GOOD BURGERS IN GUNDER!!

 Our first RTE (Ride To Eat) drew 16 Wednesday night riders for a trip to the newly reopened bar & grill in Gunder.  It is now called the Gunder Roadhouse.

Thirteen hungry riders gathered at Casey's for a 4:30 departure.  We had Ken & Gloria and David & Suzanne in convertibles.  Jim D, Howard, Clair & Doris (all the way from Dyersville), and Dee showed up on bikes. Darrel, ChucK, and Bob & Julie were on trikes.  Dennis & Marlene along with Mary took the short cut.

"I caught a fish this long!"

"Do you think Bob can get us there?"

"Maybe we should take off without those two guys!"

Glad to see Doris looking healthy again!

Good to see Clair again!

Leaders getting ready to roll.

We departed Casey's at 4:30 after calling in confirming the number for our reservations.  The weather forecast was for a slight chance of a shower, no wind, and temps in the low 80's.  As soon as we started out, the sky darkened and some raindrops pelted us as we left Waukon.  Taking Bob's "shortcut" to Gunder, we took 76 south to Forest Mills Road, cruised past the Gelo plantation, and then onto Cherry Valley Road.  Again the storm clouds looked like they could dump on us at any time.  We continued on into Postville and picked up HWY 18 and headed into Clermont.  We turned south in Clermont onto Canoe Road and on into Elgin.  The sky looked somewhat clear, but the wind that wasn't supposed to be blowing was kicking up dust storms in town.  With only about seven miles to go, it looked like we might avoid getting wet.

Exactly an hour after leaving Casey's we arrived in Gunder where Dennis, Marlene, and Mary were waiting for us.  After breathing a sigh of relief from avoiding the storms, I looked at the weather screen on my gps, and the message came up, "You lucky bastard!" (LOL).

Howard directs traffic in the Gunder parking lot.

Dennis, Marlene, & Mary greet the rest of the group.

After entering the Gunder Roadhouse, we found they had a large table and menus all ready for us.

Now, what to order?

While a number of us sampled the burgers, others ordered different items or specials from the menus.  Everyone agreed that the food was delicious and there was plenty of it. As far as I know, no one tried to tackle the famous one pound Gunder burger.  I also thought considering the number of us, the service was very good.

With full bellies, we departed the Gunder Roadhouse to find that the wind had died down and the temps had cooled considerably.  There were some threatening skies, so we beat a path for home.  After leaving Gunder, we took CR W64 north up to HWY 18.  This stretch is by far the worst part of the Gunder Road.  It was a real test for shock absorbers!  We took 18 back through Postville and then got on HWY 51 heading north.  Our next turn was onto Yellow River Drive heading east before reaching CR W60 (aka Old Stage and W Ridge Road) and heading back north to HWY 9 and back into Waukon.  We racked up 75 miles on the trike without getting wet and enjoying a great RTE.

NEXT WEDNESDAY NIGHT

Bob & Julie will be heading to Denver for the high school graduation of their grand daughter, Lilly.  That means that you will need a new leader for the Wednesday night ride.  If Bob was leading, he would probably make the run to the orchards in Gays Mills, since there is a good chance the apple trees would be in full bloom.

This is the tree in our back yard!

It might be a good idea to get there before the "never ending" wind blows all the blossoms off.  Bob should be back for the Wednesday night ride on the 25th.

Also keep in mind we have a ride and a cookout scheduled for Memorial Day.  More on that later.  BE SAFE!