HE'S ON HIS WAY!!

It's going to take him a while, but Santa's on his way to your house if you've been good little girls and boys!

HERE'S WISHING ALL THE WEDNESDAY
NIGHT RIDERS AND THEIR FAMILIES....
A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Keep Wednesday night, January 14th open.  That's when I'm planning the annual PMS meeting.  You will be receiving an official notice in the mail shortly after the new year.

A NOTE FROM SANTA

Apparently Santa and Chuckles are big buddies now.  Here's the story according to Chuckles.

Chuckles & Santa at the ER at VMH

Santa was taking the Gold Wing on a hot lap down one of Bob R's famous roads.  At one of the stop signs, Santa slipped and fell over.  Chuckles saw Santa and went right over to help him (he's that kind of guy).  Chuckles asked Santa if he was OK, and he replied, "My left elbow hurts."  Chuckles took him to the ER to have his elbow x-rayed.  Good news!  It was just a sprain, so Chuckles helped put a sling on him.

Santa looked at Chuckles and said, "Won't you ride my Gold Wing tonight?"  Chuckles was glad he could help (he's that kind of guy).  As Santa left to go back to the North Pole, we heard as he rode out of sight, "Merry Christmas WNR, and to all a goodnight!"



My only comment is:  If you want Chuckles (aka Santa) to bring you any gifts, you had better leave some free donuts for him!

WALKING WOUNDED

As some of you may not know, a couple of our WNR riders have had to go under the surgeon's knife this winter. 

Gary "Drag-A-Leg" Klein had knee surgery.  His doctor told him the bad knee was caused by years of shifting the Harley.  I saw him at the Waukon Wellness Center the other day, and he is recovering nicely.  Gary is a "tough old bird", but he did say he was going to have to make some changes to the Harley come spring.  He didn't say for sure what the changes are, but I'm going to make a guess.  See below:

THIS SHOULD DO THE TRICK!

Our second wounded warrior is Bugsy.  He's recovering from hernia surgery.  And I thought "heavy metal" was the name of a band!  Bugsy is a tough guy also, but he said he's going to have to make some changes on his Goldwing this spring also.  Since everyone knows that Bugsy has a lot of metal and a big imagination, I'm going to make a guess here also.  See below:

BUGSY MAKING A LANDING IN HIS NEW TRIKE

SANTA

We just got back from visiting the grand kids in Denver.  The weather there was somewhat cool, but on both Thursday and Friday the temperature got up into the low seventies, so I did see and got to talk to some bikers who were out (lucky devils!)

We took the four grand kids to Bass Pro Shop where they could have their picture taken with Santa.  The three girls had no problem, but our two-year old grand son wanted nothing to do with the bearded gentleman.  I told them that he was going to ask if they had been good kids this year.  Of course, I'm sure the girls claimed they were.  Then I got to wondering if Santa would come to my house this year.  I was pretty sure he would so I asked him.  He said he would, but he wanted to know if there was anyone in our Wednesday Night group that needed a special visit, so I gave him everyone's name and let him choose.  Today I got back his response--see below!

SANTA COMING TO BOB'S HOUSE

SANTA AT CHUCKLES' HOUSE

A NEAT BLESSING

I'm not going to go on about the crap weather, since you already know how much I hate winter, so I thought I would share a blessing with you.

First a little background.  As most of you know, Julie's mother passed away in October at the age of 99.  While I was at the wake at St. Boniface Church in Waukee, I happened by their announcement board, and low and behold, I found out that this church has a group of bikers that meet at the church every Monday for a ride together and a stop for food afterwards.  They also have special rides scheduled throughout the riding season.  They call themselves the Blessed Bikers.  Except for the day of the week and the blessed part, it reminds me of a group I know.

I did ask the pastor, Father Vince Resonke, if he rides along with them also.  He said the closest he comes is having his picture taken while sitting on one of the bikes.  However, he did write a blessing for them that I wanted to share with you.  By the way, the good Father grew up in New Hampton, so he knew about Waukon and extends the following blessing.  It's called "Onto the Open Road"

Onto the open road we ride---
Surrounded by the fresh air of nature.
         Side by side we travel
        Down the many roads---
  Each day a new adventure--
      Each time, new friends.
Bless our comings and goings;
      Bless our time together.
Keep us safe as we ride our paths;
      May we always notice
   The beauty of your creation.
       May we put our trust
      In the one next to us as 
Onto the open road we ride....

