RAIN!

Day 4, Wednesday, May 3, 2017

I didn’t set the alarm for this morning.  It was supposed to rain last night and this morning.  I spoke with Chuck last night and it was decided that we were not going to get up early…because of the rain.  Chuck was my roommate last night.  The roommate assignments were:  Jan and Ken, J.B. and Jake and C.E. Solo.  I told Chuck that he needed to wake me up if he gets up first.  At about 7:45 AM, Chuck got up and went to the restroom.  I heard him so I got up.  Chuck looked out the window and saw that everything was dry.  It didn’t rain.  I got up, got dressed, packed and went out to my Motor to pack my bags.  The others were already up and working on their Motors.  This Motel really surprised us in that the rooms were nice, the beds were comfortable AND, if I were to come back to this city, I would stay here again.  Of course, this is the only Motel in town.  We were all packed and ready to go.  We rode a couple of blocks and stopped at the Casey’s General Store so that the Harleys could gas up completely.  Last night they only put in a couple of bucks of gas because their Motors require Premium and Regular was only sold.  We didn’t want to waste any more time so they filled up.  We then rode a few blocks and stopped at Buck’s Bar and Grill.  This place was highly recommended.  We had breakfast and enjoyed the clientele and our waitress.  They were all very friendly.  This is a town of about 1,400 and change.  I felt like as if we were visiting Mayberry.  Everyone knew each other.  There was one older gentleman that was trying to convince a couple of the “older” women to do a table dance for us. He said that he had $100 in $1’s. Everyone laughed!  We finished breakfast and left at 9:48 AM. 

Jan was leading and took us onto US 24.  Jan led and I was behind Jan, then J.B., Ken, Jake, C.E. and Chuck.  We rode for a while.  The road was nice, level and the weather was in the high 50’s.  We saw some wild turkeys, not the whiskey, by the side of the road as well as three pheasants.  We rode for 79 miles and at 10:56 AM, we stopped in Downs, KS. at the Alta Convenience Store so that C.E. could gas up and pit stop.  Chuck, Jake and J.B. had a cup of coffee…I hate them…and C.E. and Ken worked on C.E.’s Motor.  They changed the fuse.  Changing the fuse didn’t help.  We left at 11:23 AM.

Jan continued to lead the Group.  After riding for a while, it sprinkled on us for about 30 seconds.  Jan was looking for a good place to stop and change into our rain gear.  The sprinkling stopped and we continued.  After riding for 133 miles, we stopped at 1:16 PM in Manhattan, KS.  It was time for lunch and we stopped, yup, you guessed it, at a Subway.  It was a good stop because it had been 59 degrees and we needed to warm up a little.  We got our sandwiches and we got cold again.  We sat under a ceiling fan!  We finished our lunch and got on our Motors and gassed up on the property.  It was also a Short Stop Gas station.  We left at 2:07 PM.

It was now J.B.’s turn to lead.  J.B. took us onto US 77, northbound.  We were headed into “dark cloud” country.  At 2:25 PM, it started to sprinkle.  Luckily, at 2:28 PM, after riding for 24 miles, we stopped in Randolph, KS. and put RAIN GEAR on.  We were ready.  Of course, we looked north and it looked like it was clearing up.  Well, better to be safe that wet.  We continued at 2:40 PM.  We didn’t ride for more than 10 minutes before it started to rain.  We rode for almost an hour in the rain.  Sometimes it rained harder than others.  After a while, we saw that C.E.’s trunk bag cover was flapping in the wind. We had crossed the Kansas border into Nebraska at 3:26 PM.  After riding for 58 minutes, Chuck pulled ahead of Jake and C.E. and pulled into a Casey’s General Store at 3:34 PM in Wymore, NE.  While C.E. was securing the cover onto his trunk bag with bungee cords, I couldn’t ignore the opportunity to go into the General Store and make a “pit stop!”  After C.E. and I were done with our business, we left at 3:43 PM.  The rain had stopped just before we made the stop at Casey’s and soon after, after riding for 17 more miles, we stopped at 3:59 PM at the Holiday Inn Express in Beatrice, NE.  We had a short discussion as to whether or not to say here or go another 35 miles to Lincoln, NE.  Chuck went in to strike up a deal with the clerk and came out and told us that he was “good” to stay here.  The price was right.  We all went in and checked in.  The roommates are the same as last night.  The wonderful thing about Holiday Inn Express is that they ALWAYS have coffee ready AND homemade cookies.  There were no restaurants close so we knew that we would have to ride to a restaurant for dinner.  As we were checking in, the Clerk told us that they were having a “Manager’s Special” today from 5 PM until 7 PM.  The special was FREE sandwiches, chips, fruit, beer and wine.  WOW!  We could pass this up.  We could have the “Manager’s Special” and NOT go out to a restaurant for dinner.  As we were checking in and taking our bags to our rooms, C.E. was checking into a “knock” sound in his Motor.  Jan looked under the Trike and saw that a bolt was loose on the suspension.  C.E. rode his Trike with the rear wheel up on a curb while Jan crawled underneath and tightened the bolt.  It was a little better.  We will stop later at a shop and get it checked.  We did tuck our Motors in for the night.  It did rain more this evening, but it’s not supposed to rain tomorrow.

We rode for 301 miles and the rain.  We were prepared for it.  This time we didn’t get wet and let our rain gear stay dry in the saddle bags as we have done in the past.  Tomorrow, we should be heading north, but I’m not sure where or how far.  The maps and weather channel will be consulted.  So, we shall see…