Vance & Mari’s Lakeshore Campout & Cookout

[HSV-Phil]

We’re now looking forward to a scheduled quarterly rendezvous at the lakeshore house of Vance & Mari Harrelson. This event was planned in January to occur on 22-24 Sept.

Vance suggests that we’ll likely do the regular Saturday afternoon “Dump Stew” group effort, so attendees need to find some tasty canned veggies or maybe some fresh vegetables to contribute to and enhance his “Pot Luck” recipe.

Please check your calendars. Vance is asking for head-counts for a Friday evening meal and the Saturday evening meal. Folks are encouraged to campout, but there are also numerous motels north of the Harrelson homestead and south of Pell City on US-231.

He will also need to know the numbers of folks that may be hanging out on Saturday looking for breakfast morsels and then Saturday’s Lunch. We typically do not do the group BMW ride thing at this event; we prefer to just lounge in, on, and beside the inviting Logan Martin Lake. As is the norm, it’s BYOB (whatever your preference), but the club will provide bottles of H2O & some sodas.

Please RSVP to Vance; let him know what your travels plans are.
Keep the Rubber Side Down! Ciao, Phil & Karen
alabeemer@gmail.com


Covered patio with Vance leading the discussions about previous expeditions.
Vance-Speaks.jpeg


Another view of patio with the cove behind the group.
Relaxin-Confab.jpeg

The many Kitchen Magicians as Vance oversees the Blue Rhino cooking apparatus!

[HSV-Phil]

Many MOAL members were AWOL at the terrific weekend at the Harrelson’s lakeshore retreat! The many folks who did attend our club’s planned Lakeshore Weekend Rendezvous were treated to a funtastic getaway. The weather was fabulous, both for riding, for cooking, and for sleeping! The Harrelson’s provided a yummy pulled pork BBQ picnic dinner on Friday evening down on their covered patio beside the lake. There were also some adult beverages shared amongst the attendees.

After a good night’s slumber, Wanda had the large coffee pot ready for the earliest early birds. A bit later, Mari rustled up some sausage patties & French toast. A terrific start on the splendid first day of autumn. Vance later took a modest group of four other bikers on some of his favorite local backroads with lots of curves & elevation changes in St Clair & Blount Counties. We made a brief stop at the 1,044’ hilltop pull-off along AL-25 [ N33 28.847’ W086 32.503’ ]. We took pictures of the nearby valley where Tim Flynn indicated his horses live; we also encountered John who stopped briefly to say Hey on his 77 R100RS (he owns six Airheads). We covered a total of 54 miles over two hours before returning for a yummy self-serve picnic and some afternoon college football. Mid-afternoon Vance took a full load of tourists out for a real estate critique cruise on their party boat. I’m guessing there isn’t a neighborhood architectural review board because the lakeside homes come in all variety of shapes & sizes. Upon return to Camp Harrelson, Happy Hour commenced and the “dump stew” began to coalesce. We did finish dinner and clean-up before the sun set (first day of autumn)! Vernon & Gator then proceeded to entertain the collected audience with their selection of self-written songs. Very entertaining & sincerely touching! We then relocated to the TV venue to actually witness my alma mater get smothered by the University of Spoiled Children (USC) in the first half. Not what I would’ve wished as we each headed to our designated bunks.

Sunday began with the early birds drinking coffee & watching the feral cats on the porch doing many new tricks as they awaited a portion of dry cat food from their hoteliers. Ya had to be there to understand the situation… Wanda & Gator were the first to head out around 0740 (as they usually do). Tim was next, and Phil & Martha & Jim McCorstin shortly thereafter. Kay and Vernon departed mid-morning with Phil & Karen as the last to depart.

We met a new BMW aficionado on Friday who’s called Steve; he recently resettled near Montgomery from New Hampshire (it’s a long family-group story)! As mentioned previously, we encountered John on one of his many Airheads during our X-county excursion. He’s now aware of the AlaBeemers and expressed interest in our club. We’ll see if he comes back for another serving in the near future. Additionally, V&M connected with Miranda at their Lebanon TN MOA Police Rodeo & camp expo. We’ve been introduced to Miranda on past Second Saturday Rides from Huntsville. She discovered us at the Nook because her father has a BMW affiliation. Additionally, she’s attended the NAVMC campout at Barbers’ Vintage Festival {coming up in Leeds, 6-8 October}. [ https://www.barbermuseum.org/barber-vintage-festival/ ] You are of course aware that BMW Motorrad is sponsoring a celebration of BMW’s 100th Anniversary of motorcycle production!
[ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Histor...MW_motorcycles ]

All in all, Vance & Mari entertained the following seventeen guests:
Phil & Karen; Bob & Wanda; Tim & Pam; Vernon & Kay; Martha & Phillip; Pam & Tom; Jeanne & John; and Jimmy, Miranda & Steve.

Hope everyone enjoys the Autumn riding season. Other than the 2nd Saturday Rides-2-Eat, our fourth quarter meeting will again occur at the Hoover Hampton Inn on 9 December.

Ciao, Phil & Karen

View of Tim’s ranch from the mountaintop rest stop.
Hwy-25-Hilltop.jpeg

View of our group at mountaintop stop; Phil takes Pam’s picture while she snaps my pic.
Hilltop-group.jpeg

The mountaintop rest stop, as visitor John exits stage left.
John-Exits.jpeg

Some members build their lunches after our ride.
Lunch-Bunch.jpeg

View of Captain Vance’s river boat afternoon cruise.
Capn-Vance.jpeg

Here is the track recorded by my Garmin Nav VI for Vance’s Saturday backroads ride:
Vance_Ride_23-09-23-10:01.GPX

Here is the printed pdf view from Vance’s Saturday morning ride:
Print-Ride-Route.pdf