Not a "Reuben Run or The Last Hurrah" - Gauging Interest on a First Annual " Why Not? " in Lapine, OR

Sorry posted this thread and have been working non stop on a rental to try and get it rented before we head out for a month on Monday!

OK so, I am getting the feeling there is no real affinity to La Pine, we are all old and cheap and might prefer a smaller venue to save 20 bucks a night on a room but we would like to continue with some sort of event yet to be determined.

My opinion is if we are here to fraternize and would like to continue the tradition of the Friday Night Social then sure it might be 20.00 more a room but I can work on finding both a reasonable from an economic standpoint and viable from a bike parking gathering standpoint place in Bend.

Prineville is cheaper but in the long run we are still in Prinetucky and have only gained a half hour if the goal is getting to the good stuff,

If the good stuff is truly the goal than we should move this thing to Baker City which is the epicenter of awesome riding JSNS.

I will say I found this place ---> https://www.facebook.com/oregontrailmotelandrestaurant/ in Baker City and if ever there was a place that looked like it could facilitate a new tradition this is it. I have yet to contact them but from the looks of things they have the rooms, the restaurant, the prime rib and the pie. Some pics ---> https://tinyurl.com/4ebe65s9

I will say this, when I first came to this thing in 15 or 16 (they say memory is the 2nd thing to go) Mel and I would end the weekend by bidding everyone adieu on Sunday am and then going out and melting the tires on the bike with a ripping ride. We were like wow what a bunch of old fuks all they want to do is talk and ride to Crater Lake, no offense. Now I am late to mature for sure and I still like to boil the tires but as this RR has evolved with us we have become more enfranchised with the camaraderie and less concerned with the riding because lets face it we live here and the best off the hook rides are done solo (dang it selfish me again). Not to say we don't get some epic riding in cause we do fo sho, riding the box on Sunday with good friends this last event was epic!

I guess it boils down to are you here to hang or ride to put it simply and as such I have created a poll to get the pulse of the group. I will be gone thru Thanksgiving so hopefully you will have time to complete it. I searched on how to complete a poll on the forum but my limited cranial capacity did not figure it out so I used a third party site so rest assured this is not click bait but the actual poll ----> https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Z6M75Y5

Thanks,

JP and Mel

JP, the idea of basing in Baker City is great. Lots of riding in all directions from there. If Friday night is nothing more than a beverage gathering, kicking the tires and telling lies so be it. Keep it simple for you and Mel. The dinner on Saturday night gives the event a focal point for the gathering with a couple of days of great riding leading up to it. Whether it is before or after Labor Day doesn't matter. Before will be warmer which makes the evening BS sessions more comfortable with the bonus of a little more daylight hours.

PhatAir4Me said:

I guess it boils down to are you here to hang or ride to put it simply and as such I have created a poll to get the pulse of the group. I will be gone thru Thanksgiving so hopefully you will have time to complete it. I searched on how to complete a poll on the forum but my limited cranial capacity did not figure it out so I used a third party site so rest assured this is not click bait but the actual poll ----> https://www.surveymonkey.com/r/Z6M75Y5

Thanks,

JP and Mel

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Since we could only choose one option for each question, I picked Bend but would also be open to Baker City.

Auburn said:

JP, the idea of basing in Baker City is great. Lots of riding in all directions from there. If Friday night is nothing more than a beverage gathering, kicking the tires and telling lies so be it. Keep it simple for you and Mel. The dinner on Saturday night gives the event a focal point for the gathering with a couple of days of great riding leading up to it. Whether it is before or after Labor Day doesn't matter. Before will be warmer which makes the evening BS sessions more comfortable with the bonus of a little more daylight hours.

Click to expand...

C'mon it's just closer for ya!

Ha Ha, seriously though yes there is a veritable metric chit ton of riding out of there and Baker City is cool! I could ride 245 to the intersection of 26 and back four times and be a happy camper - one of the greatest "hey lets take that squiggler" roads of all time!
345, 7, 26, 20, 410, 73, 337, 203 and then all the chit just over the state line into Idaho I mean this is the birthplace of the epileptic topographer!

