived home safely and I think had a great time on this trip. Pam and Bob had several challenges all along the way.

We clocked about 3,000 miles!

If you get a chance to go to Goldrush, there is so much to see and do. It is an experience! Goldrush is what you make it! If you choose to participate in events or ride and check out the beautiful scenery around the site, it is a great experience.

Please feel free to submit your trip or experience so we can add it to the blog.

Saturday, July 19th

2008-07-29T21:53:00.006-05:00

Several wanted to see Mt Rushmore, so we went through Spearfish Canyon, Lead, then drove by Mt Rushmore, some of the Black Hills, Keystone mountain with twisy, winding roads and then through Custer State Park on our way out of South Dakota.' We took some beautiful pictures of the country side. We saw deer, anelope and a large herd of Bison.

Connie's camera battery died just as we saw the bison herd, but will check with others to see if they got the picture of them.

We went through NW Nebraska. They kind of have their own BadLands in the area of the sand dunes. Again, gas stations are few and far between. We stopped at a gas station where some other GWTA members were having tire problems and had to wait until Monday for the nearest Honda dealer to open and get it replaced. Judy and Holly were needing to get on towards home so rode with us as far as North Platte. We went from Mountain time to Central time after Ogalala and arrived late at North Platte. Several of the hotels were full and we were able to find rooms (the last ones) for everyone at the Comfort Inn at North Platte.

Friday, July 18th

2008-07-29T21:32:00.003-05:00

Dennis and Donna Pittman took down their camper and headed for Glacier National Park and would return the following Tuesday or Wednesday.

Rick, Patti, Stan, Tammy, George, Peggy, Sherrill, Ben and Carla all headed for Bear Tooth Pass and then Yellowstone before heading for home.

Steve, Connie, Bob, Pam, John and Rosalee, after breakfast, took down camp and headed for home. As we were leaving Billings, Connie saw a hawk flying over carrying a snake in it's talons. Connie told Rosalee over the CB "we better hope it doesn't drop it." I am sure Rosalee was thinking, gee, watching for snakes on the ground and falling from the sky???"

We stopped at a trading post said to be the begining point of Custer's Last Stand. The tomb of the Unknown Soldier was there, as well as statues of Custer and Sitting Bull. There was a trading post/gas station there as well.
Gillette, Wyoming was a busy place with the BMW convention being held there. .

We saw several antelope, prairie dogs along with the rocky bluffs, sagebrush, bales of hay, cattle and horses.

We went through Wyoming and could see Devil's Tower in the distance. We arrived at Spearfish, South Dakota, but again, hotels were full now because of a corvette convention. We went back to Bel Fouche and stayed in a quaint western style motel, Sunset Motel, at the edge of town. The rooms were clean but cozy. We went for a quick evening meal and got back to the motel, covered the bikes, right before the wind and rain hit. At least the rain seemed to be in the evening, although it was warm enough we might have welcomed a little rain as we rode.

Thursday, July 17th Goldrush

2008-07-29T21:12:00.005-05:00

Everyone got together for breakfast at the Cracker Barrel then headed to the convention center. Many events were going on and we spent the day there. Dirty Bingo, Vendors, Bike show, Riding competition and more. We went to the Q & A with ED (Bruce Keenon.) It was interesting. We stayed for Chapter Olympics and Chapter H Iowa got SILVER!!! Good job!!

We did our skit - gals in black gauchos, our GREEN shirts, GREEN beaded bandana scarves and GREEN Cowgirl hats. Guys wore jeans, GREEN shirts, had GREEN bandanas, and GREEN Cowboy hats. Each couple had painted a cardboard copy of their motorcycle and we sang our own version of "ON TOP OF OUR MOTORCYCLE" to the tune of On Top of Old Smokey. We won 2nd place in the musical skit! We had a lot of fun preparing for this and we got a lot of great comments about all of our GREEN, including the gals scarves with the beads and all the GREEN cowboy hats! :)

Closing ceremonies covered awards and recognitions. There was to be a slide show but there was some computer technology problems and they weren't able to show pics.
Region C got 2nd place in the ice cream eating contest. 1st place had received a silver spoon and Region C received a regular spoon. Randy and Jen will post all the winners in our region soon.

