by (bassduke49) » Tue Aug 20, 2013 6:45 pm
I really enjoyed meeting old friends and new, and meeting our gracious host, Dan. What a great shop! Thanks to Joshua, too, for helping set up the get together. It was great seeing Jeff Rath, and I wish he would/could come back into the fold here. Apparently, he had a run-in with someone here and a lot of heat was exchanged and he voluntarily kicked himself off RRF. One person who didn't hang around for the photos was Larry Bolt from Fort Collins. Larry was kind enough to contribute photos of a rare 2050 for the book.
Yes, Dorothy was with me on this trip. We spent three days in a B&B in Fort Collins (I used to live there from 1977 to '82) and I was attending the national model contest in adjacent Loveland. Saturday we drove up the Thompson Canyon to Estes Park and ate $15 burgers at the Stanley Hotel (re "The Shining") there. Then Sunday we drove into Boulder and up Boulder Canyon for a bit before going to Premier. While I was commiserating with the Rick folks, Dorothy found a coin-op to do our mid-trip laundry. Afterwards, we had supper with friends in nearby Louisville, then we overnighted south of Denver. Yesterday, we drove down through the San Luis valley and into New Mexico to Ojo Caliente (natural springs spa) to meet with Dorothy's sister for an overnight. Today the three of us are enjoying San Tafe (as I like to call it), and tomorrow it's back up through the middle of Colorado for an overnight at a B&B in Estes Park, CO. Then the long (flat and slightly downhill) drive back home.
And if anyone is thinking "all those Ricks back in Wisconsin and he's away" - well, good luck getting by former-Marine Spike (the house sitter) and his dog, Spike (yeah, I know . . . ) who would be pleased to greet intruders in their own special way.
I hope we can meet more Rick enthusiasts at more events like this in the future!
Author: "The Rickenbacker Electric Bass - 50 Years As Rock's Bottom"