JUST IRV & BOB ON A "SPOOKTACULAR" FINAL WEDNESDAY NIGHT

It was Halloween and with daylight savings time coming to an end, only Irv (Casper) and Bob R (Dracula) showed up for the final Wednesday night ride of the season.

IRV ABOARD THE BATMOBILE

BOB HIDING HIS FANGS

We left the "haunted castle" (Casey's) with sunny skies and temps in the mid 50's.  We took Monster Way (HWY 9) over to Ghost Hollow Road (CR W60) and turned south passing through Fishville and down to Spooky Lane (Yellow River Drive) heading west.  We approached Frankenstein Parkway (HWY 51) and turned south into Graveyard City (Postville).  Passing through the city we turned onto Zombie Road (HWY 52) and into Vampire Town (Castalia) where we picked up Wolfman Drive (Centennial Road) and took it back to Monster Way (HWY 9).  Turning back east we kept going until we came to Bat Wing Expressway (West Ridge Road) and turned north onto Crypt Lane (Old Stage Road).  Heading back east we arrived in Transylvania (Waukon) and Hunchback Cafe (Gus & Tony's).  The place was packed with all kinds of little and big ghosts and goblins!  I had 54 spooky miles on the (Bat) Wing when I pulled into the bat cave (shed).  Since we put on over 50 miles, it counts as a ride.

The Wednesday night rides have now come to an end.  Keep March 27th open for our annual PMS get together and let's hope 2019 brings us better weather!  From time to time you may be able to read some drivel on this blog during the winter.

ANOTHER "REFRESHING" WEDNESDAY NIGHT

With the riding season rapidly coming to an end on Wednesday nights (daylight savings time coming to an end), five WNR gathered at Casey's to take advantage of a sunny evening.  With temps in the low 50's, we had Darrel and Roger come join us on the yellow Wing trike and black Spyder.  Lois, Howard, and Bob R were on two-wheelers.

A FEW MORE RIDERS THIS WEDNESDAY

ROGER TUCKING IN

LOIS ROLLS IN

 Knowing that it dark a lot earlier now, we just rode in Allamakee County with lots of dust being kicked up from the harvest going on.  I could also hear the "love bugs" whacking the windshield.  They can really sting if they hit bare skin, but most of us had enough clothing on to protect against that.  We headed up HWY 76 north, turned onto Iowa River Drive heading east, and ended up on HWY 26 just south of New Albin.  We followed 26 on into Lansing and then took the Lansing/Harpers Road up to the Elon Road.  Elon Road took us back into Waukon and Gus & Tony's.  It did get a little dark on us before we got back.

DARREL AND ROGER ARE THERE SOMEWHERE

HOWARD AND LOIS BY THE LIGHT OF THE STREET

In side the restaurant, the hot vegetable beef soup was a hit.  On the way home I was treated to the light of the moon.  Too bad it wasn't Halloween!

I had 67 miles on the Wing when I pulled her into the shed with a "refreshing" 47 degree temp.

ME & IRV & BOB UECKER

On a refreshingly cool but sunny Wednesday evening only two riders showed up at Casey's.  Irv rode his Harley trike and Bob R was on his Gold Wing bike.  We departed at 5:30 with the temps in the high 40's.

IRV IS WARMING UP & SO IS THE TRIKE

While Bob Uecker didn't ride with us, I was able to tune him in on the radio for the Brewers/Dodgers playoff game.  We fared somewhat better than the Brewers as they got beat 5-2 in game 5.
We took HWY 76 south to the Forest Mills Road and headed south on it.  We passed Cathy Gelo driving a John Deere with a load of corn on behind.  Forest Mills Road took us to Cherry Valley Road and we turned west there.  We battled the low sun at times making it difficult to see.  There was lots of corn being harvested, but no deer were spotted.  On into Postville and HWY 52 through Castalia and  over to Ossian.  In Ossian we turned north on CR W42 then W46 and onto the Centennial Road heading north.  Heading north we came to HWY 9 and turned east and on into Waukon and Gus & Tony's where the drinks were hot chocolate and coffee after our "refreshing" ride.  I had about 60 miles on the Wing when I got home.  Hopefully the weather witch will let us get in a few more "refreshing" rides before the season ends.

CAGE FOR CHICKENS

With temps in the low 40's and some drizzle, six WNR took a cage (Chrysler Pacifica van) to Rockton for their nearly word famous barbecue chicken.  With Meryle at the helm and Mary, Wayne M, Elaine, Julie, and Bob R aboard we departed Casey's at 10 AM on Sunday.

PILOT & CO-PILOT

BACK SEAT DRIVERS

Since there wasn't much scenery to observe, we took the more direct route up to Rockton arriving at about 11:30.  While Bob saved an indoor table, the rest of the crew went through the line (there was none) and we all sat down inside to enjoy the meal.

A WARM SPOT NEXT TO THE FIREPLACE

GOOD GRUB!!

Despite the "fowl" weather, the cooks still did a fantastic job with the barbecue chicken.  We had macaroni salad and baked beans as sides along with the half chicken.  While we were eating two couples came in that rode motorcycles.  They looked really cold even in snowmobile suits.  Those were the only two bikes we saw.

