Friday and Saturday, July 15 and 16, 2016 (Merritt Rodeo Grounds, Merritt, BC)

Rain was the order of the day for Friday...let it rain today and get it out of it's system so we can be rain-free tomorrow for the annual Poker Ride!

Consequently, we really didn't do much today but hunker down inside for most of the day. We finished completing some paperwork for our Africa/France trip this fall and decided to drive to the post office in Merritt to mail the forms and other documentation the tour company required...and that was our big outing for the day.

The Cowichan Valley ATV Club members were all getting together for a potluck dinner at 5:30 but it was pouring out so Steve went over just after 4:00 to see if it was still on. It was...and by some miracle, the rain stopped and the sun actually peeked through just as we were walking over to Jim/Cecile's and Bob/Penny's RV's where the gathering was taking place. How about that?!

People are starting to gather for the potluck...

Peek a boo...I see you!

 Lots of delicious food!

 Penny, Doug, Jim, Bob, Dave...

 Bill, Zan, Gordie, Steve...

 Penny, Jim, Bob, Dave, Chris, Janet...

That's Nadie and Gary sitting by the trailer...

It was a great gathering...and then at 7:00, we all headed over to the grandstands for a rider's meeting regarding the the Poker Ride tomorrow. Ralph is giving us all of the particulars...should be a fun day, even if the forecast is for more rain!

After the meeting and buying our poker hands for tomorrow's ride, we walked down for another visit with Dave and Deb...and Steve and Purdy. Lots of big puddles and mud in the rodeo grounds now!

Saturday...the big event is today...the ATV/BC annual Poker Ride...grand prize win is $3,000! Now, that would be nice! The riders were starting to line up for the 9:00 start. Although we were ready to go by 9:00, we weren't in any hurry...it ended up being closer to 10:00 by the time we hit the trails.

Dave and Deb would start out leading our group. Originally there were 6 machines in our group but we ended up with 15.

Purdy and Steve in their side-by-side...

Steve and I...

Janet and Bill...and...Cecile and Jim...also in their side-by-sides (side-by-sides are becoming much more popular up here in BC). Note the relatively clean looking green Arctic Cat with no front fenders...stay tuned!

Chris and Dave...

Lisa and Matt...

Dave (and I) were admiring this fellow's Polaris Ace...it's like a mini side-by-side, but only has a single seat...

And were're off to climb the hill that fella rolled his quad from the other day...

Everyone made it safely...

Our first stop...time to draw our first hand. The couple in black are from the Right Nuts ATV Club in Chilliwack. Dave Galloway (Elkford Club) at the end of the table. Dave took us riding in 2011, our second year on the road...

Dave's, brother Gord Galloway "guarding" the public road, ensuring everyone has a safe crossing...

Our group...

This was a super rough section to ride through...

The scenery was beautiful...

See that little guy on that "crotch-rocket"? He went zooming past me and I nearly got covered in mud!

It was a fair distance to our second stop...this time Steve drew the hand. It was also a tad bit wet out! Thank goodness for rain gear!!

Our third stop. With the rain gear and water proof gloves on Steve didn't have easy access to the camera so no photos were taken between these stops. Steve decided I should draw the rest of the hands...

Shortly after that stop, we rode a little further along the trail and stopped for lunch...

Lisa and Matt...with Gordie arriving to join us...

Remember the green Arctic Cat I mentioned earlier. Bill and Janet...poor Janet, she is covered with mud (and other wonderful stuff with all of those free-range cattle wandering around...eewww!)

Another group passing us on the trail...

We had a lovely view from this spot, but it was a long way to go to find some privacy so I could take a pee! See me way off in the distance, centre left?

Doug and Candice watching this part of the trail to ensure everyone goes in the right direction...

And our fourth stop and poker hand draw...now we're on the final stretch home.

Bob and Sue Stewart from the Prince George Club that we winter with in Quartzsite under the canopy. Chris and Dave checking their poker hand ...

Time to wash off the mud!

Almost home now...what a great view of Merritt!

Bill, how about springing for some fenders?!

It was just before 2:00 when we arrived home. What an excellent day! The course took us 4 hours and was 67 kms. I understand there were 93 riders participating.  We parked the quads and then walked over to the grandstands where the fifth and final poker draw was...I'm afraid there's no winning hand for us! The best we had were 2 pairs, Jacks and 8's.

Our very dirty quads!

By the time we got everything put away and had showers, it was time to go back to the grandstands for the announcements of the major winners...and the drawing for door prizes.
Fellow in the red hat was from BC Backroads Maps (they gave away a number of door prizes),

Grand prize winner of $3000 left, Doug, Ralph and Sheila...

Looks like Ralph is howling at something...

Mario (in front of the lady in red) won a prize...again! $200, not too shabby! He is very lucky, having won some great prizes at a number of the ATV/BC events...

Well, Steve and I walked away with nothing again this year...we just made our usual "donations" buying 50/50 tickets and poker hands...oh well, we had fun!

We invited some folks to join us for happy hour. Left to right...Chris, Steve, Gary, Dave, Steve, Purdy, Deb, Dave, and Mario...

We enjoyed a great couple of hours and then it was time to head over for dinner, being held underneath the grandstands. We were last in line to fill our plates...Dave, Gary, Chris and me...

The food was good but there was a pretty low turn out for it...I think the cost was a big deterrence...$25/plate was a wee bit on the high side.

Unfortunately I can't remember the couple's names on the far end of the table, but that's Doug on this side with his wife, Candice, in the middle on the far side, with Nadi beside her...

Zan and Gary on the left and Paul on the right...

Chris, Dave and Steve...

After dinner we wandered around visiting folks for a bit and then I went inside while Steve went over to join a group across the road.

I think everyone really enjoyed the actual poker ride...the organizers put a lot of work into it and the trail route and tagging was excellent. There was a great turnout from the Cowichan Valley ATV Club so seeing them all and socializing was wonderful. However there was a lot of disappointment being expressed in the lack of other activities that "didn't come together" for one reason or another, as planned. It was disappointing that the ice cream ride was cancelled...as well as the quad-rodeo. Oh well...things happen...but overall I think everyone had a great time. We know we did!