Who we are, a History of Us.
I started my two-wheel trip when I was about eight years old. My dad had a Vespa Dealership, so I learned on Vespa’s and Toole Trooper’s. Fast forward a few years, and there were dirt bikes, twin cylinder thumpers, the CB 500, a Honda Hawk, and a CB900. The 900 was a great bike that needed some TLC, right up to the point the chain snapped and opened the transmission. In the Summer of 1984, while on Drill Sergeant status, a friend introduced me to his neighbor, Leslie. January of 1985, we were married adding Leslie and her three children, Chris, Jami, and Carolynn to my family. While working as an instructor for the NCO Academy, another instructor came over to visit and we first viewed a Goldwing. It was the most beautiful bike we had ever seen, and the decision was made, the next bike we would own would be a Goldwing. Then “Life” happened. In 1992, we finished a 20+ year military career and retired. Returning to Selah, Washington, we bought a home and I went to work for a wireless cable company for several years, then followed work to Idaho Falls, Idaho in 1996. In 1997, I got the family moved to Idaho, and we settled in Rigby. Work was good, and I was moving up when “Life” dealt us a blow. April of 2001, we had finished taking some new family photos and dropped our daughters off at their friends’ house, before going to a movie. When we arrived home, there were several messages on our answering machine asking how our daughter was. After several hours of phone calls and questions, the police arrived to tell us our youngest daughter had been in an accident and had died at the scene. It’s been eighteen years and we still miss her. In 2016, while working for a RV dealer in Idaho Falls, a co-worker asked me if I knew anyone interested in a motorcycle. His dad had it and was ready to let it go. Me teacher, me! After some investigation, we found we would finally get our first Goldwing, a 1986 Aspencade SEi 1200. After a new battery, new tires, new upholstery, and some new speakers, we were set. Twenty-eight years after the CB 900 left us stranded and we saw that beautiful blue Goldwing, we had one of our own. The Aspy got us back on two wheels and many a trip to Yellowstone reminded us why we wanted a bike. After two seasons, we started talking about retirement, and that something newer might be something to consider. June of 2018 found us selling the Aspy and replacing her with a beautiful black 2003 GL1800. Black Beauty has been a part of our life ever since. We began to think it would be nice to find some riding partners. Our rides on our own were awesome, but we saw so many great areas that we thought it would be better if we could share the experience. After some research, we found the GWRRA and decided, what the heck, let’s give it a try, if it doesn’t work out what have we lost. We made a couple meetings and a couple rides that first year including our first long vacation ride of 1800 miles, then Winter interrupted everything. I retired on March 21st this year, and as riding season was about to return and our membership to expire, we decided to stick with it, renewed, and attended our first District rally in Kamiah, Idaho. I was talked into taking the Road Captain course and learned a few new things. Yes, us old dogs can still learn. This Summer has been filled with many rides with our Chapter and our second vacation ride. Black Beauty was loaded up (overloaded if we’re being truthful) and away we went. After 3472 miles and 15 days, we had ridden Beartooth Pass, White and Chinook Passes in Washington, made several trips to Packwood for their Labor Day flea market, through part of Yellowstone, to Mount Rainier, and Crater Lake. We met with a couple Goldwing forum members we knew, met and spent an evening of great conversation with a couple who were not only Patriot Guard Riders, but Tim was on his ninth consecutive ride of the entire lower 48 states. They also presented me with a star from the “Stars for Our Troops” program. Tim had personally handed out over 5,000 of these over the years. We had two full grown men crying in the lobby that night. You do meet the nicest people on a Honda, even if they were riding a Harley. Somewhere down the road we’ll meet again. So, here we are again, the end of riding season, and me with a nice newly repaired rotator cuff. The Chapter needed to fill our officer positions and guess who got ask? Yep, me! Before we let our Chapter go away, we decided to step up. So here we are, new kids on the block, Leslie and I learning to be new Chapter Directors and looking forward to what comes next. We’ve made new friends, enjoyed new rides, learned a lot about our bike, and are making plans to get our Chapter back out on the road in 2020. Thanks for the friendship, thanks for the experiences, and thanks for allowing us to be part of a great organization.
Dave and Leslie Hanna, DD, Idaho