What's Been Happening 06/29/03

Wasn't today a great day. The weather was just perfect. Not very hot or humid, just perfect with a slight wind coming out of the northwest. The weatherman and the Good Lord sure did cooperate with us today. In essence, it was a motorcyclists and outdoorsman's delight by far.

We had a very large crew meet at Mickey D's this morning. Our rough riders consisted of; assistant rep Ken Archibald, trusty Bruce Hirsch, professor Damien Shelton and his lovely daughter Rebecca, sir Malcolm & Christine Irwin with their lovely daughter Kirsty, Fritz & Carol Goins, Kurt Bonus, tootin' Kirt Huot, whispering Joe Mendoza, major Dan Harris, General Tony Guptaitis, jumpin' Joe Hughes, dancin' Dick Simple, feisty Jose & Ana Delve, smelly John Francis, doctor Cray Leaven, lucky Larry Greece, fast Eddy Bower and yours truly.

I took the lead, and jumpin' Joe did the sweep. Our route took us south and south west and used only the lonely roads that twist and bend every which way. A great morning ride always works up a great appetite. Our ponies were just itchin' to go. After all, they had little or no exercise this week, just being cooped up in their respective corrals all week makes for an unhappy wing. Before starting we had to feed our ponies some mighty good oats, with a 93 octane boost for some great distance running. Alas, we finally arrived at our destination, with empty tummies which were growling for the last 20 minutes.

Once there, we were promptly seated at our round tables for some fine dining, bon appetite. This is when the real shenanigans began. Pour the coffee and let the kibitzing commence. The camaraderie amongst us was at its finest hour. We folks at chapter H are the best socializes in the world, just pour us coffee and put some mighty good vittles in front of us, and you will see what I mean.

But alas, time's-a-waste'n our ponies are screaming at us, lets go, hi ho, hi ho, and away we go. Sorry to report, there was no dancing today. Our troops were on their best behavior. Of course, there is always one or two of the rough riders who were feeling their oats and started to harass the waitresses. Trusty Bruce, assist rep Ken and I were able to keep a lid on the wild ones. I won't mention their names but their titles are MAJOR, GENERAL, and the DOCTOR. HMMMM, I wonder who that could be?

Remember folks, these wings were made for traveling, tally-ho, and away we go!! Only Fritz & Carol, Kurt, jumpin Joe, doctor Cary, lucky Larry, fast Eddie and yours truly decided that more back country roads needed some viewing. The remaining rough riders had to depart for home or other commitments.

I took the lead and the head matriarch jumpin' Joe did the sweep. I took only the lonely and seldom used roads that were squirrelly and had many twists and turns and a few dipsy-do's built right into them. Our destination took us south, and way west, almost to the Iowa border. We traveled through the towns of Franklin Grove, Dixon, and eventually turned north into a small town of Polo, ILL. At that point we headed due east to a large state park of "White Pines" were we de-mounted our ponies to take potty and refreshment break. Naturally, we met other bikers there and socializing commenced once again, time well spent. Our socializing is always unlimited, and our ponies were in motorcycle heaven.

A unanimous decision was made, its off we go, hi ho, hi ho. The wings must roll. We continued east bound and eventually turned north bound into the small town of Oregon, ILL. We took the route which ran us along the Rock River into Byron, ILL. By then a oats and hay stop with 93 octane boost was imminent. Naturally, does anyone care to guess were we rough riders headed for? Yep you are right -- ICE CREAM pause. Yum, Yum, our tummies are happy once again. After wards our ponies were kicking up their hoofs, just itching for more exercise. At that point, after we circumvented some small towns and traversed back and forth, our destination was homeward bound. Our course took us east on ILL route 72, which lead us onto east bound U.S. 20 and eventually to our home stables were we had to bed down our ponies for the night. All in all, we did 190 glorious miles of safe driving. How sweet it is!!! Yeah baby!! It just does not get any better than this. What a great day and weekend we all had, and our ponies were sure delighted.