Retired and Trippin

Sunny and 56 degrees on December 31, 2011. A good day for a ride. Four couples (Bill and Jamie, Carl and Marge, Larry and Bev, and Chris and Charlie) and one singleton (Bruce) met at Johnson Dr. and Renner. We took off north on I-435 and then Hwy 45 north past Weston, MO, KCPL’s IATAN power generating plant, and Lewis and Clark Lake to Hwy 59 east into Atchison. As we rode east, the wind from the south would have blown off my helmet were it not for the chin strap. We parked along the Missouri River and had lunch at the Riverhouse Restaurant. Most of us had their fried chicken, which was tasty. I’d provide you with the link to the web site for this restaurant but the waitress told us this was the last day they would be opened. From Atchison we rode south on Hwy 7 into the strong  wind to Leavenworth, KS and past the U.S. Penitentiary. The temperature reached a high for the day, 64 degrees. We rode Tonganoxie road south from Leavenworth, passing several road closed signs. Sometim

The high today was to reach 50, very good for late December in Shawnee, Kansas. My girlfriend was going shopping and to lunch with a friend. A great time for a ride. I left Shawnee northbound on I-435. It was 45 degrees. I took Hwy 45 north up through the Missouri River valley. At Hwy  59/273 I turned west and rode across the Missouri River into Atchison, KS. It took me a little under an hour to get there. I picked up Hwy 7 north, intending to ride to White Cloud and possibly on up to the Nebraska state line. Not too far north of Atchison, however, the temperature dropped to 41, colder than I wanted, so I turned westbound on Hwy 20. In this area north and west of Atchison I could see remnants of snow in fields and ditches.  At Hwy 73 I rode back south and east to Atchison. I stopped at Taco Hell for a lunch of the Triple Steak Stack. I’d ridden 110 miles without stopping. I rode home southbound on Hwy 7 through Leavenworth and then Hwy 5 south and east to I-435 which brought me o

Greg saw that the weather forecast for Sunday December 18th was going to be good . . . . . real good for December, highs in the 50’s. He proposed a lunch ride, folks were invited, and it happened. Greg, Gary, Larry, Mel, Bruce, Bill, Mike and I left the gas station and convenience store at 83rd and K-7 riding south on K-7 and then south on Hwy 169 to the south Paola exit. Our destination was We-Be-Smokin Barbeque ( http://websmokin.com/ ) at the Miami County Airport. Mel had a hankering for BBQ so that was our goal for lunch. We found out that on Sundays, We-Be-Smokin serves breakfast only all day long. I’ve had their breakfasts, which are larrapin good, but today we were looking for BBQ. So we took off north on Hwy 169 headed for our next destination. At Hwy 68 we turned westbound and at Hwy 33 we turned northbound. We stopped at Smokey’s BBQ ( http://www.smokeysbbqks.com/ ) in Wellsville, KS. Fortunately, for us, it was open and serving BBQ. After a most excellent lunch we ro