As always a great time was
had by all on the Joshua run... Irma, Phil, and I met up with Tim & Janice Graber
at Hutchin’s Harley dealership for lunch at the Harley coffee shop.... I
can tell you they make a damn good bowl of chili! After lunch we caravanned to the lovely Rancho
Dolores motel and unloaded... What an improvement the place is painted the
pool clean and comfy rooms... I’ll never forget the first time I checked into
the Dolores. It was a life changing experience. This of course was a decade or
so ago. Each room came with a different species of mold, no window curtains... carpeting
and fixtures in style when Eisenhower was president... In fact if the termites weren’t holding hands
the place would have fallen down! What a difference a decade makes.
Friday
afternoon the first arrivals including Ken Mulholland, Frank Colver headed out
to the "Palms" pub located out on the Amboy highway... This year was
a more sober group in past years we’ve found the people in that bar to be
falling down drunk... We enjoyed mixing with the
locals and cool refreshments... The gang started trickling in around 5 o’clock.. Friday night’s dinner was at the Rib
restaurant... I called ahead and made reservations for 13 people upon arriving
a smiling Shorty Stark says to me "Hey good move you made reservation at
the rib place in Yucca Valley
not 29 Palms..." Oops... I think Tim must have given me the wrong number.. Yea that’s what happened... Tim gave me the wrong number....
Saturdays
ride started at 10:30 AM from the
hotel.... Tim looked a little saddened at the noted absence of a microphone and
a podium. But what the heck he was good
enough to make coffee for all and be our fearless leader... We rode down to Mecca
at the northern tip of the Salton Sea. It’s a great ride
thru the park and thru box canyon... Mecca
is a sleepy agricultural town with friendly locals.... Close your eyes you’d swear you’re in Mexico!
Everyone had a good ride. Except Ken Mulholland as his BSA seized on the way
back... Dinner was at the 29 Palms Inn. Everyone enjoyed the prime rib, chicken and salmon.
They even had entertainment even thou a little off key... Our group found a bowling alley to hang out
at for a few hours..
Later a late arriving Ken King hosted a party in his motor home...
Sundays
ride was the usual to Keys view... Man
it was cold. Like a dummy I didn’t bring cold weather gear... The park was full of yellow wildflowers it
was spectacular. The rains were good to the
desert! Jim Falk picked up sandwich
fixins for a picnic in the park. I opted
for soup at Denny, as I almost froze to death... On the way to lunch the group
got split up. It seamed no one knew where lunch was to be eaten... I caught up to Falk and he said we missed the
turn by miles!... Oh Tim, oh Tim… where’s our beloved
leader? On Sunday morning Tim woke up wound an egg and boiled his watch for
5 minutes! Only our group could get lost in a park with only 2 roads! Later we all met up at the motel packed up and
called it another year in 29 palms