Tinkerbell & Raymond

SATURDAY

The first day of RAW begins with finding your way to the start. On my very first RAW we took the Cascade bus to Raymond. A later ride would find me in Ed Davis’ motor home heading east with a stop in Cle Elum. Both of these had a big influence in my life but for different reasons.

Ed suggested we use his motor home to get to the start and make it a two day trip across the state, spending the night in Cle Elum. So we packed our bikes on the stern of the motor home and headed east. Going up Snoqualmie Pass on could see the fuel gauge heading south but once over the summit gravity took over and we were quickly in Cle Elum. We toured the area and then felt the need for re-hydration, a stop at The Brick was in order. There we met Tinkerbell.

She was pink, I mean bright pink. Small in stature and quite rigid.

While this isn’t the real Tinkerbell, you get the idea. Her owner was very proud of her, showing her off to everyone he knew – and he knew everyone. Oh’s and awe’s were dispersed along with a bit of head shaking. Does one carry a bright pink purse during the day?

That day introduced me to Cle Elum and in a few years we would be living a few miles east of town. One of the major changes in our lives. And no, Tinkerbell has not been seen since.

Now a word from our sponsor - Wild Salmon
A staple on the RAW menu and a major part of our next section…

Sorry, the next section is difficult to write.

First time setting up my tent in Raymond and all went well! Now, what to do? RAW doesn’t provide dinner prior to the ride but the Firemen in Raymond put on a Salmon feed but it was a few hours away.

So Terri, Bob Miller and I found ourselves in town sitting on a curb with our feet in the gutter. None of us knew each other then, by the end of the ride we had become friends. Every evening we ate together, drinking a little wine and looked forward to the next day’s ride. On the final day Terri and Bob decided I should ride with them. They were much stronger riders and I feared that it would be a tough day. Tough it was but more due to the heat and running out of water. Not many oaisis’ around Walla Walla.

That was in 2007. Not long after Bob passed away. The amazing thing is of the core group I rode with, the rest of us are all still here and not one of us got really hurt during a RAW event. Through Terri, I met the rest of “Betsy’s Bike Club” and have had many great times (along with a few suspect ones).

So it’s time for everyone to have one last cocktail and then bed down. Tomorrow we are off!