YOUR CHECK'S IN THE MAIL

 First of all, Easter blessings to all Wednesday Night Riders and their families and friends.

You probably don't have a check coming in the mail, but you will, or maybe already have, your invite to the PMS get-together on April 19th. at the Uptown Grill in Waukon starting at 6 PM.  This has proved to be a fun time, and hopefully everyone can make it.  If you did not receive an invitation in the mail, that means I do not have your mailing address.  However, you are still more than welcome to attend.  Consider this your invitation!

Along with the the invites, I enclosed a 2023 Rides Sheet.  I will have some of these available at the meeting if you didn't receive the mailing. At the time I sent these out, the Hospice Ride had not yet been finalized, but there's a good chance it will be on June 25th.  Information about this important ride will be forthcoming on the blog.

  Also in some of the mailings I enclosed a flyer pertaining to mentoring.  If this doesn't interest you, I would like to see you pass it on to someone you think might be a good prospect for being a mentor.  Allamakee County can really use some mentors for young people that are waiting!

POSSIBLE RIDE THIS WEDNESDAY NIGHT!

Unless the weather forecast changes drastically, this coming Wednesday evening looks to become our first Wednesday night for the year!  Right now temps are predicted to be in the 70's and practically no chance of rain.  How lucky can we get!  I did not get any negative feedback on changing our DEPARTURE time on Wednesday nights from 5:30 to 5:00, so let's plan on leaving Casey's at 5 next Wednesday and usher in the new riding season.

SCOTT VOTSMIER

Chuckles and Lois's son, Scott, was featured in a video promotion put on by his employers.  I thought it was really well-done, and have included the link for those of you who haven't seen it yet.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZlCZ_-wnvC8

FINALLY .....

  

PMS Get-Together--Wednesday Night Rides--Irv's New Ride

 The date for our annual PMS (Parked Motorcycle (Motorcar) Syndrome) get-together will be held at the Uptown Grill in Waukon.  We will have the party room there for our use, and there is a TV mounted on the wall so everyone can see the presentation.  We are looking at Wednesday, April 19th, with eats at 6 and "program" at 7.

If I have your mailing address, you will be getting a "formal" invitation and a list of the "special rides".  If I don't have your address, you can keep posted on this blog or you can send me your address.  Either way, everyone is invited and you can pick up the special rides list at the get-together.

The reason for the location change is strictly convenience.  The food and service at Rossville was excellent, but it was inconvenient for me to lug a tv and all the connections for the program out there.  If it doesn't work out at Uptown, we can always go back.

WEDNESDAY NIGHT AND SPECIAL RIDES

Right now I am in the process of arranging the "special" rides for this summer.  I am looking at the Upper (UP) Peninsula of Michigan for the "guys' trip", and thinking about Mason City for the "couples' venture".  The real PITA is getting motel reservations, so if you plan on going on the "guys" trip then let me know ASAP.  Hopefully I can have all of this arranged in time for the PMS.  There has also been some talk about an "everyone" trip in September.  I will let those who want to do this trip to plan it themselves. Arranging the guys' and couples trip along with all the other "special rides" and Wednesday night rides takes the sap out of me, but I will be glad to put it on the "special rides" sheet if I get the information soon.  Also, if anyone has an idea for a special ride, particularly a place to go for a Ride To Eat, then let me know ASAP.

 How about if we change the leaving time on Wednesday nights to 5:00 instead of 5:30?  It seems to work out ok in the fall and gives us more riding time to get back for eats afterwards.  I do not want to make this change if it prevents anyone who has been riding with us from going along.  If 5:00 will not work for you, then let me know, either by phone or e-mail.  No names will be used!

IT'S FINALLY HERE!

We have all been waiting anxiously for a look at Irv's tilting trike.  It looks like it's finally here and ready to go, so were all looking forward to that warm Wednesday night when it comes out of hibernation!

AND AIN'T THIS TRUE!

Once again, this blog is the only form of communication that is going to be used for Wednesday Night riders.  If you wish to be informed when there is a new post up on the blog, then you need to get Bob your e-mail address.

ANOTHER LOSS

 Another of our Wednesday Night Riders extended family passed away recently.  Dorothy Gelo, mother of Jim & Larry and mother-in-law to Dale R and, of course, Cathy, passed away on Friday, May 10th.  Dorothy had reached the "ripe old age" of 101.  She was a remarkable woman.  Considering the two "outlaws" that she had to raise, it's amazing that it didn't seem to shorten her life span!

Friends may greet the family from 4 to 7 pm on Tuesday, March 14th, at Martin-Grau Funeral home in Waukon.  I would hope that many Wednesday Night Riders would stop by and pay their respects.  Jim & Cathy and Larry and Dale have been very active in our riders' group.

Godspeed, Dorothy!

You may want to mark your calendars for Wednesday, April 19th.  I have tentatively set this date for our annual PMS get-together.  More on this later.  In the meantime, it would be nice to kiss this winter weather "goodbye".

