WEDNESDAY NIGHT FINALE? ANOTHER VET HONORED

 A handful (5) Wednesday Night Riders gathered at Casey's Wednesday (when else?) to go on what is most likely the final Wednesday night ride of the season.  Because of daylight savings time and the cooler weather approaching, we moved our Wednesday night ride earlier in the day to 2 PM.  It's dark now at 5.

The five riders who showed were Bill, Chuckles, and Dee on bikes, while Dave M and Bob were on trikes.

THE GROUP GATHERS FOR THE FINALE

The temp was 63 and under bright sunshine, we pulled out of the Casey's parking lot, passed through Waukon, and turned north onto HWY 76.  We followed 76 under very comfortable temps and then reached the Dorchester Drive (CR A16) and turned northeast heading for Spring Grove..  Once we passed into Minnesota, we were on a brand new stretch of blacktop, which was a real improvement from the road conditions before.

We arrived in Spring Grove and passed by the city park that had been beautifully decorated for Christmas.  Just on the edge of town we turned onto CR 27 and followed it back to HWY 27 just outside of Eitzen.  With most of the corn now out of the fields, we had unobstructed views and could see for miles and miles.  Turning north on 76 we arrived in Caledonia and took a short break at the Kwik Trip.

After our break, we passed through Caledonia and took CR 3 on down to Brownsville.  Passing through the shady areas was considerably cooler.  When we arrived in Caledonia we took HWY 26 back along the river heading towards New Albin.  I chose this part of the route even though I knew it would be cooler on the chance that we might get to see some of the swan migration in the Mississippi River reserve area.  We were not disappointed!  There were hundreds of those beautiful white birds resting in the reserve.  If you get a chance in the next few days, make a trip by there.  It's well worth it.

Shortly after passing through New Albin, we turned onto Iowa River Drive (CR A26) and followed the river until we reached Lycurgus Road straight ahead of us.  Onto Lycurgus we went stopping at the junction of HWY 9.  There Bill turned back to Lansing while the rest of us headed into Waukon and being passed by a couple of sheriff's vehicles with flashing lights apparently on their way to some type of emergency.  Arriving at Uptown, I was joined by Lois and Chuckles for eats.  It was a nice enough day that Julie and a number of women were playing cards there after a round of golf.  I had just at 100 miles on the clock outside of Uptown.

NOT BAD FOR THE MIDDLE OF NOVEMBER IN IOWA!

ANOTHER HONOR

I'm happy to announce that another of the veterans in our Wednesday night group was honored with a "quilt of valor".  Here's Richard receiving a beautiful quilt on Veteran's Day in New Albin.

Well deserved, Richard, and thanks for your service!

On Saturday, Julie and I will be off to Denver to see the kids and grandkids for Thanksgiving.  So here's wishing all our Wednesday Night Riders', their families and friends--A HAPPY THANKSGIVING!!