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SteveMac's Wisconsin Trip
This past week, I had a business meeting on Tuesday and Wednesday in Milwaukee (well Brookfield to be exact) but I digress. So, I posted in the Wisconsin forum to try to hook up with some of the Wisconsin folks at the Quaker Steak and Lube in New Berlin WI, but my reputation must have preceeded me and the only reply I had was the chirping of crickets. :shocked: Oh well!
So, even if I wasn't going to get to meet up with other Spyder Ryders, I decided to take a couple of vacation days to bookend the business trip and make a nice solo rYde out of it. :doorag:
I normally make this trip once per quarter and usually drive a rental, but not this time!
Ryde baby Ryde! Even though it wasn't really practical.
I left home a week ago on Sunday night about 9:00 PM and rode from my hometown of Oran MO, up through Southern Illinois through Anna and picked up I57 near Vienna. I started late in the evening because I had to make sure the homestead had a freshly mown yard, so my better half wouldn't have to worry about it during the upcoming week. The deer were pretty abundant along the early part of the route through southern Illinois and even along I57. My intent was to take back roads all the way, but I wanted to get as far down the road as I could the first night, and thus the Interstate. Hadn't had a chance to eat before leaving the house, so pulled into a Sonic to grab a burger and of course had all the curious folks come over to see the RT and ask the usual questions (which I am always happy to answer!) . They told me how cool the lights looked, so I pulled over into a vacant area of the parking lot and grabbed a shot. And yes,, they do look cool if I say so myself!
So, I after leaving Sonic, I rode until I was just too tired to run any farther (wish I had the endurance of Forrest, geez-o-pete!) and I finally stopped in Effingham around 1:30 AM. Grabbed a cheap hotel and crashed until 6:00. Got up and made my way to Paxton IL to visit my Mom's oldest living sibling. My wife and I took care of my Mom for the last 10 years of her life. She passed away on Nov 19, 2009 at 11:20 AM. Ironically, this was almost to the minute, the 30th anniversary of my bad two wheeler wreck that left me with a permanent gimp leg and a year of recovery. That happend on Nov 19, 1979 at around 11:30 AM. Odd how those things happen. Anyway, the last time I saw my Aunt was at the funeral. She just had recent heart surgery and probably won't travel to see us anymore, so I stopped by to visit her and get a big kiss! The pic isn't great, but you get the idea!
After that short stay in Paxton, it was time to hit the road and I wasn't stopping until I hit Wisconsin.
Well, not exactly. I finally did see a Spyder. A blue RT A/C model at a Casey's General Store. I did what most Spyder Ryders do, and made a U-turn just to say HI. The folks were really nice and just out for a rYde. I asked if they visited SpyderLovers, they said "No", so I clued them in and told them that I was going on to Cherry Valley to eat at one of my favorite places. Guess what, they showed up there later and said HI back to me while we had a nice late lunch. The place I like to stop at is a really nice little place I found along this same trip several months ago. Salamones Italian Pizzaria. The food is good and I like to sit at the bar to eat and I have always found good conversation. Reminds me of Cheers on TV or something. Who can say why? Just sometimes you find those places and it clicks with you. I always stop there. I got a 12" pizza and packed the last three pieces along for a late night snack for when I arrived at the hotel later! The folks on the blue RT had never eaten there either and so I turned them on to SpyderLovers.com and also Salamones. A productive day!
While I was sitting at Salamones waiting for my food, I had sent Len from Cowtown a couple of texts, telling him about the trip and confirming that I would stop by Cowtown on my way home to get the 6000 mile service. I told him that I hadn't seen a single Spyder on the entire trip so far. Not one! Until I met the folks on the blue RT. Now I was on Illinois back roads at this time, but still I went through a lot of small towns along the way. I was definitely taking the longer route by coming through Cherry Valley, but I avoid Chicago traffic like the plague, and I was out for the rYde, not the destination.
Oh, on the way from Paxton to Cherry Valley, I passed through Yorkville IL. Now that is a long way around and those of you familiar with the area may say "why go that way, when I could have run 51/39 up to Cherry Valley" and get there more quickly? Did I mention I was out for a long rYde? I don't know why I went that way, I just did. :dontknow: I was rYding along enjoying my RT time and just thinking. However, it ended up costing me a LOT more time though. There was a really BAD wreck along 47N. I sat, stopped, in traffic for 35 minutes, not moving an inch. Well, honestly did move a few times. Just often enought that I didn't shut the RT off. Finally a flatbed wrecker came by with a car smashed and burned up to the firewall. The RT didn't get too hot while sitting there, even though the ambient was over 90 degrees. I sat there as long as I could, then swung around and went back to a little place I saw a few miles back. Speaking with a lady there, she said traffic had been backed up for over an hour as far as the eye could see. I sat there for an additional 30 minutes before it started flowing, so total highway shut down for almost two hours. Not sure what happend, but if there were survivors, they were in bad shape. :pray:
More to come.
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Tuesday rolls around and work takes over.
I won't bore you with details of the meetings. Two full days worth.
