LET'S SEE A PARADE!

 On a rather cool, but sunny evening, we had six Wednesday Night Riders show up at Casey's.  Lois came with the only two-wheeler, while Terry, Richard, Wayne, Dave, and Bob rolled in on three wheels.

RICHARD TELLS ABOUT HIS TRIP OUT WEST

HERE COMES LOIS

From now on our rides were to include a trip across the Black Hawk Bridge at Lansing until it is no longer there.  Apparently now the destruction date or final closing date is October 20.

We departed Waukon via the Elon Road and followed it out to the Lansing/Harpers Road.  There we turned north for a short jog and pointed our wheels onto Lafayette Ridge Road.  All this time, with no humidity, you could see for miles and miles.

At the end of LRR we made our way onto the Great River Road and motored along the Mississippi River on into Lansing.  Across the bridge we went (hopefully not for the last time) and into Wisconsin.  We followed HWY 35 south through Ferryville and picked up CR C just outside of town.  While on C, Bob had to brake for a doe to cross in front and waited to see if a fawn might be following, so we proceeded with caution.  That was the last deer we saw, but Bob got buzzed by a stubborn buzzard that didn't want to leave a fresh road kill.

CR C took us over to HWY 27, and we turned back south passing through Fairview and Mt. Sterling before arriving in Seneca and stopping at Greener's Corner for a break.  Up until this stop, we were making good time and should have no trouble getting back before dark.  That was about to change!

We continued our journey south on 27, passing through Eastman.  With HWY 35 still closed, we could not turn back west on any of the alphabet roads, so we kept on 27 until we reached Limery Road and turned westward on it.  At this time of year, the sun is at a perfect angle to be right in your eyes as you motor west.  So taking our time on Limery was in order.  Limery took us across HWY 35 just south of Prairie du Chien and onto CR K.

We followed K on into PDC, and to our surprise, the longest homecoming parade we had ever seen was blocking our way onto HWY 18.  We kept thinking that the parade would end when we saw a fire engine approaching, but no luck.  There was pickup after pickup pulling trailer loads of kids along the parade route coming by and throwing lots of candy.  After about a 15 minute wait, we decided to try to work our way around the parade.  No luck yet.  At our next stop, the parade was still passing.  A traffic cop told Bob that it would be at least another 15 minutes before the rest of the parade passed.  She did offer an alternate route that we eventually tried and were able to get back to HWY 27 and cross the bridge into Marquette.  By this time, we were going to have to hustle to make it back to Waukon before darkness set in.

We motored up HWY 76 north with some sun still available, and arrived in Waukon right at dusk near 7 PM.  Four of us stopped at Uptown for eats.  I had exactly 100 miles on the Gold Wing parked on Main Street in Waukon.  On the way back, the temps got down to 50 degrees at times, but except for having to view a parade with every kid in PDC, it was a good ride.

WE WILL TRY TO CROSS THE BLACK HAWK BRIDGE AGAIN NEXT WEDNESDAY, WHICH COULD BE THE LAST TIME.

REAL H O G RIDERS!

CLUCK, CLUCK!

Each year the Wednesday Night Riders have tried to make the trip on an early October Sunday up to Rockton for their almost world famous barbeque chicken.  We went again this Sunday.

 We had 16 riders gather at Casey's this Sunday in anticipation of a scenic ride up to Rockton and a chance to devour some tasty barbeque chicken.  Bikers were Mike & Joan, Jim & Cathy, Chuckles, Lois, and Bill.  The three-wheelers were Roger, Wayne, Dave, and Bob.  Dennis & Marlene supplied the "support" pickup with Julie aboard, and we were also joined by Danny & Cindy.

BOB SURVEYS THE CHICKEN EATING CROWD

EARLY ARRIVALS

THE GROUP GETS BIGGER

THE "SUPPORT" PICKUP ROLLS IN

CHUCKLES TRIES TO CONVINCE DANNY & CINDY THAT THEY ARE GOING TO HAVE A GOOD TIME

JIM WELCOMES THE "SUPPORT" GROUP

GETTING READY TO ROLL

WHO HAS THE BEST TRIKE?

After Bob called in the final chicken orders, we left Waukon at 10:15 and took off up HWY 9 into Lansing.  There were a lot of people gathered on Main Street in Lansing for a celebration, so the town was pretty crowded.  Crowding would come into play later.

We made our way across the Black Hawk Bridge, which is going to continue to be part of our rides until it is dismantled.  After arriving in Wisconsin, we followed HWY 35 north into DeSoto and then turned eastward onto HWY 82.  The temps were very warm, but you had to be aware of wind gusts particularly on hilltops.

We followed HWY 82 passing through Red Mound, West Prairie, Fargo, and Liberty Pole.  We also took a quick look at Monument Rock as we passed by.  We took CR J on into Viroqua where we had planned to stop at Kwik Trip for a break.  Unfortuanately everyone in the county decided to come to Kwik Trip, so we departed since they were extremely busy and crowded, and there wasn't any parking in their lot.

So, we backtracked a little and got on our planned route by taking CR SS eastward out of town.  Things got interesting on this route also, as we were passed by emergency vehicles.  About halfway along the route we saw the accident.  A car was flipped over on its top and was lying in someone's fron yard.  Hopefully no one was seriously hurt.

CR SS was a scenic drive (color on trees began to appear) offering a smooth surface and some sweeping curves.  Once we reached HWY 56, we took a short jog to the juction of 56 and CR S, where Liberty Bar was located.  Since Bob had been there before, he decided this would be a good place for our break.

