Saturday–Sunday, 28–29 Aug 2004
Claudia Smith
We Joined the Breakfast Club for their annual ride, dinner and awards party in Gardnerville, Nevada. The BC riders are some of the nicest and fun to be with people we know. They ride as individuals mostly and every one is on their own along the way. However they do come together in the banquet room of the JT Bar and Basque Style Restaurant. The food is good quality: Like you are having dinner at Grandma’s house. They serve homemade soup first, then salad, beef stew, steaks, crispy hot French fries, cold wine and ice cream for desert.
The journey is really the best as there are so many optional, scenic routes to enjoy. This trip in August 2004 was the 5th year in a row for Gary and I. Each year we have chosen a different route. Fortunately, we have the company of some of our friends who enjoy the group experience and camaraderie.
We met John and Tony at the Railroad Cafe in Livermore for Breakfast before meeting Dave, Bunny, Ken, and the BC gang at the Orchard in Tracy. JW and Carol were there and joined our little flock of GW’s plus one HD.
It was a perfect day to ride with warm calm air and a clear blue sky. We rode Highway 4 and over the narrow twisty Ebbetts pass all the way to Markleeville, where we enjoyed a lovely patio lunch at the Deli. We continued our ride along the higher elevations of Monitor Pass with spectacular vistas of Topaz Lake and the surrounding valley.
We arrived in Gardnerville around 3pm. Everyone in our group stayed the night at the Historian, with the exception of Tony who reserved a room at the Carson Valley Inn in Minden. After dinner we walked over to Sharkey’s. We were disappointed that Karaoke was preempted with a country band so we found a pool table at a tavern across the street and challenged the locals at a few games of eight ball. Later we went back to Sharkey’s to dance and/or play blackjack.
In the morning we rode to the Topaz Lodge for a nice breakfast before heading home via highway 88. By the time we got to Jackson it was over 100 degrees so we had a light lunch and drank plenty of water at Mel’s. It was a very HOT and uncomfortable end to our journey but we all stayed positive and comforted one another with smiles of encouragement.
As Always, BOTTOMS UP! RUBBER DOWN!