Retired and Trippin

My brother, Carl, purchased a new Hannigan motorcycle trailer. He opted to pick up the finished product at the factory rather than having it shipped. The factory and show room are located just south of Murray, Kentucky. Carl was accompanied on the ride by Bill, Gary, and I. We departed at 6:10 AM on Sunday, June 15, 2008, from Gail’s Harley Davidson in Grandview, Missouri. We rode south on 71 Highway, to just south of Harrisonville and east on 7 Highway to Clinton, Missouri. At Clinton we ate a delicious breakfast at the Boss Cafe. From Clinton we rode south on Highway 13 to Springfield where we picked up Interstate 44 east and then Highway 65 south. We then turned onto Highway 60 east, which took us across southern Missouri. At Van Buren, Missouri we stopped for lunch at the Float Stream Restaurant. We’d eaten here earlier in the year on our spring chicken ride. The meal was good again this time. With full bellies we continued our ride east on Highway 60 through Poplar Bluff and Sikes

Mel plans a ride every month during the summer for employees of the City of Shawnee. Employees then invite friends and family to participate also. This month Mel intended to ride to Rulo, Nebraska. It was shortened at White Cloud, however, due to flood waters (more on that later). We met in the parking lot of the Community America Ballpark, home of the T-Bones baseball club in Kansas City, Kansas, at 8:30 AM on Saturday June 14, 2008. Eighteen humanoids showed up on twelve motorcycles; Mel & Trish on their Harley; Craig & Jennifer on their Suzuki; Mike & Mikki on their Goldwing; Larry & Deb on their Harley; Gaylen & Linda on their Honda; Steve & Kandi on their Harley; Ken on his BMW; Larry on his Goldwing; Matt on his Harley; Gary on his Harley; Mike on his Yamaha; and me on my Goldwing. We left the ballpark north on Hutton Road to Kansas Highway 5 north towards Lansing. This is a pretty route with some twisties to add to the fun. My map designates this highway

ALASKA 2008 This trip was made without benefit of the Goldwing. It should not, by all rights, be part of this blog, which was intended to chronicle motorcycle trips. A couple people expressed an interest in reading about it and seeing the photos, however, so here it is. Chris and I celebrated our 35th wedding anniversary on May 5, 2008. We have talked about a trip to Alaska for a long time. We decided to take some money out of our mattress and book this Alaskan cruise and land excursion to celebrate our 35th. DAY 1: Monday, May 19, 2008 We flew American Airlines from Kansas City to Dallas – Ft. Worth. After rushing to our next flight we took off for Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, where we arrived at about 1:00 PM pacific time. After 45 minutes in line for customs, other airport stuff, and a bus ride to the port we finally made it aboard our ship, the Island Princess, at 4:00 PM. The ship left port at 4:45 PM. We enjoyed the scenery in port at Vancouver from the upper deck of the