Freedom Ride & Jam

Gary and I spent the weekend on the motorcycle.  We put on about 500 miles, good thing Gary got the first service done on Friday.  Unfortunately he had to ride home in the pouring rain.

Saturday was bright and sunny, in fact the whole weekend was beautiful.  Looked a bit doubtful on Friday.  The Freedom Ride & Jam was a benefit for the Wounded Warrior Project.  Two women put the whole thing on and what a wonderful job they did.

Registration for the ride was at 12:00-1:00 pm.  The cost for a couple was $40 and that got you a poker hand and two meal tickets, plus to get in to the jam at the American Legion.  For $5 more you could buy an extra poker hand.  We just played the one card.

The ride took us to Joliet, Columbus, Absarokee, Red Lodge and back to Billings.  The last draw was at the American Legion.  Our friends the Butterfields, Davis, Dick Russell and Ron Steigerwald rode with us.  There must have been over 50 bikes for the poker run.  We waited a bit for the large group to head on out before we left.  Poker runs are a bit hard to ride in, many treat it as a race and many drink at every stop.  We just had to be at the Legion by 5:30 to get our last draw.

The weather was great, looked a bit iffy at Absarokee, looked like it was raining on the route we had to go to get to Red Lodge.  Fortunately the mountains held it in check while we were going through.  We got back to Billings with a couple hours to spare.  Gary and I decided to spend the night since we had a chapter ride meeting on Sunday anyway.  Besides, with the drinking we would be doing didn't want to be riding home in the dark with alcohol.

The Butterfields picked us up at our motel that way Gary didn't have to ride.  We got a pretty good table.  Got our last card, picked up some pins for the Wounded Warrior Project.  For dinner we had pulled BBQ pork sandwiches with three different salads and chips with salsa.  It was good.  A Boy Scout Troop was clearing off the tables.  They were quick about it too, once that last bite was in your mouth your plate was gone.  You were done.

It took the jam part a bit to get started and not very many bikers stayed.  Just a small handful, mostly the Beartooth Harley employees and us.  There was a live band and they were pretty good.  The band was called Jon Buck & Reckless, they played older rock & roll and country.  Not the nasal twangy country, what I would call rock country.  We stayed until 10:30 and had a good time.

Sunday morning we met the Davis's for breakfast then headed over to the dealership for our chapter ride to Harlowton.  Due to road construction we couldn't go our usual route to Lavina then over.  Instead we took I-90 to Big Timber then on up to Harlowton.

There were 28 bikes in all a great turn out.  We rode as a group and it looked fantastic going down the highway.  Usually we stick to the two lane highways, but needed to be in Harlowton by 12:30.  We made it in time.  Our meeting was held at the Sportsmen Club and they had a special menu for us.  Gary and I split a lunch, I was still full from breakfast.  At the meeting I won a can coozie as a door prize.  I think between the two of us, we have enough coozies for a six pack.

After the meeting we are on our own getting back home, this is when we divide up into smaller groups.  Again due to road construction around Harlowton we came home the same way, but stayed off the interstate.  We had a small break at Columbus for a drink at McDonald's.  Said our goodbyes then headed home.

We got home around 5:00 which is fairly early for us on these rides.  Had nothing to eat for supper at the house, so Jennifer took us out for supper at the Chinese Buffet.

It was a fun weekend, now we have to wash the bike and get ready for our ride next weekend to Fort Peck.