LAST WEDNESDAY NIGHT!!

Due to the dreaded daylight savings time change, it looks like this Wednesday will be our last to ride.  So, in order to make it a decent ride, let's plan to leave Casey's at 4 instead of 5.

SEE YOU AT 4 ON WEDNESDAY!! 

SIX PACK TO LOOKOUT

 Five other Wednesday night riders joined Bob on his leaf looking/lunch ride on Saturday.  Meeting at Casey's were Mike and Bill on bikes.  They were joined by Dave, Roger, and Bob on trikes, while Richard arrived with his slingshot.

STILL TIME FOR COFFEE

ROGER JOINS US AGAIN

WE'RE JUST ABOUT READY TO ROLL

FULL TANK & EMPTY BLADDER FIRST

LET'S GO!

The plan was to leaf look all the way up to the Lookout Bar & Grill near Arcadia and have lunch there.  On the way back the plan was to tackle some of the backroads starting with Alligator Slide.

The six of us left Waukon under sunny skies, with the outlook of a beautiful fall day ahead.  We took HWY 76 north to Caledonia, jumped on CR 10, back to 76, and on into Houston.  Along the bluffs with the sun shining on them, the gold color in the leaves was spectacular.

Just outside of Houston we ventured onto CR 9, followed it through Looney Valley and on up to CR 11.  We traversed along CR 11 up to Ridgeway (MN) where we met up with CR 12.  We raced along parallel to I 90 under repair until we got to Witoka, and then took CR 17 down the mountain and onto HWY 43 just outside of Winona.  After several round-a-bouts (training in Prarie du Chien paid off), we arrived on HWY 61.  After a couple of miles, we turned onto Huff St. and made a stop for a break at the Winona Visitor Center.

MIKE & RICHARD GET PARKED

DAVE EYES LAKE WINONA

A VIEW OF LAKE WINONA

ANOTHER VIEW--NOTICE THE TREES

BILL PARKS UNDER THE FALLING LEAVES

Before we were eaten alive by the Japanese beetles, we departed the visitor center and made our way through Winona passing by the university campus.  We crossed over the bridge on HWY 43/54 into Wisconsin and onto HWY 35 north.  We soon arrived at our first backroad across the Mississippi and took CR YY up the hill to CR M.  We followed M up to HWY 95.  Both of these county roads offered some great views, but nothing compared to the spectacular scenery we were to see on 95 all the way up to the Lookout.

Once we arrived at the Lookout, we were amazed at the small number of motorcycles and other vehicles in the parking lot.  Years before, it was always a chore finding a spot to park.  But not today, and we soon found out why.  When we thought we were going to have some lunch, we found out that the Lookout did not have a cook that day, so no food!  Quite a disappointment!  After visiting with some other bikers there, we learned that they got no food when they were there earlier in the summer.  It would seem to me that for this place to survive, they had better find a cook.

The Lookout was not a total loss.  We ordered some soft drinks and sat on the deck enjoying the view that this place is known for.

Once we were done with the drinks and the view, it was time to start our journey back.  This started with negotiating the most famous backroad in the area, Alligator Slide.  We were able to "slide" down the Slide without any problems.  The views from this road are amazing, but you'd better watch your way, or could slide right down a steep enbankment.

After our adventure down Alligator Slide, we arrived at River Road and wound our way over to CR J.  Again we rewarded with some great color as we made our way to Dodge (no Boot Hill) and onto CR P.  This last stretch of backroads took us on a colorful route down to HWY 35 and we headed south.  Everybody in this part of Wisconsin and Minnesota must have had the same idea we had.  Every tourist stop, including the fruit and berry places, were jammed with parked vehicles.

But still hungry from no lunch yet, we rolled into the Jailhouse Saloon, a place where some of us had stopped before in previous excursions.  It had been good food then, and it was now, except the place was very busy, and it took us a long time to get fed.  Wanting to make sure we got everybody back home before dark, we sped on HWY 35 through Centerville and Trempealeau to HWY 53 and took that four laner over to I 90.  We followed I 90 over to HWY 14 and stopped at LaCrescent Kwik Trip to refuel.  We then made our way to HWY 26 and headed south where eventually Mike and Roger departed for home.  Following 26 to HWY 9 in Lansing and then back to Waukon ended a great ride with some amazing scenery including color on the leaves.  Bob had 206 miles on his trike when he arrived home.

