Drifters MCIt's the ride, not the destination!

Drifters Newsletter April 2015

 

 

Drifters April 2015 Newsletter

 

Message from the President:

OK fellow Drifters – YOU asked for it! Presented in this update is the 2015 “Ride and Eatery Schedule”. The Officers and Exec Committee met on April 1^st and gorged themselves at Dawn and Mark’s house, and then after napping and other necessities, began the arduous task of collecting ideas of places to go and things to see. We came up with quite a list, but narrowed it down to those listed below. These events will soon be listed on the DriftersMC website.

 

We tried to make things simple for our busy lives to accommodate by keeping our weekends free and most events scheduled for the same day of each month. Since fewer of us are riding longer, we only scheduled day rides, but there was quite a list of longer, multi-day rides that made the list.   For these rides, we are looking for volunteer leaders that would like to finalize the route and details and choose hotels, eating spots, rest stops, etc.

 

To keep the social aspects of the club alive, we have scheduled a monthly restaurant night. These have been very popular in the past. As you will see, we have quite a “venue list” – going north in the heat, south in the cool.

 

As always, our plans can be fluid and I encourage anyone to pick up a travel guide and map and make their own plans and invite others to ride along.

 

Blue Skies – tailwinds,

 

John T.

 

Secretary’s notes

I am the contact for all of our monthly Dinners. Please RSVP to me a few days in advance, so the restaurant can arrange seating for all of us. Yum-Yum, lots of good eating is in our future! Speaking of food, Drifter Ladies lunches will continue twice a month. I will post dates & locations on the events calendar ahead of time. If any of you ladies want to join us, please RSVP to me as well. All restaurant suggestions are greatly appreciated.

Dawn

 

Webmaster’s Corner:

This month, dear readers, you are in for a major treat: Mike Roe is regaling us with the story of his first long-distance motorcycle ride that took place in 1970 (complete with vintage photos)! Mike is presenting this in a series over the next few months. Chapter 1 is in the Member Spotlight of the Month section. I guarantee you will be thoroughly entertained!   Be sure to check out the fresh ads in the Classifieds section   Tom F & Jon K both have nice offerings.   Thanks again for everyone’s continued submissions of photos, stories, and ads.

Dawn

April Rides/Events:

4-8 – Day Ride – Clark County Fair – meet Exit 4 Chevron Station 10am

4-22 /4-23 – Overnight – Laughlin River Run – Leave The Shivwits Gas Station on Old 91 at 9:00AM. Ride to LVMS (the Iron Skillet) for breakfast (108 Miles 1.5 hours riding time)After breakfast, we will ride to Laughlin via Hwy 95 (115 miles 2 hours riding time) We should arrive around 1:00PM in plenty of time to visit the vendors and see the sights. Anyone who rides to Laughlin on their own, can meet up for dinner with the Drifters at 6:00PM at Bubba Gumps Shrimp Co. inside the Golden Nugget. In Laughlin, some are staying at the Golden Nugget (call 702-298-7111 for rooms) and some are staying at the Aquarius) call 702-298-5111 for rooms). Those going home on Thursday will leave Laughlin at 10:00AM from the Chevron on South Casino Drive. The ride home will be via Hwy 93. Anyone not leaving Thursday will find their own route home.

4-29 – Dinner at Rib & Chop House, St. George 6pm – please RSVP to Dawn

 

Future Rides and Events:

 

Date                          Day                        Activity                                           Notes

