Wednesday night was spent takin' care of those last minute details. A front to back scooter check finds nothing to do except a little chain adjustment. A good washing is always good for an additional 10 horsepower though (I have the dyno results to prove this). After a couple of plan changes, on my part, I agree to meet Schroede at 9:30 AM at a little tavern down the road from my place.

Thursday has me packin' Patty's truck full of our best camping gear and half a pick-up full of firewood. After last minute shit checks I'm firing up the 70's Machine and it warms itself while I finish gearin' up. The temp is about 55, so my leather is feeling pretty good while I'm blasting through the last of the country fog that is still hanging around before the sun burns it all off. I meet Schroede outside the Helvatia Tavern. I hadn't seen him for some time, so we spent a couple minutes with handshakes and a brief description of the direction we were going to be traveling. I knew he rode a RoadKing, but I had forgotten how decked out his bike is and that it was a brand new fuelie. Very pretty motorcycle.

The first leg of our trip is a short trip down Corneilus Pass road on our way to Hywy 30 along the Columbia River. This is a small, twisty pass road that is usually good for about 35 MPH due to the amount of 18-wheel traffic that passes across. We turn on to Hywy 30 and head northwest to the bridge across the Columbia River and into Washington. The temp has gone up a little, but still hangs in the lower sixties. The sky is mostly cloudy with patches of sun. Not a scorcher, but not raining either.

The bridge over the Columbia is a tall fixed bridge that has a speed limit of 35 MPH due to the possibility of high winds down the Gorge. We ride down into Longview and are shortly on our way up I-5 to meet Snarl.

I reached the Rest Area where we agreed to meet 15 minutes early and had to head for the can. I run into Snarl on my way back to the scoots and we exchange a brief greeting as he was heading the same way I had just come, and just as fast. After Snarl's return we again go through the intro's. He finds a beer in his saddlebag and Schroede fires up a cigar and the lying begins. Due to job responsibilities Schroede was only making it a day-trip and soon decided it was about time to start heading back. He was attempting to play hooky, but had already run by a couple of co-workers along the I-5 corridor so he decides to duck out at the next exit and start heading back. I really enjoyed his company and look forward to the next time we get together. Got to make sure I let the Tuberdude know that there's another Slug that deserves the capitol treatment.

Snarl decided to ride his Knuck. The Pig Fucker is a nice scooter, but for class, ya can't beat that restored Knuck. It was as strong as ever and, just as Patty had predicted, we kind of shot through Olympia and Tacoma at near maximum speed. The exit to the State Park came about fifty miles later and we cruise off and into the foothills of Mt. Rainier. The weather has turned partly sunny and it's warmed up into the upper 60's.

We're greeted by Heekster as we pull into the camping section of the park about ten minutes later than expected. He was a little early and had already picked himself, and wife Barbara, a great spot. Site #1 looks good to me and will put me into position to greet all the new arrivals as they pull in. The sites are much larger than I expected and it looks like we'll be able to accommodate any and all that care to attend.

First to arrive is Snarl's wife Jeanne (pretty sure I spelled that right) along with Maggie. Nothing shy about Maggie and she proves it with a big hug and a "Howdy". They are followed up by Dickhaid's crew and the Tuberdude. After initial smiles, handshakes or nods, we all start the job of setting up camp for the night.

My tent and Patty's "Gazebo" go up and over the picnic table then we decide to visit our neighbors. Dickhaid had ridden in with wife Tina and ridin' partner Jim with his lady Mikey. They were on their way to the Washington ABATE Cow Chip Boogie party and would only be spending the night with us on Thursday. The next stop was site #4 where dp and lovely wife Red provided us with fifteen minutes of laughter as we pulled up lawn chairs and contributed a few pointers on the art of tent erection. When their tent was up, and we couldn't pester them any more, we amble on over to the Snarl camp to see how they're gettin' along.

Casa de Snarl is standing with Maggie's dome tent behind lookin' like a little Mother-in-law cottage behind the main house. Jeanne (this spellin' is gettin' easier) has my attention with a Tupperware tub full of homemade Reeses bars so I decide to set a spell with them. Jeanne blows me away with the presentation of my Slug Muffler (for lack of a better term). The Slug Muffler is a hand knitted cold weather neck muffler with Brotherhood of the Slug woven into one side and Hoppy #7 into the other side. A lot of heart went into this and it will provide me with many a warm winter ride and memories of great folks.

The rest of the evening is spent drifting back and forth between campsites tellin' lies and sampling what everyone brought for dinner. The Ranger dropped by to explain the motorcycle parking policy and music playing policy. As to be expected, his policies weren't universally accepted. The motorcycles and music are finally brought into line after a slight Ranger/Biker rule exchange. The weather has been great and is just starting to lightly rain when I decide to call it a night.

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Hoppy
BS#7 AH#85