I had toyed with the idea of loading up the 25' enclosed and trailering the bike and Friday night chit to BC but hey this gives us an easy out and more time to hang with our friends and ride!

But we will take a wait and see approach to it. We would be happy to host in Bend as well and after all that is how I show people I love em, I make em good food!

I will close the poll on Thanksgiving after our return and we can make the call and start doing the leg work then.

Just to throw a wrench in this, had there been any thought to doing this sometime in May? The smoke the lst few years has sucked!

Panman said:

Just to throw a wrench in this, had there been any thought to doing this sometime in May? The smoke the last few years has sucked!

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September is the worst month for us to get away, which is why we never made more of these RRs.
I'll lob a wrench as well.

Could always tag it on one end or the other of this:

https://www.fjrforum.com/threads/west-coast-gathering-wcg-june-15-18-2023-fort-bragg-ca.179402/

Tyler said:

Could always tag it on one end or the other of this:

https://www.fjrforum.com/threads/west-coast-gathering-wcg-june-15-18-2023-fort-bragg-ca.179402/

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We are already using this event to kick off three weeks of riding! Gonna crush Utah and Colorado after the WCG...

Panman said:

Just to throw a wrench in this, had there been any thought to doing this sometime in May? The smoke the lst few years has sucked!

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Certainly an option, September is late boating season for us while May is not real active and certainly no smoke... you think the Last Hurrah was bad? This recent warm weather has rekindled the 125K acre fire to our West, here is a pic from my drive to Eugene to return Mother in Laws two mutts and a cat after three LONG weeks of babysitting.

Holy Monster Pic Batman! Not sure how I did that!! Here is one you should be familiar with - this is the Stop Light in front of the Shell/McDonalds in front of the Best Western LaPine!

OK now back to the thread at hand...

That's what it's looked like in Central Washington since I returned from LA Pine.

As far as moving the venue, I have ridden the roads around la pine enough that I'm going down mostly for the comraderie.

I vote Baker.

I support and will help anyway I can with whatever Jay and Mel decide works best for them as they would be doing all the heavy lifting.

Sounds good to me! Bend or Prineville sounds like a good move.

We've held WeSTOC in Baker City at the Best Western Sunridge Inn & Conference Center. There's also an annual Triumph rally held there along with a few other annual bike events.

The hotel was a Best Western, then kind of ran down until they were no longer a Best Western. They went through a couple year long remodel as an independent property which they were in the middle of when we held WeSTOC there in 2018. They were about half way through the remodel when we were there so some rooms were remodeled while others weren't. The remodeled buildings were nice. The morning dining area, restaurant and banquet room were in transition and pretty ratty. The nice thing about this property is the buildings surround a nice, central courtyard with a pool. It was a great meeting place for socializing especially if you had a ground level room with a slider to the courtyard.

It appears they have restored the hotel to Best Western standards and are a BW property again.

https://www.bestwestern.com/en_US/b...inn-conference-center/propertyCode.38183.html
Dooley Pass is about 15 mins south and as others have said, the box is easily accessibly to the west.

Just thought I'd toss this out there as a possible option.

Rides maps from WeSTOC.

I voted Baker City, time for a totally new (bitch'n) area to ride sounds real tasty. May or mid September is nice while the kiddies are still in school .

Howdy friends and family!

Sooooooo I am again looking at this possible event and if we are gonna do it we need to chit or get off it!

I am looking at 9-7 thru 9-10.

I have engaged Mark Linderman at the Oregon Trail Motel regarding the event and he was receptive and can provide for a Prime Rib Dinner from the restaurant on property but says they cannot accommodate the group in the restaurant itself and has cleared the path to have the dinner at the Elks Lodge which is six blocks from the facility which would probably be a better venue in regards to camaraderie. The details on lodging and dinner are as follows:

LODGING
This is what they have available as of last week.. the rates included breakfast are rather moderate!
Singles (1 bed):
3 upstairs
8 downstairs

Double (2 beds):
11 upstairs
10 downstairs

We are offering 2 rates for this group. The rates are below.