5-6	Wednesday	Dinner – Sonny’s BBQ, Hurricane 6pm	RSVP Dawn
5-10	Sunday – Mother’s Day	Day Ride Alamo/Caliente Loop	Meet Exit 4 Chevron 9am
6-10	Wednesday	Day Ride – North Rim Grand Canyon	Meet Hurricane McD’s 10am
6-17	Wednesday	Dinner – Capelletti’s, St. George 6pm	RSVP Dawn
7-4	Saturday	Eureka Casino Mesquite Fireworks Celebration – overnight optional – ride or drive	Meet poolside 3pm at Eureka – for room reservations call 702-346-4600
7-8	Wednesday	Day Ride – over Cedar Mtn & Hangar 7	Meet Love’s Exit 62 Cedar City 10am
8-5	Wednesday	Day Ride – Antimony w/lunch at the Merc	Meet Hurricane McD’s 10am
8-12	Wednesday	Dinner – Rusty’s Ranch House, Cedar City 6pm	RSVP Dawn
9-9	Wednesday	Dinner – Panda Garden Inn, St. George 6pm	RSVP Dawn
9-30	Wednesday	Day Ride – Elk Meadows Fall Colors	Meet Love’s Exit 62 Cedar City 10am
10-7	Wednesday	Day Ride – Vermillion Cliffs	Meet Hurricane McD’s   9am
10-28	Wednesday	Halloween Dinner – Rib & Chop House, St. George 6pm	RSVP Dawn
11-11	Wednesday	Dinner – Casa Dona Maria’s, St. George 6pm	RSVP Dawn
11-14	Saturday	Page Balloonfest – OVERNIGHT – Details TBD	Meet Hurricane McD’s 10am
December	TBD	Christmas party – date, time & location to be determined	RSVP Lynne
1-1-16	Friday	New Year’s Day Ride South to Mesquite Los Lupes Mexican Restaurant for lunch	Meet Exit 4 Chevron 11:30am weather permitting
1-31-16	Sunday	Drifters Annual Membership Meeting and Potluck	Sky Mountain Club House 5pm

 

Overnight Rides:

Overnight rides suggestions were made and it was voted upon that these suggestions will be put to the membership for a show of interest.

Each overnight ride will be dependent upon a member (or group of members) stepping forward and taking responsibility for leading, planning, and organizing  the ride.  Member must submit dates, travel routes, points of interest, hotel and meal stop plans.  Once this information is compiled, the event will be listed as a ride on the event calendar with all pertinent information, including the ride-leader’s contact information.  No block reservations of hotel rooms will be made.  It will be up to prospective riders to contact the motel to make their own room reservation, and to inform the ride leader they intend to join the ride. Please look over the list below and let John know which ride you are willing to lead.

Overnight suggestions are:

Page Balloon Fest / Slot Canyon

Torrey/Mexican Hat (Mike leading – dates and details TBD)

Durango/Silverton

Ely/Lehman Caves

Cottonwood, AZ (including Sedona, Jerome, Prescott, side trips)

Black Hills (Vern leading – dates and details TBD)

Northern Utah Ride

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Drifter Impromptu Ride to Dodge City Saturday March 21^st

Drifters met at Zion Harley for the burger and hotdog lunch put on today by the Ladies of Harley. A donation of $5 was asked for the lunch. Drifter Steve Black had his battery go south on him so he had to miss the lunch and ride down to the Kawasaki dealer for a new one . As things can go he ended up missing going on the ride too because of it. At least he wasn’t out in BF Egypt and in a rainstorm when it let him down.

After lunch the gorged Drifters headed for Pipe Spring for the first rest and gas stop. The weather was glorious! They passed through Fredonia and Kanab and then headed east on Hwy. 89 until they reached Johnson Canyon Road eight miles out. Six miles north on Johnson Canyon brought them to the site of the remains of the filming set for TV’s long running series, “Gunsmoke” which starred James Arness as Marshal Matt Dillon, Amanda Blake as Miss Kitty, Milburn Stone as Doc and Dennis Weaver as Chester and then Ken Curtis as Festus. Drifters were saddened to see how much  Dodge City had deteriorated since the last time we were here. Soon it will probably be gone for good. It appears beyond restoration. Too bad no one tried to save it for posterity. We rode back home through Zion. It was 72 degrees as we headed back through Kanab. Absolutely perfect weather for riding. We stopped in Springdale’s Flying Monkey Cafe for a late afternoon repast. Food there is good and reasonably priced. Continued on home to wrap up a great day of riding.

Musings from John Marshall:

Yesterday, (3/21/15) at the old Gunsmoke set, we were trying to figure out where the famous stairway up to Doc’s office was.  Please find attached two pictures, Dodge1 was taken yesterday.  The second, Dodge5, was found on the internet and was taken of the Gunsmoke set many years ago.  As you can see, comparing the two pictures our problem locating Doc’s stairway was a result of the fact that the building next to the “Longbranch” that constrained the stairway in question is simply gone.  Anyone have any idea what that building next to the Longbranch was?

Note to all, please find below a link to some other pictures (including “Dodge1”) that I took yesterday.

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/9vv8qieaca887j4/AAAwgSGWtHV9rMdZ2bbistm0a?dl=0