NO GELOS--NO VOTS!!

For the first time in recent memory, I cannot remember a Wednesday night ride that did not include at least one Gelo or one Votsmier.  However, we are still counting it as an "official" ride.  Under overcast skies and temps in the low 80's, ten WNR gathered at Casey's hoping to be able to avoid a possible rain shower.
David and Bob Z accompanied us in Suzanne's support convertible.  Our Winneshiek contingent was represented by Ron & Helen on their Harley trike and Bernell & Kathy on their Spyder.  Irv and Chuck (not Chuckles) were on Harley trikes.  Howard on his Harley and Bob R on his Gold Wing were the only two wheelers on the ride.

"I can count one one hand the number of nice Wednesdays we've had."

The plan was to head to Guttenberg and Joe's for some ice cream, so we headed out on HWY 9 west and turned onto Old Stage and cruised through Fishville where we were hailed by the contingent at Wayne & Sandy's.  For some reason the county decided that this road needed to be chip sealed, but the consensus of the group felt it made it worse.  After the bumpy ride down Old Stage, we turned back west on Yellow River Drive and arrived at HWY 51.  We took it south into Postville where HWY 18 guided us to the Gunder Road.
There were a number of threatening storm clouds in the area, but so far our skillful leader was making the right turns to avoid them.  We continued on the Gunder Road on into Elkader where we took a short jog on HWY 13 and picked up Grand View Road heading southeast. towards Garber.  When we arrived in Garber, we took the appropriately named Garber Road on into Guttenberg.  The Gunder Road, the Grand View Road, and the Garber Road offer some of the best scenery in our area.  Again I was amazed at how green and lush the countryside seemed.
Once in Guttenberg, we motored through town and parked outside of Joe's Pizza and Ice Cream Emporium again without getting wet.  There we were able to pick from an assortment of over 20 flavors of ice cream.  The atmosphere near the river in Guttenberg was quiet and peaceful, so we were able to take our ice cream outside and eat it there and not even be bothered by bugs.

CHUCK (NOT CHUCKLES) ENJOYING A TREAT

"I SHOULD HAVE GOT A DISH!"

HOWARD KEEPS THE DOOR SHUT

BOB Z SAYS, "IT AIN'T DAIRY QUEEN, BUT IT AIN'T BAD."

BERNELL SAYS, "BOY, THAT WAS GOOD!"

After our treats at Joe's, we headed out of town and after a small degree of separation, we all found Clayton Co. X56 (Great River Road) and headed north towards McGregor.  After stopping at the stop sign outside of Pikes Peak Park, Bob R had to stop and stare down a deer to keep it from crossing our path.  We then continued undisturbed into McGregor.  We passed through McGregor and Marquette and onto HWY 76 north.  Just outside of Marquette, we had to pass around a stalled semi in the middle of the highway.  That was the third stalled vehicle we passed on the trip!
We continued up a rough 76 (Terry E Branstad Memorial Byway South) to Waukon.  While the rest of the group split off and headed west, Irv, Howard, and Bob R continued on into town for a meal at City Club.  We arrived "high and dry" with the sun peeking through in a few places.  I had 116 miles on the Wing arriving home.  Another successful Wednesday night ride in the books!