LOOKS LIKE A GOOD PLACE TO STOP

BARBEQUE PORK LOOKS GOOD, BUT WE'LL WAIT FOR CHICKEN

IT WAS WARM ENOUGH NOW TO SHED SOME JACKETS

WAYNE IS READY TO KEEP MOVING

After thanking the folks in the Liberty Bar for their hospitality, Bob led the group northward on CR S.  This is another well maintained county road that offers up some great views of rivers, valleys, and bluffs.  We make our way through Avalanche (By the looks of some of the dwellings, it looks like this berg was hit by an avalanche!) and Bloomingdale before we dropped onto CR P which took us on a scenic ride eastward to HWY 131.  Taking 131 northward for a few miles, we soon arrived at the Rockton Bar, where another huge crowd had gathered.

LOTS OF CHICKEN EATERS

Since we had made reservations, we were able to get right in and find a table inside, out of the relentless wind.

GULP AND GLUG!

ALMOST GOOD ENOUGH TO EAT!

ROGER SAYS, "I'M NOT SHARING!"

BOB LOOKS FULL

THAT SAYS IT ALL!

We departed Rockton, with the next scheduled stop being the orchards near Gays Mills.  However, on the way, a "handy-dandy" Harley helmet couldn't take the wind gusts.

ANYBODY GOT A PIPE WRENCH?!

We continued along HWY 131 through LaFarge and Viola and into Readstown where we joined HWY 61 continuing south.  When we reached HWY 171, we turned back west and made our bumpy way to the Sunrise Orchards.  HWY 171 from Rolling Ground down to Sunrise Orchards has always been and continues to be a "piece of crap".  The view of the valley below just before you get to Sunrise is breathtaking, and Sunrise has set aside a part of their paved parking lot for motorcycles.

After everyone who stopped at Sunrise had sampled the cider and cider donuts and purchased other eats, we continued our journey down 171 into Gays Mills.  After stuffing ourselves with chicken, donuts, and other apple goodies, we still stopped for ice cream at the Arco Store in Ferryville.  Bob said this was the last stop for him and headed for Waukon after passing over the Black Hawk Bridge again.  It has been rumored that some of our party still hadn't had enough eats and drinks and succumbed to the call of the Ruptured Rooster.

Bob had 157 miles on the trike when he parked her.  Our final scheduled RTE was fun.  Good roads, good scenery, and good company!

NEXT WEDNESDAY

We will cross the Black Hawk Bridge again, and maybe for the last time.  From there on it's anybody's guess where we go.

RUN, CHICKENS, RUN!!

BACK ROADS TO BOSCOBEL

 With all the road closings, it has been a real challenge planning routes over in Wisconsin this year.  The goal for the Wednesday ride was Boscobel, but with the promise to cross the Black Hawk Bridge as many times as possible yet, getting there was going to be a challenge.  Hopefully some of the roads I had taken long ago were still open!

We had eight riders roam into Casey's on Wednesday for our new 4 o'clock departure time.  Mike, Chuckles, Lois, and Bill arrived on bikes, while the other four, Dave, Wayne, Terry, and Bob rode trikes.

EARLY ARRIVALS

MIKE SPEEDS IN

BILL JOINS IN

AND HERE'S DAVE

The bank clock temp read 80 degrees as we rolled past it and out of town on HWY 9.  We motored on into Lansing, and made sure we crossed the bridge for one of the last times.  After arriving in Wisconsin, we took HWY 35 south through Ferryville and arrived at it's detour.  (HWY 35 from just outside of Ferryville to Prarie du Chien has been closed all summer for repair).  Since we couldn't continue south on 35, we took the detour up HWY 171, and climbed the mountain into Mt. Sterling.

We continued on 171 through Mt. Sterling to N Halls Branch Road, a strip of unmarked blacktop that I had taken quite a while back.  It was still open, so we maneuvered along the narrow winding strip (We don't need no stinkin' yellow lines!) until we arrived at CR S.  A scenic cruise on S took us to HWY 131 (also a closed highway) at Petersburg.  We were able to cross 131 and stay on S all the way east to HWY 61 also called the Blues Highway.

Fortunately we were all still together, so we continued our journey south on 61, a really good riding highway.  We followed 61 on into Boscobel for a short break at the Kwik Trip.  Usually when we venture into Boscobel, we stop at the Udder Brothers Creamery for ice cream, but with the shorter daylight hours, time was against us.

After leaving Boscobel, we picked up HWY 60, and cruised along side of the Wisconsin River and through Wauzeka.  Continuing on 60 we arrived at HWY 18 near Bridgeport and turned northward into Prarie du Chien.  We skirted around PDC on 18 and over the bridge into Marquette where we picked up HWY 76 north.  While viewing a beautiful sunset, we motored up 76 into Waukon where 6 of us stopped for eats at Uptown.  118 miles showed up on the Gold Wing's clock in Waukon.  We were able to put that many miles on, make it to Boscobel on backroads, and get back before dark.

UPCOMING EVENTS

This Sunday, the 5th of October (I'm still trying to figure out what happened to June!) is our last scheduled RTE (Ride To Eat).  It's the "Run, Chicken, Run" Run up to the Rockton Bar for their nearly world famous barbeque chicken.  They serve other food, but if you want the chicken, it's a good idea to have reservations.  You can tell Bob to make your reservations if you let him know before Sunday morning.  We plan to depart Casey's at 10:15 (note time change). We usually try to stop at one of the orchards on the way back to load up on cider donuts. Figuring out a route up to Rockton and then back through the orchards is going to be a real challenge, but it promises to be a scenic adventure.  Everyone is welcome!