Retired and Trippin

WOW, another beautiful day in January. My girlfriend and I decided to ride to lunch and then to Perry Lake located north and east of Topeka. Lunch was an easy choice. We wanted to stop and visit a good friend, Gary, who recently had knee replacement surgery. He lives in DeSoto, KS so we had lunch at JT’s Grill & Sports Bar.  http://www.jtsgrill.com/ JT’s has a larrapin good tenderloin sandwich, which is big enough to split, which we did. After lunch we rode over to Gary’s, had a good visit and then we took off for Perry Lake. As you can see in the photo the lake is very low. We really need rain/snow. From Lake Perry we rode east through Oskaloosa and then east and north through McLouth and Springdale (don’t blink or you’ll miss it) to Leavenworth. In Leavenworth we stopped at a Casey’s for gas and a bathroom break. Curvy Hwy 5 took us past a portion of the Kansas State Penitentiary to I-435 and home. Before going home, however, we stopped at our son’s home where his bride f

It was 50 degrees under blue clear skies as I drove out of my driveway at 11:00 am. I met the other riders at 83rd and K-7 about 20 minutes later. Seven bikes started the ride; Carl, Gary, Bill, Greg, Larry, Rod with his wife, Maureen, and me. We were all on Goldwings except for Rod, who was riding his HD. We took off for Osawatomie, KS at 11:30.  We took back roads, hooked up with Bill and Shannon (on their Goldwing trike), just south of Paola, and arrived at the Whistle Stop Café a little before 12:30. The Whistle Stop has a buffet lunch including broasted chicken, pork chops, and a salad bar for less than $8.00 – definitely worth the price. Hwy 169 and K-7 took us back home. I rode 114 miles and the weather was great, especially for January. The high temperature on the way home was 61 !

I met Gary (Goldwing), Rod (HD), and Bill (Goldwing) at Midland and Renner in Shawnee at 11:00 am. Bill was leading a ride to Paradise, MO for lunch. His daughter, Kelli, owns and operates the Paradise General Store. It was a great January day; mostly sunny and 46 degrees when we departed. It was the type of day that motorcycle riders in the Midwest hate to pass up in the winter. We don’t get too many. We rode north on I-435. I checked my onboard thermometer as we crossed the Missouri River - it read 41. It was back up to 46 when we arrived at the Paradise General Store, 18419 Collins Road, Smithville (Paradise), MO.  This is located on the east side of Smithville Lake.                    https://maps.google.com/maps?q=paradise+general+store&hl=en&ll=39.436922,-94.543447&spn=0.035929,0.077162&fb=1&gl=us&hq=paradise+general+store&hnear=0x87c0922b0bbb5afd:0x69f07b93b7a758e3,Shawnee,+KS&cid=0,0,10356172912849770897&t=m&z=14 Inside th