The "Group Ride" to Muscle Shoals was epic.
CMA did an excellent job of leading & sweeping. Police Department did an excellent job of traffic, and we flowed right through. I think about 18 of us were on this run.
Had a very cool tour of Muscle Shoals Sound Studio. TV makes it look bigger than it is.
Invoice from the studio to the record company for recording Wild Horses (Rolling Stones).
Second stop was at a restaurant built into a rock cove. Really a beautiful setting.
View of the Tennessee River from the cabin.
Meeting a lot of great people, and sharing some epic stories. So glad to attend. 😎
Hold my keyboard and watch this! 🙃
Yesterday was a total blast.
Burnsville Volunteer Fire Department invited us to join them as they had their annual poker run. They manicured a huge grass field for us to use for shaded parking, and to set up the sidecar games.
A lot of participation, laughter and good natured ribbing was had by all.
EPM had a suspension seminar at breakfast, and brought wheel scales to help folks get a good understanding of their specific rigs. A lot of attendees took good advantage of the opportunity.
Evening started with a good membership meeting before the awards & raffles. Somehow I ended up with the award for longest Ride to the rally. Not sure that was deserved, because Google Maps on the phone only showed it as 2 inches long. 😉
I also had the amazing good fortune to win the 50/50. Have plans for donating the proceeds that I'm pretty excited about.
Had a great Bar-B-Que dinner, and the evening ended with the final ice cream social.
Pretty epic event. I'm normally one to travel alone or with just a couple of buddies, but after this event the N.E. event has moved way up the list for adventure in '25.
Personal note: a HUGE shout out to Mr. & Mr.s Ace. The effort to put on and support this rally was herculean. I can't thank them enough, as well as the volunteers who jumped in. Pretty awesome "Southern Hospitality." 🤩
Thanks to all involved, and for the extremely helpful tips and advice.
I kept asking the one same question to all the well experienced travelers: "Knowing what you know now about extended travels, if you could go back and give yourself one bit of advice when starting out what would you tell yourself?". The answers were pretty much unanimous and very helpful.
Show up in N.E. for the '25 rally and get that answer for yourself. 😎
While we got to play, the day-to-day life of the Tennessee river rolls on.
Hold my keyboard and watch this! 🙃
Final note & I'll shut up. I was down at the Iuka laundromat getting ready for next week's adventure when a gentleman walked in asking "whose bike?" I figured he would ask questions about it.
He walked up shook my hand and thanked me (really all of us at the rally) for coming to Iuka.
Said he was so glad we came. Had a great conversation. He's been here pretty much his whole life, sans time in the war. Taught at the community college for 34 years. Traveled to all 50 states and other countries with his fellow teachers.
Goes without saying he was incredibly kind, and also fun to talk with.
So on behalf of yet another great Iukan, I send on his thanks and sincere appreciation.
Ace you picked one heck of a great spot. 👍
(Okay, think I'm done now. But I'm going to dinner later, so...)
Hold my keyboard and watch this! 🙃
Just reporting I made it home about 4:00 this afternoon all safe & sound. I left at about 5:00 this morning. Thanks to all there for being such a great group. It sure was a hot one! Signing out for a good nites sleep. , Varn Cummings ( Barney the crusader by a new name passed on by the flying monkey).
Rally attendees, thank you for coming out to play with the other sidecarists. Pick out your favorite photos from the rally and send them to: editor@sidecar.com for future publication. Include your real name so he can give you credit for your photos.
Everyone of you made a huge positive impression on the people of northwest Mississippi, southcentral Tennessee and northwest Alabama. The question heard over and over was... When are you coming back?
You did yourselves and the USCA proud. Thank you.
