TWO HARDCORES & A NEWBIE--IRV--CHICKEN RUN

On a rather cool and damp Wednesday night only three of us chose to ride.  Jim and Bob R as the hardcores, and Austin R as the newbie departed Casey's with a temperature of 60 degrees and partly cloudy skies.

HARDCORE I

HARDCORE II AND NEWBIE ARRIVING

NEWBIE

HARDCORE II

After leaving Casey's we headed out on HWY 9 west and then turned south onto Centennial Road.  We followed Centennial to CR W46 where we turned west again.  W46 led us onto CR W42 that took us through Ossian and onto the Great River Road (B40) heading for Clermont.  Along the River Road we saw where the Turkey River had jumped out of its banks in several places.  At Clermont we turned onto HWY 18 for a short jaunt and then onto CR 51 heading into Elgin.  In Elgin we picked up CR B64 and were on our way to Gunder.  In Gunder we turned onto CR B60 for a short ways to CR W64 and headed north onto HWY 18 and into Postville where the Newbie needed gas.  We then took HWY 51 out of Postville and turned onto Yellow River Drive heading back east.  After a ways on YRD, we turned north onto Old Stage Road and through Fishville and onto HWY 9 again.  We followed HWY 9 into Waukon where Bob R (Hardcore I) was the only one to stop at Gus & Tony's where he warmed up with soup and cheese curds that he didn't have to share!  The run was about 85 miles.  Welcome to newbie Austin.  We hope to see him again.

IRV 

 Howard received word that Irv Fosaaen was in a motorcycle accident in Italy.  It was a near head on collision on a curve and Irv's injuries mainly involve his head and chest.  The accident was on Thursday evening and as of Tuesday morning, due to swelling on the brain, he is becoming aware of where he is and what is going on.  His son, Blake, was traveling there with him and his wife, Chris, flew over and is there now also. 

CHICKEN RUN

The "Run, Chicken, Run" Run is this Sunday.  We plan to leave from Casey's at 10 that morning.  If you plan to go along and want chicken, you are going to need reservations.  You can do one of two things:  Call Bob R (563-568-7277) by Friday, and he will call in the reservations then.  OR if you want to call and make reservations yourself, call the Rockton Bar (608-625-4395) and tell them you are with the Waukon group.  Call before Sunday, or you may be too late.  It's supposed to be a pretty decent day, so we will probably stop at the orchards on the way back and load up on the apple donuts!

ALL ROADS LEAD TO STEUBEN AND WATER

After leaving Camp Courageous on Sunday, Jim said he was going to cross the bridge at PDC and do some snooping on the water levels across the river.  I thought you might be interested in seeing what he sent me, since the photos show places that we've been on our Wednesday night ventures.

Jim said, "I went snooping to Steuben and then up 131 to Gays Mills.  Water was across road at bridge in Gays Mills but I was able to make it to Towerville to come home.  Alot of water ran in those big wide bottoms going to Towerville you could see the whole valley had high fast moving water in it.  

Good thing they had the Don't Park In The Grass sign in Steuben.  I would have, if not for the sign!

NOTE THE "DON'T PARK ON THE GRASS" SIGN

COUPLES TRIP (PART TWO)--CAMP COURAGEOUS--RUN, CHICKEN, RUN RUN

COUPLES TRIP REPORT (PART TWO)

After our tour of the Schell Brewery, we returned to our motel in New Ulm for our traditional "snacks and lies" party.  We were joined there by our new friends, the Hulls and the Ecksteins.  They were the GWRRA members who secured our brewery tour tickets for us.

OUR "SNACK & LIES" PARTY

After a belly full of drinks, snacks, and lies, we retired for the night to get ready to return home on Sunday.

Sunday was a beautiful day!  Since there was no "horsing around" in the morning, we were able to depart a little earlier than planned.

"WE DIDN"T DO ANY 'HORSING AROUND'."

Before we left New Ulm, we had to pay a visit to the Hermann (the German) monument.  Seeing this monument and the beautiful park where it's located was well worth the extra time.

After spending time viewing the monument and it's history, we left New Ulm via HWY 14 east.  We followed 14 until it detoured us onto a county highway for repairs.  This was the smoothest detour any of us have ever been on!  We picked up HWY 14 again and continued on it through Courtland, Mankato, and Eagle Lake where we turned onto HWY 60 north.  60 took us up and around several lakes and through Elysian, Waterville (no more bullheads, but time for a break), Morristown, Warsaw, Faribault, and on into Kenyon where we turned south onto HWY 56.  Traveling south on 56 we passed through West Concord and into Hayfield where we took another break after turning onto HWY 30 west.  Parts of 30 were pretty scenic.  (Click below for a short video)

We continued east on 30 over to HWY 63 south and into Stewartville, where we ate lunch at the Pizza Ranch there.  Plenty of food, but no ice cream!  After a short jaunt on 63, we got back on 30 west and took it on over to Chatfield where we jumped on HWY 52 south and passed through Fountain and Preston and into Harmony for another short break. We then continued on 52 through Canton, Prosper, Burr Oak, and down to Decorah where we took HWY 9 east back home.  GREAT TRIP, and I can't believe we actually had two straight days without rain!  I had 456 round trip miles on the trike.

