Picturesque Overnight to Prescott
3rd Saturday Ride For September
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On Saturday, September 19th, 96 BMMC members on 59 motorcycles met at the Target parking lot on Shea in Fountain Hills. The weather was fabulous and the ride promised to be equally so. With the high participation level, the members had been pre-assigned to one of five riding groups. After an informative riders meeting hosted by Bill Harris and assisted by Jim O’Hara, riders joined their assigned ride groups and Ride Captains in preparation for departure. Chuck Knight graciously accepted the task of Ride Marshal and got the groups off in 10-minute intervals. After a brief bio and gas stop in Payson, riders continued to the Rimside Grill in Pine for a delightful lunch on the patio and enjoyed the cool breezes and the fresh scent of pine. Groups continued toward Camp Verde enjoying the sweeping curves on SR260. We could see rain in the distance with spectacular lightning in the hills and all wondered if we would arrive at our destination hotels amidst a rain shower. As we drew closer to Cottonwood and Jerome, it became apparent that we were skirting the storms. Everyone did a fabulous job of navigating the quirky, narrow streets of Jerome and went on to enjoy the curves and twisties on Mingus Mountain where the groups stopped at Mingus Pass at the cool 7,000-foot elevation and took a well-deserved break. You could feel the buzz in the crowd as everyone realized that it was only 24 miles to “Party Time”. The groups departed Mingus Mountain for a short 4 miles downhill to the flats leading to Prescott Valley and our final 20 miles to our destination in Prescott. The Hassayampa was our host hotel with overflow moving to the Historic Vendome and the Springhill Suites at the Marriot. Upon our arrival in Prescott, members were directed to the secured reserved parking lot, unloaded their bikes and checked in for the overnight stay. After freshening up, everyone gathered on the beautiful patio area for an impromptu pre-cocktail party. The weather was delightful, and all enjoyed the opportunity to discuss the day’s ride and what a delight it was to be “back on the road again”, following our super hot summer. Ride Hosts, Bill & Sharon Harris then welcomed and greeted the festive members to BMMC’s sponsored hospitality party hosted in the hotel’s beautiful Arizona Room where they received their complimentary drink ticket, name badge, and the opportunity to purchase 50/50 raffle tickets from the lovely raffle ladies, Leslie Jensen and Liz Jones. The hungry members headed to the buffet tables to partake of the delicious assortment of decadent Hors D’oeuvres. It was soon decided by a number of members that after enjoying the delightful and bountiful appetizers, they were no longer hungry and canceled their dinner reservations. Ron Small then addressed the group, introduced the ride hosts, and thanked them for hosting this very enjoyable event. Sharon greeted the group, thanked them for their participation and announced today was Liz Jones’ birthday. Liz mentioned this was the (unintelligible) anniversary of her 21st birthday. She was serenaded with loud rendition of “Happy Birthday” followed by a delicious birthday cake and presented with a huge birthday card signed by the members. Ron then introduced Sally Williams who recognized BMMC members who were on this ride based on length of membership in the club. Sally organized the members into groups by who had been a member for over 10 years, 7 to 10 years, 3 to 7 years, and under 3 years. The respective groups assembled for a group photo and a round of applause from the members. Sally commented the youngest group was the “future generation of BMMC” so consider yourself to be challenged. A special page has been created displaying our members by length of BMMC membership. Click HERE to view the photos. Our raffle ladies, Leslie Jensen & Liz Jones held a very successful 50/50 raffle. Ron called Sharon to the podium to call out the numbers of the 3 lucky winners. The lucky winners were: Dan Wood, Linda Noland, and Martin Jones, who each left with $130 cold hard cash in their pockets. At this point, everyone was really ready to party. Members adjourned to the infamous “Whiskey Row” a block away from the hotel for a night of frivolity, fun, song, and dance. And oh yes, there were a few drinks served at the bars that night! Many of the BMMC members gathered at the Birdcage Saloon, where the band was rockin’ and the crowd was stomping. While at the Birdcage, Ruthie Salant and Barbara Russell demonstrated that they could play a mean game of pool with one of the locals and the crowd gathered to cheer them on. Raffle winner, Dan Wood was in a generous mood and spent his winnings buying drinks for his fellow members. The next morning Dan was heard to say that he had $7 left, but had made a lot of new friends and had one hell of a party! When the band cranked up at the Birdcage Saloon the dance floor was filled with BMMC members who remained on the dance floor for the band’s entire set. They were all rockin’ (see slideshow). Other members wandered down Whiskey Row, sampling other restaurants and bars and even the ice cream shop, all having a wonderful time in the cool evening in Prescott. A small group enjoyed a blues singer/guitarist who had set up shop on the sidewalk. Soon, the members leisurely departed for the short walk to their hotels, and a good night’s sleep. Sunday morning, everyone awoke refreshed and headed in different directions to enjoy a hardy breakfast and the beautiful Prescott morning. Following breakfast, it was check out time and the happy members joined friends in small groups and departed for the open return to the valley. A large group of late breakfast folks rendezvoused at the Ranch House in Yarnell for their famous breakfast fare. In all, we had 104 attendees, a tremendous turnout for this BMMC overnight event. All of the Prescott ride participants would like to thank ride hosts, Bill & Sharon Harris for hosting this fantastic weekend overnight ride. The ride was beautiful, the hospitality party was outstanding and the evening on Whiskey Row was a complete BLAST!!!!!! Thank you guys for the memories!
And the clubs gratitude and thanks
go to the Ride Captains and Sweeps, Jim O’Hara, Don
Walton, Robert Martinez, Duane Hollis, Jim Whiting, Ron
Small, Arie Louie, and Pam Jackson and to Chuck Knight who
efficiently marshaled the start times and our lovely
raffle ladies, Leslie Jensen and Liz Jones who handled the
50/50 raffle with such verve and vigor. We are always
astounded by Leslies creativity with her costumes, she
never disappoints. Extra thanks go to those who shared
their photos for the slide show; Roddy Levy, Barbara
Russell, Bruce Black and Leslie Jensen.
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