Jan/Feb 2020 Volume 27, Issue 1 Our Chapter Website is: http://www.womenontheedge.info. Send your request to join the group site on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com Women on the Edge is a chapter of Women On Wheels® out of western Wisconsin & southeast Minnesota A VIEW FROM THE EDGE - of the chapter director’s seat I thought I was going to get a “vacation” from the newsletter as you are all snowbound and there have been no chapter events to report on since our November meeting, chili dump & auction and I didn’t think a newsletter that was all about me was very appropriate nor very entertaining . But wouldn’t you know it, Amy N. sent me an article…………. So now this newsletter is all about me and my daughter - LOL. So hopefully you will be so tired of reading about us that you will send me articles about YOU and what’s going on in your world, whether it’s home in the snow, where you traveled to, or how you spent your Christmas. All kidding aside, I appreciate Amy sharing her adventures with us, and hope you will to. See her article on page 7, after the 2020 calendar. Note that in the calendar under the Women On Wheels® Ride-In in July there are updates about room and banquet availability so check that out and don’t procrastinate another minute! Send in your Ride-In registration (available in the magazine or on the WOW web site) and reserve your room. Our own Pat Kulig has agreed to “man” the postal station and she will need assistance from us, her fellow chapter members. Besides, this is a great opportunity to experience a Ride-In without the additional time and expense that traveling cross country requires. As for me, I haven’t put in near the miles here in Arizona that my daughter has in Texas, but that’s par. It’s a bit cooler here and I’m more than a bit wimpier. Have only 1,000 miles for the 6 weeks I have been here. But I have just purchased an electric jacket liner so now I’m better equipped for those cold morning starts. I know it’s a lot warmer here than in Wisconsin (though there have been days that actually wasn’t true), and nobody likes to hear me whine about riding in the cold when you are snowbound, but just know that
Transcript
Jan/Feb 2020 Volume 27, Issue 1
Our Chapter Website is: http://www.womenontheedge.info.
Send your request to join the group site on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com
Women on the Edge is a chapter of Women On Wheels® out of western Wisconsin & southeast Minnesota
A VIEW FROM THE EDGE - of the chapter director’s seat
I thought I was going to get a “vacation” from the newsletter as you are all
snowbound and there have been no chapter events to report on since our
November meeting, chili dump & auction and I didn’t think a newsletter that
was all about me was very appropriate nor very entertaining . But wouldn’t
you know it, Amy N. sent me an article…………. So now this newsletter is all
about me and my daughter - LOL. So hopefully you will be so tired of reading
about us that you will send me articles about YOU and what’s going on in your
world, whether it’s home in the snow, where you traveled to, or how you spent
your Christmas. All kidding aside, I appreciate Amy sharing her adventures
with us, and hope you will to. See her article on page 7, after the 2020
calendar.
Note that in the calendar under the Women On Wheels® Ride-In in July there
are updates about room and banquet availability so check that out and don’t
procrastinate another minute! Send in your Ride-In registration (available in
the magazine or on the WOW web site) and reserve your room. Our own Pat
Kulig has agreed to “man” the postal station and she will need assistance from
us, her fellow chapter members. Besides, this is a great opportunity to
experience a Ride-In without the additional time and expense that traveling
cross country requires.
As for me, I haven’t put in near the miles here in Arizona that my daughter
has in Texas, but that’s par. It’s a bit cooler here and I’m more than a bit
wimpier. Have only 1,000 miles for the 6 weeks I have been here. But I have
just purchased an electric jacket liner so now I’m better equipped for those
cold morning starts. I know it’s a lot warmer here than in Wisconsin (though
there have been days that actually wasn’t true), and nobody likes to hear me
whine about riding in the cold when you are snowbound, but just know that
to record your current odometer reading on the WOW web site in your MOTO garage. It doesn’t matter if you ride few or many miles, the more miles we
all record, the more we (as in all women riders and Wisconsin WOW members) will be winners.
Apr 1: Women on the Edge Annual Funtest begins: Get your Funtest
towel from our Treasurer, Jo Johnson, for just $10 and join in on this friendly competition. The theme this year is “Post-It” for post offices. We used a
similar theme a few years ago and everyone loved it so we’re doing it again.
May 17 @ 11:00: Chapter meeting and All Member Birthday Bash at Northwoods Brew Pub in Osseo. If you choose to participate in the gift
exchange game please bring a $15-20 generic gift.
June 27: Amy N. will lead a chapter ride. Details TBD
July 7, 8 and 9: THE WOW RIDE-INtm WILL BE RIGHT HERE AT THE
RIVERPORT IN WINONA!
Register and reserve your motel NOW. All the WOW reduced rate rooms have
already been booked at the Riverport, where registration, the Tuesday night
“welcome” event and the banquet will be located. As of Jan. 6, they still had
rooms available at the regular rate. Special rates were still available at the
Plaza and the Holiday Inn Express. As I understand it, vendors and seminars
and probably the postal station will likely be at the Plaza. All details will be
determined by the Ride-In committee as plans finalize. Watch your magazine
for further information. Registration also opened January 1s; so be sure to get
Neillsville American Legion. The chapter plans to reserve a block of rooms for
Saturday night like we did last time. Check back for details.
Aug 22: MN Ride to Chippewa Fall
This is an overnight ride a former Minnesota State Ambassador has been doing
annually. They leave from the MPLS area so we will just meet them in
Chippewa Falls at the motel or the restaurant. Just save the date and will
share further details when available.