NINE ON NICE NIGHT

 This Wednesday night we had 9 riders show up at Casey's for a short but comfortable ride through the northeast Iowa countryside.

Aboard bikes were Bill, Dee, and Mike.  The three-wheelers were Richard, Mark, ChucK, Dave, and Bob.  Terry arrived in his new "cream puff" convertible. (It's a good one!)

DAVE ARRIVES READY TO GO

NICE BUNCH OF RIDES

EVERYONE INSPECTS TERRY'S NEW RIDE

With the sunset only about an hour and 15 minutes away, the group departs hoping to be back before darkness sets in.  We pass through Waukon and take HWY 76 north up to Bear Creek Drive (CR A26).  We enjoy the cruise through the countryside as the corn harvest is in full swing.  After arriving at Locust Road, we continue our journey by crossing over onto 337th St. and wind our way on smooth concrete over to North Winn Road (CR W34) and turn south.  After another set of hills and sweeping curves, we arrive at HWY 52 and head south towards Decorah.  On the way we have to brake for a pair of deer standing in the middle of the highway.  Once they decided which way they were going to go, we made our way down the hill to HWY 9.

HWY 9 is slowly getting its face lift done, but it still has a ways to go.  We stay on 9 and most of our riders depart for home on our way to Waukon.  Only Richard and Bob make the eats at Uptown.  Bob had 65 miles on the trike at Uptown.  A short, but nice fall ride!

CONGRATS TO TERRY ON HIS NEW PURCHASE!

Bob will be going on another "leaf look" ride this weekend (most likely on Saturday).  He plans to leave Casey's at 11 AM that morning and his plan is to ride up near Arcadia, WI, by passing through Winona and  have eats at the Lookout (formerly Hanson's), with one of the best scenery views in Wisconsin, and continue the ride back through some back roads and into LaCrosse and back home.  Anyone is welcome to join along.  If he has to wait until Sunday, then he will post the change on this blog, so stay tuned if you are interested in going along.  

Our mystery celebrity rider last blog was "Sound of Silence" Paul Simon, but I doubt if his bike copied his song title!  Bill made the correct identification.

I'm really dating myself with this one, but take a guess!

TRIO OF LEAF LOOKERS

 Only two other Wednesday Night Riders accomponyed Bob on his Sunday leaf looking ride.  Bill showed up on his bike, and Dave roared in on his trike.

BOTH PRETTY WELL BUNDLED UP

With temps right at 60 under sunny skies with a strong south wind, the trio departed Casey's on a route that Bob had planned out hopeing to see some autumn colors.  Bob's route contained some roads he was very familiar with, and some he hadn't been on for a while.

Our journey began with us cruising down HWY 76 south with a strong south wind trying to push us sideways.  Thanks to the farmers who had not yet harvested the corn next to the highway.  It really helped blocking the wind.

HWY 76 took us into Marquette and we then crossed over the Mississippi into Prairie du Chien on HWY 18.  After negotiating three round-a-bouts, we headed north on HWY 35.  Just outside of PdC, we turned onto Limery Road and up the hill we went passing by a very busy Shihata Orchard.  Limery ends at HWY 27, where we turned north until we got to CR N.  We rolled along N enjoying some great scenery but not much color and arrived in Wauzeka.

Just outside of Wauzeka we made our way to the newly refurbished HWY 131 heading north.  What a great highway for motorcycling, with smooth tarmac, sweeping curves, and incredible scenery!  Drifting along 131 and enjoying the views, we still didn't see much color.  We stayed on 131 through Steuben (all roads lead to Steuben) and Barnam until we arrived at Petersburg and then jumped onto CR S.  CR S took us over to HWY 61 and we went scooting north up to Rolling Ground where we stopped at the Sunrise Orchards at Hillcrest for a break.

