STAR Days 2002 & Yogi and Boo Boo's Travels

Well what a trip. There are a lot of pics and will take some time to load but I think you will like the pics. Also these are all thumbnails just click on them to see the larger pic.

Ian Morgan spent Saturday Night August 17th at our place so we could get an early morning start.

Sunday Morning we took off a little after 7am and after topping off our tanks we took off. I notice a couple of bikes had started tailing us. When we stopped at Queen Creek and Price there was Kent and Vinh seeing us off and bringing Ian a throttle Rocker.

We were now off to Roswell our first planned stop. Just outside of Las Cruces we stopped to take a pic of the giant Road Runner the First pic below.

The first part of the trip to Las Cruces was normal Freeway driving down I-10. Taking 70 out of Las Cruces we ran into a lot of contruction but got out of it as we passed into the White Sands Missle Range. The trip up from Tularosa into Ruidoso was our first taste of nice cool riding as we rode up into the pines and higher elevations. We got into Roswell shortly before dark and ordered Pizza in. No abductions that I am aware of.

The next morning we took 380 out of Roswell and headed for Denton Texas. If you ever want to see a lot of empty this is a good road to take. As you can see we stopped in front of a Oil rig to get some pics taken. Once in Denton Ian met up with Dawn from the Motorcycle Touring Forum to discuss paint jobs. I didn't realize who he was meeting and decided to hit the pool instead. My loss.

The last leg to STAR Days. We took 380 out of Denton to Greenville where we hooked up with I-30 for a little over 100 miles to Texarkana where we took 71 up to Springdale. 71 was a great road in itself but as we came to find out there were even better. We got to the Holiday Inn in Springdale between 4 & 5. There waiting was Jan searching for her husband. It seems Shark and Snake had successfully completed a Saddle Sore 1000 on their way to STAR Days but Jan hadn't heard from them since their completion. Not to worry they showed up a little later as they had slept in a little.

Members in attendance at STAR DAYS, Dave and Jan Pickard, Doug and Mary, John Hoeldt, John Beck, Mary Ruckman, Dave and Kim Benner, Ian Morgan, and Yogi and Boo Boo.



Well once at STAR Days one of the first things I did was take advantage of the Demo Rides. I rode a Venture first then the V-max and then the Warrior and finally the FZ1. The demo rides this year took us out on the freeway for about 6 or 8 miles then on twisting back roads for about 12 miles. While I have my mind set on the Midnight Venture the other bikes were fun as well. Loved the brute power of the V-max and the civil power and handling of the FZ1. The warrior was fun but not a bike for me.

Shark Received the Order of The STAR for all of his past work as the Auctioneer. The award was well deserved. He is awesome at gettting people to give up their money. He might want to change his nickname to Jesse James ;^)

The Swampazz ride came and John Hoeldt, John Beck and Myself rode together and even with having to do a 12 mile turnaround we finished in 4 hrs 23 minutes. I saw Shark and Mary in with another group and Boo Boo and Mary Ruckman did their own lil Swampazz ride up to Eureka Springs. By the Way Boo Boo and Mary Ruckman our the first Ladies of Chapter 113 to ride their own bikes to STAR Days. Way to go Ladies!!!

Bike Mods included Neon for Jan Pickard and John Hoeldt, Painted tank and rear fender for Shark, Painted Front Fender and New helmet with paint for Boo Boo, and and Etched Windshield for Dave and Kims Roadstar.

Well there were LOS and STAR Vets Breakfasts on successive days. Then the Feed the Children Run. Very Impressive and what a worthwhile cause.. It was really heartwarming as we delivered the food there were families there picking up some food and thanking us all. That evening Shark shared the Auctioneering Duties with Fred Jewell as they racked up even more money for the Feed the Children Charity. Eric Ortega, from Chapter 104, was made National DJ for all the great work he did at the event. The guy definitely has the gift and it was great meeting him and his lovely wife Darlene at the event! Jan won 2nd place for best theme for her bike and Ian won 3rd place for best V-star. Congratulations to you both. Then Jan And Dave won one of the cash awards for the 50/25/25 raffle lucky guys!!!

Sat last day. Some people left to make the journey home. Ian, Dave and Kim, and Boo Boo and I headed for Oklahoma so Ian could say he rode through it. We hit some light rain but what a great day and some great roads. We stopped at a family run diner and had a wonderful meal and time.

That evening was the final concert put on by a local group that did a really great job. All in All STAR Days was a blast and both BooBoo and I are looking forward to next year.

Well BooBoo and I headed out to Branson after STAR Days where we caught Yakov Smirnoff's and Mickey Gilley's shows and rode the Ducks. There are some pics below from the Ducks tour. The shows were both great and Branson is on my list to do again.

From Branson Boo Boo and I headed to Springfield MO, to visit the BASS PRO Shops. Well luck would be on our side as my battery gave out here. Luckily there was a Battteries Plus just about a block from there. So While my battery was getting replaced we visited the BASS PRO Shops. What a place, definitely worth the visit plus here is where we started the game find Yogi which you will see at the end of this page. After getting my battery replaced and touring the Bass pro shop we headed north finally reaching Rockport MO that evening. Rockport was just south of Iowa. This is where we heard the clicking noise in BooBoo's final drive. Checking the phone book we found a Yamaha Dealership 70 miles back the way we came. The next morning we got up and not wanting to waste an opportunity drove north to Iowa then west into Nebraska before turing around and heading back to the dealership. We got there just as they opened. Let me put a plug for McBrides Yamaha in St. Joseph MO. They took first class care of us and by 4 in the afternoon we were on our way. We headed out to Kansas now as our trip had been modified due to this problem and after crossing the Amelia Earhart Memorial Bridge and riding through her birthtown we arrived at Junction City Kansas where we spent the night.

We took off across I-70 for Colorado the next morning. By that afternoon we were crossing Denver and heading into the Rocky Mountains. This was the first really bad weather as we started into the Rockies we hit rain that turned to sleet and finally Hail shortly before we hit the Eisenhower Tunnel. We took the Dillon Exit and got a hotel room to thaw out and dry out. The Next morning we headed to Leadville then up over Independance pass and the Continental Divide before having lunch in Aspen then down to Crawford where we stopped at Joe Cockers Mad Dog Cafe where we picked up some merchandise then rode down to Delta Colorado where we spent the night. The next Morning we headed out and rode through Montrose then Ouray and up over Red Mountain Pass. There we ran into a friend of mine from town GRUMPY which I hadn't seen for a few months now and we also ran into a couple of guys from the Scottsdale area. I have pics of one of their bikes on the summitt great paint job. We then headed down into Durango then over to Cortez and onto 4 corners area and finally stopping in Chinle AZ just outside of Canyon De Chelly. At 4 corners BooBoo finally figured out how to be in 4 places at one time check the third pic below. The other Pics are Canyon De Chelly and the road out of the Navajo Nation. As Promised the following is Boo Boo playing where's Yogi!



ps. She finally found me ;^) Hope you enjoyed the pics!

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