6th Annual Tourin Hawgs Mystery Ride

Well, after planning for the past ten months, changing routes, destinations and themes, the 6th Annual Tourin’ Hawgs Mystery Ride arrived Saturday morning at 8:45! The Neidner Overnight HOG Ride was no more! Cathy and I even had an embroidered design marking the new name finished in time to show it off! Any of our riders wishing to have this design embroidered on a shirt, hat, whatever, e-mail us for the name of the shop in Hartford that worked with us. You should be able to click on any of the photos in this blog to enlarge!

Back to the ride, Saturday morning started just after 8:00 AM with the first couple arriving. Slowly we got up to 19 couples out of the 20 that had reservations. Yeah, I said 19, that’s because the last couple upon filling her tank with gas, the bike caught on fire! Lucky for them and us, no one was hurt and their son had another Harley-Davidson to loan them. They later would meet us at our Lunch and Activity stop, Cave of the Mounds. Many of us had never been to the Cave, and it is a must stop for everyone! Not only did we receive an hour plus tour of the Cave, they also served us up brats with all the fixins’! Cloe thanks a million for putting up with Kyle and Heather! Just kidding Heather, you were an angel and Kyle on the other hand, the Devil! Pictures are worth a thousand words as they say! After the tour Joe thought it best to offer a small token of appreciation to Cloe for putting up with us bad ass bikers! Bikers if you don’t know are very generous, so if we ask you for a favor, you’d better do it, because there just might be a large reward in it!

As the afternoon went on, the skies became darker and darker. Like every year, even with a GPS, I made a few wrong turns, or roundabouts. I hate to admit how many, but Ralph has now given me a gracious nick name, might I add deserving too, Mr. Roundabout! Before I forget, I want to thank Chad and Wayne for helping me setup our CB radio communications! We had never worked these previously on our rides and found them to be irreplaceable! Dan Z, Cathy & I kept in communication the entire day Saturday and Sunday. Dan was one of the last bikes and made sure we stayed together. What’s funny is that when you work with the CB communications, anytime you talk to your riding partner, anyone wired into the CB band can hear what you are saying. We heard Beth say to Dan, “Oh, pumpkins for sale how lovely.” This is coming from a Biker’s Spouse! She needs to toughen up!

Prior to arriving at Park Plaza Hotel in Baraboo, as is customary a stop at a liquor store was at hand. It was a short 50 yards to the hotel afterwards. On the outdoor LED banner, the hotel had the words Welcome Tourin’ Hawgs Mystery Ride! We felt at home at the hotel. Cathy and I worked with Amy Timm for the past 10 months and she was very accommodating! The hotel was clean, friendly and just what we expected! Well, except for the out of control intoxicated wedding guests afterwards! At check in Cathy provided each couple in our group a Geode to be brought to dinner that night. After checking in, we all met on the 4th floor, yes the 4th, at the indoor pool/hot tub area. We stayed here for about two hours, socializing, drinking and talking about whatever came to mind! For such a large group, I was concerned it would become “clicky”, and was pleased to see it wasn’t. Like every year, new friendships developed and old ones were made stronger! This is why so many of us ride! It IS as much the ride as it IS the socializing! Joe & Deb again were present, making this their 6th Mystery Ride and no other couple can claim this title! They were presented with a bottle of wine. Kyle & Heather along with Craig & Summer celebrated Anniversaries! The gift basket this year went to Mark & Deb, they had the winning lottery number. When you see Brian, ask him about his mysterious hidden pretzel trick! I don't think I will ever look at another pretzel rod again without thinking about him.

Sunday morning, we met at different times for a continental breakfast, nothing real fancy but it was included. Afterwards some of the riders went off shopping in Baraboo. A few riders left earlier to get the maximum amount of riding in today. The rest of us left the hotel around 11:00 and rode to Devils Lake State Park and then the Merrimac Ferry. We ALL got on the ferry at the same time. After the ferry we continued towards Sun Prairie and stopped at Jimmie John’s on CTH N just as you get into Sun Prairie for lunch. Kyle and Heather led the rest of the way home with a detour to CTH BB to drive past were their son was staying. You see, Just like old kids, young kids love Harley-Davidsons. Can you imagine what he must of thought when 16 motorcycles drove past where he was staying?

Cathy and I want to thank all of you for another memorable ride and great friendships! We all have so much to be thankful for. Mainly, getting home on Sunday without any, let me repeat, without any wrong turns! Next year’s Tourin’ Hawgs Mystery Ride will take place Saturday and Sunday, July 25 and 26. We will reserve a block of rooms, so when you receive the invite, get on the list quickly, because once they’re gone, they’re gone! Check out this blog later Monday as many more photos can be seen at Shutterfly, remember to type in the password “chrome” when you link to Shutterfly. Any words that are underlined or bold printed, click on as they will redirect you to a link on the Internet.