ORCHARD TRIP ON WEDNESDAY NIGHT!

 Although it's still going to be cool, Wednesday night looks to be the warmest of any of the upcoming days right through the weekend.  I guess the "Weather Witch" likes to keep winter around as long as she can.  

Anyway, the report from Jim is that the apple trees in Gays Mills are in full bloom.  So I guess before they are all blown off or frozen, I plan to make the journey up there for our Wednesday night ride.  It looks to be about 95 miles up and back, so maybe a short stop somewhere along the way may work.  Still plan to stop at City Club when the ride is done.

Just to let everyone know before hand.  Cars are welcome again as always.

See you then!

Also, May is a "special" month for motorcycles!

FINALLY!!

It took to the last Wednesday in April for the "Weather Witch" to give us a decent Wednesday night ride.  Under balmy 60 degree temps, seven WNR gathered at Casey's.  We had Chuck (not Chuckles), Carl, and Irv on trikes.  Dee was there to show off her "new" ride, a Kawasaki W 800.  Howard, Chuckles, and Bob were also on bikes. 

HOWARD INSPECTS THE RIDES

THE GUYS DISCUSS THE LONG WINTER

CHUCK (NOT CHUCKLES) AND DEE ARRIVE

DEE IS SPORTING A "NEW" RIDE

We departed Casey's at 5:30, passed through Waukon and got on HWY 76 heading north.  Because of the stop light and some slow moving farm machinery, we got separated some distance from each other.  But by the time we turned east onto Bear Creek Road, everyone had caught up.  We followed Bear Creek over to Locust Road and then took it north onto HWY 44 just east of Spring Grove.  We passed through Spring Grove and onto CR 17 about three miles east of town.  CR 17 south took us back to HWY 76.  My plan was to take Pool Hill Road west to HWY 26 near New Albin and follow 26 to Lansing and then take HWY 9 back to Waukon.  

But since it was beginning to "cool" off, and the ride along the river from New Albin to Lansing would have been in the shade, I decided to keep on 76 back south.  We left 76 near Waukon and took Mt. Olivet Road past the cemetery to Prairie Drive and the Bugsy Car Depot.  We turned west on Prairie back to 76, to Main St, and on to the City Club.

THE CITY CLUB FOR FOOD

We racked up approximately 75 miles and an hour and a half of seat time, which was probably enough for the first ride for some.  It was great to get "back in the saddle again" on Wednesday night!  Hopefully next Wednesday (Cinco de Mayo day) will be nice to us again, and maybe a "little" warmer.

Bob & Julie to Camp Courageous

Bob & Julie represented WNR at Camp Courageous on Sunday morning for their omelet breakfast fund raiser.  We met Charlie Becker (CEO) at the gate and gave him ours and Jim & Cathy's donation.  He was very grateful.  We continued on and received our omelet, sausages, and apple sauce via drive through.  Rather than eat in the car, we proceeded back down the road and pulled into the new building by the pond.  There we were able to go inside and eat.  Everything was still hot and delicious!  We were also given a packet of special Camp Courageous coffee.  Knowing how well Jim hates coffee, we saved it for him!

I don't think the temps ever got above 50 on the way down or back.  We only saw one motorcycle the whole time, so I guess taking the "cage" down there was a good idea.  Hopefully this fall when they have their pancake breakfast, Covid will be over and the weather cooperates for a cycle/convertible trip down there.

On the way down and back, I noticed that the county had done their famous chip seal work on some of the pavement on the Volney Road, and I could see a lot of the loose gravel on the road.  And there were no "Loose Gravel" signs posted.  I called the county engineer's office this morning and told them I was not happy that no signs were put up to warn motorcycles.  We will see what happens next, but if you plan on riding on the Volney Road--BEWARE!

So far it looks fairly good for Wednesday night.  Hopefully we can get our first ride in for this year!

Cold Wednesday Nights and Camp Courageous

 So far the Weather Witch has blown her cold breath all over our Wednesday nights.  Next Wednesday looks to be warmer, if she doesn't decide to pee all over us!

