WE WENT HOME A'GIN

We had 11 riders show up at Casey's for another beautiful Wednesday night to ride. Under partly cloudy skies and temps in the mid 80's, Bill, Mike, Lois, and Dee arrived on bikes.  The three-wheel gang was Richard & Melodye, Mark, Dave, Ron, ChucK, and Bob.

EARLY ARRIVALS

CHECKING OUT MARK'S NEW CHROME

MIKE GIVES HIS APPROVAL

TWO TRIKERS

RON ARRIVES

LOIS ROLLS IN

DEE LEADS ChucK IN

As previously advertised on the blog, Bob set the destination for the night at a spot in Mt. Hope, WI, called Home A'Gin, a popular bar and eating establishment.

We took off down HWY 76 south to Rossville, and then turned there onto CR X26 (Volney Road) and cruised on into Monona.  Just outside of Monona, we arrived at HWY 18 and followed it past Froelich and Giard and through Marquette then over the bridge into Prarie du Chien.  In PdC, we had to stop at a light for some road repair and then continued skirting around the city on the HWY 18 bypass until we reached HWY 18 and rolled out of town heading east.

Once we crossed the Wisconsin River bridge, we turned onto CR C, and made a twisty, scenic drive along the Wisconsin River passing through Millville and up to HWY 133.  (We don't need no stinking yellow lines!) Upon arriving at HWY 133, we cruised along a smooth and scenic stretch of highway back over to HWY 18.

After a short jog on 18 we took CR J into the big city of Mt. Hope and found some parking for our rides near Home A'Gins.

BILL WONDERS HOW WE GOT HERE

SOME HAD TO PARK AROUND THE CORNER

AND MAKE THE WALK INTO HOME A'GINS

Home A'Gins serves delicious food and it always seems to be busy.  On Wednesday nights they draw a huge crowd for their meat raffle and taco night.  They also have an all-you-can-eat fish night on Fridays, and an all-you-can-eat homemade pizza night on Saturdays.  I have attended both of these nights, and the fish and pizza were great!  After working our way through the crowd, we got some refreshing drinks and gathered outside to talk and hydrate.

When it was time to leave, most of us followed Bob onto CR J and over to CR A that took us over to HWY 35.  We passed through Bloomington and Patch Grove heading north until we reached HWY 18 again.  We then turned in a westerly direction and retraced our route back into Prairie du Chien.

After crossing the Mississippi River bridge, most of us turned onto HWY 76 in Marquette as Bob said we were going to do.  Some others continued on Hwy 18 heading home. Fortunately no one followed them! Motoring up HWY 76, we were again treated to a spectacular sunset.  The photos I took, do not do it justice.

Once we arrived in Waukon, Bill, Richard, and Bob stopped to eat at Uptown where we shared croutons.  Bob had 112 miles on his trike at Uptown.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Next Wednesday, the destination looks to be Volga City.

This Sunday, the 16th, is another RTE (Ride To Eat).  This one is our now annual Kickapoo Corners Hot Beef Sandwich Run.  The plan is to leave Casey's at 10:30 Sunday morning and venture over to Kickapoo Corners by passing through Prairie du Chien.  There will be a good chance that we will be taking the car ferry to Lansing back home. You do not have to have a hot beef sandwich, but you don't know what you will be missing.  They are semi world famous!

Right now it looks like the Couples Trip scheduled for Mid September is not going to happen for the Rotach's.  If someone else wants to plan a couples trip for those dates, feel free to do so.  Otherwise we will put the trip to see the grotto in West Bend on hold until next year.  I know some of the group are planning a fishing trip, so that weekend may be open.

No one guessed who the motorcycle celebrity was on the last blog.  It was "A Wonderful World", Louie Armstrong!  How about this guy?

GARY'S FUNERAL SERVICE

 The Gelo family has elected not to use a motorcycle escourt to the cemetery after Gary's funeral.  I will be stopping by the funeral home before the ride tonight for his visitation and will drop off a card from the Wednesday Night Riders.

Again, sympathy for Gloria and the rest of the Gelo family.

