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The Bunkie Boucherie Sept. 29 - Oct. 2, 2016
Bunkie (bun-kee): A farming community in the North end of the Cajun Prairie in Avoyelles Parish, Louisiana, named after a little girl who referred to her toy monkey as her "Bunkie" ( http://bunkie.com/GoodStuff/About.Bunkie.htm )
Boucherie (boo-shuh-ree): – A community butchering of a pig which involved several families.... done in late fall to provide meat throughout the winter.... lasts several days....with a big dinner on the last day.... ( http://www.cajundaughters.com/cajun-dictionary-b/ )
Location: Ripley's Lane - Believe It or Not!
Dates: September 29th - October 2nd, 2016
No, we're really not planning to kill a hog (nor a Hawg), but Ripley's Lane is just off Slaughterhouse Road and I suspect there will be a lot of "chewing the fat" and we'll likely conclude with a big dinner on Saturday evening. This will be another joint sidecar gathering with the TURD's.
Rally central will be at the home of Larry & Barbara at 121 Ripley's Lane in Bunkie, Louisiana. It's easy to find as Ripley's Lane is literally their driveway.
Camping: On-site with a bath/shower available. We should be able to accommodate limited electric service if needed.
If you prefer a motel or RV hook-ups, please make your own lodging reservations:
Motels: All-Star Inn 1 mile away - 318-346-8113 or Howard Johnson motel 7 miles West - 318-346-6866
Note: The All-Star Inn is a small motel just down the street the rally site - please make your reservations early.
RV Park: Gator Grounds RV Park on Golf Course Road 6 miles Northeast - 318-295-4030 or 318-346-6245 (https://gatorgrounds.org/)
Preliminary Plans include (subject to change, of course):
Thursday/Friday:
Overnight ride hosted by the TURD's incorporating the paved and unpaved roads along the Atchafalaya levees with an overnight layover in Morgan City. Details are posted over on the Soviet Steeds forum here: http://www.sovietsteeds.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=44289
Thursday alternative for early arrivers:
2:00 Ride to the Louisiana Arboretum in Chicot State Park 22 miles Southwest (see details in Post #89818 herein below) followed by supper at a local restaurant
Friday:
11:00 Meet-Up for Lunch at Lea's Lunch Room in Lecompte (20 miles North) followed by 50 mile tour of fish hatchery and local bayou back roads
6:30 Ham & Yam Supper at rally central - Yams are a staple crop in Avoyelles Parish
Saturday:
8:00 Breakfast benefiting the Boy Scouts at a local church
9:30 Side-Trip to Big Bend 
[80 miles]
4:00 Sidecar Games
6:30 Brisket Dinner at rally central benefiting the Boy Scouts
Sunday:
7:30 Shrimp & Grits Breakfast at rally central
Stay Tuned for more details as they develop......
There is no Registration, but please let us know you are coming so we can plan meals & rides - either by posting here or email to rleeryder--at--bellsouth.net
We'll have a donation jar to offset rally expenses
Yams (sweet potatoes), among the most nutritional of all vegetables, are staple crop of the area and are the highlight of our Friday evening meal.
Yamster the Hamster* extends his personal welcome to The Bunkie Boucherie:
* Yamster is the mascot of the Louisiana sweet potato growers association.
We visited Larry & Barbara, the hosts of The Bunkie Boucherie 2016, this weekend to help install a set of modified triple trees on Barbara's Burgman scooter rig and spend some time at the rally site. Rally central will be their outdoor kitchen and patio with fireplace:
The tent camping area is to the left of the kitchen and under the trees just beyond - the games can be played in the foreground. As for directions, Barbara's white Burgman rig is sitting at the terminus of Ripleys Lane:
The Bayou Huffpower is on the North side of the Boucherie grounds. How about a race across the bayou? Might want to bring a lifejacket 
Should you need to make some repairs, rest easy, Scott's Ace Hardware is just 1/2 mile away - and also has Exxon gas, camouflage gear, Stihl chain saws, Purina Chow, boudin & cracklins 
And a wider variety of vittles can be found downtown at T-Raks Specialty Meats, including buffalo chicken sausage 
conveniently located next to the Donut Shop 
Bunkie also has a NAPA, an AutoZone and a Piggly Wiggly:
Eight-year-old Virginia O’Hanlon wrote a letter to the editor of New York’s Sun: ...Some of my little friends say there is no Santa Claus.... Please tell me the truth; is there a Santa Claus?** A quick response was printed as an unsigned editorial Sept. 21, 1897. The work of veteran newsman Francis Pharcellus Church has since become history’s most reprinted newspaper editorial....:
Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus.... He exists as certainly as love and generosity and devotion exist, and you know that they abound and give to your life its highest beauty and joy.... ...your little friends are wrong. They have been affected by the skepticism of a skeptical age. They do not believe except they see....
Yes, Texas, there is a Bend Bend, Louisiana:
**From: http://www.newseum.org/exhibits/online/yes-virginia/ 
The road to Big Bend ... Louisiana style:
Sorry y'all will not make it down, Ron. We pray for your good health.
As of now, the preliminary head count for the Boucherie stands at 42 ±20%. Average October 1st temps for Bunkie are Low 63° & High 84° so we anticipate mild mornings/evenings and warm afternoons.
But beware: Averages are seldom reality. 
The preliminary forecast for the Boucherie is about "average" with the greater rain chances ending Tuesday Sept. 27th allowing an extra day for the rally grounds and the levee roads to to dry out.
It is sugar cane harvest season, as well as cotton picking time, in Central Louisiana, so please look-out for agricultural machinery and debris on the roads:
Lee, Your rig sure does clean up nice. You must have waxed it, that cajun mud is not sticking on anything.
