Women's Only Garage Party

Last night Jennifer and I went to the Women's Only Garage Party held at the Harley dealership in Billings. It was from 6:30-9:30 pm.

I had signed up to go because the woman hosting the event is a HOG member and she asked if I would sign up. She wanted to see some experienced people at the event to answer questions. So I signed up.

I had completely forgotten about it until I got a phone call from the dealership reminding me of the event and to confirm. I called them up and said I would be there.

Jennifer had the day off, so I asked if she wanted to come. The garage parties that I attended before were fun. We were served croissant sandwiches for dinner and you go to the different stations and learn about motorcycle riding. She said sure she would go.

Yesterday afternoon it started to rain, so I figured here comes a storm. Well it cleared up and we had patches of blue sky and roads were drying up. I called the dealership to see how the weather was in Billings and it was just overcast with patches of blue sky.

We left Hardin after I got off work and the roads were bare and dry and no sign of any snow. Perfect conditions. We arrived at the dealership in plenty of time, Jennifer signed in. We received a little packet with an itinerary attached.

This garage party was different than the ones I had attended before. There was a massage therapist giving out free massages, a person selling Lia Sophia jewelry and handbags. Another one selling some kind of anti aging stuff. Had a yoga instructor who would show us how we can relax while on the bikes. Nothing really about motorcycle riding.

We were served wine and champaigne with hors douevres by some fitness trainers of Oz Fitness in Billings. We were given a raffle ticket and the item they were raffling off was a $300 off a portrait sitting by a local photographer.

Jennifer and I drank some white wine and we found that we like the Moscoto that they were serving. Will have to buy a bottle for Christmas.

The only thing remotely related to motorcycle riding was the demonstration of packing that was given by two of my friends. Dawn gave a packing demonstration from a riders perspective and Kitty to a passengers perspective. We didn't watch any of these, as I think by now I know how to pack for a motorcycle trip.

Instead Jennifer and I went shopping. We each bought some Lia Sophia jewelry. I bought a pair of earrings and Jennifer bought a necklace and earring set. The lady gave Jennifer 70% off her purchases. The earrings were originally $30 and she got them for $9. She has to wait on the necklace as the lady didn't know what the retail cost was, but she is to call me and will put Jennifer's order in with mine. I picked up the catalog to look for future shopping.

In our gift bags we had a $10 off coupon, so Jennifer and I bought some Harley shirts. We even got a further discount for purchasing the items at the event.

At the end it was time for the raffle items. We didn't win the portrait package but Jennifer did win a t-shirt from Oz Fitness.

The party got over early and since we just had snacks to eat we were both hungry so before heading home we stopped at McDonald's to get a sandwich. I had a coupon for buy one get one free so we took advantage of that. We had time as Gary knew the party got over at 9:30.

It was starting to snow in Billings, so we headed home. The roads were clear in Billings and when I got to the 27th Street exit the snow stopped roads were dry. I was driving right along and then I reached the bottom of Pryor Hill. That is where I ran into icy roads and a snow storm. The wind was blowing pretty good, I could only see about 1/2 mile ahead and had to slow down to 40 mph the rest of the way home.

There were times when the wind would catch me and I didn't know if I slid because of ice or the wind. We made it home safe and sound. We left Billings at 9:15 and got home at 10:20. The worst part of the trip was from Arrow Creek to Fly Creek which this time of year is always the bad spot. Once I got to Fly Creek the snow had let up and it wasn't so windy, but the roads were pretty icy.

I don't think Jennifer will be going to another one in the near future and I will wait a while before signing up for another one. We both had a nice time and came home with some good deals.