Retired and Trippin

On Friday, 10/1/10, Bill & Jamie, Gary & Judy, and Chris & I took off for the Apple Festival in Versailles, MO. http://versailleschamber.com/apple-festival-2010/ The weather was beautiful.  It was sunny and 75 degrees.  Our first stop was at a Casey’s in Windsor, MO where took a butt break and gassed up the motorcycles. Somewhere on Hwy 52 east of Cole Camp, MO I rode over some debris (dirt clods, rocks, etc) in the road.  I immediately heard a loud clattering sound under my motorcycle and I thought I might be dragging some debris.  I stopped along the road and saw that the spring that holds my center stand off the ground was missing and the center stand was dragging the ground.  We returned to the area of debris to look for the missing spring.  I didn’t hold out much hope that the spring would be located or located undamaged.  I was pleasantly surprised when I found it a couple feet off the pavement and it was not broken.  I attem...

On fairly short notice Gary and I decided to organize a ride over Labor Day weekend.  Good friends, Bill and Jamie, were able to join us so we had three couples. We took advantage of the fact that most of us were retired and left early afternoon on Friday, September 3rd.  We departed from Judy’s home at 1:45 pm.  The weather was absolutely perfect; 77 degrees under blue clear skies.  Not a cloud in sight. We rode east on Hwy 50 to Sedalia and south on Hwy 65 to Cole Camp, where we stopped for gas.   (Jamie & Bill)   (Judy & Gary) After refueling and taking a butt break we rode east on Hwy 52 to Stover, southeast on Hwy 135, south on Hwy 5 through Lake of the Ozarks, and south on Hwy 7. South of Richland, MO, between Richland and I-44, we turned east onto a gravel road that took us to The Cave Restaurant and Resort (formerly Caveman BBQ). http://www.thecaverestaurantandresort.com/ We waited at the parking area for transport to the rest...

The Falken car tire I’ve been running on my Goldwing wore out at 10,000 miles.  I was hoping for more.  Still, however, the Falken was a better value than the motorcycle tires I had been running.  It lasted as long as the motorcycle tires and cost about half as much. My second try at a car tire is a Hankook which I paid $85 for.  We’ll see how long it lasts.

Early in the week Chris and I realized that, if the weather forecasters were correct, Wednesday would be a great day for a dinner ride somewhere in the area.  I hopped on the internet to look for interesting dining options within a reasonable distance from home and located the Nu Grille Cafe in Ft. Scott, Kansas ( http://www.kansastravel.org/nugrille.htm ).  We then found out that our good friends, Bill and Jamie, would go with us.  Our trip was planned. Wednesday, August 25th, 2010, arrived with perfect weather.  We met Bill and Jamie at their house and took off shortly after 3:30 pm.  We rode south on I-35 to Olathe and then south on K-7.  It was sunny and 81 degrees.  BEAUTIFUL! We stopped for a break in Mound City, KS at the Big Dollar Store.  Bill and I walked across the street to Casey’s for a drink and then waited for Jamie and Chris to get done shopping. We continued south on K-7 to Hwy 54 where we turned east and rode 4 miles to Ft...

On Saturday, June 26, we departed Steamboat Springs, CO at 8:00 am.  It was sunny and 57 degrees.  We rode east on Hwy 24 to Kimmerling for a bathroom break and then to Granby for gas. Near the gas station was a jerky, fur, and antler chandelier vendor.  They had a bear skin outside and other types of skins inside.  It was interesting. From Granby we rode north into Rocky Mountain National Park.  The views were fantastic. We knew from watching the news the night before that there was a forest fire in Rocky Mountain National Park.  On the way out of the park riding toward Loveland, CO we saw and smelled smoke from the forest fire. We ate lunch at the Dari Delite in Loveland and then gassed up in Fort Morgan, CO.  We rode east into Nebraska and then south to Goodland, KS, where we spent the night at the Days Inn. We rode 420 miles and the high temperature was 90. On Sunday, June 27, we took off from Goodland on our final day of the trip.  I...

On Thursday morning, June 24, Gary drove to the Mountain Home, ID police department to attempt contact with Chief John Walter, a former co-worker of his.  Larry and I also know John from his days in Prairie Village.  John drove out to the hotel and we all got to howdy him and talk for awhile. We departed Mountain home eastbound on Hwy 20 at 8:40 am.  It was mostly cloudy and 68 degrees.  We stopped at Silver Creek for a break. Chris was impressed that this place had three bathrooms (men’s, women’s, and unisex). Further east on Hwy 20 I saw something I’d never seen before on a public highway . . . . a cattle drive. It was interesting but made for a messy roadway. Hwy 20 here is called the Peaks to Craters Scenic Byway.  It was definitely a pretty ride.  The craters part of the name comes from the Craters of the Moon National Monument. We drove the 7 mile route through the park.  It was interesting to see all the lava rock. While we were drivin...

After a hearty breakfast at Sargent’s Cafe in Bend, OR we hit the road eastbound on Hwy 20 at 8:45 am.  It was sunny and 64. One hundred and thirty miles later we were gassing up in Burns, OR.  Marge got a new doo-rag at the gas station.  She said she picked a pink one so her son, Joe, would not steal it from her. On Hwy 20 between Burns and Vale, OR we ran into a brief delay due to road construction. One hundred and twenty miles later we were eating lunch at the Starlite Cafe in Vale, OR.  They had very good vittles, including homemade pies. We landed for the evening in Mountain Home, Idaho.  We rode 375 miles today.  The high temperature was 93.  The pool at the Hampton Inn felt fantastic. For more pictures from today click on the attached link: http://picasaweb.google.com/goldwinger.shawnee/CaliforniaTripDay13?feat=directlink