Lime Run - Burlington, Washington - April 26th, 2009
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We joined some friends from NW Cascades Chapter 154 of the Star Touring and Riding organization to ride in the annual "Lime Run". This ride begins and ends in in Burlington, Washington and is is organized by the "Skagit Valley Wings", a local chapter of the Goldwing Touring Association. This run is a charity ride to benefit the "Make A Wish" foundation. A very worthy cause and we were pleased to participate... |
| We had preregistered for the Lime Run so all that we had to do was to pick up our packets and enjoy a fine breakfast served by the Burlington Eagles Club... |
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The Burlington Eagles Club was also the location of "Checkpoint 1" and no, you didn't have to ride the Lime Run upside down! |
| We grabbed our "Wingo" cards and the directions to the next checkpoint and were sent on our way by this jolly Lime Run volunteer... |
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For the Lime Run we were given a modified bingo card (it now read "Wingo" - cute, huh?). We would journey to five locations throughout Whatcom and Skagit counties. At each location we'd draw some numbers and volunteers would mark the numbers on our cards. At the end of the run prizes in various categories we given to winning participants. Our first stop was "Scooter Stuff" just east of Alger, Washington. Here participants are in line waiting their turn to draw some numbers.. |
| Lots of people and bikes joined in this event. This is just a small portion of them in the parking lot of Scooter Stuff. The Zipsicle is about three bikes to the right of the Stop sign... |
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At each stop we were given directions to find the next checkpoint and the route is marked by splashes of lime (hence the name of the ride). The organizers of the Lime Run did a great job routing us around some very scenic back roads in Whatcom and Skagit counties. Our second stop was off the Mount Baker highway near Kendall. We found this very cute and enterprising young lady had set up a lemonade stand to sell cold lemonade to all the thirsty bikers. We can attest that both the lemonade and the service was great! |
| Skagit Valley Wings volunteers handled the crowds at each checkpoint in a cheerful and efficient manner but it helped that everyone was having such a good time and that the weather was absolutely perfect... |
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Checkpoint 4 was in the Birch Bay/Blaine area. More great back roads to get here... |
| You can see the Zipsicle glowing in the sun and ready to tackle the next leg of the journey... |
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Checkpoint 5 is back in Burlington at the Camping World parking area and is our last stop on the ride... |
| Here's a great looking Goldwing with an interesting, single wheeled trailer... |
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Here's Zippo (your author) looking to see if he can spot any other superfast, blue, VStar 1300s... |
| The volunteers handled the last checkpoint just as efficiently as they did at all of the others and seemed to be having a good time doing it... |
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There were quite a crowd gathered to enjoy a great BBQ and to watch the awards for winning riders... |
| These folks worked hard to provide a good meal... |
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And this fellow kept the grill loaded and ready... |
| If we ever sell the Zipsicle we might look at something like this... |
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This shady looking character - probably rides a Goldwing :>) - was selling tickets for the 50/50 drawing in which the winner gets half the pot. We bought tickets but didn't win. Hey! Maybe next year! |
| After the meal we watched the Northwest Wings Motorcycle Drill Team perform. Those guys and gals sure could wheel them big bikes around nicely... |
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And they seemed to really have a good time doing it! |
| This year's Lime Run was named the "Gary Herlickson Lime Run" in honor of a member who had passed away this past year. We all observed a moment of silence for Mr. Herlickson... |
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As I mentioned earlier, the Lime Run is a charity ride held annually to benefit the "Make A Wish" foundation. This year's event raised over $4,200 and a check was handed to the Make A Wish representative. We were pleased to be a part of this event... |
| This cedar eagle was one of the prizes raffled off at this year's event (no, we didn't win this either! - Sheesh!). |
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A certificate was given to the manager of Camping World in appreciation of Camping World allowing the event to end in their parking lot. We had a great time, really enjoyed ourselves and are already looking forward to next year's Lime Run... |