Sep: Deb wants to lead a chapter ride sometime in September to one of the
many events or festivals usually available in many towns. These aren’t
announced too many months ahead of time so when she finds one that looks
good, we’ll publish further info.
Sep 19-20: Minnesota Fall Color Ride: Save the date; details won’t be
determined until sometime this Spring.
Oct 10: BAGC: Lark Toys: We’ll meet at Lark Toys in Kellogg at 11:00 for
the Bikers Annual Golf Classic. This way if the fall weather isn’t conducive to
riding that day, we can all still meet there for lunch and have a fun time.
Oct 31: WOW Mileage Contest Ends
Nov 7: WOW-WE Meeting, Chili Dump & Auction:
10:30 in La Crosse at Laura and Gerry’s
SHARING THE FUN OUR MEMBERS HAVE BEEN HAVING!
WHETHER IT’S IN THE SNOW, DURING YOUR TRAVELS OR IN YOUR
OWN GARAGE
Amy Nordahl Member # 6025
Being a Winter Texan...
LAST WINTER John and I purchased a 44' Toy Hauler in February, brought it
home in a blizzard, loaded the motorcycles in it at 10 below zero and headed for Texas. Although it was a complete change of plans (as is my life being
married to John), it turned out to be an excellent plan (also my life being
married to John lol). We spent the first month down on South Padre Island; weather was not great but definitely better than WI. Riding roads were also
not great, mostly flat and straight with speed limits of 75 mph, which, since there wasn't much scenery to cruise along and look at wasn't all bad, except
John likes to ride along at 50-60 mph which tends to get you blown off the busy TX roads. After a month down there, I found an RV park 20 minutes West
of San Antonio that had a site available until May 1, so we loaded up and headed over there. This turned out to be a much nicer area for riding as it is
on the southern end of what is known as Texas Hill Country, a riding destination that I had not yet been to. As I always do when spending time in
an area I scoured MeetUp and Facebook looking for groups to ride with. As it turned out there was a Gold Wing chapter based out of the little town we were
in and they meet every Saturday at a gas station only 5 miles from the RV park! Perfect!! I rode with this group several times during our stay last winter
along with meeting up with them for their monthly dinners and weekly bike
night at the local DQ. The president of the club even offered to store John's Voyager after we bought our neighbors Gold Wing, and he found a buyer for
it too! THIS WINTER we were scheduled to
stay at the same park from Dec 1 - May 1, but as per marriage to John,
that plan got changed. The company we do a lot of work for told us back in
October that they had roughly 50 loads that would be going to Houston
TX the month of Dec. So, I searched and searched until I found a lovely RV
Park on Lake Livingston that was in the path John would be routed so that he could stop "home" on his way down
to or up from Houston. Then of course, they switched all of the December
loads to deliver in Baltimore MD!! So, I was left alone for the month of Dec. I put on 1,700 miles during December 2019.
On a beautiful Saturday I rode by myself down to Port Arthur on the Gulf of
Mexico, even rode my bike out on the beach after I took a nice long walk with
my toes in the sand. I did find a group there to ride with for one ride, the
meeting spot to start the ride was 1 1/2 hours from me, glad for electrics as it
was in the mid 30's when I left at 8 am. We did have a lovely ride down to the
Gulf, where we took a ferry across to a very
nice
restaurant. After
lunch a few of us went to look at the
San Jacinto Museum of History (locally
known as The Tower) and the
Battleship Texas and then enjoyed the
sunny and warm ride home.
John came back to TX to go to GA with
me as I had bought us tickets to an intimate
concert of his favorite Christian artist Mac Powel from Third Day. We drove the pickup
over, had dinner with
some friends, enjoyed a wonderful concert and got to meet Mac afterwards, stayed at lovely BnB
and then headed back to the RV.
Once back John found a load headed to MN so we packed a bag to head home for Christmas.
After delivering we went to Melrose WI to spend the night at my sister’s home, with the bonus of visiting
my Dad since she bought the house next door for him to live
in (she is such a good daughter).
After a very nice visit we headed for home in Somerset
where we celebrated Christmas with our kids and
John’s family and I spent as much time as possible with
my grandson. All too soon it was time to load up and head back to the RV as we
had to move it from Lake Livingston over to
Castroville (the RV Park near San Antonio). We went out for an early dinner to celebrate New Year’s Eve, saw some
fireworks and listened to fireworks and gunshots all around us until we fell asleep. Not something we had ever experienced in WI; people don't tend to
celebrate NYE outdoors in WI. On January 1st we moved the RV over to our spot at Alsatian RV Resort
where we will be until May. John got to go golfing on the 2nd then had to head back to WI to load
for Baltimore again on the 6th. I got my first ride in on the 4th with the Gold Wing Chapter, was
great to see many of them again. I had plans to ride with my
friend Sharon from MN (a
fellow WOW
member) and her husband
Mark the next day, but sadly
I got food poisoning from lunch on the GW ride so had to cancel, which really stunk as the weather was a perfect 74° and sunny. Since they are in Texas
for 2 weeks hopefully we can reschedule. So, as for being a winter Texan, mostly I LOVE IT! Only things I miss are my grandson, daughter and
sometimes the snow. I'd say my husband, but I wouldn't see him much more if I stayed in WI. But, riding year-round, not shoveling, not scraping my
windshield and not looking like Stay-puff Marshmallow man every time I go outside is wonderful!! Just let me know if you want to come visit, hill country
is a lovely place to ride, and I think you can rent a bike in San Antonio.
