Retired and Trippin

Day 3; May 25, 2014 We had a light breakfast at the Grand Central Hotel. Later in the morning, after Carl and Marge arrived, we all rode a few miles south of Cottonwood Falls on Hwy 177 to a Flint Hills scenic overlook. This was a favorite stop for Aunt Mary on her many trips from Wichita to Shawnee. A few of Moo’s ashes were scattered at this location. Our group then split up and went two separate directions. Two car loads went to Manhattan and the rest of us went to Lyons and Sterling. On our way to Lyons we stopped at a Perkin’s in McPherson for lunch. Jane wanted to ride the Goldwing so Chris let her ride with me. As we rode through Lyons we spotted the house were my cousins live for awhile a long time ago. Our grandparents lived in Sterling and our grandfather was a professor of botany at Sterling College. My parents and many of our relatives attended Sterling College. We took a couple pictures here before locating our grandparents graves in the Sterling cemetery and paying ...

The plan was to meet my  cousins in El Dorado for a graveside service at 10:30. We left our motel at 9:45 under cloudy skies with a temperature of 74. It was not raining but the streets were still damp. As we approached El Dorado the skies cleared a bit and the weather started to look somewhat promising. We arrived at about 10:15, greeted all the cousins and participated in the graveside service. After the service we all picked up sandwiches at Subway and met for a picnic lunch in a park on the east side of El Dorado just off Hwy 54. Then it was off for Cottonwood Falls, where we would spend the night. Chris and I rode east on Hwy 54 to Hwy 177 north through Cassoday and Matfield Green. This route is designated as the Flint Hills Scenic Byway. It was a beautiful day for riding. We arrived in Cottonwood Falls a little before 3:00 and checked into the Grand Central Hotel. The family had dinner together at the hotel in a private dining room and Chris and I wandered around town...

My Aunt Mary (Dad’s sister -  affectionately known as Aunt Moo) died on January 2nd, 2014, in Santa Fe, NM. She was cremated and there was a memorial service. This weekend her daughters and their families are meeting in El Dorado, KS to bury a portion of the ashes at her husband’s grave site. The rest of her ashes will be spread in places that were special to Aunt Mary. She loved the Flint Hills. Chris and I are joining them. We left home at 3:40 under mostly clear skies. We knew there was a good chance of rain (scattered showers) for most of the weekend but we decided to ride the motorcycle anyway. Today we rode 186 miles to Wichita. Less than half of the ride was in rain of varying amounts. We stopped to put our rain suits on, though, so it was good. It was 84 when we left and then dropped to 66 in the rain. We arrived in Wichita before 7:00 and stayed at a Best Western, where we took advantage of reward points to score a free room. Tomorrow we back track about 30 miles to El...

Chris and I were ready to head home after an enjoyable visit at Deb and Tim’s ranch. We’d arrived there on May 16th ( http://shawneegoldwingertrips.blogspot.com/2014/05/ride-to-daltons-graduation.html ) and enjoyed helping them celebrate grandson Dalton’s high school graduation. We left at 11:00 and, since we did not need to be back in the Kansas City area until 6:00 (to see our granddaughter’s softball game), we decided to tour some of the scenic and historic Villages of Van Buren ( http://villagesofvanburen.com/index.html ). Chris’ grandparents on both sides of her family have roots in this area. From the Montrose area we rode west and north to Donnellson, where we picked up Hwy 2 westbound. The first village we passed through was Farmington, home of the Farmington Strawberry Festival every summer.  At route W40 we rode north and crossed the Des Moines River into Bonaparte, IA, another one of the villages. After a quick couple of pics in downtown Bonaparte we rode J40 west ...

Chris and I took off for Montrose, IA where we will help Chris’ cousin, Deb, and her family celebrate Dalton’s high school graduation.  Dalton is Deb’s grandson. It was 54 degrees and mostly sunny when we took off at 10:15. North of Kansas City the temperature jumped all the way up to 56 but even further north it dropped down to 52. We stopped for lunch in Bethany, MO  and then rode Hwy 136 east across Missouri. As we rode east the sun became more sparse while the temperature remained constant (54 to 55). We stopped in Unionville to put on some more clothes before continuing our ride. Hwy 136 is a fun ride up and down hills and around curves through rural Missouri. The  farther east we went the more clouds we ran into. We arrived at Deb and Tim’s ranch just north of Montrose at 4:00. Our little trip covered 238 miles and, though it was a little chilly, it was a fun ride with my Peach. Tomorrow we’ll set up for the graduation party, Sunday we’ll have the party, and Mon...

The first full weekend in May – that means it is time for the annual Spring Chicken Ride. The rubber chicken goes to anybody who screws up during the trip. Day 1; May 2, 2014 Carl, Larry, Mel, Bruce and I met in Shawnee for the ride to Gail’s Harley Davidson in Grandview, MO to meet up with the other riders. It was a little chilly (48) when we met at 6:30 am but it was shaping up to be a very nice day. At Gail’s there were nine more riders for a total of 14. We took off south on 71 Hwy at about 7:15. Chuck started with the chicken because he was the one who had it when we concluded the 2013 Chicken Ride. A short distance down the road, in Archie, MO, we had breakfast at B.J.’s Rise and Shine Restaurant.  Further south on 71 Hwy we stopped outside Lamar, MO where Doug joined the ride. Now there were 15. Where 71 Hwy intersects with I-44 east of Joplin we continued south on Hwy 59, which took us through Neosho to Noel, Missouri. Hwy 59 around Noel is a fun ride along the El...