GARY GELO

As some of you may know by now, Gary Gelo passed away last Sunday.  Before his illness, Gary and Gloria  rode with our Wednesday Night Riders group with their Gold Wing trike.  

As is our tradition, when one of our riders passes away, we offer our motorcycle escourt from the funeral service to the cemetery.  I have reached out to Martin-Grau Funeral Home saying we would do this if the family wishes. The funeral home will contact me if they do, probably tomorrow.  I will keep you informed via this blog, and hopefully we will have a good number of Wednesday Night Riders participating.

Gary's funeral is at 12 PM Thursday at the funeral home, and burial will be in Oakland Cemetery following the service, and there is a lunch following at Lid's.

There is a visitation for Gary tomorrow at the funeral home from 4 PM to 7 PM.  Gary's obituary can be found on the Martin-Grau listing on the internet.

Our sympathies go out to Gloria and the rest of the Gelo family.

HUNGRY AGAIN?!!

Apparently stuffing our faces at Gunder on Wednesday night was not enough to satisfy enough Wednesday Night Riders, so 18 of them showed up for our Mystery RTE (Ride To Eat) at Casey's on Saturday afternoon.  I'm thinking it was just a beautiful day for a ride, and nobody really wanted anything to eat (LOL).

The large group of two-wheelers consisted of Jim & Cathy, Lee, Bill & Beth Ellen, Mike & Joan, Dee, Chuckles, and Lois.  Three-wheelers were Terry, Wayne, ChucK, Dave, Roger, Richard & Melodye, and Bob.

EARLY ARRIVALS

THE GANG GROWS

HERE'S DAVE

ChucK & DEE JOIN THE GANG

HERE'S CHUCKLES & LOIS

THE SLING SHOT ARRIVES

QUITE A BUNCH

LEE DEMONSTRATES THE PROPER GRIP

MIKE DOESN'T BELIEVE IT

JIM LOOKS DOUBTFUL

ROGER ARRIVES

 With Bob being the only one who knew where the mystery ride was going, we departed Casey's with clear skies and the temp right at 80, a perfect day for a ride.

NOW, IF BOB CAN JUST FIND THE STARTER BUTTON!

As we had such a large group, it was important for the leader to pause at certain points to make sure everyone was still with us.  Our first turn was off HWY 76 and down CR X16 (Forest Mills Road).  We cruised past the Gelo territory and on into Luana and then onto HWY 18 heading east.  After passing by Monona, we turned onto CR X28 (Golden Avenue & Fawn Hollow Road) and cruised through Farmersburg and into St. Olaf.  (Some thought we were going to stop at the St. Olaf Tavern--WRONG!)

We turned back east in St. Olaf and followed CR B65 (200th St.) over to HWY 13.  We followed 13 for a short distance south and then turned back east on HWY 128 and sailed through Clayton Center over to HWY 52. Turning southward on 52, we passed through Garnavillo and then jumped onto CR X47 (Kale Avenue).  The scenery really began to pick up as we made our way over to CR C7X (Garber Road) (Some thought we were going to stop at the Stockyard in Osterdock--WRONG).

We meandered down Garber Road until we were back on HWY 52 just outside of Guttenberg.  We motored on into Guttenberg (Some though we were going to stop at Joe's for pizza--WRONG AGAIN!)  At the edge of Guttengerg, we picked up CR X56 (Great River Road) and up the hill we went until we reached 228th St and turned toward Clayton.  We turned onto Front St. in Clayton, and there in front of us was our mystery destination, Clayton Lighthouse.

On such a beautiful day, this small river town was packed, so parking became quite a challenge. But as soon as everyone was parked, we entered the very busy establishment.  However, even as busy as they were, we were quickly seated with a view of the river, and before too long our drinks and food orders were placed.

GUESS WHO ORDERED COFFEE?

FRONT WINDOW SEATING

THE THIRD TABLE

PLENTY OF DRINKS

THE LOOK OF SATISFACTION?

Considering the crowd, the service was as good as could be expected, and there were no verbal complaints about the food.  Mine was delicious, and I had to take some home in a box.