FIVE TO CAMP COURAGEOUS
Five WNR made the trip down to Monticello on Sunday for the Camp Courageous fundraiser pancake breakfast.  It was cloudy and misty in Waukon at 9:15 Sunday morning, and the radar showed rain appearing south of us later on, so Bob & Julie took their cage with passengers Carl & Joyce, while Jim took the chance and rode his Wing down.  The pancakes and sausage were delicious, but none of us won the VW in the drawing.  It never really did rain on us much, but there were some real wet spots on the road on the way back. We saw the flood damage to the crops near the Turkey River near Millville.  We were disappointed that Greaser's was closed in Guttenberg!  GOOD TIME--GOOD CAUSE.

"RUN, CHICKEN, RUN" RUN
Next Sunday is the "Run, Chicken, Run" Run up to Rockton.  We plan to leave Casey's at 10 that morning for the "almost world famous" barbecued chicken.  If you plan to go and want the chicken, you will need reservations.  You can do one of two things.  Either tell Bob R (563-568-7277) by Friday and he will call in your reservations, or you can call the Rockton Bar (608-625-4395) yourself and tell them you're with the Waukon group.  Don't wait until Sunday to call, or you may be too late!

COUPLES TRIP REPORT (PART ONE)-- ALSO CAMP COURAGEOUS

Seven couples went on this year's trip to New Ulm, MN.  We had 4 trikes, 3 bikes, and a convertible as our convoy headed out of town on HWY 9 passing through Decorah, Ridgeway, and Cresco.  Outside of Cresco we picked up HWY 63 north through Chester and onto HWY 56 headed west.  The sky suddenly turned cloudy and the temperature dropped and it began to look like we may get rained on.  We stopped in LeRoy, MN for a break at the BP station, where some of the riders put on rain gear.  Now the rest of us knew for sure it wasn't going to rain, although we did get a small amount of mist on the windshields as we continued on 56 through Taopi, Adams, Rose Creek, and into Brownsdale where we picked up HWY 2 heading west.  HWY 2 took us over to HWY 218 where we turned north through Blooming Prairie and on to HWY 30 west.  30 took us through Ellendale and into New Richmond for our second break.  We continued on 30 to HWY 22 north and on into Mapleton  and Maggie J's where we stopped for lunch.  Everyone would recommend Maggie J's for good food and good service!

After lunch we continued on 22 through Beauford and onto CR 90 west.  CR 90 took us to the outskirts of Mankato where we turned onto 169 for a short jaunt and then onto HWY 68 that took us into New Ulm for a little over a total of 200 miles.

With the aid of two GWRRA members, we were able to obtain our 14 tickets to the 4 PM tour of the August Schell Brewery where they brew German craft beers, Grain Belt, and 1919 root beer.  Our tour guide was a great guy and we all sampled some of the fine products in the beer hall afterwards.

The rest of the journey will be on the next post.  In the meantime, here's a few photos of the first half of the journey.

GARY SEES US OFF, BUT DOESN'T OFFER ANY DONUTS!

MERYLE PRACTICING HIS GAS PUMP TECHNIQUES

PIT STOP IN LE ROY

LUNCH AT MAGGIE J'S

THE V I P TABLE

ENTERTAINMENT IN THE GIFT SHOP WHILE WAITING FOR THE TOUR

OUR TOUR GUIDE AND THE COPPER KETTLE

WNR SAMPLING THE BREWERY PRODUCTS

CAMP COURAGEOUS

Weather permitting on Sunday, we will make our second trip of the year down to Monticello to support Camp Courageous with their pancake breakfast.  We will plan to leave Casey's at 9:15 that morning.  Everyone is welcome.  If the weather looks bad, we will end up taking some cages down there.

SOME SAD NEWS

I wanted to inform everyone in Wednesday Night Riders that Marlene Blocker's father, Orville Tangen, passed away on Sunday.

His visitation is Wednesday from 5 PM to 7 PM at Riley Funeral Home in Chatfield, MN.  The funeral is at 10 AM on Thursday at Root Prairie Lutheran Church in rural Fountain, MN.

Both Julie and I plan on attending both the visitation and the funeral, so if any of you would like to ride along with us to either or both, call Bob at 563-568-7277.

