MAYBE NEXT WEDNESDAY!!?? SOME UNIQUE BIKES

The wicked witch of winter still won't let go, and another cold and windy Wednesday night has passed us by with no riding.  

I did get the 2 wheeler out on Saturday afternoon.  Since it had been over 5 months since I'd been on the 2 wheeler, I took her up to the high school parking lot for some pre-ride practice.  After I started to get comfortable with her again, I cruised through Fishville and past the Gelo ranch.  I continued on into Luana where I picked up HWY 18 and on through Monona and into Marquette.  By this time the temperature was a comfortable 62 degrees.  At Marquette I headed north on HWY 76, and without any leaves on the trees yet, that bluff between Marquette and Effigy Mounds looks pretty scary.  You can now see that there's a lot of trees just barely clinging to the rocks that could fall down on top of you at any time, particularly after all the rain we've had.  Actually I was kind of relieved to get to Effigy Mounds.

I then headed up the hill and turned towards Harpers Ferry.  In Harpers I took the Lansing/Harpers road to the Elon road and then back to Waukon.  About 75 miles, and it felt good to be able to lean into the curves again....maybe next Wednesday.

In the meantime, I thought you might like to take a look at some unusual bike pictures that were sent to me.  Enjoy.....

UPDATE ON HOWARD---WEATHER DRAGGING ON

HOWARD

As most of you have heard by now, Howard suffered a stoke last Wednesday and was taken to the hospital here in Waukon and then on to Mayo in LaCrosse.  Monday morning when I called to see when I could visit him, Randy said he was at coffee at the S & D and should be back in the store a little later!  Apparently it's hard to keep a hard-headed Dutchman down!  When I visited him at the store later that morning, he looked great.  You would never know he had had a stroke.  He has lost function in his left eye, but that's it.  I know there are quite a few motorcycle riders with one eye, so after a while I look to see him back in the saddle.  Besides most Harleys affect your hearing, not your eyesight!  And I'm sure it won't be too long before he'll be after that all-you-can-eat Mexican supper again!

ANOTHER "GOLDEN DAY" IN NORTHEAST IOWA

Maybe I should get my other knee done to help straighten out our weather.  It's certainly been a long-drawn out March.  I was able to get the trike out for her maiden Iowa voyage a week ago Monday.  I put a little over 100 miles on her that day, and that's been the last nice day since!  With this coming Wednesday still looking cold and damp, I thought I would send out a few photos from last year that didn't make the cut for the PMS meeting.  ENJOY!

GOOD CROWD FOR PMS!!

Whether it was actually PMS (parked motorcycle syndrome), being hard-up for entertainment, or the full moon, we had 31 attendees at the Wednesday Night Riders 9th annual PMS meeting on Wednesday night, the 15th, at the Old Rossville Store!  It was really good to see the "old" gang again, and hopefully some warm, sunny Wednesday nights are on the way.  I do have some spare ride sheets if anyone has misplaced theirs already.  This meeting seems to always be a fun time with some good-natured ribbing mixed in.  Hopefully everyone had a good time, but WARNING if you didn't, next year's meeting won't be any better!!

Here's a few photos from the meeting--some taken by Chuckles.

BOB'S FAST MOVING CLOCK

UUUGGGGHHH!!!

POOPING IGUANA!

IT'S TIME TO COME HOME-----####&%**^^+++!!!

After a month of absolutely beautiful weather, 2,600 miles on the trike, and loads of fun with the GWRRA folks here in the Florida panhandle, it's time to return to the frozen tundra.  BUMMER!!

We plan to depart on Wednesday morning from Panama City Beach and our first stop will be in Altoona, AL where a Roadsmith dealer is going to check out the rear brakes on the trike, so without any foul weather, we should roll into Waukon late Thursday or early Friday.

A lot of the fun and the neat rides we went on were thanks to the folks in the GWRRA Chapter here in Panama City.  They are the perfect example of "southern hospitality", especially Chapter Directors Dick and Jenny Smith and Assistant Chapter Directors John and Joan Rutledge.  They took us on some neat rides and to some fantastic restaurants plus even some DQ's!

One of the latest rides we went on with the chapter members was to a town here in the panhandle called Wewahitchka that is known world wide for the production of Tupelo honey.  We stopped there and purchased some from a producer and then continued on to the town of Port St. Joe where we had lunch  at a Mexican restaurant.  Yes, I actually ate some Mexican food and sipped one of their famous drinks.  I'm still breathing fire!!  Here's a couple of photos  of our journey.

OUR "HONEY" STOP

PURCHASING THE PRODUCT

Julie and I made our "annual" excursion to St. George Island by passing through Indian Pass, Apalachicola (the oyster capital of the world), and East Point.  A stretch of the highway (98) goes through Tyndal Air Base where we were buzzed by some jet fighters!  Here's a couple of photos and videos of that trip.  Florida didn't mess around when they built bridges!

SOME LOCAL RESIDENTS OF INDIAN PASS

INDIAN PASS IS A POPULAR FISHING SPOT
BUT THE ONLY CATCH WE SAW WAS A STING RAY!

RESTAURANT THAT SERVES THE BEST KEY LIME PIE

I will be sending out the invites to the PMS gathering on the 15th when I get back.  If anyone knows Darrel's (from Decorah) address, let me know.  I'd like to send him an invitation.