After we departed the Lighthouse, we headed back up the hill and back onto the Great River Road and followed it on past Pikes Peak Park and into a very busy McGregor.  We passed along the river and into Marquette where we picked up HWY 76 and continued past Effigy Mounds where Bob had to dodge a meandering raccoon.  When we reached the top of the hill, we were treated to a spectacular sunset!  A beautiful ending to a great day of riding, friendship, and good food.  I ended up with 105 miles on the Wing.

UPCOMING EVENTS

Wednesday night may be a trip over to Mt. Hope, and next Sunday is another RTE (Ride To Eat) for our annual Kickapoo Corners Hot Beef Sandwhich Run.  One thing about being a Wednesday Night Rider, you are not going to starve to death!

HUNGER FOR GUNDER

We had a whopping 17 riders on 12 units show up at Casey's this Wednesday.  Must have been the promise of a food stop at Gunder, usually something we try to do each year when Uptown closes for a week.

Mike & Joan, Lois, Chuckles, Bill, and Jim & Cathy made up the two-wheeled gang.  Arriving on three wheels were Bernell & Kathy, Terry, Mark, Ron & Helen, Richard & Melodye, Dave, and Bob.

THE EARLY ARRIVALS

THAT'S A HARLEY, MARK.  DON'T TOUCH!

FRESH BACK FROM THE SUMMER TRIP

CAN HE EAT WITH A HELMET ON?!

DAVE ARRIVES. WE'LL BE 
HEADING BACK HIS WAY

BILL--JUST IN CASE WE GO OFF ROAD!

WONDERING IF WE'RE GOING TO STOP FOR COFFEE

The sun peeked out for a while, but the rain hads stopped, so we departed Casey's with temps in the mid 70's.  Bob felt well enough to lead this excursion, so we took his "shortcut" to Gunder.

Our journey began heading west on HWY 9.  When we reached CR W60 (Old Stage Road or West Ridge Road), we turned south.  Whatever this road is called, the county's use of chip seal had made it even rougher!  It was a relief when we finally reached Yellow River Drive and took a much smoother jog west over to HWY 51.

Following 51, we cruised through Postville (I could still smell burnt chickens) and took HWY 18 west passing through Clermont.  Just east of West Union, we turned onto CR B64 (Golden Road) and made a "golden" ride into Elgin.  We passed through Elgin on B64 and continued a scenic ride up the hill to the metropolis of Gunder and our stop at the "nearly world famous" Gunder Roadhouse. 

We were able to find various parking spots in Gunder.

SOME CHOSE THE CEMETERY

SOME CHOSE THE OLD CREAMERY

SOME CHOSE THE CORN FIELD

AND MOST SAID IT WAS TIME TO EAT!

The staff at Gunder Roadhouse was very accomodating, considering the large gang we had.  They found us seating easily, and the food and service were great!  There was a variety of food served to us, but no one dared to tackle the one pound famous Gunder Burger.  The last person I know who polished off one of those was Carl Thornton.

A WELL FED GROUP

MUST HAVE MADE BILL DROUSY

ANOTHER BUNCH OF SATISFIED EATERS

After vamoosing from Gunder Roadhouse, Ron & Helen and Bernell & Kathy took a "direct" route back home.  Dave stayed in his home territory, while the rest of the pack took the remainder of Gunder Road back up to HWY 18.  This portion of the Gunder Road was famous for the frost heavings making for a rough ride, but apparently the county ground them down, and it made it a little smoother.

Once we reached HWY 18, we breezed into Postville again, this time from the other side, and then turned onto Cherry Valley Drive.  We took this scenic stretch of concrete over to Forest Mills Road and turned north.  Jim & Cathy dropped off at their plantation as we passed by, and the rest of us continued on to HWY 76.  Once there we took the short jog into Waukon to end a good ride with great company and exceptional food.  I'm guessing we racked up about 80 miles for those of us returning to Waukon.

UPCOMING EVENT

This Saturday, August 8th, is another of our "mystery" (I'd tell 'ya, but I'd have to kill 'ya) rides.  The plan is to leave Casey's at 4 that afternoon and find a spot for some supper eats, and get back before dark.  Hopefully Bob will feel well enough to lead again.

HOW ABOUT THIS GUY!!  WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD!!