By Thursday afternoon 21 campers were in the group campground getting settled in. Our furthest and newest members were from Texas: Becky Tharp and Gwen Sullivan Grantham. They came equipped ready for tent camping. Verne Calvert our oldest member was too tired to ride the last few miles so Robin Petrovsky and I rescued him and bike about 5 miles south of town. Long time missing Derek Major, NV came too riding in with Bob Bencsko, NV. Other Nevada campers came: Dave Christiansen, and Steven & Sao Kestel. Director Ray, Judy of Koerzendorfer, CA with Wylie Coyote’s twin, Jim “Flame Broiled Ribeye” Williams, CA also present. New Mexico was represented by Mike van Horn, aka Spyder Guy. From Kingman, Arizona Jimmy and Denise Green, and Jim & Nancy Murphy. Vic and Maria Moss from Las Vegas arrived later in the afternoon.
For visitors we had local members Tom and Gail Griswold and Steve and Terri Ollivier. Mike van Leeuwen brought gallon and liter cases of water for all campers. This was a dry camp since USFS was repairing or replacing a water tank.
On Friday many of the group rode over Mingus Mountain to Jerome and Sedona. They stopped in old town Cottonwood for a Mexican lunch. It was unseasonable hot. They were glad to return in the afternoon to the cooler mountains and soft breezes.
Saturday morning most of us rode up to the Walker Volunteer Fire Station for breakfast about 4 miles away. What a meal they put on with pecan pancakes, sausages, fruit, pastries, and coffee. Afterwards purchasing items from displays supporting the Walker Fire Department.
Saturday night we all sat down to a chili dinner with potluck side dishes supplied by our camper from Walmart, Costco, Trader Joe’s. We couldn’t eat it all although we tried hard.
Every night we had a warming fire to sit around, thanks to the Greens. A time to get caught up on old friends and learn about new member friends.
Next year 2025 it will happen again the last weekend of September. Put that on your calendar because the reservation has been made. Hope all of you can ride & camp with us again. Adios for now. Carla
Submitted by Host Carla Sartwell
