5th NW Loop AAR

This year's ride was by far the longest loop we have done. The loop was 1012 miles of spectacular mountain and high desert roads. The event started with a BBQ at the Firehouse Pub where we collected over $1k in t-shirt sales, raffle items, and simply good will donations. The ride started off with 49 riders that went to the Evergreen Air Museum for a photo in front of the Spruce Goose followed by a personal tour of the museum by the Director of Operations, Larry Woods. Every stop that was made turned into a mini reunion with those that we only see once a year and of course lots of questions from the public wondering who and what we were all about. It is still amazing to me that the majority of people have heard of the Wounded Warrior Program but not the SOWF, even though they have been around for over 30 years. In regards to spreading the word, the motorcycle ride was an absolute success.

I'm not sure who rode the farthest to get to the ride but Rick Akset came up from AZ, Mark Nevatt from So CA, and Roger D James came in from MT. All of them rode over a 1000 miles just to get to the start, well done! Old Dog Roger also brought a CCT patch that generated another $500 of donations, thank you! Crater Lake is absolutely amazing to see in person. The road getting to the park was equally amazing with a 140 miles of twists and turns following a mountain river with the scent of evergreens nearly overwhelming. No major issues other than one bike giving up the ghost after the big photo at the museum. Jim Ihlan's bike decided that the first stop was going to be it's last. I have to give it to Jim for keeping the commitment strong with the riders coming out of the Tacoma area. Next year we will have a chase car and trailer to make sure everyone can stay in the game. Already thinking about next year and promise that lessons learned this year will make it even better next year.

Hope to see you then. Pitt