Bob Beverage was in the last few for the $5,000.00 drawing but was 2nd to the last name drawn. So close...
A lady from Canada won the bike raffle and chose the Harley. We said our good byes to our GWTA friends and family as everyone prepared to go home or continue on vacation. As we left the parking lot, George Hoy and Peggy Clark arrived and were continuing on with Rick, Patti, Stan and Tammy. Everyone packs up and leaves Billings in the morning.

Wednesday, July 16th Goldrush

2008-07-29T20:54:00.005-05:00

We had decided that we wanted to check out Bear Tooth Pass in Wyoming. Dennis Pittman, John and Rosalee, and Connie and I decided to go check this out. Several of the others were going there at the end of their week after Goldrush. We rode through Red Lodge. The temperature was almost 80 degrees. We saw some beautiful hills and rocky mountains. There was a place along the road where people were taking small rocks and stacking towers of rocks along the curve. Interesting... Someone said that if it stayed standing, they would have good luck going up the mountain, but if they fell down, beware... Fact??? or Fiction???

We have so many incredible pictures it is hard to know what ones to put on here. We saw some mountain goats on a hillside, deer and some elk. There were beautiful flowers, small flowing creeks, some small lakes and a rusing river at the bottom of the mountain. There were signs that was free range and beware of bears....

We left there looking for gas ands ome place for lunch. We took Chief Joseph highway and ended up at Cody, Wyoming for lunch. We had a good ride back to Billings and John and Connie thought they saw a bear at one point. We arrived back at camp safely just as another rain storm was coming in. Some of the others had gone to the Harley open house and it had started raining there.

Tuesday, July 15th Goldrush

2008-07-29T20:40:00.004-05:00

Everyone got up early, had breakfast and went to the soccer field and lined up for the LIVING LOGO. Look for the GREEN shirts and handkerchiefs in the first part of the W of GWTA.

Dennis and Donna Pittman went to get a tire fixed; somehow picked up two nails in their tire. Pam and Bob had some things to take care of as well.

Connie and I, John and Rosalee decided to go for a short ride while we waited for everyone to be ready to ride. We soon found out that roads in Montana are not like Iowa, where every few miles you have a road to turn left or right on. 45 miles or so later we finally turned left. We ended up making a big square about 250 miles total. We did find a cool restaurant that served Buffalo Burgers and Buffalo chips. (seasoned sliced potatos.) The landscape is amazing there. One side of the road is covered with sparse grass, sagebrush and rocks, and on the other side of the road, lush green fields or trees and creeks.

We arrived back to camp and met up with the others. We got ready and rode to the Depot in Billings, where the dance and dance lessons was held. We had a good dinner and then went over to check out the Depot. Tables were decorated in Western decor and judged according to the decorations. Iowa had one with cards and western theme. The DJ played music and taught Cowboy Up, a line dance and a circle dance. Several participated in this and had a lot of fun dancing. There was a silent auction as well. The sky became dark and we headed for the campgrounds just as the sprinkles began and it rained for a little while.

Monday July 14th, Goldrush

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Grand Opening ceremonies was held at the Billings Hotel Convention Center. There was a lot of excitement. Region C was prepared to show their spirit! Many things were discussed about the week. One thing that was stressed was to watch out for rattlesnakes. That really made Rosalee happy :(

We were told that Stan and Gwen from Chapter Z, Nebraska, went down on their way to Goldrush. There was a rod in the road, they hit it and blew a tire and went down. Stan has cracked ribs and Gwen has road rash.

The vendors were in the convention center across the parking lot. Events were scheduled in either of the two buildings. The ice cream contest between regions would be at Cold Stone Creamery.

Pam and Bob, John and Rosalee and Stan and Tammy went to the First Timers meeting and met several members doing so.

2009 Goldrush is in LEXINGTON, KENTUCKY!! There was a special rate that if you signed up at Goldrush, you got in at 2 for 1.

The light parade was specatular. There were a lot of bikes and it was a near full moon. The route wound up the side of a bluff overlooking the city and the line of bikes was so long that as they did a u-turn and came back down, we got to see those that had been in the beginning of the parade. We ended up at Coldstone Creamery.

