Party In Elkhart
Stacey called me last night and asked about doing a ride to a party she had been invited to down in Elkhart. There were supposed to be a bunch of people going to this party. She was going to get a hold of the rest of our group but wanted to make sure we were gonna go first. I asked my husband if we had plans and if he wanted to go. He said that he was free and it sounded like fun. Stacey said she would have Bob send out a group text. We got his text minutes after I hung up and everyone was responding fast. Everyone wanted to go and again we would meet at Mike and Linda's house.
I knew we had a week before we were going and because it was a decent distance, I called the local hotels. When I found one that was close to the location and had enough rooms I put a hold on them and had my hubby send out a text with the info. Once everyone had called and reserved their rooms for that night all I had left to do was wait.
The night before we left I got our belongings together and packed what I could in the tour pack of our Ultra Classic. In the morning I put the remaining items in the saddlebags after I was ready to go. I double checked everything as I waited for my husband to be ready. He was backing the bike out of the garage as I locked up the house.
We arrived at Scott's Quick Stop only a couple minutes behind schedule to meet the others we were riding with to Mike and Linda's house. A few minutes later we were on our way. Our ride to Mike and Linda's was easy and smooth. We got to Mike and Linda's ahead of schedule, everyone else was there and ready to go. After a brief discussion on what the best route would be, we were on our way. I could tell Stacey had been out on her Sportster a lot this summer. Her riding skills were very improved and her ability to stay in a pack was much better.
Our pack consisted of our Electra Glide Ultra Classic, Tom and Cindy's Electra Glide Ultra Classic to our right, Mike and Linda's Road Glide behind us, Jim's Street Glide to their right, Stacey's Sportster 1200 Custom behind Mike, Bob's Road King next to her and Joey's Fat Boy bringing up the rear. We rode in formation the entire way there stopping once for gas and lunch.
We made it to our hotel without incident and got checked in. The party was going to go until late so we had to stop here first and get our keys and check in. We didn't take very long as we didn't have much for luggage to unpack. The motorcycles can only hold so much. After a quick freshen up we were back on the bikes and headed to the party.
When we got to the party they were just setting out the food for dinner. We paid our entrance fee and found a place to sit. The band was setting up and people were pouring in. We were supposed to be meeting some of Stacey and Bob's friends but had not seen them yet. Stacey was checking her phone and asked Bob to do the same. Neither one had gotten a call or text from them and they both looked concerned. Then Stacey's face changed and I knew her friends had arrived.
She stood up and waved as a group of 6 people headed our way. I then realized that we were going to need a bigger table. The guys stood up and slid another table up to ours. Then the band started to play and we all fell into conversation and laughter. When people started lining up for food we decided it must be time to eat. The food was really good. Someone had put some serious effort into the organization of things. We had a great time, dancing, laughing, talking and just spending time together.
When it got dark someone lit a bonfire and some of the people migrated in that direction. It was a great party. There were people playing cards, people playing corn hole, people playing volleyball along with the people just watching people. When the crowd started to thin out we decided it was time to head back to our hotel. We thanked Stacey and Bob's friends for inviting us and headed out.
Our rooms were a welcoming sight and the warm beds were much needed. I was exhausted and so was everyone else. We planned to all be up and ready by 10 am for checkout and then off to breakfast. Stacey had already found a place that was supposed to be really good. Now that morning plans were made we all headed off to bed.
Morning came too quickly for me but that didn't change the fact that we had to get checked out. I was very glad I was only the passenger on our motorcycle. The tour pack meant I could kick back and relax the whole way home. My husband was used to running on very little sleep so he had gotten more than he needed to ride all day. Cindy looked almost as tired as I did, which made me feel a little better. Everyone else was geared up and ready for the ride home.
The breakfast place lived up to the hype and was really good. It was almost as good as our usual place up in the Thumb of Michigan. The service was fast and the coffee was good. I was almost awake by the time we got back on the bikes to head home. Our next stop would be the gas station before heading out of town. The gas prices were a little higher than near home but seeing as our motorcycles don't take much and the miles per gallon are so great we didn't stress over a little higher rate. We were on the road and headed back to Mid-Michigan.
Traffic was a little heavier heading home and I was grateful to be in a pack. This made us more visible to the other drivers and in my opinion safer. When we got back to the Flint area we stopped for lunch at Scooters before returning to Mike and Linda's house. We left our Genesee County friends and headed further on to the thumb. With a roll of the throttle we bid farewell to our other riding companions on the way home. Now it was just the two of us and we decided to stop for dinner before going home and ending our weekend.