EARLY WNR RIDE & FLORIDA RIDE

Some Wednesday Night Riders cured some pms (parked motorcycle syndrome) by sneaking in some riding last week.  Apparently they were able to get in about 100 miles.  By the looks of the upcoming weather, they may be able to get out again!  However, since they no longer have p m s, the drinks are on them at the PMS meeting on March 15th.  Here they are--

Julie and I were also get in another ride yesterday.  We traveled about 200 miles on the trike venturing to Ft. Walton and the Armament Museum located there.  We wanted to get a photo of the "new" trike with the B-17 Flying Fortress located there.   We also rode by the "Outpost", a famous Florida biker bar.  Here's some photos and videos of that trip.

OUR FIRST STOP

SOME OF YOU WILL SEE THIS PHOTO AGAIN LATER ON

Here's a couple of videos I took.  Keep in mind this was my first try for videos on the "new trike".

THE OUTPOST

SOME FLORIDA RIDING

Yes, I waited until it looked like you guys were going to get some good weather coming before I posted anything about our riding here in Florida.  We've put on a little over 1,000 miles on the "new" trike since the first of February, since the weather down here has been fantastic.  I'll tell you about a couple of our interesting adventures and hopefully next time post some more photos.

On the first Saturday morning here, three of us set out for Ft. Walton Beach to attend a GWRRA chapter meeting there.  We had to leave Panama City Beach at 6 AM.  It was still some darkness and the temperature was only about 40 degrees.  On the way I passed a golf driving range where I saw a guy in shorts and a tee shirt hitting golf balls.  I said to myself, "Hey, another guy from Iowa!"

The other day Julie and I went on a ride and stopped in the small town of Red Bay (about the size of Harpers Ferry) at a roadside cafe called "Rabbit Creek Cafe".  We walked into the front door and were greeted by the owner/waiter/cook who was a spitting image of Donald Trump!

On Saturday we went on a ride up to Marianna with the local GWRRA group and met with an Alabama chapter at a restaurant called the Oaks where they have a buffet of homemade food.  They still have not convinced me to try their grits down here!

Last Sunday we were out riding and stopped at a recreational park here in PCB.  As it turned out I had to jump start a pickup for a couple who had a pair of pet Iguanas!  More about that at the PMS meeting on March 15th.

Tonight (depending on whether it's going to rain) we plan to ride to Dothan, AL, to attend another GWRRA chapter meeting.

We have two longer rides coming up sometime before the month is over.  We want to go back to St. George Island for one and also to Ft. Pickens for another.  I'll try to post some photos and maybe a video of those trips.

In the meantime remember to keep March 15th open, and hopefully with the good weather coming, some of you may even shake off the winter rust and get in some Iowa riding.  Watch out for the sand!

Here's a photo of the "Rabbit Creek Cafe" run by Donald Trump in his spare time.

"Democrat" Julie got chased out!!

THE CRUISE

While I do feel somewhat guilty about telling you about our Wingers' Cruise to the Caribbean when I read you just "suffered" through a nine inch snow storm, I did promise to keep you informed about our journey South.  We have now completed the cruise and are ready to check into our condo at Panama City Beach.

We had a great time on the cruise with all of our Gold Wing friends from all parts of the country, but for such a large ship (one of the largest in the world--6,000 passengers) it seemed to be a lot more crowded than the other two smaller ships we sailed on before.

At our dinner table in the evening we had couples from Arizona, California, Virginia, and Alabama.  We also met up again with Wingers from previous voyages from Mississippi, Kentucky, and Tennessee.  For group activities we played Pictionary (our team won), Trivia (we weren't too good) and had a 60's dance party that was a lot of fun.

Our route through the Caribbean started from Port Canaveral in Florida.  Our first stop was supposed to be Nassau in the Bahamas, but a storm with very strong winds forced us to change out route to San Juan, Puerto Rico.  Even then we were delayed by strong winds and could only stay there a short time.  Julie and I did get off the ship and enjoyed a pina colada at a sea side bar.

After our stop in San Juan, we sailed off to St. Thomas in the Virgin Islands.  There we took a bus tour all around the island and then stopped at a beach for swimming or just relaxing.  After St. Thomas we set sail for St. Maartin, a Dutch and French colony.  There we drove Jeeps all around the island and again stopped at a beach.  This one was on the French side and was a clothing optional beach.  (Sorry, guys, no photos!)  After our visit to St. Maartin we spend two days at sea and arrived back in Port Canaveral on Sunday morning.  We then had to pack and unpack for the trip to the condo.  Being a tourist is a lot of hard work!

Here's some photos from the cruise.  Hopefully they will help shorten your winter a little.  The Gold Wing group from Panama City already called me to make sure I knew about a ride coming up this Saturday.  I'm looking forward to putting some miles on the "new" trike and not having to be the "leader".

HOW DOES SOMETHING THIS BIG FLOAT?!

SAN JUAN HARBOR

A NEW NOVELTY AT THE BEACH

PART OF OUR "SIXTIES" GANG

OUR SHIP AT NIGHT

WE WON A TOUR OF THE SHIP'S GALLEY
JULIE WITH THE CHEF

A CREATURE SNUCK INTO OUR CABIN

OUR JEEP RIDE
THE WINGER FROM CALIFORNIA WAS OUR CHAUFFEUR