Sunday July 13th Goldrush

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Yes, Connie's camera settings got goofed up and her pictures say 2004.
Sunday morning, July 13th, we stopped for breakfast on our way out. We were pleasantly surprised to see Dave and Bump at the same restaurant. We took 212 towards Billings. Gas stations were few and far between so we gassed up whenever we could. There was about a 9 mile stretch of road that was gravel and dirt with pot holes. We all made it through safely and arrived at Billings KOA on Sunday afternoon. We set up camp and went to Billings Hotel for the Sunday evening meal. The food was wonderful and we had a good time visiting and meeting some new GWTA friends.

Our Goldrush adventures

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Saturday, July 12th, we ate at a restaurant in Valentine, Nebraska, called The Bunkhouse. We had authentic Indian Frye bread - Indian Tacos.

As we were going through South Dakota, the GPS led us on an interesting road where we happened to run across Wounded Knee and then ended up on a road that was labeled: service road for the Rosebud Indian Reservation. We did go by a Native American School playground with a medicine wheel on the east side of a hill.

We did see some of the Badlands on our way out. Ask Bob and John about the honey bees.

Spearfish motels were full because of a Pontiac convention, so we rode on to Bel Fouche Motel 6. We were so happy to find a motel and get settled in. We found that Don and Kathy Thomason were staying there as well and headed to Billings.

Goldrush 2008 Billings Montana

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Goldrush 2008 in Billings, Montana is now over and we left with a lot of good memories. We saw some amazing scenery and there is a lot of history in the area.

Our thoughts and prayers go out to Stan and Gwen, from Nebraska, Chapter Z, that went down on the way to Goldrush. We hope that the cracked ribs and road rash heal quickly.

12 members from Chapter H were there, "way to go, Chapter H, Iowa!" Rick and Patti Harvey, Stan and Tammy Hyer, Ben and Sherrill Ress and Carla Hoskey, left early in the week and did some camping on the way to Billings. Steve and Connie, Dennis and Donna Pittman, John and Rosalee Driskill, and Pam and Bob Beverage all left Friday afternoon, July 11th. We had an interesting ride there. We spent our first night at Norfolk, Nebraska.

Chapter H rides to meet Chapter L

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7 Chapter H members (Steve and Connie, Bill and Dee, Jon and Rosalee, and Rick H)rode on a beautiful day, Saturday, July 5th to Shenandoah, Iowa to meet Chapter L for a noon meal at the Depot Deli restaurant. The train depot was converted into a restaurant and has many unique antiques and more. The food was good and the friendship was enjoyable as well.

We left and rode into upper Missouri and stopped in Winterset in Rudy's for Broasted Chicken and more. It was a great day for a ride, fun, and friendship.

www.depotdeli.com

Parkersburg

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Our hearts and prayers go out to the families and loved ones affected by the tornado that destroyed most of that town and their homes and some lives. We were on our way home from Clear Lake and went on HWY 14 through town. The site was unreal.........

Fort Custer Maze in Clear Lake Iowa

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4th of July, Dennis and Donna Pittman, Connie and I took a ride up to Clear Lake. It was a beautiful day for a ride. We arrived at Clear Lake with the destination of Fort Custer.

It is a 2 mile maze made of crates used previously for carrots and potatos.

http://www.fortcustermaze.com/

When we arrived, we were told that the record was 45 minutes and the worst was 2 days, 12 hours and 45 minutes. We knew we were in for a challege. We started out with our cards looking for the 8 stations to stamp our cards. We tried following well traveled paths, but came to dead ends. We found the first Station and began our search for the 2nd, only to find that you can't find them in order ;). We finished in 62 minutes, not bad for us!

If you are looking for a nice ride and something fun to to, this would be fun to have several small groups come and see who can get the best time. After we walked the maze, we found that they had just changed the maze, so following the well worn paths didn't help at all. There are 15 different set-ups for the 2 miles of maze but the use 5 certain ones the most.

If you can get to the center Lookout post, there is a pop machine to help quench your thirst!:)

It was a fun trip.

Wind energy in Iowa

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I am sure you have seen the wind "mills" all over Iowa and in other states as well? They produces a lot of energy. I once heard that the windmill at Stuart Iowa, produces enough electricty for about 400 homes.
Iowa is rated 3rd in States with most wind energy, after California and Texas. Several are around Clear Lake, Iowa and as we go to Storm Lake for Iowa's State Fun Fest you will see several wind farms already done and some being built. Some links with more information about this are:
www.iowadnr.com/energy/wind/index.html

www.eia.doe.gov/kids/energyfacts/sources/renewable/wind.html