What's a stop at an orchard without sampling the apple cider and having an apple cider donut?  So we did partake.  This is a smaller version of the Sunrise Orchard further down towards Gays Mills.  However, everything that the big place had, we could find here without getting run over by grocery carts.

After our break, we took a short hop over to HWY 171 and turned in an easterly direction.  This highway has also been recently refurbished, so we had a fun ride down the mountain until we came to CR H and headed back north.  CR H is another neat motorcycle road with plenty of scenery.  We soon connected with CR X, a road I had not been on for quite a while, and I soon realized what I had been missing.  If you can avoid the "road apples" from the Amish horses, the views along X are magnificent.  We went breezing along on CR X all the way up to HWY 14.

We cruised 14 right into Readstown and turned north again on HWY 131.  A short jog on 131 took us up to CR S, another smooth county blacktop, and we coasted on up to HWY 56 and cruised on into Viroqua for a short break at Kwik Trip.  We continued on 56 out of Viroqua until we reached CR N, and turned back south.  Finally, coasting along on N were were able to catch some beautiful color on the bluffs to the east of us.  We finished N by drifting past Purdy (Norwegian for "pretty") and arriving at HWY 82.  Hwy 82 is another recently refurbished road, so we easily made our way to Red Mound and instead of following 82 we took CR UU down the hills into Victory and hooked up with HWY 35 again.

HWY's 35 and 82 combine once we get to Desoto, and 82 splits off on the turn to Lansing.  HWY 82 takes us to the Lansing Ferry landing, where the ferry was just pulling away.  After about a half hour wait, we boarded the ferry (maybe for the last time), and floated over to Lansing.

BILL ABOARD THE FERRY

FLOATING TO LANSING

A GREAT DAY TO BE ON THE RIVER

DAVE ABOARD THE FERRY

 Once we hit Lansing, we dropped Bill off and headed up HWY 9 to Waukon.  Bob dropped off at his house and Dave made his way home.  Bob had 160 miles on his trike at home.  Not alot of color, but a great fall ride.  Maybe try next weekend if the weather cooperates.

Maybe the prettiest tree I saw all day is right in my backyard!

So far the weather looks good for a short ride Wednesday evening.

PRAYERS GO OUT FOR LOIS WHO IS HAVING SHOULDER SURGERY SHORTLY

MAGNIFICENT 7 ON WEDNESDAY

 We had seven riders show up on a cool Wednesday evening, and as Bob says, "If it's above 50 and not raining, I'm riding."  Riding bikes for the night were Mike, Bill, and Lois. The three wheelers were Mark, Dave, Richard, and Bob.

`ALL BUNDLED UP

ARE YOU SURE ABOUT THAT?

THE RIDES LOOK READY

EVEN DAVE SAYS IT'S WARM ENOUGH

The challenge this late in the season is to try to figure out a decent route and try to be back before dark, so no "dilly dalling" around, and off we go.  There must be something free in Waukon tonight, because the traffic going by Casey's was  heavy.  When we finally got out of the parking lot, we headed out on HWY 76.  After slowing down and letting traffic pass us, everyone caught up, at least temporarily.

After cruising south on 76 past Rossville, we turned onto Waterville Road, and a smooth scenic journey took us through Waterville and up to the Elon Road.  We followed Elon up to Lansing/Harpers Road and turned southernly.  Once we arrived at State Forest Road, into Yellow River Forest we went.  As we weaved our way along, we could see that many of the trees were beginning to put on their autumn clothes.  We soon arrived back at HWY 76, and again after waiting for everyone to catch up, we breezed down hill into Marquette.

Finally, after everyone caught up again, we made our way through Marquette and onto Pleasant Ridge Road.  We bumped our way up the hill until we reached the new blacktop at the top and coasted on into Monona.  After everyone caught up again, we took the Volney Road back to Rossville.  Along the way we saw numerous deer, but they were far off the road and grazing in freshly harvested corn fields.  Once we reached HWY 76 again and everyone caught up, we rolled on into Waukon where Lois, Richard, and Bob had eats at Uptown.  And yes, the hot soup tasted good!  Bob had 75 miles on the trike at Uptown.  Hopefully, this would not be the last Wednesday night ride, but who knows.