----Fr. Vince Rosonke

WINTER SHOWED UP!

I was able to get a ride in on Monday this week, then the bottom dropped out on the temps.  I went through Decorah to Ridgeway and then took the Madison Road back to Decorah and back to Waukon for about 60 miles. (Remember it has to be at least 50 miles to count as a ride.) The sixty miles put me at 50,000 on the Wing, so it was due for the oil change and Sea Foam treatment for the winter.  Hopefully I'm not done riding here in Iowa yet, but it doesn't look good in the upcoming forecasts. 

Things must be rough all over.  I see in the news that they shot a weather man out east!  
If you think you've got troubles, check this guy out.  He must be the one that taught Chuckles how to plan routes!

NOVEMBER RIDE

It was Wednesday afternoon instead of Wednesday night, but Chuckles and Bob R got a November ride in this year.  For the past several years, I was able to ride at least once every month of the year.  Last year I did miss December and the year before I did miss January.  There is some "cheating" going on there, because, as most of you know, we do take the Wing with us to Florida in February.  I did ride the first three days of this week and put on a little over 300 miles on Monday and Tuesday.  On Wednesday, Chuckles and I put on about 135 miles by traveling on HWY 76 through Eitzen, Caledonia, and Houston.  We then took HWY 16 through Rushford, Peterson, Whalen, and Lanesboro.  Then onto HWY 52 through Harmony, Canton, Prosper, and Decorah and HWY 9 back to Waukon.  We did a couple of "warm-up" stops at Houston and Harmony.  The temperature got barely into the 50's with a few rain sprinkles, but the roads were really smooth and very little traffic.  I can't believe we didn't see another biker!  Actually it's kind of neat to be able to see some new things now with the leaves mostly off the trees.  Some things are nice to see, and some not so nice.  Hopefully the weather may warm up enough again for another chance for us to get out again.

On a sad note...Wayne Martin's brother, Harlan, passed away on Tuesday.  Condolences to Wayne and his family.

Here's a couple of photos from Wednesday afternoon.

WARM-UP STOP IN HARMONY

CHUCKLES SHOWING OFF HIS "NECKEE"

"MAN.... THAT NECKEE REALLY ITCHES!"

THREE "SPOOKS" ON FINAL WEDNESDAY NIGHT RIDE

Unfortunately as Halloween approaches, so does daylight saving time.  That means that our Wednesday night rides have come to an end, since it will be dark now at 5:30.  Even with the late start to summer this year, we did get a lot of Wednesday night rides in and had a lot of fun.  Let's hope for a short winter, so we can begin again in the spring.

Lois, Chuckles, and Bob R (three spooks) went on the last Wednesday night ride of the season this week.  After leaving Casey's at 5:30 we rode through Luana, Monona, Rossville, Waterville, and back to Waukon putting on about 53 miles.  (You have to go at least 50 miles to count it as a ride.)  It was a crisp cool night with temperatures hovering around 43 degrees.  (43 degrees will soon feel balmy.)  We enjoyed a nice ride while the sun set on our riding season.

Here's a couple of photos and also a video (that Lois took).

LOIS IS SHIVERING ALREADY!

THE SUN IS SETTING ON OUR RIDES

TWO "SPOOKS" FINISHED ON WEDNESDAY NIGHTS

NICE PIZZA-LOOKING LEAF RUN

On Sunday, which could be our last group ride of the season, eleven of us on 7 bikes went on our first annual "Pizza-Looking Leaf Run" to Happy Joe's in Lancaster, WI.  Carl & Joyce, Howard, Chuckles & Lois, Wayne & Sandy, Dayton & Joan, and Julie & Bob left at 11 from Casey's and went through Luana, Monona, PDC, Bridgeport, Millville, Mt. Hope (road closed), and on into Lancaster.  After Carl cleaned out the buffet table, we headed back to Waukon going through Mt. Ida, Werley, Woodman, Boscobel, Steuben (all roads lead to Steuben), Eastman, Lynxville, Ferryville, Lansing, and back home.  It was about 170 miles round trip.  Not a lot of leaves, but plenty of pizza and a great fall day!  Next year maybe it will be the "Leaf-Looking Pizza Run".

Here's a couple of photos from Sunday.