This year Camp Courageous is holding their omelet breakfast fund raiser.  But still because of Covid, it is a drive-through.  There is no eating there on the grounds, so it is not exactly conducive to motorcycles. Besides the temps are still supposed to only be in the low 50's that day. Right now Julie and I still plan on going down there on Sunday with the Durango.  We plan to leave Casey's at 9:15 that morning, so if anyone wants to ride along with us or bring your own vehicle, we'll see you there.

13th PMS GET-TOGETHER WELL ATTENDED!

 Apparently close to 40 Wednesday Night Riders were tired of being "cooped up" or were "hard up" for entertainment, because at our 13th Annual PMS (Parked Motorcycle Motorcar Syndrome) Get-Together drew close to 40 attendees!  Hopefully everyone had a good time and no one was too offended by the video.  I think Jim said it best in his e-mail back to me, "It was great getting out and seeing everyone again."  Again, The Old Rossville Store staff provided us with great food and hospitality.

Just a couple of items that I forget to mention in my remarks:

On the 2021 ride sheet that was sent out with your invitation had a couple of dates that needed correction.  I am not going to send out another whole sheet so if you want to make the following corrections they are:  The Guys' Trip starts on July 26th, not the 25th, and the Bonus Run is on October 10th not the 11th.

Also, I have been in contact with Good Sam concerning the trike rides we offered for their residents.  That event had to be cancelled last year because of Covid.  I did get a call back from them about this year, and they have to wait on their decision until the Covid protocols allow their residents to participate in events like this.  Also, there has been some change in administration at Good Sam.  There is now a new director, and it will be up to him if he wants to proceed with the trike rides.  I will keep everyone informed about this as soon as I hear more from them.

Here are some "non-embellished" photos from our PMS event.

POSSIBLE PMS (Parked Motorcycle Syndrome) Get Together

 I'm thinking about having our annual PMS get together possibly on the Wednesday night following Easter.  Remember that we couldn't do it last spring because of the Covid scare.  I would like to know how many of you would attend then.  I guess I can talk smart because both of us have had our Covid shots, but there may be enough of you that think it's still too early to try a get together.  We would probably use the Rossville Store again as we have in the past.

I'm not going to all the work to send out invites, prepare a ride schedule, and make a video for the get together if very few want to attend.  So, I'm leaving it up to you guys to decide.  You can e-mail me your thoughts at 

brotach@msn.com and when I get most of the opinions, I can decide what to do.

Happy Birthday to Bugsy and congrats to Wayne & Sandy as they are great grandparents again!

WE'RE BAACK!

 We arrived back in Iowa last Tuesday.  All the way back from Florida, the only snow we saw on the ground was in Iowa!  Welcome back!

While it was cooler and more rainy in the panhandle this year we were still able to get some golf and much more importantly some trike riding in.  While there were several destinations I had planned to take on this time, the weather did not cooperate and I'll have to wait until next year.

Our last two trips on the trike were interesting.  Our first visit last week was to Ponce de Leon Springs State Park.  The park was named after the Spanish explorer who led an expedition to Florida in 1513 looking for the "fountain of youth".  Whether his expedition ever made it to this area is debatable, but the name of the park and the name of the nearby town stuck.  In the park there is a pool for swimming that stays at a constant 68 degrees.  Might be good on a hoy day, but there were some swimmers using it when we were there.

WE PREFER THE HEATED POOL AT THE CONDO

The main spring that feeds the pool produces 14 million gallons of water per day!

Our second trip last week started with a gathering of the Panama City Gold Wingers at Culver's in Panama City Beach with eleven of us for lunch.  

A MOTLEY LOOKING CREW

WAITING IN THE SHADE

This would be our last get-together with our friends here for this year.  After lunch we took a bike trip out to a lavender farm.  As of this time it's the only one in Florida.

THE LAVENDER PLANTS NOT YET IN BLOOM

THE LAVENDER FIELD

OUR HOST EXPLAINS THE STILL USED FOR PROCESSING
LAVENDER, NOT MOONSHINE!

YOU COULD PLAY A GIANT GAME OF CHESS WHILE YOU'RE HERE

HE GUARDS THE PLACE!

We left for Iowa on the following Monday.  Hopefully the Covid thing will be over, so we can spend more time with our Florida and Alabama friends next year.