Since there were fewer photos this time, here's a few more from the trip to The National Farm Toy Museum last Sunday.

PHOTO BY LOIS--INCREDIBLE TOY WOOD CARVING

A RIDE SUNDAY

With the leaves changing fairly quickly, and pleasant temps for Sunday predicted, Bob is going to take his first, but hopefully not last, ride to check out the fall colors.  He plans to leave Casey's at 12:30 on Sunday afternoon if you want to ride along.

There were no winners in the name that celebrity motorcyclist contest last blog.  It was "Great Balls of Fire" Jerry Lee Lewis (1935-2022), a famous rock and roll pianist.

HOW ABOUT THIS GUY?!

SIX PACK TO TOY MUSEUM

 Five other Wednesday Night Riders accompanied Bob on his planned trip to the Farm Toy Museum in Dyersville on Sunday.  Mike & Joan and Lois arrived on bikes, and Dave, Richard, and Bob filled in with three wheelers.

MOST OF THE GANG IS HERE

MIKE HEADS FOR HIS RIDE

LET'S GO SEE SOME TOYS!

With a beautiful afternoon in store, Bob decided to take his "shortcut" to Dyersville. So we started out on HWY 76 south, took the Volney Road to Monona, and stayed for a short jog on HWY 18 to Golden Avenue.  We stayed on Golden Avenue/ Fawn Hollow Road (CR X28) through Farmersburg and into St. Olaf.  We then took CR B65 over to Gunder Road and followed Gunder Road into Elkader.

Just outside of Elkader we picked up HWY 13 and up the hill we went to catch CR X3C, appropriately named Grandview Road.  And the scenery was cerainly grand!  Grandview took us on a scenic journey down to Elkport where the name changes to Colesburg Road, so we stayed on it right into Colesburg.  Once in Colesburg, we stopped at the newly refurnished Hill Country Convenience Store for a break.

After our break, we departed Colesburg and after a short jaunt on HWY 3, we turned onto CR X47 and headed for Petersburg.  We stopped for a photo of the St. Peter & Paul Catholic Church there in Petersburg.  In Bob's humble opinion, this is the most beautiful church in this part of Iowa.  See what he means!

After the church photo shoot we continued on CR X47 until it ended at 210th St, which is actually historic old HWY 20.  We took this historic route passing under the viadoc at "dead man corners" and on into Dyersville.  We could have taken "new" HWY 20 around Dyersville, but Bob opted to go right through town on the main streets to pay homage to the veterans that had their photo images displayed on banners all along the way.  Dyersville did a great job honoring their veterans this way!

We continued our way through Dyersville and arrived at the National Farm Toy Museum.

WE FIND PLENTY OF PARKING 

If you've never been here, put it on your "bucket list".  It's a great facility, and they've done a wonderful job with the displays. Here's a few photos of just a few of the displays.

MORE THAN JUST FARM TOYS

What's a motorcycle trip on a weekend without food and ice cream?!  So we accomplished both by stopping at Happy Joe's after our toy visit.

Wanting to get back home before dark, we took our "normal" run back taking HWY 52 through New Vienna (where there's another beautiful Catholic church), Luxemberg, Millville, Guttenberg, and Garnavillo until we reached HWY 18 again.  With all the field work going on, the combines were really kicking up a lot of dust!

We turned west on 18 and passed by Froelich and Monona and made our way into Luana and onto Diplomat/Forest Mills Road (CR X16).  Continuing on Forest Mills Road, we breezed by the Gelo ranch and back to HWY 76 and on into Waukon.  Bob had right at 150 miles on his trike when he parked her.  He was glad to have some company along on this ride, and hopefully he will be able to make a leaf viewing ride one of these next weekends, since we noticed that the leafs are starting to turn.