HUNGRY GROUP OF PIZZA EATERS

CHUCKLES BETS HOWARD THAT HE CAN EAT MORE PIZZA THAN HIM

CARL ACCUSES DAYTON OF STEALING HIS GAS CAN!

WE ARRIVE ...AND THE COOKS START SCRAMBLING!

MOE, CURLEY, AND LOIS...PLUS A RIDE ON SUNDAY

Last Wednesday Lois, Chuckles, and Bob R departed Casey's right a 5:30.  It was 59 degrees and sunny for our trip through Lycurgus, New Albin, Eitzen, and back to Gus & Tony's where we were joined by Julie and Bugsy.  We were able to squeeze about 56 miles in that time.  Our days are really getting shorter!

It is supposed to be real nice on Sunday, so we will have our First Annual Pizza- Looking and Leaf Run.  We will head over to Wisconsin leaf-looking on the way and stop at Happy Joe's for some pizza or ice cream or both.  I plan to leave Casey's at 11 AM.  EVERYONE IS INVITED TO RIDE ALONG.  We will be back long before dark.

Here's a shot from Wednesday night.

CHUCKLES LOOKS A LOT BETTER IN THE DARK!!

JUST ME AND CHUCKLES

I was surprised that on a beautiful fall evening that only Chuckles and Bob R were the only riders.  We left Casey's with a temperature in the 60's and headed for Postville.  We got about halfway there and discovered they were doing some blacktopping on HWY 51.  Not wanting to wait and tar up our bikes, we turned around and took 9 into Decorah.  We cut through on Pulpit Rock Road past the campground and to the stop light.  After turning left, we took Locust Road on up to A26 (Bear Creek Road) and followed it over to HWY 76 and back to Gus & Tony's.  We covered about 70 miles with pleasant temps. and really beautiful scenery.  There is some really great leaf-looking left and you can't beat the view from the seat of a motorcycle or convertible!

WE ARRIVE AT G & T WITH THE SUNSET

IT'S REALLY BEAUTIFUL OUT THERE!

TRIP TO DEAN'S

Since Meryle, Carl, and Bob R have done business with Dean's Honda in Oelwein, we were invited to the grand opening of his new facility.  It's now called Dean's Destination Power Sports and is a state-of-the-art motorcycle store with a retro theme inside.  While we were there we were treated to a free lunch (I can't believe Chuckles wasn't there!), coffee, pop, cookies, and a free gift.

Dean Schlitter, the owner,  grew up in Allamakee County near Waterville.  He is actually related to Meryle (We won't hold that against Dean.) and while we were there we learned that Dean's mother was in Carl's class in school.  She made some comment about him being the "class dunce".  While we didn't win any big prizes, we got a grand tour of the new facility and stuffed ourselves with Dean's mom's homemade cookies.  It was a nice but cool trip on Friday covering about 140 miles.

The photo below is the 2015 Honda designed to travel on Iowa's wonderfully maintained highways.  It's called the Terry E. Branstad signature model.  If he gets reelected, they will put wheels on it!

MERYLE & CARL OUTSIDE DEAN"S NEW BUILDING

"HEY, THAT LOOKS LIKE MINE."

AND THEN THERE WERE TWO

Apparently it was cold and windy last Wednesday, but there were two members that ventured out.  Chuckles and Jim braved the cold and wind for some late fall miles.  Here's Chuckles' report.

It was a cold windy evening, but two brave souls took to the open road.  Chuckles and Jim took 9 to Lansing, south on Harpers-Lansing then through Yellow River Forest, up to 76 to Rossville then through Monona and Luana.  On the way Jim G took a left to head home and Chuckles forged ahead.  Cold & lonely he stopped to warm up at the Vet's Club with a hot sandwich & a cold beer followed by the men's choir with Dennis.