After eating we made our way down to Gays Mills to Sunrise Orchards where the warm apple cider and donuts were a treat.  Despite the lousy weather, the orchards still seemed to be crowded.  We left about 1 PM with more people rolling in.  Must have been a day with nothing else to do.

DEPARTING THE ORCHARDS

It's too bad the sun never came out, because it looks like the leaves have a lot of color right now.  Maybe the weather witch will let up sometime soon so we can see them!

BAD WEATHER--GOOD FOOD--GOOD COMPANY

On the way back we began to see particles in the rain drops hitting the windshield.  Here's the results:

And they can't figure out why people don't want to move to Iowa!

COLD & WIND & MIST

After watching the news and seeing what our Gold Wing friends in Panama City Beach are going through with hurricane Michael, I'm not going to complain (much) about our lousy weather.  Needless to say with temps barely in the 50's and dropping, along with a 20 mph north wind, and a light misty rain, no one rode Wednesday night.

KIND OF LOOKS LIKE CHUCKLES!

"Run, Chicken, Run" Run will be Sunday.
Even though the weather is calling for temps in the 40's, I do plan to travel up to Rockton for chicken on Sunday.  Chances are we will be taking cars, so if you want to go along we will meet at Casey's at 10 that morning and car pool up to Rockton.  We can call in reservations before we leave.  This may be the last Sunday that they have the chicken barbecue depending on the weather on Sundays for the rest of the month.  We can also stop at the orchards on the way back.  A warm apple donut and hot apple cider sounds pretty good right now!

NO "RUN, CHICKEN, RUN" RUN SUNDAY

If you want to get real depressed, take a look at the weather forecasts for the next 10 days!  Sunday appears to be better than a 50% chance of rain all day, and temps only in the low 50's.  Actually it's warmer and dryer in Alaska!  That being said, the "RUN, CHICKEN, RUN" RUN for this Sunday is POSTPONED.  We will try again next Sunday, but even the forecast for then doesn't look much better.  Apparently the Weather Witch is not a biker!

THIS SAYS IT ALL!

SQUEEZED ONE IN

While it was certainly windy, at least it wasn't raining (at least when we gathered at Casey's).  We had three bikes with Jim & Cathy (new grandparents fresh back from Texas), Howard, and Bob Z.  and three trikes with Darrel, Irv, and Bob R aboard. 

THE GELOS ROLL IN FROM TEXAS

A REAL HEAD SCRATCHER ?!

IRV'S BACK WITH US AGAIN

Our route took us up HWY 76 north to CR 27 west just outside of Eitzen.  With the sun in our eyes at times, we made our way up to Spring Grove where two Norwegians decided they don't need to signal turns.  Just outside of Spring Grove we turned south onto CR 8 which later turns into Locust Road.  Following LR for about 8 miles, we turned onto CR A26 which is called Big Canoe Road until it becomes Bear Creek Drive in Allamakee County.  At this point I started to pick up some small blips of rain on the Wing's gps.  It never did rain on us as we turned back onto HWY 76 south and back into Waukon and Gus & Tony's where the conversation centered around not believing the Cubs lost.  After eating we left the restaurant in the middle of a lightening storm.  I gunned the Wing back home and got back into the shed before is started pouring rain.  We covered about 70 miles on this trip.

UPCOMING RIDES
This Sunday is supposed to be the "Run, Chicken, Run" Run up to Rockton.  Right now the weather forecast is calling for 90% rain and temps in the low 50's (what new!), so it looks like our ride is going to be postponed to the following Sunday unless the weather suddenly changes.  Look for a post sometime on Friday to say what we are going to do for sure.

Camp Courageous Report

In probably some of the worst weather the witch could dig up for this time of year, the trip to Camp Courageous on Sunday was made by just Bob & Julie in the Durango.  We did bring both the pick-up and the Durango down to Casey's in case anyone else wanted to ride along.  However, by 9:15 there we no takers.  Just before we left Gary showed up.  He said he couldn't go, but he sent a generous donation with us.  The campers at Camp Courageous thank you, Gary!

Under misty skies and temps at 45 degrees we headed out for Monticello.  On the way down we saw only one group of motorcylers.  They were bundled up so much that if they fell off they probably wouldn't have gotten hurt!  There were no motorcycles parked at Camp Courageous when we got there.  There was no more moisture in the air, but the temps were still below 50 degrees.  I'm not so sure that it didn't get above 50 on the whole trip.  We dropped off Gary's and our donations and partook in the pancakes & sausage.  The pancakes were gigantic and the sausage was delicious too.  Despite the weather there seemed to be a pretty good crowd.  We visited with a couple of guys from Monticello who complimented us on our high school football team.  One of the guys said he used to have a '79 Gold Wing that he and his wife rode quite a bit.  Apparently a scary accident caused them to stop riding.  We left Monticello and got back in time to watch the final day of the baseball season and see the US get smoked in the Rider Cup golf match.  I didn't bother watching any pro football although plenty of it was on.  I guess I would rather support an organization that helps people with special needs that watch a bunch of over-paid slugs that can't stand for the national anthem!

UPCOMING RIDES
Looking at the extended weather forecast, Wednesday looks to be OK, but Sunday (the chicken run to Rockton) looks to be cold and rainy (what else is new?!!).  We'll just have to wait and see.  I'll keep you posted if we go and what to do about reservations if you want chicken.  In the meantime, thank goodness for baseball playoffs!