What's Been Happening 10/12/03

Wasn't Sunday a gorgeous day? It was 100% sunshine with a clear crisp chill in the air. Temps this morning were bouncing around the low 50's, a real eye opener. Refreshing at its finest. The weatherman sure did cooperate with us today. For this time of the year, one would think we were in mid spring instead of mid fall. It just does not get any better than this, how sweet it is!

The crew consisted of; lucky Larry Greco on MONEY BAGS, sergeant Russ Prichard on RED DEVIL, dancin Dick Sieple on BIG BERTHA, captain Kirk Huot on RANGE RIDER, roven Robert Sample on OLD TIMER, cowboy Bob Jans on SPITFIRE, fast Eddie Bowser on SHOT GUN, trusty Bruce Hirsch on BULLDOG, including our guests Mike & Colleen Dotson and yours truly.

Before leaving we all made sure our ponies were fed with some mighty fine oats and hay with 93 octane chaser. Tally-ho, and away we go. Our selection for fine dining cuisine was "Papa G's" in Elburn, ILL.

I took the lead and sergeant Russ did the sweep. So it is off we go, hi ho, hi ho. Naturally, only the seldom used roads were chosen to get us there. A normal riding time would be 30 minutes or so, but our route took us an extra 20 minutes because of all the zig & zagging that our ponies insisted that we do, so they can get more exercise.

Alas, we soon arrived, with our tummies on empty and growling from lack of good vittles. Once seated, let the shenanigans commence. Our chit chatting was as good as ever. After all, we had to catch up on what has been happening for the last few weeks. Pour the coffee, here come the vittles, chow down, yummy, yummy, yummy my tummy is happy.

Believe it or not, all of our attendees had impeccable behavior. This is a first, although trusty Bruce was getting just little bit feisty with the waitress. He wanted something that was not listed on the menu, instead he received a real surprise by the waitress. Bruce had a smile on his face from ear to ear. None of us has ever seen him so happy and jovial. I will not tell you what it was, next time you see the big guy, ask him!!

After the socializing, we all staggered out to the corral and mounted our ponies. Unfortunately, some had to retreat to their casa and the rest, well you know, had to do some mighty fine back road riding. Those who wanted to continue on were; sergeant Russ, captain Kirk, roven Robert, fast Eddie, our guests Mike & Colleen Dotson and yours truly.

I assumed the lead and sergeant Russ did his usual fine job at the sweep. Our direction took us way west on the lonely traveled roads. As a matter of fact, those chosen roads were so lonely, that there was little or no road kill for our added viewing pleasure. How about that!! Some of those roads got to be pretty squirrelly with plenty of dipsy-do's that were bending and twisting ever which way. Our destination had us traversing through many small towns, most of which we never heard of, because it was all farm land. After passing through a small town called Shabbona we some how found U.S. 30 and continued west bound towards the town of Compton where there was many wind mills that all the farmers were using. We turned off of Illinois 251 onto a small side road which lead us to these wind mills. Fast Eddie did take several pictures with our membership in the back ground. (See the enclosed attachments)

After a period of time, our direction took us further west towards the town of Dixon, ILL. By then our ponies were screaming for some much needed nourishment, and the prices were right. So we stopped, we had our refreshments and so did they. Next, our route took along the Rock River, heading north along ILL route 2, which is called the "BlackHawk Trail". We promenaded through several towns which lead us to Oregon, ILL. From there we headed east and north towards Byron, and eventually further north and further east, circumventing the southern portion of Rockford, ILL. It is then, that the mighty small and puny roads kick in as our direction took us south and east, and homeward bound.

In our travels, we logged about 215 glorious traveling miles. This is as good as it gets. The good Lord sure kept a watchful eye on us today. We all know that winter is just around the corner, so lets all take advantage of what's left for pure riding pleasure.