The RAT raid was a quiet but wonderful meet.

We met Jim Callahan at the Yurts on Thursday afternoon. He was easy to spot, riding up the hill standing up on his Tiger, looking as comfy and confident as a cat with a mouse. In our case the cat was a Tiger!!

Ray and Chris showed up (in their car, due to his broken leg) and even brought their little dog Duke! What a cutie! They tended to the campground and helped cook. It looked as though Ray could have chewed the cast off his leg after watching us all take off for rides. He was definitely a good sport about it.

Friday, Tim showed up on his Daytona. Beautiful and well loved and we took a ride towards Tahoe 120 to 395 to 108 taking the junction of 49 back t0 120 west.

We stopped in Lee Vining where gas was $2.64 a gallon! There is definitely something to be said about having a larger gas tank… you Tiger owners.

It was great ride and we had the pleasure of having a beautiful Bonnie accompany us by Brian Odom. His Bonnie, Silver/Orange paint job was equipped with Kehin carbs, a great looking Corbin seat and a tail piece made special from England. One that even included an apartment that would carry maps, cigarettes and gun! His Uncle "Jim Odom" was a racer for Triumph back in the sixties and seventies. It's nice to see that the love for Triumph remains in their family.

Our Yurts were like home away from home, with everything you would need from home. It was hard to bar-b-queue when you had the oven and microwaves. We had a nice time sitting around the fire roasting marshmallows and talking bikes.

Saturday we took a 330 mile ride through the mountains. Ahhh… It was the Tigers leading in the front! Both Jim and Scott were riding very impressively, roaring around on their Tigers, doing things I would never even dream of doing. Having Jim, Scott and Bill leading, going the pace that they were, I would have to say they were the Flying Tigers of the group.

Carollyn, who had just purchased her RS, was having quite a time learning the roads and her new bike at the same time. I will say that Carollyn put on over 900 miles on her bike "Beast" that weekend. She had a great time and learned a few things about her bike as well. Good going Carollyn! That's a big jump from a Norton 750. Now she just has to work on her speeds and she will be in like flint guys.

It was a long Saturday ride and the guys were ready for an evening of relaxation. Jim was great, making sure that Carollyn stayed with the group and even though she was slow, he was still the happy person he started out as when we got back to the camp ground.

When we signed in for the event, Jim handed us Triumph fleece jackets with the words 2003 Yosemite RAT Raid and the RAT Logo embroidered on them. We all thanked Jim for his thoughtfulness.

Sunday, most people went home. Well, my battery on "Dasher" my Trident was dry as a bone. Ray took me into the town closest to us and even finding distilled water turned out to be one tough job. I was able to get jumpers cables, a battery tender and water and stuck her on the charger with the anticipation that she would be good to go on Monday. With that taken care of, the few of us left went into town to the Iron Door Saloon for dinner, which happens to be the first bar to have a liquor license in California.

Back at the camp ground, we sat in front of a campfire giving our corn chips to the squirrels and Blue Jays. Well, I picked up the corn chip bag and brought it into the Yurt and out popped Rocky, and no he didn't fly out either. It was amusing to see Jim and Bruce try to get the squirrel out of the Yurt with a broom and papers. Bruce couldn't find him and as he was sitting on his bed, Rocky was right next to his head just looking at him. Rocky didn't want to use the door, so Bruce unscrewed the bottom of the Yurt and out went Rocky. Just to let you know, the broom was not to hit Rocky, but to help make a path to the door. He was happily outside eating more chips moments later. I don't think he will be brown bagging it any time soon.

Jim left that morning, and Bruce and I left a while later. It was a hot trip home, but it was worth every minute of the weekend.

Although it was rather a small get together, Jim made it special for us. I do hope that next year will bring more of you on our raids.