Taking advantage of a predicted warm Sunday, we had 5 WNR on two bikes and a trike take off from Casey's for what may well be the last ride for the year. Jim & Cathy rolled in on their Wing, and Al roared up on his Indian, while Bob & Julie put their butts on the Gold Wing trike.
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| JIM EYEBALLS THE SKY FOR SOME SUN |
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| AL GASSES UP THE INDIAN |
Jim had a route in mind, so he was our designated leader. I told him there was a lot of pressure that goes along with that job, but he proved to be up for the task.
We cruised out of Waukon at 9:30 and motored up HWY 9 to Lansing. Continuing to stay in Iowa, we took HWY 26 north along the Mississippi and were treated to some colorful trees that lined the bluffs as we made our way up to LaCrescent. Once there we continued north on HWY 14/61 all the way to Winona where we stopped at a Kwik Trip for a break. With the sun now out from the clouds, the temps were well into the 60's.
Jim's plan was to have lunch at Larry's Lookout near Arcadia, so we departed Winona by crossing the bridge into Wisconsin and continued north on HWY 35. Cruising along the Wisconsin side of the river, we made our way to Fountain City and onto HWY 95. This is a winding route that traverses up the hills and through the valleys and offers spectacular views of the surrounding countryside. It is also the home of many Golden Plump chicken farms that help supply the birds for the Rockton barbeque. After arriving at Larry's, we discovered that there were a lot less bikes here than the last time we were here this summer. In fact, we were the only motorcycles in the lot for a while.
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| AT LARRY'S AGAIN |
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| THE VIEW IS STILL GREAT FROM LARRY'S |
After polishing off a "big butt" rueben, Jim led us down the windy but scenic route on 95 on into Arcadia. From Arcadia we traveled on several scenic county blacktops (T,D,V, and VV) until we came to HWY 108 at Mindoro. This highway is known as Wisconsin's "Dragon". It is loaded with grades and turns that keeps a motorcyclist alert to say the least! The "Dragon" took us down to HWY 16 and on into West Salem where Jim's Gold Wing "automatically" turned us into a bakery parking lot.
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| READY TO ATTACK THE BAKERY |
After loading up on some bakery treats and polishing off a cup of his needed coffee, Jim led us on through LaCrosse and heading back south along the river on HWY 35. We then came to HWY 82 and crossed the Blackhawk Bridge into Lansing and continued onto HWY 9 and back to Waukon. I had 212 miles on the trike when we pulled her into the shed.
Thanks to Jim (although it was probably Cathy) for leading us on a great fall ride. It was actually a pleasure for me to have someone else leading a ride! I hope not, but looking at the weather forecasts coming up, we may have made the last ride for 2021.
