HAPPY HOLIDAYS TO ALL WEDNESDAY NIGHT RIDERS!!

 On this Christmas Eve day, I want to thank everyone who sent us cards this year.  With the cost of cards and postage, it seems to be getting a lot more expensive each year to send out Christmas cards.

Since we don't want to do this....

we are departing for our annual venture to Panama City Beach, Florida on Wednesday, if I can get enough snow removed from the backyard to get the trike and trailer out.

On the way down, I plan to stop in Altoona, AL, where I bought the trike.  The trunk seems to leak in some water when it rains, so the place where I bought it is going to replace the seal around it.

I'm looking forward to the rides and get-togethers (mostly RTE's) with the motorcycle friends we have made in Ft. Walton and Pensacola, FL and Dothan, AL.  I'll try to keep you posted on the blog on some of these.

Now, we would like to wish all of our Wednesday Night Rider friends a Very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

Here's some holiday cheer for you to enjoy over the holidays...

EVEN ON A HARLEY!

IS THAT THE WNR GANG?

YOU BETTER BE GOOD..YOU BETTER NOT CRY

IS THAT DALE?  EVEN SANTA HAS A CONVERTIBLE

ONE "BIG ASS" TRENCH

 We just finished a cruise that included some Caribbean islands (Aruba, Bonaire, and Curacao), and some South America ports (Colon, Panama and Cartagena, Columbia).  But the highlight of the journey was a cruise through the Panama Canal.  In my last post I said I would try to tell our WNR group about the trip and especially the cruise through the canal.  I don't want to turn this into a boring travelogue, but I will try to give some highlights.

First of all there were approximately 2,100 passengers and crew aboard our cruise ship, the Celebrity Edge.  It is a 16 deck monstrosity with a capacity of near 3,000.  We were part of a group of about 100 motorcyclists from all over the US and even Canada.

THE EDGE

It was the largest ship of its class to pass through the new locks since they were constructed in 2016.  The charge to go through the canal is based on tonnage for freighters and passenger numbers for cruise type ships.  Accordingly, it cost the Edge nearly $300,000 to go through the Panama Canal!  Also, a ship of any size is required to have a Panama Canal pilot come aboard and guide it through the canal.  Private boats can go through also, and the price for them varies between $800 and $3,200, but they must wait and go through the locks with a bigger ship.

THE CANAL LOCKS

The canal was finished by the US in 1914, thanks to the negotiating of Teddy Roosevelt.  (We could have used him again lately!)  The French started building it 10 years earlier but they went bankrupt and lost over 20,000 workers due to the working conditions like malaria and poisonous snakes.  Many of their workers also died in cave- ins.  The US did lose about 5,000 workers mostly due to accidents.

The canal itself is about 50 miles long and contains 3 sets of locks that raise or lower ships about 85 ft.  Approximately 35 to 40 ships pass through each day or 13,000 to 14,000 yearly.  It takes about 8 to 10 hours to pass through it, but it would take 22 days to go around Cape Horn.  It is still considered the most spectacular engineering feat ever accomplished!

We took the cruise ship Edge through the new locks and then as part of one of our choice of excursions, took a two deck flat bottom boat back through the old locks.  So we went from the Atlantic Ocean into the Pacific Ocean all in one long day.  It cost $3,000 for the flat bottom passenger boat through the locks, and we had to go through with a big freighter.

Here's some of the photos and videos I took on our journey through and back through the Panama Canal.

THE OLD LOCKS

VIEW FROM THE EDGE

BRIDGE ACROSS THE CANAL
THE HIGHWAY GOES CLEAR INTO ALASKA

FREIGHTER WAITING TO GET THROUGH

THIS IS FLOODED WHEN A SHIP IS BEING RAISED

JUST ABOUT THROUGH ON THE EDGE

PASSING THROUGH ONE OF THE OLD LOCKS

These are called "electric mules".  They help guide certain ships through the canal and locks.

Right now the only warships that are allowed to pass through the Panama Canal are US Navy ships.  There was a strong military presence in Panama during WW2.  It would have been disastrous for the Japanese to gain control of the canal then.

We really enjoyed the chance to experience a trip through the engineering marvel called the Panama Canal and we especially enjoyed meeting up with some of our old motorcycle friends and meeting some new ones.

There were some planned activities for our Wings N Waves motorcycle group.

WE HAD A PIRATES DAY
WE DID'NT HAVE TO DRESS UP TO BE PIRATES

We had a tribute to veterans get-together.

And we had a "bon-voyage" get-together.

I have a lot more photos and videos of our cruise, but I think you get the idea.  It was interesting to say the least, and we had a lot of fun!

We are now set to fly out to Denver on Friday to spoil the grandkids for Christmas.  We will return back home around the 22nd and start getting ready to head to Florida for January and February and do some motorcycling, golfing, and pistol shooting.  I already received a note from one of the biker groups saying they are "expecting" us to ride with them.

