Retired and Trippin

This ride was planned on relatively short notice. I’d been to White Cloud, Kansas in June of this year (see blog entry) when the Missouri river was out of its banks flooding the town and nearby countryside. I wanted to return to see White Cloud when it was not flooded. In June I also noticed that there was a scenic outlook in White Cloud that we did not see. We decided to return to check it out. Chris did some internet searching for dining options in the area. She found a restaurant at Big Lake State Park just across the river from Rulo, Nebraska in Missouri. We decided to give it a try. We now had a plan for a ride. We were fortunate that our friends, Gary, Bill, and Jamie were able to go with us. We left Shawnee at about 7:30 AM on Sunday, August 31, 2008 traveling north on Interstate 435. It was a nice cool 70 degrees. We exited at Highway 5 and rode north and west to Leavenworth, Kansas. This portion of Highway 5 is designated as a scenic byway. In Leavenworth we turned north on Hi

Chris and I had not traveled for some time. We grounded ourselves because of the pending birth of our grandson, Bud. He could appear at any time and we don’t want to miss his arrival. We both felt the wanderlust, however, so we decided to take a day trip to Chapman, Kansas to see the damage caused by a tornado on June 11, 2008. We departed at 9:45 AM on Tuesday, August 12, 2008. Three miles from home I realized I forgot the camera. It would be difficult to blog the trip without photos. We returned home, retrieved the camera, and also picked up the sheep skin seat cover that I forgot to put on the Goldwing. Memory is the second thing to go! We departed the second time at 10:00 AM. We left Shawnee northbound on Interstate 435 to Kansas Highway 32 west. Highway 32 took us through Edwardsville, Bonner Springs and Linwood to the north end of Lawrence, Kansas. There we picked up Highway 24 west, which took us through Perry, the north side of Topeka, Silver Lake, and Rossville to St. Mary’s,