SAD NEWS

 It's with a heavy heart that I'm reporting the passing of a good friend and Wednesday Night Rider.  Wayne Martin passed away on March 4th at the age of 85.

My friendship with Wayne goes back a long ways, well over 50 years.  We played softball together both in Waukon and Postville and participated in a number of golf tournaments.  We also bowled on the same team for over 30 years.

Like me, Wayne had a passion for motorcycle riding, and we made many trips together.  Actually our trips evolved into the "guys' trip" that we go on yet with our group.  Wayne also joined us on many Wednesday night rides and special trips.  He especially enjoyed the chicken run up to Rockton.  It was especially enjoyable to hear him and Meryle Honn razz each other.  Like Meryle, Wayne had a great sense of humor.

There will be a Celebration of Life for Wayne this Saturday, March 11th from 1 to 4 at Martin-Grau Funeral Home here in Waukon.  I would hope that a good number of our Wednesday Night Riders group would come Saturday and pay their respects.

We will miss you Wayne, but I'll bet you can't wait to be able to "heckle" Meryle again!

FINAL REPORT FROM FLORIDA

Before you see our "travelogue" from Florida, on behalf of the Wednesday Night Riders I want to offer our condolences to Greg Conway.  His mother, Kathy, passed away recently after a courageous battle with cancer.  Kathy and Leo were clients of mine and I always enjoyed the time I was able to serve them.  Kathy always impressed me as being a hard working farm wife.  Besides helping with the milking operation, she also served meals and did housework for her family.  She always was one to welcome me when I went out to the Conway farm.  She will certainly be missed by her family and friends.  God bless.

Julie and I will be returning to the "frozen tundra" this week.  Due to some very comfortable weather during the last two months, we were able to rack up just over 3,000 miles on the trike (a new record for our Florida trips).  We did play less golf, but the rides and the good times we had with the motorcycle groups down here made up for it.  I did shoot my pistols once each week at the indoor range here.  I think I have improved enough now that instead of just scaring an intruder, I actually may be able to nick him.

I have always been fascinated with highway bridges, and believe me, Florida has a bunch of them.  What follows are a couple of videos of the trike passing over them.  Since the blog only allows a small amount of video time (around 20 sec.), I'll try to do the best to show the bridge work and water.

Besides bridges, we also navigated some of the more scenic county roads.  Here's a couple of short videos of some we rode.  By the way, I didn't get lost this time!

As in previous years, we made a trip over to St. George Island.  On the way we stopped at a place on the bay called Indian Pass.  This place draws a lot of fishermen.

THEY DIDN'T SEEM TO BE HAVING MUCH LUCK THAT DAY

Indian Pass also serves as a shuttle for people, bicycles, cars, etc. for 

tourists who want to venture over to St. Vincent Island.

ST VINCENT ISLAND

Video of the shuttle in operation.

 This trip is also a RTE, and this is the place we stop at on St. George Island to have the best po-boy shrimp sandwiches in the area.

THE NAME GIVES IT AWAY

Speaking of eats, there is a new place in PCB that Jim G and ChucK would never leave.  Incredible layered donuts (over 50 varieties) and too many kinds of coffee to be able to name.  The place is packed for the breakfast crowd.

PARLOR DOUGHNUTS

THEY ARE EVEN MOBILE!

And check out the sign in the men's room!

When we get settled back in Waukon, I'll set a date for our PMS get-together.  This year I'm thinking about going to Uptown Grill because of the available tv.

In the meantime....

SECOND REPORT FROM FLORIDA

 Before I get into our Florida adventures, on behalf of the Wednesday Night Riders I would offer condolences to Cathy Gelo on the passing of her father, Bob Heimer.  The Heimers were our neighbors  in Northgate for many years.  Bob probably had one of the most "cared for" lawns in the neighborhood if not the whole town.  I know he enjoyed cross country skiing and trapping down at Sweeney's Pond.  Bob was a successful businessman and a good friend to a lot of us.

The weather here in the Florida panhandle continues to remain pleasant, although it was cool and rainy last week.  (I know you are not feeling sorry for us!)  Actually one of the storms coming in from the gulf put on quite a show.  Here's a couple of photos one of our friends took last week.

So far we have been able to rack up about 1,300 miles on the trike.  Most of the riding lately has been on our own cruising around on some of the county roads in the area.  On one of my more adventurous trips, I followed quite a number of paved roads until all of a sudden the pavement ended, and I had no idea how I got there.  Fortunately, a farmer came by and when I told him "my butt was lost", he said to follow him and he ushered me into Chipley, FL, where I was able to get on pavement back to Panama City Beach.

Here's a couple of video clips of rides I took where I didn't get lost.  Notice the roadside attractions on the right side of the road in the second video.

Julie and I also traveled along the coast over to St. Joe, FL to see the new marina they were building after the hurricane.  It is also a popular fishing spot, but they weren't having much luck that day.  Sometime I want to join them.