I will be in touch again shortly before we leave for Florida, but in the meantime enjoy these bits from our new motorcycle group, Eagle Wings Motorcycle Association.

NOT TODAY, BOB

SOME LATE FALL THOUGHTS

With the seemingly upcoming rapid drop in temps this past week, I was able to squeeze in a short ride on Wednesday.  I thought about trying it again on Thursday, but got spooked out by the rain showers.  So instead I finished winterizing the two-wheeler and the trike.

A SAD DAY!

 Friday rolled around, and it was time to honor our veterans.  I did attend a "Quilts of Valor" presentation at the library where Julie and her quilting group passed out quilts they had made to deserving veterans.  I also attended a get-together at the new veterans museum here in Waukon on Saturday.  An interview with Sherrie White, a nurse who served in Viet Nam was presented, and several of our Allamakee County Viet Nam veterans also were invited to tell about some of their experiences.  If you have not made it yet to visit this museum located in the old Vet's Club, I highly recommend it!

Just to let everyone know, I made a contribution to Camp Courageous in honor of Meryle Honn.  He always enjoyed our trip down to Monticello for the pancakes and omelets.  I found out that the contribution went to help with the veterans' monument that is located there.  Since Meryle was a Korean War veteran, I thought this was very appropriate.  Here's a photo of the tribute to veterans that is now located at Camp Courageous.

And finally here's my own thoughts concerning our deserving veterans.

Now it's time for some drivel.

Does this look like our departure from Casey's on Wednesday nights?  Highlight the link and then click on it.

https://www.facebook.com/1168086355/videos/530649631749826/

Terry sent me this one.  Just in case you want to ride this winter!

Julie sent me this for all you pet lovers like Jim D.  Can he teach Honey to lean?

Julie and I also had birthdays this month.

Julie and I will be leaving on this coming Saturday for a cruise that will include the Panama Canal.  So we will be spending Thanksgiving aboard a cruise ship with a group of our motorcycling friends from all over the country.  We will return from that trip in early December, and I may have some observations to share with you then.  Near the end of December we will be making our journey down to Panama City Beach, FL, to spend January and February with some of our biker friends from Florida and Alabama.

ChucK and Dee have mentioned that they would like to see our group have an end-of-the-year get-together sometime at the Uptown Waukon Grill (formerly Vet's Club).  This would not take the place of our PMS get-together we have in April.  Since I am pretty well "bagged out" from the organizing I've done this year, I'm going to leave it up to them to make the call.  I'll keep you posted if this is something that's going to happen.

In the meantime--HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

LAST RIDE, BUT NEW EATS!

 Our last Wednesday night ride for the year came on a great night for riding.  Sunny skies and temps in the low 70's greeted seven riders.  We had Chuckles, Lois, and Dee on bikes, while Irv, Darrel, Roger, and Bob sported three-wheelers.

IRV & ROGER UNDER SUNNY SKIES

PROBABLY OUR MOST DEDICATED RIDER IS DARREL

LOIS DRAGS CHUCKLES ALONG

DEE READIES FOR OUR FINAL WEDNESDAY

However, I think Irv expressed it the best with this photo and comment from Facebook.

How many times can you go riding in Iowa on November 2nd (without gloves)?

With the promise of being able to eat at the newly opened Uptown Grill (formerly City Club), after a short ride, we departed Casey's by passing through Waukon on Main St. and after a short jog on 9th St., we turned onto newly paved Prairie Avenue.  At the end of Prairie, we turned south onto West Ridge Road and over to HWY 9 heading west.

HWY 9 took us to Frankville Road, and we followed it through its namesake and onto HWY 51 and then cruised on into Postville.  Things got interesting in Postville because of some never-ending street closings, but we were able to find our way over to Cherry Valley Drive.  This stretch of smooth concrete took us over to Forest Mills Road, and we turned north passing by the Gelo plantation and on to HWY 76.  We motored into Waukon and gathered for eats at the very busy Uptown Grill. Terry joined us there. This was to be their "soft" opening, but judging by the crowd, you'd thought it was their grand opening.  Despite the many patrons there, the service was good and the food was excellent!  I had exactly 50 miles on the trike when I parked her, so that made it an official ride!

I was sorry to see the Wednesday night rides come to an end for the year, but looking back, I think we would all agree that we had an excellent riding year.  We missed very few Wednesdays and the special rides turned out great, so here's looking to 2023.  At least for now, plan on a PMS get-together in April, and hopefully I will be able to keep you informed about Julie and my trip to the Panama Canal with our motorcycle friends and our cycle adventures in Florida this winter.

Also, I always enjoy riding through Waukon on Halloween and looking at some of the decorations that folks put out.  This year I took some photos to share.  Here's some of the best ones I saw on the trike.

IS THAT CHUCKLES ON THE BIKE?!

AND FINALLY, DON'T FORGET TO VOTE ON TUESDAY, AND BE SURE TO VOTE "YES" ON THE HOSPITAL OWNERSHIP CHANGE!