However, on Tuesday evening, the vendor with which I was meeting took about 20 of us out to a Brewers game. Now being a Cardinals fan in a season where the Brewers are putting a beat down on my Cards,,,, well there was free food and drinks and transportation back to the hotel. I will say this, Miller Park where the Brewers play is a really cool park to see a game in. The digital screens they have there are incredible. Sadly, I didn't get any pics. I was too busy visiting, eating and partaking of adult beverages.
Wednesday morning rolls around and we meet throughout the day. As with most of these types of things, they get you out a bit early on the last day, so I jumped on the RT and went out to see what the area had to offer. My intent had been to meet up with some Wisconsin Spyder Ryders at the Quaker Steak and Lube in New Berlin WI, which is just about 4-5 miles south of Brookfield where I was staying. But I wasn't able to make that happen, so I just explored. I ended up rYding through the little town of Waukeesha WI, and the downtown area was pretty cool. Lots of old buildings to see. As I was rYding through, I saw a little Gelato Cafe. Now you have to understand it is physically impossible for a MoGang member to pass by an ice cream shoppe on a rYde. It is kind of a mandatory thing. Can I get an AMEN from the MoGang members out there? So true to my MoGang friends, I stopped and took this photo to share with them. Kudos to Divino Gelato Cafe. The Berry Blast and Espresso hit the spot.
So after my little wandering about the Wisconsin countryside, I made it back to my hotel and visited a neighboring Sushi Bar, to indulge SteveMac Style. I had the Spicy Mango Salmon Rolls and some Japanese Ale. Very tasty. Then I made my way back to a sports bar attached to my hotel, (no rYding here folks, so don't worry) and sat on the patio until late in the evening watching the Brewers game and listening to all those happy fans. I finally had to tell them I was from south of St Louis, just so I could get a razz out of them. Good times, even though Miller Lite was about all you could get!
So, this is how I spent my last night in Wisconsin.
Thursday, I begin the rYde home. And of course, I am taking the LONG way, this time heading to Cuba which is about 3 hours west of my home, but I can't make this trip without heading to Cowtown!
More to come.
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Destination Springfield IL
After my harrowing experience with traffic around O'hare Airport, I was determined to stay on backroads to my next stop Springfield IL. And so I did. This route took me through the town of Morris IL, just south of Joliet. I was ready to stop somewhere. Anywhere and grab a bite to eat. I wanted to find a place that wasn't the typical fast food chain or franchise that I have been to a thousand times.
I needed a long break, to have an adult beverage and sit there until I was ready to rYde on.
So I found a place called Turtles Tap in Morris, IL. And this place was definitely not anything like what I had been to before. I sat down ordered a beverage and looked at the menu. I should say, I tried to look at the menu. This place was just too interesting to focus on anything else but the interior decor! Still, I found time to order a nice farm boy meal. Steak and Taters. Nothing fancy, but MMMM. Good.
After eating and consuming my adult beverage, I asked the waitress for a coffee and told her I was going to sit there for a while to rest in the cool and scour my Rand McNally atlas to make sure I had no more faux pas on my route. Not sure how long I was there, but well over an hour. Took a few pics to show you what the dining area looked like.
Finally ready to leave I decided to visit the facilities and this awaited me...Holy Cow! :yikes:
This place was definitely not McDonalds! Thank goodness.
I had a good chuckle out of that, and suddenly all the tension of the Chicago incident was gone.
I saddled up and headed back out on the backroads to Springfield IL.
More to come.
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Springfield IL and some GOLF. Yes golf.
Some of you more observant folks may have noticed a strange device hanging off the back of my hitch on the RT. Yes, those are golf clubs. There is a course in Springfield IL, called "The Rail" that I like to play. So I got up bright and early and hit the links for nine holes before making my way on to Cowtown to get an oil change, and an unexpected expense. More on that later.
Back to the story. I built this golf bag carrier. It is my "beta version" so to speak, so I haven't put it in my MODS post. Mainly because it isn't exactly what I want yet. It is very close though. I like the way the carrier is low and horizontal. I think much more stable than having it mounted vertically. I also like having the additional LED lights on it. It is 48" wide, so it is sufficiently narrower than the front wheels. Obviously, I can carry a golf bag, but it also accommodates two duffles nicely, and I don't have to pull a trailer. It is very easy to mount onto the hitch. Basically, it is almost perfect, but one problem. It is about 8 pounds too heavy when fully loaded. It comes in at 47-48 pounds and that exceeds the hitch rating. 8 pounds doesn't sound like much I know, and I am certain that some tolerance is built into that hitch rating, but I don't think I have 20% tolerance for overweight. Still, I tested thoroughly at home before my trip and decided to try it. If I ran into problems, I was just going to have to come up with a solution on the fly. Thankfully, it tracked along behind me just fine and I never even knew it was back there. In the back of my mind, I did think about the extra weight, and my intent is to build an aluminum mounting bracket to replace the steel one that I built here. That should get me well under the 40 pound limit and then I will be very happy with it. I'll probably end up posting some specs on this beta version in my MODS post, but I am definitely going to have a Version 2.0 soon. Anyway here are a few pics for you to peek at. It is nice for those trips when my wife and I each want a bag, but want to keep the frunk open for shopping.
So I finished my nine holes of golf. Bogey golf as usual. And then I made my way to Cowtown for an oil change and as mentioned an unexpected expense.
More to come.