No breakfast rates:
1 person 1 bed: $56.15 a night
2 people 1 bed: $61.77 a night
2 people 2 beds: $73.00 a night

With breakfast rates:
1 person 1 bed: $61.77 a night
2 people 1 bed: $67.38 a night
2 people 2 beds: $84.23 a night

DINNER
Depending on the amount of people going to the dinner we would have to have you guys go to our local Elks lodge for their banquet room. There is no extra charge added for it being there instead of at our restaurant. It would be $30 a plate. This includes Main dish, soup or salad, and a dessert. At the lodge dinner comes with coffee or water BUT you would have access to the bar there for all drink types. Please let us know if that would work for you. Sorry it has taken so long we had to work out some details

THOUGHTS
If there is a concern that they do not have enough rooms there is also the Bridge Street Inn directly across the street whom I have not engaged. This place appears to have nicer rooms and the rates to match that - about $100 a night.

• The Elks Lodge is six blocks from the door
• Barley Browns Brew Pub a Baker City Mainstay is seven blocks from the door.
• The locale is "Old Baker City" which certainly has the character...
• Adam mentioned an affinity for the Best Western and it's history of hosting similar events. This is in "New Baker City" just off I-84... Personally I like the character of old town and Curt (Bartender at past RR's) vouches for the facility and the restaurant having stayed and eaten there.
• Oh and this would have to be in September, we have a ton of stuff going on May/June and kick off a 3-4 week ride June 14th.

What say the masses?

JP

Hi JP,
I'm in if the final dates don't conflict with my Track Days.
Thankfully, I've still got good knees, so I could take one of the upstairs singles.
I can go with or without the motel breakfast.

Thx for working on this!

PhatAir4Me said:

Howdy friends and family!

Sooooooo I am again looking at this possible event and if we are gonna do it we need to chit or get off it!

I have engaged Mark Linderman at the Oregon Trail Motel regarding the event and he was receptive and can provide for a Prime Rib Dinner from the restaurant on property but says they cannot accommodate the group in the restaurant itself and has cleared the path to have the dinner at the Elks Lodge which is six blocks from the facility which would probably be a better venue in regards to camaraderie. The details on lodging and dinner are as follows:

LODGING
This is what they have available as of last week.. the rates included breakfast are rather moderate!
Singles (1 bed):
3 upstairs
8 downstairs

Double (2 beds):
11 upstairs
10 downstairs

We are offering 2 rates for this group. The rates are below.

No breakfast rates:
1 person 1 bed: $56.15 a night
2 people 1 bed: $61.77 a night
2 people 2 beds: $73.00 a night

With breakfast rates:
1 person 1 bed: $61.77 a night
2 people 1 bed: $67.38 a night
2 people 2 beds: $84.23 a night

DINNER
Depending on the amount of people going to the dinner we would have to have you guys go to our local Elks lodge for their banquet room. There is no extra charge added for it being there instead of at our restaurant. It would be $30 a plate. This includes Main dish, soup or salad, and a dessert. At the lodge dinner comes with coffee or water BUT you would have access to the bar there for all drink types. Please let us know if that would work for you. Sorry it has taken so long we had to work out some details

THOUGHTS
If there is a concern that they do not have enough rooms there is also the Bridge Street Inn directly across the street whom I have not engaged. This place appears to have nicer rooms and the rates to match that - about $100 a night.

• The Elks Lodge is six blocks from the door
• Barley Browns Brew Pub a Baker City Mainstay is seven blocks from the door.
• The locale is "Old Baker City" which certainly has the character...
• Adam mentioned an affinity for the Best Western and it's history of hosting similar events. This is in "New Baker City" just off I-84... Personally I like the character of old town and Curt (Bartender at past RR's) vouches for the facility and the restaurant having stayed and eaten there.
• Oh and this would have to be in September, we have a ton of stuff going on May/June and kick off a 3-4 week ride June 14th.

What say the masses?

JP

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Do you know yet what weekend this will be in September? I'm already booked on the weekend of 9/22-9/24 but open on the others. If it's any other weekend, I'm in.