This year was a little different from our last campout. It NEVER rained... Last year we had around forty-two people spend the weekend with us in the rain. The weather for that weekend called for rain all weekend and they still came. You have to appreciate those kind of people.
One person that sticks in my mind is Max King from Iowa. I remember him standing in the rain looking at me, water dripping from him everywhere, and then telling me he thought he would go ahead and pack up and head home. He and I were both sure the rain wasn't going to stop. Before Max left, he still walked over and put some money in our donation can. When he rode off I thought to myself, he will probably never come back to my rally after this weekend. Even though you can't control the weather for your weekend, you still hope it is nice and sunny for riding. Well I was really happy to get to the camp ground Friday morning and see Max and his wife Toni already there. Along with Bill and Annie Senter from Missouri and Karl Werth from Arkansas. We had several returning people this year (including Frank Wedge) so it makes you feel like you are doing something right. They did go through a pretty good rain and thunder storm Thursday night. I told Max I was just planning for Friday, Saturday, and Sunday.
The camp out was held at the Eureka Springs' K.O.A. campground. The weather was really nice this year. I have always said the Kansas rally is an omen for me. If they get rain, I don't and vise-versa. We had eighty people signed in for this year's event. Many were old friends attending, and we met some new ones.
Joe Kenny was Long Distance Male from Virginia, Max and Toni King was Long Distance Two-up from Iowa, and Mary Foster was Long Distance Female from Wisconsin.
Friday night we had a hot dog roast. You never know how many will be there or how many to buy, so I was hoping we did not run out. When it was done, we had two little hot dogs left. Saturday morning we had our poker run. It was a short run (about 55 miles) with lots of time to give those that wanted to go a chance to get out of the campground and look around, shop at some of the local stores, or just ride around and see some of the historical sights of Eureka Springs. We really appreciate Ken and Jane Shonka too (the owners of the KOA). They really commented on how clean we kept everything and what a nice group we had, so we really appreciate the help with that too! They also provided us with rolls and orange juice for Saturday morning. That was really great for those that didn't want to go out for breakfast.
I took two 16 pound turkeys to the rally. Saturday afternoon I fixed one in my turkey fryer, cooked in peanut oil. Then towards evening I fixed the other one. It only took ten or fifteen minutes each to clean those two birds up. I may have to fix three next year.
Oh, the pink flamingos were a gift from Tim Pierce. He said I needed them to go with my "Walker Hilton" (kwik kamp). Thanks Tim!
This is a no charge event. However, we do set out a donation can to help with expenses, so we might be able to have another one next year. We really appreciate those that are able to help support our campout. We are planning for another campout the third weekend of June, 2002. We truly hope you will be able to come back and spend another weekend with us!
Ride Safe,
Hope to see all of you at one or more of the rallies.
MGNOC Arkansas State Reps
Steve and Leila Walker