I don't plan on riding Wednesday night, and it's predicted to be raining anyway.  Our next ride is Sunday to Camp Courageous for the annual pancake breakfast.  Since they quit serving at noon, we will be leaving Casey's at 9:15 that morning.  More on that in the next post.

AN EVEN DOZEN--COUPLES' TRIP UPDATE

A full carton of eggs (WNR) left Casey's Wednesday night for a loop through Spring Grove.  Bob R led on his Wing followed by Darrel on his GW trike, Meryle & Mary on a GW trike, Wayne & Sandy on a GW trike, Jim & Cathy on their Wing, Dayton & Joan on their Harley trike, Lois on her Susie, and Chuckles on his Yamaha.

AN EVEN DOZEN SHOW UP

GOOD TO SEE MERYLE & MARY AGAIN ALONG WITH DARREL

JOAN TELLING ABOUT THEIR TRIP TO COLORADO

JIM SHOWING THE FINE POINTS OF A WING TO CHUCKLES

Our trip took us up HWY 76 north to CR 7 just north of Eitzen.  7 took us west over to HWY 44 and on into Spring Grove.  We normally stop at the Kwik Trip there, but it's getting dark earlier now, so we kept on moving.  Outside of Spring Grove we turned south on CR 8 which turns into Locust Road in Iowa.  We turned off of Locust and headed east on Big Canoe Road that turns into Bear Creek Drive (CR A26).  Along Bear Creek we could see more of the damage to crops caused by the recent flooding.  After crossing HWY 76, we continued on A26 now changing to Iowa River Drive.  Again we saw numerous places where the flooding had damaged crops.  Iowa River Drive took us over to Lycurgus Road and as we followed it to HWY 9, we were treated to a spectacular sunset and a full moon rising at the same time.  We reached HWY 9 and took Iron Mine Drive and 76 back to Main St. in Waukon and to Gus & Tony's where we discussed where an order of cheese curds should be set down.  It was really a nice late summer ride, and I had about 88 miles on the Wing.

SHUFFLING INTO G & T 's.......

UNDER A RISING MOON

COUPLES' TRIP UPDATE
We have seven couples going to New Ulm this weekend.  We have changed the departure time to 9 AM instead of 10.  Blame Fideldee Fart!  At any rate it's KSU, BOT, and BISV at 9 from Casey's.  I have planned to tour the Schell Brewery there, so I called to make reservations for the 4 PM tour for us.  I found out that it can't be done that way. The tour reservations are on a "first come--first serve" basis, so you have to be there Saturday morning at 11 AM to make sure you get tickets.  Now what?  Since it would be impractical, if not impossible, for us to be there at 11 Saturday morning, I had to decide if we still wanted to go to New Ulm or just pass up the brewery tour.  After doing some hard thinking, I did what any GWRRA member might do for needed help.  I looked in the Gold Book.  It lists GWRRA members all over the country who might be willing to help if you are having bike troubles.  Low and behold, I found two members who live in New Ulm.  Now how was I going to convince someone who didn't know me from Adam to spend some of his time and money to go get 14 tickets?  I couldn't get a hold of the first name listed, so I called the second person.  He was in Branson, MO, on a bike trip when he answered.  I explained the situation to him, and he said he would take care of it for me!  He called me back later to tell me that he contacted another GWRRA member in New Ulm and he would get us the tickets.  I haven't heard back from him yet, but it sounded like they would take care of us.  Needless to say I will pick up the tickets from them when we get to New Ulm and pay for them, and I also invited them and their wives to our snack party at the motel later.  It just goes to show that the old saying, "You meet the nicest people on a Honda." holds true!

It's supposed to be a nice weekend, so see you all on Saturday morning at 9.

ELEVEN SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM

The cool, wet weather left and we were greeted by a warm, humid, and rather windy day for our "double dip ice cream run".  Departing Casey's on Sunday afternoon were Meryle & Mary, Wayne & Sandy, and Bob & Julie on trikes.  Gary, Lois, and Chuckles rode two-wheelers followed by Dennis & Marlene in the support vehicle.

"I WONDER WHO'S BURIED HERE?!"

ICE CREAM EATING TRIKE RIDERS

GARY FILLING UP A HARLEY WITH POWERADE?!

We departed Casey's at 1:00 heading out of town on HWY 9 west.  We then turned onto Old Stage Road, passed through Fishville and got onto Yellow River Drive heading west.  YRD took us over to HWY 51 south and then on into Postville and HWY 18 east.  Just east of Postville we turned south onto the Gunder Road and had a scenic ride on down through Elkader.  By this time the day was really beginning to warm up, and the wind also picked up considerably.  In Elkader we took HWY 13 north to HWY 128 east and through Clayton Center and onto HWY 52 south.  52 took us on into Garnavillo where we stopped at Thoma Dairy Bar for our first dip.

