HOT BEEF SANDWICHES DID NOT DISAPPOINT

 Our most recent RTE (Ride To Eat) took us to Kickapoo Corners in Readstown, WI, for what IMHO are the best hot beef sandwiches on the planet.  Willing to give them a first try or  back for a second time were ten Wednesday Night Riders who showed up at Casey's on Sunday morning.

The bike crowd featured Chuckles, Lois, Bill, and Jim & Cathy.  Boarding three-wheelers were Dave, Richard & Melodye, and Bob & Julie.

HERE'S CHUCKLES & LOIS

BILL WANTS TO TRY THEM AGAIN

JULIE ARRIVES FOR A MINUTE

RICHARD WENT LAST TIME, BUT MELODYE IS A FIRST-TIMER

JULIE COMES BACK

NOW WE'RE READY

The original plan was to take mostly backroads to Readstown, but with all the rain in the area last night, we were a little leary of some possible flooding.  So we elected to stick to the main highways.  That meant taking HWY 76 south to Marquette. While in route, I dodged a hungry eagle.  At Marquette we crossed the Mississippi and took HWY 18 around Prairie du Chien and onto HWY 60 south of town.  HWY 60 took us through Wauzeka and past Boydtown and Boscobel and onto HWY 61 heading north.  We followed 61 cruising past Plugtown, Mt. Zion, and Rolling Ground.  After putting Soldiers Grove in our rear view mirrors, we arrived at Kickapoo Corners Restaurant at the intersection of HWY's 61 and 14, just outside of Readstown.  By the looks of the parking lot, it was a busy Sunday, like it always is there.

WE WERE ABLE TO FIND ENOUGH PARKING

BILL TELLS JIM ABOUT THE HOT BEEF

LOIS LOSES TRACK OF CHUCKLES

HE'S STILL TRYING TO FIND THE KICKSTAND

After we entered the very busy Kickapoo Corners, the earlier call to reserve a table became the best thing we did.

A short time after we were seated, a very efficient waitress took our drink orders and then came back for meal orders.  Obviously the recommended meal by Bill, Richard, and Bob was the hot beef sandwich.

HOW GOOD DOES THAT LOOK?!

A WELL FED GANG

When it came time to pay the checks, we were pleasantly surprised that someone had already paid for us.  Looking around our table, we knew it couldn't be anyone seated there.  We soon discovered that Bob P, Richard's brother, had picked up the checks for all of us.  A VERY SPECIAL THANKS TO BOB FOR THAT VERY GENEROUS GESTURE!!

Upon leaving the restaurant, I discovered that next door was the Kickapoo Trading Post, an antique store.  Here's a couple of shots of some of their outdoor mechandise.

It turned out to be a nice, warm day, so taking some backroads home seemed to be the thing to do.  We headed west a short ways on HWY 14 until we came to CR M.  Up the long, windy, and scenic hills we went until we came to CR J.  A turn north on J and we were treated to some striking views all along the way to HWY 82.  Once on 82 we past through Liberty Pole and got a glimpse of the famous Monument Rock.  Continuing of 82 we swept by Fargo, and when we reached West Prairie, we turned onto CR N and looped through Retreat (too late for the World's Fair) and back onto HWY 82.  Down the hill we went for some grand views of the surrounding countryside, passing through Red Mound and arriving at HWY 35 at the bottom of the hill outside of DeSoto.

Since our RTE's require a mandatory ice cream stop, we jogged on into the conveniece store there for our hand-dipped treats.  I hadn't realized that Pork's Hilltop no longer exists.  It's now called Pike's Den.  We may have to give that a try sometime.

After our treats, our journey continued on HWY 35/82 until we turned west towards Lansing.  Across the Black Hawk Bridge we went and passed through Lansing on HWY 9 and on into Waukon.  We had 135 miles on the trike when we garaged her.

We had a really nice ride and I did not hear anyone complain about the hot beef sandwiches.  Bill said he thought they were even better than last year!  AND AGAIN, THANKS TO BOB P!!

UPCOMING

If it ever stops raining, we will try Arlington or Hawkeye on Wednesday night.

It was 48 years ago on Friday, that we lost this great singer.