ONE BRAVE SOUL & ONE SHIVERING CAMERA MAN

COOL RUN FOR HOT CHICKEN

Sunday was our 10th annual "Chicken Run" to the Rockton Bar for their "Almost World Famous Barbecued Chicken".  It was only 38 degrees when eight of us left Casey's with Gary, Wayne M, and Bob R on bikes and Wayne & Sandy, Dennis & Marlene, and Julie in the support vehicle supplied by the Fishs.  
We took Hwy 9 to Lansing and crossed the bridge into Wisconsin on HWY 35.  We turned off of 35 at DeSoto onto HWY 82 and then on to CR N at West Prairie when the sun came out and made the rest of the ride warmer with spectacular leaf looking.  Following N to HWY 56 and then turning onto CR O, we went through Newton and onto CR Y.  We followed Y on into Viroqua for a warm-up.  
We then got back on Y for a venture through Avalanche and onto CR S where the scenery was beautiful again!  From S we went through Bloomingdale and on to CR P.  Following P through Dell, we arrived at HWY 131 where we could already smell the chicken!  We followed 131 and found a table inside the bar to enjoy the meal and warm-up drinks.
After stuffing down the chicken, beans, macaroni salad, and bread we continued our travels heading for the orchards at Gays Mills.  Just gotta have some hot cider and warm apple donuts!  We followed HWY 131 through LaFarge, Viola, and Soldiers Grove where we picked up HWY 61.  We took 61 to HWY 171 at Rolling Ground and ended up at Sunrise Orchards where the smell of the donuts baking was overwhelming!  After sampling the cider and donuts and packing away a few extra apples and donuts we continued on HWY 171 through Gays Mills, Mt. Sterling, and onto HWY 35 again at Ferryville.  We then journeyed back across the bridge and home again via HWY 9.  We put on about 160 miles round trip.  
If anyone wants to enjoy the beauty of the leaf colors yet this fall, I highly recommend taking a ride on the county roads mentioned above.

I won't be in town on Wednesday, so you will need a new leader for the Wednesday night ride.  We will continue to ride on Wednesday nights up until daylight savings time.

Here's some shots from Sunday.

THE SUPPORT VEHICLE AND GARY WEARING HIS ENTIRE WARDROBE

"HEY, DENNIS, HOW MUCH CHICKEN CAN YOU EAT?"

WITH ALL THOSE CLOTHES, GARY CAN STILL GET READY FASTER THAN CHUCKLES

EIGHT USDA CLUCKERS.........GONE!

STILL COOKIN" EM

BUT THE LINE'S GETTING SHORTER

WAYNE, THE SUPPORT DRIVER, DOING THE "CHICKEN DANCE" WITH MARLENE

TWO GEEZERS AND A BELLE PLUS THE "CHICKEN RUN"

Only three of us (Lois, Howard, and Bob R) rode on Wednesday.  We had a very pleasant ride out through Elon and to Lansing via the LaFayette Ridge road.  From there we went through Lansing and up the river road to New Albin where we took Pool Hill road to Eitzen.  Down 76 to A 26 and the Lycurgus Road to HWY9 was our next leg.  We then continued on 9 into Waukon and Gus & Tony's.  Total mileage was about 80.  The temp was in the mid 60's and we got only a very short sprinkling of rain.

It sound like cool weather for Sunday's "Chicken Run", so if you don't want to ride a bike and still want to go, bring your car to Casey's and we can car-pool and motorcycle from there.  We will leave at 10 AM.  Let Bob know by Friday if you want chicken.

After many years of shifting the Harley, Gary is going to have a knee replaced next Wednesday.  Good luck to him!

Here's a photo from Wednesday night.

ONE GEEZER AND A BELLE READY TO HIT THE ROAD

WHAT A DAY!!

The only way to describe the day on Sunday was "WOW"!  We had 12 members on 8 units make the trip from Casey's to Camp Courageous that day.  The Blockers, Meryle & Mary, the Thorntons, the Votsmiers, Gary, Jim G, and the Rotachs traveled through Fishville, Postville, Gunder, Elkader, (the Farmersburg road is closed), Elkport, Colesburg, Petersberg, Sand Springs, and on to Monticello for the Camp Courageous pancake meal.  We all had our fair share of pancakes and sausage, but a couple of us outdid themselves.  It was a delicious meal and all for a good cause!

Since some of the roads we usually take back through Balltown were under construction with loose gravel, we took a new route in spite of Chuckles' protests.  We came back through Cascade, Epworth, Graf (also called Farg by the locals), Durango, Sherrill, Balltown (The scenery with the leaves changing was spectacular!), North Buena Vista, Millville, and on into Guttenberg for an ice cream stop at Greaser's.  A couple of us outdid themselves there also!  We actually ate ice cream while sitting in the shade!

From there we continued along the river through Clayton, McGregor, Marquette, Harpers Ferry, Elon, and back to Waukon.

 The good Lord gave us a beautiful day with unbelievable scenery to be best enjoyed from the seat of a motorcycle or convertible.

