EIGHT LEAF LOOKERS

On a fantastic fall day to be riding, eight riders showed up at Casey's for our second leaf looking tour.  We had Richard in his Slingshot with neice Darby aboard.  Richard's brother, Bob, also came over from Wisconsin to join us.  He rides a Harley.  The other two-wheelers were Mike & Joan and Jim on Gold Wings.  Terry came with his Spyder, and Bob led on his Gold Wing trike.

THE GROUP GATHERS

BOB P CHATS WITH SOME OTHER BIKERS

MIKE, JOAN, AND TERRY CONVERSE

JIM SHOWS UP FOR GAS, BUT NO COFFEE YET

I THINK I MIGHT BE ABLE TO HOOK UP TO THAT TRAILER

RICHARD WELCOMES DARBY TO THE RIDE

ARE YOU SURE YOU CAN'T HELP ME HOOK UP TO THAT TRAILER?

 Under sunny skies and temps already in the 70's, we roll out of Casey's with the Lancaster, WI, area as our destination.  There are some great county roads to ride in that area, and hopefully the sun will shine on some pretty trees.

We cruised down HWY 76 into Marquette and were treated again for some of us to spectacular colors on the bluff behind the old school, post office, and motel.  A great start for our leaf look!

After crossing the Mississippi River bridge into Prairie du Chien, we took HWY 18 bypass and continued on 18 to Bridgeport and turned onto CR C heading west.  After C, we negotiated CR X and P and arrived just outside of Bagley onto CR A.  All along this route, we were able to see some great colors at times, but great scenery all the time.

CR A is an interesting ride that goes all the way from near Bagley and winds up in Lancaster.  There wasn't much for tree color on this route, but the hills and sweeping curves kept things interesting.  After passing through Bloomington on A, we stayed on it all the way into Lancaster.  The road on this section runs atop a ridge, so the views of the valleys below really catch one's attention.  After arriving in Lancaster, we opt for lunch at the A&W.  Burgers and chicken strips seemed to be the main choices, and Joan told about her experiences working at the A&W when there was one in Lansing.

After lunch we passed through Lancaster, avoiding a stop at a fancy, over priced coffee shop, and turned onto CR K just north of town.  CR K is another one of the neat riding alphabet roads that make up most of southwest Wisconsin.  It's well maintained and along with some curves and hills there are some great views.  We were able to catch some colors as we passed through a wooded area on the way to CR T. after passing through Mt. Ida.

CR T is another treat.  It also runs along the top of a ridge that lets the rider view some spectacular surroundings.  It ends at the Junction of HWY 60 at Port Andrew after passing through Hickory Grove and Blue River.  We stopped at the Citgo Converience Store there for gas and drinks.  Jim was able to get coffee before "dts" set in.

Our ride continued on taking HWY 60 west to CR W and a turn towards the north.  On W we enter some real "back" country.  This where the owls and the pussycats live in perfect harmony.  We did get to view some beautiful trees however.  We cross HWY 61 still on W and skirt through Mt. Zion.  At this point CR W has been resurfaced and has no road markings. (We don't need no stinking yellow lines!) and after going down several exhilarating hills and negotiating some sharp turns (a rider's paradise!), we arrive at HWY 131 at Barnum.

HWY 131 at this point has been in need of some serious repair.  We bump our way into Steuben (all roads lead to Steuben) and catch HWY 179 out of town.  We soon find CR E, and trying to avoid "tar snakes" take it west up to HWY 27,  where a turn north puts us into Seneca where we make the "mandatory" ice cream stop at Greener's.

After indulging in the ice cream, we continue on HWY 27 passing through Mt. Sterling and Fairview before reaching CR C and turn back west.  Bob P lives on CR C, so he dropped off at home while the rest of us continued on down the hill to HWY 35.  Here again on C we got some great views of the leaf colors.  We passed through Ferryville on 35 and then took HWY 82 across the Black Hawk Bridge into Lansing.  I am still amazed at the equipment (especially cranes) being used to build the new bridge.  We then take HWY 9 back into Waukon.  

I racked up 188 miles on the trike on a thoroughly enjoyable ride.  We may not have seen all the color we would have liked, but the scenery on this ride made up for it!

It looks as if a lot of cooler temps are headed our way for Wednesday and the weekend with highs only in the mid 50's.  Hopefully we are not done riding for the year, but it sure has been a good year for it.  It just went by too fast!

IS THAT DEE, LOIS, OR LISSA?!