Are you confused about that cryptic title? Those are all the states I visited, in order last weekend. On Saturday Dash and I participated in the
5 State Run. This is a charity event held by the Iron Thunder Motorcycle Club...a one-day poker run through five states, covering 300 miles! I don't often post photos of myself on this blog so if you were ever curious, here's your chance to see me as I share our trip.
The poker run starts in Guymon, OK which is about 300 miles from our house, so this wasn't a one-day trip for us. We planned on two nights away. Packing for motorcycle trips takes planning...everything we take has to fit in two saddlebags and the trunk. After dropping Molly off at the doggie-hotel and Dash and I were off.
It was gorgeous weather on Friday. Blue skies with bright white clouds. Just cool enough to need long sleeves by the time we reached the Kansas border...I know it says, "Welcome to Oklahoma" we were going the other way!
We stayed Friday night in Liberal, Kansas. There are NO HOTELS anywhere near the poker run. I am not kidding. If you want to stay the night near Guymon on a Mother's Day weekend you'd better have your room booked well in advance! Other travelers at the hotel and restaurant we ate at were noticing the extreme number of motorcycles in the area and asked us what was going on. As for where we ate, if you are ever hungry in Liberal, Kansas go to
Billy's Blue Duck BBQ. That was some of the best barbecue we've ever had. The brisket, especially, was out of this world.
Saturday up before dawn and on the road to get to Guymon by 7. It was a crisp 46 degrees. Chilly at 70 mph on a motorcycle! We grabbed a doughnut & coffee and our registration packets.
Busy place!
Ignore my excessive pudginess, I am wearing jeans with leather chaps, a t-shirt, a long-sleeved t-shirt, a rain-suit jacket, a hoodie and my leather vest. I felt a little like the kid from A Christmas Story, "I can't put my arms down!" But I was warm.
Our Poker Hand at the first stop. This is a "blind" run. One doesn't know the hand until the end. At each of the five stops we draw a numbered poker chip. The attendant punches out the corresponding spot on the packet. At the last stop they open the envelope to reveal which "cards" you drew.
This is at the 2nd stop in Clayton, New Mexico. The volunteers there served us some very yummy chili. We've already been through Texas. I saw a large herd of Pronghorn Antelope on the way. No photos as they would have just looked like tan dots in a sea of tan grass.
Now headed for Colorado. It's warming up and I've been shedding a layer of clothing at each stop, I think!
The Colorado stop involves going down a dirt road (mostly sand, scary) and over cattle guards in the road and lots of twists & turns. It was gorgeous there though.
The 4th stop was in Elkhart, Kansas. I totally forgot to take photos there as I was too busy eating brownies so I snapped this as were were headed back to Oklahoma. Every time we stop, either at a punch stop or just a stretch-your-legs stop, people ask us, "What is going on?" Every gas station we passed or stopped at looked like it was being taken over by a biker gang. Sorry folks!
Our poker hands proved a bust at the last stop, back where we started in Guymon, Oklahoma. I only thought about saving my card as we were leaving...they just automatically trash them unless they are in the top three. Poo! The top prize is $3000 so would be quite a thrill to win it. All said, there were 896 bikes with 282 passengers so that makes 1,178 people that participated! What a fun day!
We completed the poker run in about 7 1/2 hours. We didn't stay for the dinner since we still had 125 miles...or about 2 hours...to ride to get to out hotel in Woodward, Oklahoma. On the way to Woodward the temperature reached 94 degrees and I was down to a t-shirt & vest, remember we started the day at 46! At some point, a bug got up my sleeve and started stinging. He got me about 12 times before I finally decided I had enough and Dash stopped so I could strip my vest & shirt and remove it. Apologies to anyone shocked at the sight of pudgy me, half naked in the middle of the road, slapping at my back.
In Woodward we unpacked and headed out to find somewhere to eat. Dash had looked up a place on Google but we never could find it. We ended up at Wagg's (no website) another BBQ restaurant but they had a big "catfish" sign out front. Very, very yummy fish! (I adore fried catfish.) I even splurged and had a slice of Key Lime pie - absolute heaven. In the middle of dinner, I remarked to Dash that I was suddenly, utterly, exhausted. He felt the same so we made it an early night.
Sunday found us headed for home. Windy. Windy. WINDY. I think we rode the whole way home sideways. Cold? No problem. Heat? No big deal. Rain? I'll dry out. Wind? I hate it. Wind will wear you out in no time! I unpacked as soon as I got home, started the laundry and had a nap!
With such a busy weekend and right back to work on Monday I'm still tired! My soul is refreshed but my 46 year old body is exhausted! Horrors, I've not even felt like stitching...
Thank you for visiting my blog today!
xox
