Retired and Trippin

Our good friends, Mel and Trish, invited us on a ride to Hot Springs, Arkansas to take in a hot air balloon festival, which was to include two free concerts.  How could we say no? Day 1; Thursday, September 26, 2013 We departed Shawnee at 3:15 under blue clear skies with a temperature of 88 degrees.  It was a good afternoon for a ride.  Our first stop was at Chicken Annies ( http://www.chickenanniesoriginal.com/ ), which is located just north of Pittsburg, KS. We had a LARRAPIN good dinner of fried chicken.  After refueling in Carthage, MO we stopped for the night at 7:40pm at a Quality Inn motel in Joplin, Missouri.  We rode 185 miles. Day 2; Friday, September 27, 2013 Today we rode west and south from Joplin starting at 8:00.  It was 68 degrees.  Mel and Trish led us on a circuitous and scenic route through Seneca and South West City in Missouri, into Oklahoma (briefly) before entering Arkansas and then through Maysville, Decatur, Bentonville, Rogers and past Beaver Lake.  We

When I returned from my ride to Alaska I found out that the fiberglass on one side of my Cycle Mate trailer was cracked.  My friend, Gary, said it could be repaired but Chris and I opted to purchase a new trailer and we decided on an Aluma. http://www.alumaklm.com/motorcycle-trailers/item/50-mct-towable-motorcycle-trailer.html Rather than dumpsterizing the Cycle Mate we decided to give it to Gary who has the skills to repair it and the desire to use it.  He would take good care of it.  More on this later. Aluma motorcycle trailers can not be purchased factory direct so I made phone calls to many area dealers.  I found our best deal at Nishna Valley Cycle in Atlantic, Iowa. http://www.nishnavalleycycle.com/ Chris and I left home on Thursday, September 12th, 2013 at 7:30 am.  It was 73 degrees, it was sprinkling, and the roads were wet.  We rode I-435, I-29, and Hwy 71 north.  Just north of the Missouri River the sprinkles stopped and the highway started drying.  We stopped for gas