CAUGHT JIM D ON THE REBOUND

 We decided to go on an impromptu leaf run on Sunday.  When we arrived at Casey's at 1 PM, we were surprised to see only one bike waiting there.  We were even more surprised to find out it was Jim D, since we thought he was still journeying south with his toy hauler.  Jim was with his granddaughter Mariah (sp ?), and said he returned to Waukon for about a week and would be heading south towards Missouri at the end of the week.

So, with only two units, Jim & Mariah on a Harley and Bob & Julie on their Honda trike, we departed Casey's on a beautiful fall afternoon.  Heading east on HWY 9, we cruised through Lansing and across the Black Hawk Bridge into Wisconsin.  We did notice that there still was not a lot of color to the trees yet, but a bit more than last Sunday.  After crossing the bridge, we turned north on HWY 35 and followed along the Mississippi River up to Victory.  We did meet a lot of bikes on our way, probably trying to squeeze in a "last ride".  At Victory we turned east onto CR UU and roared up the hill to HWY 82 at Red Mound.  After a short jaunt on 82, we turned south onto CR N and ran the loop through Retreat (home of the Retreat World's Fair).  The loop took us back to HWY 82 at West Prairie.  Continuing on N, we crossed 82 and headed down the hill passing through Purdy (Norwegian for "Pretty") and arrived at HWY 56.  There we turned west and when we reached the outskirts of Romance, turned onto Newton Road.  This a a narrow one lane blacktop that runs along a ridge and offers some striking scenery of the valleys below as it runs along the north fork of the Bad Axe River.

Newton Road comes to an end at CR O just outside of the metropolis of Newton.  We turned north onto O, sped through Newton and found our way up to CR Y.  Y is one of my favorite routes because it has some sweeping curves and offers panoramic views along the way.  You also pass by the Runge Hollow Recreation Area where the north fork of the Bad Axe River is dammed up to form an attractive reservoir.  We made our way along Y until we came to CR B where we turned back south to HWY 56 again.  We then cruised on into Viroqua where we paused for a Halloween photo shoot.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

A DRAGON GOING "TRICK OR TREATING"

THE ONE ON THE MOTORCYCLES KIND OF LOOKS LIKE CHUCKLES!

  After our "photo op", we pulled into Kwik Trip for a much needed break and to let Jim figure out how we got here.

WARM ENOUGH TO SHED JACKETS

MARIAH SEEMED TO ENJOY THE RIDE SO FAR

TIME FOR A DONUT

After our break, we passed through the rest of Viroqua and just beyond the golf course, we turned onto CR J.  This part of J had been just recently resurfaced and took us along the golf course and through a new housing addition until we arrived at HWY 27 just west of town.  We crossed onto 27 for a short hop and returned to CR J heading south again.  This is also an "easy on the eye" ride down through the valley to CR C.  Once we reached C, a turn west took us all the way back to HWY 35 just outside of Ferryville.  This stretch took us a little longer than usual since we got behind a slow moving cage that had trouble negotiating the curves and taking in the scenery at the same time.  So we just sat back and enjoyed the views ourselves.  When we reached 35, a turn back north took us through Ferryville and over to HWY 82 where we turned west and crossed the Black Hawk Bridge again.  We picked up HWY 9 again in Lansing and followed it back home to Waukon.  We had 139 miles on the trike when we parked her.

I did tell Jim that everyone enjoyed reading the accounts of his travels, and said he would continue to keep us updated as he starts out again later this week.  I hope our "newbie", Mariah, liked the ride.