Depending on the weather, we have our regular Wednesday ride and on Sunday we are scheduled for the "Chicken Run" to Rockton.  If you want to go along on Sunday and want chicken (they have other foods) let Bob know at least by Friday, so we can reserve the chicken dinners.  Apparently they are having a banner year for the chicken in Rockton!

Here's a few photos and a video clip of our journey on Sunday.

AS THE RASCALS SANG, "IT'S A BEAUTIFUL MORNING"

BIKES AND SUPPORT VEHICLE READY

CHUCKLES ASKING JIM HOW MANY PANCAKES HE CAN EAT

"HEY MARY.  I FOUND A NEW BUTTON"

WE GET OUR "USUAL" PARKING SPOT

"HEY JIM.  HOW MANY PANCAKES CAN YOU GET IN YOUR SADDLEBAGS?"

LOIS IS TOO BUSY EATING TO POSE FOR A PHOTO

WE ARRIVE AT GREASER'S

GREASER"S WAS BUSY!

FEARLESS FOURSOME ON WEDNESDAY/CAMP COURAGEOUS SUNDAY

This Wednesday a fearless foursome of riders left Casey's at 5:30.  Chuckles, Lois, Gary, and Bob R ventured out into the unknown.  How many miles we rode or what towns we went though?  WE'LL NEVER TELL!

The trip to Camp Courageous for the pancake breakfast is this Sunday.  We will leave Casey's at 10 AM.  It's supposed to be a nice day, so hopefully we can get a good group together.  It's for a good cause, and with the leaves starting to change there should be good scenery also.

Here's a couple of shots from Wednesday night.

WE ARRIVE AT G & T'S

LOIS HELPING CHUCKLES UNLOAD

"COME ON, CHUCKLES.  SPEED IT UP!"

SWEET 16 TO TASTE BEER & MUSTARD

Sixteen of us (Dennis & Marlene, Meryle & Mary, Clair & Doris, Wayne & Sandy, Chuckles & Lois, Carl & Joyce, Jim & Cathy, and Bob & Julie departed Casey's Saturday morning just ahead of an impeding rain shower on our annual couples trip.  This year we were headed to Middleton, Wisconsin to see the National Mustard Museum and to tour Capital Brewery.  For the most part we were able to avoid the rain as we passed through Luana, Monona, Froelich, Marquette, PDC, and Bridgeport for a break in Wauzeka.  We picked up Clair & Doris as they traveled from Dyersville to PDC.  We continued on through Boscobel, Blue River, Muscoda (the mushroom capital of Wisconsin), and  Avoca to a rest stop in Lone Rock.  From there we continued on to Spring Green, Arena, and in to Mazomanie where we had a very filling lunch at Rookies.  We then continued on past the Firm Worm to Black Earth, Cross Plains, and to Middleton where we toured the Capital Brewery and sampled beer in the Beer Garden.  We then left the brewery (with Chuckles screaming and dragging) to the Mustard Museum where Chuckles quieted down when he found out there were free samples of mustard and pretzels!  From there we headed back into Mt. Horeb to the motel where we told lies and ate snacks in the lounge area.
We started off Sunday by leaving Wayne & Sandy at the motel.  After they caught up with us we continued back to Cross Plains and into Lodi on HWY 113.  We continued on 113 to the ferry crossing on Lake Wisconsin at Merrimac.  After crossing on the ferry, we took the beautiful ride through Devil's Lake State Park on 113 into Baraboo and past Circus World.  We continued on HWY 136 through Rock Springs and then rejoined HWY 33 near Reedsburg for a break.  We took HWY 33 through LaValle, Wonewoc,  and on to HWY 82 near Hillsboro.  We took 82 through LaFarge and into Viroqua for lunch at Dave's Pizza and Ice Cream Shop.  From there we continued on 82 to Lansing and back home.
Total miles= 320; Total smiles=several hundred!

Here's a couple of photos

READY TO LEAVE TO BEAT THE RAIN

CHUCKLES & JIM MOONING THE RESIDENTS OF WAUZEKA

BELLYING UP TO THE FREE BEER AT CAPITAL BREWERY

EVEN CAESAR LIKED MUSTARD

LION PEEING FOUNTAIN OUTSIDE THE MUSTARD MUSEUM

GOOD FOOD AT DAVE'S IN VIROQUA

ABOARD THE MERIMAC FERRY