A BIG PELICAN FISHING

MUST BE A HOT SPOT

NEW DOCKS BEING BUILT

THE GIRL IN THE HOODIE HAD THE BEST LUCK

THIS SHIP WAS BUILT IN PANAMA CITY AND FINISHED HERE

We attended a RTE with the Ft. Walton chapter at Ruby Tuesday's in Niceville, FL (yes, that's the real name of the town).  After the meal, one of the members invited us to his church at Ponce de Leon, FL (yes, that's the real name of the town) for a wild game feed on the following Saturday.  We attended and were treated to wild hog, quail, catfish, deer, squirrel, rabbit, and alligator (tastes like chicken).  The wild hog was delicious and there was plenty of it, since there is open season and no limits on wild hogs here.  We also stuffed ourselves on the homemade deserts.  (Remind me to tell you the story about wild hog when the Allamakee Sportsmen's Club used to have a wild game feed.)

This Saturday we journeyed up north to Blountsville, FL to join the Dothan, AL chapter (Wiregrass U Crew) for a RTE at a restaurant called Fiddler's Steamhouse and Oyster Bar.  Their specials that day were "all you can eat" crab legs and two pounds of oysters.  Since neither of us like oysters and are not good at cracking crab legs, we opted for the seafood platter.  The place was packed and I'll bet they had to send the "Deadliest Catch" boats out again to reload!

Parked right next to Fiddler's was an old steam locomotive from a railroad that had quite a history (shortest railroad in Florida).  I have always been fascinated by steam engines, so it was quite a treat for me to look this one over.

Besides riding we have played some golf, and I am still shooting my pistols at the new indoor gun range here in PCB.  This week Frank Goltz arrives, so he will be joining me at the range.

And just so you know.....

First Report From Florida

 After driving through total slop through Iowa, we made our first stop in Dyersburg (not Dyersville), TN. and stayed overnight at a very nice Days Inn.  The poor trike was just covered with slop picked up from the highways.  The snow cover was as far south as we have ever seen it on on way down here.

From Dyersburg, we made our way to near Gadsden, AL, to have the guy I bought the trike from years ago see if he could fix the leaky trunk.  However, when we arrived there, we found out that the part he needed (weather strip) had not been shipped, so we made our way into Gadsden for an overnight stay at Econo Lodge.  A motel to forget!  We took off for Forida, and made our way to the newly remodeled  Days Inn in Defuniak Springs, FL. for a good stay.  However during the night, the area received over 4 inches of rain, but the new trike cover I ordered from Nelson-Rigg did it's job.

We cruised into Panama City Beach and arrived at our condo on New Year's Eve.  After unpacking and unloading the trike, we got to see Iowa beat Kentucky in the Music City Bowl.

Right away the next morning (New Year's Day) we got on the trike and scooted over to Freeport, FL to meet up with the Ft. Walton motorcycle group for their annual New Year's Day ride.

THE GROUP GATHERS

They also have a number of 4 wheelers that join their rides.  We were guided on a fantastic ride through the Florida and Alabama countrysides (almost all smooth county roads--just like your leader back home!).  Our destination was a RTE at Shane's Rib Shack in Enterprise, AL.  I didn't have the action camera unpacked, but we were able to follow Jim Watson, one of the Ft. Walton group who takes videos and photos of their rides (kind of like someone you know!)  Hopefully you will be able to click on the following link and follow our journey.  Jim does a great job with this!

https://rumble.com/v24hrg8-new-years-day-2023-enterprise-al.html

The ride lasted for about two hours, and while our butts were a little tired, the food at Shane's was excellent.  Donnie led us on a more direct ride home.  This club is very fortunate to have a ride leader like Donnie!  We racked up about 250 miles round trip.

Because we have had some real nice weather here, we have put a little over 600 miles on the trike, and I am getting better gas mileage after I washed all the mud off her!  We had a get-together with the Dothan, AL, club last Tuesday, and we plan to go on some of their rides.  We also have a couple of get-togethers and rides scheduled with the Ft. Walton club.  I also plan to journey over to Pensacola, FL, this Saturday and attend one of their club meetings.  All three of these clubs were chapters in the now defunct GWRRA.  The Ft. Walton and Pensacola chapters have reorganized under the new Eagle Wings Motorcycle Association.  This is a national organization that is open to all makes of motorcycles, not just Gold Wings.  ChucK and Dee and Julie and I joined at the Iowa Rally this fall.

I understand that you have had some decent temps back in Iowa, but seemingly a lot of ice.  Keep that up there.  We are expecting a cold front here in the next couple of days with lows near freezing and highs in the low 50's.  I know, I know, but that is real cold for the natives here in the Florida panhandle.

I'll close with a few shots from our condo on the 8th floor.

The sunsets over the Gulf of Mexico are spectacular!

The "Weather Witch" can get angry here too!

View at night.  Most lights are orange so as not to attract sea turtles.

The beach can be a busy place.

Special thanks goes out to Chuckles, who helped me load the trike onto the trailer and out of the snow field in the back yard.

UNTIL NEXT TIME--HERE'S WISHING EVERYONE A HAPPY AND SAFE NEW YEAR!