ARRIVING AT THOMA's

WE HAVE THE RESTAURANT AREA ALL TO OURSELVES

ENJOYING OUR "FIRST DIP"

After polishing off our first dip, we headed out of Garnavillo on HWY 52 north.  We followed 52 back to HWY 18 east and on into Marquette.  In Marquette we picked up HWY 76 north until we turned onto CR B25 and entered Yellow River Forest. To me this is the most scenic way through the forest and then onto Lansing/Harpers Road and the end of the forest road.  We followed L/H Road north and then Took Elon Road west on into Waukon where we arrived at WW Homestead Dairy where we enjoyed our second dip. 

THESE CURD SAMPLES AIN'T BAD EITHER!

IT'S TOUGH TO DECIDE ON FLAVORS

WE CAPTURED OUR SECOND DIPS

I had a little over 100 miles on the trike when we got home.
COUPLES TRIP UPDATE
So far the following couples have indicated that they want to go on the couples' trip to New Ulm on Sept. 17 & 18.
Bob & Julie, Meryle & Mary, Wayne & Sandy,

Dennis & Marlene, Chuckles & Lois, Dayton & Joan, and Carl & Joyce.  Remember to let Bob R (563-568-7277) know as soon as you decide!

GREAT RIDE--ICE CREAM RUN--COUPLES TRIP--HD PROGRAM

On a spectacular Wednesday night 11 WNR departed Casey's at 5:30 for a look at some of the flood damage around Spillville.  Led by Bob R on his Wing, we had Meryle, Wayne & Sandy, Dayton & Joan, and Jim on trikes.  David and Bob Z were on their Harleys.  Lois was waiting for Chuckles to show up, so they took their bikes on a different route to Spillville.

BOB CHECKING HIS GAS SUPPLY

MERYLE CHECKING HIS KNEES

JIM ON A BORROWED TRIKE WITH NO GAS LEAKS

We left town on HWY 9 and passed through Fishville on Old Stage Road.  We then picked up Yellow River Drive and saw some bean field damage along the river before we got to HWY 51 and headed south into Postville.  Outside of Postville we got on HWY 52 and had a very smooth ride through Castalia and Ossian and on into Calmar where we took HWY 150 south.  After about 13 miles and passing through Festina and past Eldorado, we turned west onto Nature Road (B44) and headed towards St. Lucas.  Outside of St. Lucas we picked up W14 heading on into Ft. Atkinson where we stopped at the Lickety Split for a break and for Bob Z to gas up again.

WAYNE ASKING JIM ABOUT THE TRIKE RIDE TO FT. ATKINSON

THE REST OF THE GROUP AT THE LICKETY SPLIT

We learned that W14 was closed into Spillville, so we took a different route that was new to the leader, and we had to make three left turns to get there, but we did make it.  After driving into Spillville and observing the flood damage, particularly to the Inwood Ballroom, we departed Spillville via 325 and over to HWY 52 south and on into Decorah where we saw more damage along HWY 9 near the Upper Iowa River on the east side of town.  We took HWY 9 back to Waukon and Gus & Tony's where we met up with Lois and Chuckles again.  The conversation there turned to the after effects of eating onions and where one might be sleeping tonight if he ate them.  We put on about 100 miles on a beaufiful late summer evening!

ICE CREAM RUN

On Monday we will have our third annual Labor Day Double Dip Ice Cream Run.  We will depart Casey's at 1 PM and head out of town (as yet undecided) for a dip and return to Waukon and WW Dairy for a second dip (provided they are still open when we get back).  Everyone is invited and it's predicted to be warm, so the ice cream should hit the spot.

HARLEY DAVIDSON TV PROGRAM

Also on Labor Day, and for those of you who get the Discovery channel, there's going to be the first of a three part program called "Harley and the Davidsons".  It is a story that's based on fact about the development of the Harley Davidson motorcycle.  Sounds interesting!

COUPLES TRIP

September 17th and 18th are the dates for our annual couples trip.  This year I plan to go to New Ulm, Minnesota, to tour the August Schell Brewery and visit The Hermann the German statue.  I have reservations at the Econolodge there, but I will need to firm up those reservations before we go, so as soon as you know you are going to go, let Bob R know (563-568-7277).  The deadline will be Wednesday, September 14th, but it would be nice to know before that.

NEW LEADER

You will need a new leader for next Wednesday.  Bob R and Jens will be up in Boulder Junction, Wisconsin, hammering the small mouth bass and then over to Lake Chetek to pound crappies with Dennis.  I plan to return by Sunday, since I have to help at the Lion's Club pancake breakfast on Sunday, the 11th.