GREAT TURNOUT FOR CAMP COURAGEOUS!

 The Wednnesday Night Riders responded in a big way to help support Camp Courageous on Sunday with 17 riders aboard 10 units.  Bikers were Jim, Lois, Mike, and Chuckles.  On three-wheelers were Ron & Helen, Bernell & Kathy, Leo, Richard & Melodye, and Bob & Julie.  Dennis & Marlene arrived in the "support" vehicle with Mary and Joan aboard.

THE CROWD STARTS TO GATHER

NOTHING EXCITES JIM LIKE A CUP (MUG) OF COFFEE!

THE "SUPPORT" VEHICLE ARRIVES

DENNIS COMES OUT TO VISIT

GOOD TO SEE MARY AGAIN

MIKE ROLLS IN...

ON A NEWLY WASHED BIKE

BERNELL & KATHY ARRIVE

AND HERE COMES LEO!

CHUCKLES WAS IN CHURCH PRAYING FOR US

THE LOT IS FILLING RIGHT UP!

GOOD TO SEE LEO AGAIN, IT'S BEEN QUITE A WHILE

THE SLINGSHOT COMPLETES OUR CAST OF RIDERS

The usual fare for the fall fund-raising breakfast at Camp Courageous is pancakes.  This year, for the first time, waffles are the headliner.  We are anxious to see how that works, so we depart Casey's at 10 with beautiful fall weather, and head for Monticello.

With the number of riders, and the breakfast closing at noon, we opt for the shortest way down to Monticello, and take the scenic route back. So we take HWY 76 to Rossville, go down Volney Road to Monona, catch HWY 18 east over to HWY 52 and turn south.  After passing through Garnavillo, Guttenberg, Millville, Luxemburg, New Vienna, and Dyersville, we take HWY 136 south through Worthington to HWY 151 at Cascade.  We take HWY 151 south to HWY 38 at Monticello.  A short stretch on 38 takes us to 190th St and we turn east and arrive at Camp Courageous.

WE GET TO PARK THE CYCLES ON THE BASKETBALL COURT

We are greeted by Charlie Becker (CC Ceo) and get our waffles, sausage, juice, milk, and coffee and sit as a group.

Some go back for "seconds", but everyone agrees that the waffles are delicious.

After a great fund-raising breakfast, we depart on a route back home that will take us through Balltown.  We take Bob's "shortcut" to Balltown by first going back to HWY 38 and 151.  Just outside of Cascade, we turn onto N Cascade Rd, follow it to Roller Coaster Road (and it is!)  Roller Coaster takes us to E Pleasant Rd and after only about a half mile we are on Placid Road and cruise on into Epworth for some to gas up.  All of the roads so far were in great shape and offered some great views of the surrounding countryside.  But the best was yet to come.

After a brief stop in Epworth, we continued through town and ended up taking Gun Club Road north up to Bankston Park Road, and here's where the spectacular scenery starts.  We folow Bankston for a short ways and pick up Asbury Road and the views keep getting better and better.  After Asbury, we arrive at Five Points Road and take it north to HWY 3.  Some of the scenery along these four roads is breathtaking.  Except maybe for the foothills in the Rocky Mountains near Denver, these roads offer views that can't be beat.

We wind our way along HWY 3 until we arrive at Sherrill Road and Eichman's Convenience Store for a break.  Everyone was impressed with the scenery that we just traversed.  But there was more yet to come.

We headed north again on Sherrill and Balltown Road.  Again we were treated to some fantastic views on both sides of these roads.  Once we passed through Balltown, we took our time and swung into some lookout areas as we went down the Great River Road (CR C9Y).  There are some rough areas on this road before we get back to HWY 52, but the scenery makes up for it.  Once we arrive on 52, we cruise into Guttenberg and stop for the "much in demand" ice cream at Joe's.

THANKS TO CHUCKLES FOR THE ABOVE TWO PHOTOS

After some "much needed" ice cream, we made our way through Guttenberg and onto the Great River Road (CR X56) headed north along the Mississippi River.  We stayed on X56 all the way into McGregor.  There we had no choice but to pass through town on a back street and then on into Marquette.  There we picked up HWY 76 and made our way back to Waukon while Ron & Helen and Bernell & Kathy kept going on to Decorah, and Leo headed for Lansing.  We had 234 miles on the trike when we got home.

GREAT RIDE!  GREAT CAUSE! GREAT COMPANY! GREAT FOOD!

NEXT WEDNESDAY

It looks like we will try to head towards Elkader and the Gunder Road.

NEXT SUNDAY

This is our last special ride for the season.  It is our "RUN, CHICKEN,RUN" RUN to Rockton, WI, for their "nearly" world famous barbecue chicken.  Besides a scenic ride to Rockton, you will be treated to some great eats.  The plan is to leave Casey's at 10 that Sunday morning.  If you want the chicken, it needs to be reserved.  If you want to let Bob know by Saturday, he will reserve it for you.  More on this after the ride and blog Wednesday night.

NEVER TOO OLD!!