#67 Moonshine!

April 14, 2007
28 miles...cold, very cold and wet miles!
Moonshine
Day 3
Saturday

Since I decided at the last minute (or at least in the last week) to attend Moonshine, I couldn't get a room at Casey...Moonshiners already had it booked up. But when the weather turned nasty, I tried my luck and sure enough...I was fortunate enough to nab a forfeited room.

And the nasty weather didn't disappoint. Saturday morning we woke up to a cold, wet rain blowing around outside. But Moonshine WILL NOT BE CANCELLED!

What is Moonshine, you ask?

Not found on all maps and GPS does't know where it is,

but that's what makes it challenging to find and special when you do.

Moonshine, Illinois: Population 2

Home to Moonshine Store and the MOONBURGER.

Target of a massive "Ride To Eat" by motorcyclists from across the country. for the complete story and more photos...click here:

http://moonshine-run.com/Moonshine/

Helen and Roy own and operate the Moonshine Store and Helen makes a mean Moonburger. Worth traveling hundreds of miles for! As was evident this day.

The Moonshine Store is about 13 miles from the Comfort Inn in Casey. Since we wouldn't want to overwhelm Helen, small groups left the motel heading for Moonshine every 30 minutes or so starting about 10:30am. I joined the group that left about 11:30am . It was a cold rain when we left the motel and freezing rain at 32 degrees when we returned about 1pm. This was the only outing Fleeter had that day. That was enough. Not good weather to be out fleetering in! But worth it! After riding 802 miles, you bet I was going to ride the last 13 miles to Moonshine!

A group lining up to go to Moonshine.

And here's.......MOONSHINE!





Moonburgers in the making.
Double cheese moonburgers....
This sign was hanging on the counter where we placed our orders.
Helen, the best host ever!
Can you imagine hosting over 400 hungry riders ... all wanting a moonburger or moonburgerS!
Roy had a grill set up outside in an old shed. He had his grill fired up to help supply the demand, but he tried to tell us that he was selling them cheaper...going into competition with Helen. I don't think he'd be very successful if he can't stop eating up the merchandise!
And here's Roy...eating the profits!

These folks had a good attitude about it all even though they weren't expecting to get caught up in this mad house. They just came down for a moonburger, but got a show to boot! I chatted with them for a bit...I think their name is Tremble. Carolyn, if you see this...email me your pictures. Mine we took outside didn't make it.

To get a photo, I walked across the street looking for a good vantage point. There was a pickup I noticed with someone inside. I went up to ask permission to stand in the truck bed. "Sure," they said. They were local folk. They just drove over and parked in the empty field to watch all the motorcycles coming and going. The whole community seemed to know who we were and why we were there. The small town welcomed us.

This was the 3rd Annual Moonshine Lunch Run. A local farmer who likes to ride near and far started the tradition by inviting a few friends to join him for a Moonburg two years ago.

Go here for more on the history of Moonshine:

http://moonshine-run.com/Moonshine/History.htm

While riding back to the motel from Moonshine, the weather worsened ... now 32 degrees with freezing rain. We even had small snow teasing us with flurries.

Some of us that had been undecided whether to stay another night...decided then. We're staying.

So Saturday afternoon/evening turned into a great kicked-back socializing event. I met many great people over the weekend and the bad weather just gave me more time to enjoy time with them.

But finally, sometime after after 2am, it was time to get to my room. I still had to decide where to go next. As we all saw on the TV, the really bad weather was heading to the east coast...so I sure don't want to go home yet. I need to give all that bad weather time to clear out first. I think I'll go west...according to the weather channel, it's sunny and warmer that direction.

Tomorrow I fleeter westward.


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