Retired and Trippin

Day 1; Friday; 10/28/2011 Five motorcycles (9 humanoids) departed the Quick Trip at 151st and 69 Highway in Overland Park, KS for a ride into southern Missouri and Northern Arkansas.  The purpose of the trip was to view the fall foliage and, of course, to ride the motorcycles.  A sixth motorcycle (1 humanoid) met us at the motel at the end of the day. We rode south on Metcalf to Louisburg and then east to Highway 2 in Missouri.  We rode east and south on Highways 2, 52, and 135 through Harrisonville, Leeton, Windsor, Cole Camp, and Stover. We gassed up in Leeton and then again in Laurie, after which we grabbed lunch at the Chances R Restaurant and Lounge. Highway 5 took us all the way south into Arkansas and we saw some very pretty fall foliage along the way. We stopped for the evening in Mountain Home, Arkansas at the Comfort Inn.  We walked to the nearby Arena Sports Bar & Grill for dinner.  It was a bright sunny day for a ride.  Temperatures started out at a brisk 41 deg

Chris and I decided to take a day ride and, hopefully, see some fall foliage.  We like the scenery in northeast Kansas so that was our destination. We took off at 10:40 and rode Hwy 45 north out of the Kansas City area to the Weston Bend State Park in Missouri.  A few photos were taken from the scenic overlook of the Missouri River.  As we continued north we enjoyed the fall foliage in the bluffs east of the highway. At Hwy 59 we turned west towards Atchison, KS and the Missouri River.  This area had been flooded this past summer, which was obvious from the new road, the significant amount of standing water (still), the fields of bare dirt, and the flood line on a vacated farm house. In Atchison we had lunch at the Riverhouse Restaurant. From Atchison we rode north on Hwy 7 (also known as the Glacial Hills Scenic Byway) to White Cloud, KS, which is just a few miles from the Nebraska border.  Fields along here were barren with cracked soil.  If not for some standing water (still

We had another good breakfast at the Country Kitchen connected to our motel.  If you are ever in Wichita the Best Western at North 53rd and I-135 is very good.  The room was clean and spacious.  The rate was reasonable, and the free breakfast at the Country Kitchen is very good. We departed Wichita at 10:00.  It was 71 under blue clear skies.  We rode north on I-135 to Newton and west on Hwy 50. Just east of Peabody we stopped to take a couple photos of the Wildcat Creek Ranch. http://www.wildcatcreekranch.com/ We stopped to rest our buns in Emporia and then rode north and east to Reading (again) and Osage City, where we caught Hwy 56 eastbound. We stopped in Baldwin City for a walk, and lunch.  Part of our walk included the campus of Baker University.  The trees were starting to change here, as they are most other places.  On the third weekend of October Baldwin City celebrates its Maple Leaf Festival. http://mapleleaffestival.com/ We rode on home and another ride came to

We started the day by meeting good friends, Joe and Donna, at the Country Kitchen attached to our Best Western Motel for breakfast.  We met at 9:00 and before we knew it two hours had passed. Shortly after 11:00 we were eastbound on Hwy 254 out of Wichita.  It was 72 under blue clear skies.  The temperature all day varied from 72 to 79. We rode through El Dorado to Hwy 177 and north to Cassoday, KS for the monthly motorcycle run held there.  We passed so many motorcycles going the other direction I thought there would be none left in Cassoday.  I was wrong (it doesn’t happen often).  We had a good time walking around, looking at the bikes, buying shirts, and talking to some friends of Joe that we met there.   We left Cassoday and rode north through the Flint Hills to Cottonwood Falls for a late lunch at the Emma Chase Café.  We had a larrapin good lunch (fried chicken, chicken strips, and country fried steak). We continued north to Council Grove for gas then north and east to A

Chris and I volunteered to participate, with others from our church, in a work day in Reading, KS.  Reading was hit by a tornado on May 22, 2011 ( http://www.kansas.com/2011/05/22/1859378/tornado-rips-through-reading-kansas.html ).  We met at the church parking lot at 7:00 am and left shortly thereafter. It was 48 degrees when we left Shawnee.  As we rode south on I-35 we rode through some COLD areas where the temp dropped to 39.  It was very nippley but we were dressed for it and enjoyed the ride.  We rode past Lake Melvern with the sun rising over the horizon. We arrived at the United Methodist Church in Reading where there was an informational meeting before we all got our marching orders. Our group worked on three different projects.  Chris and I helped install siding on a house. We left Reading at 5:00 (it was 75 under blue clear skies), stopped for dinner in Emporia, and rode on to Wichita.  During our ride we heard that the K-State Wildcats pulled out a victory over 15th r