Held in various venues from one end of town to the other under different promoters in the Ruidoso area over the years, the present incarnation, the Golden Aspen Rally, is at the Inn of The Mountain Gods on the Mescalaro Apache Reservation, the ancestral home of Geronimo. Now you can lose your money with an unregulated casino or visit one of the three lawyer referral services that want you to sign up for their services before you might be in a wreck. Better to ride carefully and not wreck or get an unneeded lawyer  referral.

 

   My first experience at the Aspencade under the ownership of Til Thompson was in the early ’70s and Til left no doublt that it was his event lock, stock, and barrel. He was a loveable, benevolent dictator that created an event that remains today. He also invented the trade show with a door charge that continues today. And for the past many years, Barnett Harley-Davidson, the major sponsor, shows up with a full crew and a mini-supermarket of discounted motor clothes, parts, tires, and pre-owned motorcycles. Barnett’s takes up about 25% of the available vendor space plus has a PHD-rated mechanic whose services are available on site.

 

Ya wanna ride? Visit the grave of SmokeyBear in Capitan, walk the streets that Billy the Kid walked and the jail that he escaped from in Lincoln, and all the great roadss surrounding Ruidoso.  An awesome ride is NM244 off of US70 to Cloudcroft through the reservation. You a believer? then ride the short distance to Roswell for a little Alien atmosphere. A side note: the Roswell event took place July 1947 within days of the “Hollister riot.” H-m-m?

 

   Want some excitement day or night? Visit Quarters Bar on the main drag and watch or partake in the party there under the watchful eyes of the man. By the by, don’t hot rod on the main drag. You will get pulled over and if you’ve had a drink or two, it will go from bad to worse in a hurry!

Something I found amazing is the 1%-ers are Hondas with almost 99% of the motorcycles, at what was originally a Honda event, Harley Davidsons. Oh well, excretion  occurs!

 

  Let me state that the buffet at the Inn of the Mountain Gods left much to be desired. I’d rather eat at a high school cafeteria or Furr’s Buffet in El Paso! But, but, but, there are exceptions to every rule and that is where the snack bar in the hallway between the hotel (Why do the owners call the lodging a hotel instead of an inn at The Inn of The Mountain Gods?) and the casino comes into play.

 

  What this food talk is all leading to is something called FRITO Pie. Many years ago on the Plaza in Santa Fe, New Mexico, before all the shops turned into tourist shops, there was an F.W.Woolworth’s Five-and-Dime store with a lunch counter. Many of the workers in the area bought lunch there and either ate at the counter or went and sat in the historic Plaza. The specialty of Woolworth’s was a concoction which consisted of cutting the top off a small FRITO chips bag and dumping a filling on top of the chips consisting of a great meaty sauce topped with grated yellow cheese and onions if requested. If I remember this delicacy sold for 99-cents plus tax. Over the years thousands were devoured before Woolworth’s went out of business and then, no more FRITO pies.

 

   So, I’m at the rally looking for something to eat and I spy the sign hustling hot dogs, hamburgers, etc. and FRITO pie. For $2.50, if it sucks I can dump it. But, but, but, to my surprise, the taste and vision of Woolworth’s on the Plaza in Santa Fe came rushing back. I was amazed and over the course I ate four FRITO pies and would highly recommend that if you are ever at the Mescalaro Apaches’ Inn of the Mountain Gods, ya gotta try one.