I wanted to go to Mt. Morris Hills Park today so badly with hopes there would be some fall colors in the area, but it seemed everyone had plans or didn’t want to miss the Packer game. Except… an amazing lady I met years ago from my car friends and then last year from one of my friends from the Club when she rode with us to Holy Hill, Denise. I was so glad someone could join me and especially her.
We met at Menard’s around 10 and left shortly after that with a more direct route to get to Mt. Morris with a planned stop for lunch in Wautoma. As we approached Princeton we ran into a few rain drops and it looked like we would be heading right into more rain with our planned route, but I had to stop to use the bathroom. So, we stopped at the BP in Princeton and I hoped this would spare us enough time for the rain to move out of the area we were headed. Well, that was certainly affective as Denise’s bike wouldn’t start when we were prepared to head out and it certainly seemed like a battery issue. Although strange since we had traveled quite a ways that I thought it would have recharged itself. But after Denise removed the current one and made a call to O’Reilly’s in Ripon who had one that would work for her soft tail, we bungee'd her current one to my passenger seat and off I went to Ripon and back. I was making excellent time until on my way back a Green Lake Sheriff decided to pull out and follow me to Princeton. Funny because after I got back to the BP, he had turned around some place and headed back towards Green Lake.
After connecting the new battery her bike started up just fine and so we were off to Wautoma for a planned lunch at the Two20 Taphouse. A place Kevin and I had wanted to eat at several years ago, but they were closed then. We saw some really amazing pockets of fall foliage in areas south of Wautoma which were truly breathtaking! I thought the Taphouse would be really busy because of the game, but they were actually pretty dead. However, we decided to sit out on their patio since there were moments the sun was shining. The food was very good and we had some entertainment too as a hummingbird kept visiting their flowers while we were eating.
From there we took 152 to Mt. Morris and meandered to Mt. Morris Hills Park overlook and luckily the sun was still greeting us intermittently. Oh, and I should mention that Denise is like our Dad, seems to either know people she runs into, or mutual acquaintances and she definitely makes friends very easily. I felt kind of bad because she met a couple at the overlook who were from around the area and not far from where she grew up, including they knew some of the same folks, but I wanted to get heading back because I was extremely tired from being awake since 4 a.m.
So off we went taking some back roads and eventually getting onto E into Red Granite and Berlin. We proceeded on F south of Berlin when suddenly I noticed Denise wasn’t behind me so I slowed down since I just thought maybe she was lagging through that curvy stretch, but nadda. I was a bit concerned as I turned around, but remembered one of the last times I looked back in my review mirror, her headlights seemed a bit dim. Low and behold, she was on the side of the road just after one of the last curves. Apparently her bike just died on her which is really strange since it had a new battery, but thinking perhaps the connections loosened up which it did seem as though they had. So we pulled into the driveway there after the homeowner, Larry, came out to check on us and said we could. He provided us some jumper cables as it appeared tightening the connections didn’t seem to help so we used my bike to jump it. After the first try she started again, but then died again. Same on the second attempt. So, we had to make a decision as it was getting a bit late and dusk was closing in on us. Larry was okay with Denise leaving her bike there overnight and she placed it in their turnout and Larry was so kind to not only offer us waters, but also to help bungee a tarp over her bike. Boy, those bungee cords she bought in Princeton for me to transport the batteries sure came in handy.
So, this also meant Denise would have to ride bitch on the back of my bike and I have only had one person on it many years ago which was my friend’s kid and it was only up and down the street I lived on. So, I couldn’t really count that. It was most certainly a different experience for me and it was a bit of a challenge when stopping to turn, but other than that I really couldn’t tell the difference. Just the turning when having to stop.
Funny thing is, when we arrived in Ripon on Cty E & Hwy 144, there were five deer in the yard of a business on the corner. Glad that was as close as we got to any all day!
Since we were coming into town by my place, and it would be dark soon, I decided to stop by my place and switch up to the car to get her the rest of the way home as to avoid all of the stopping to turn through town and nightfall.
Although it was a bit challenging and longer day than I had planned on, Denise was quite the trooper, staying very upbeat, self-sufficient and a joy to be with!
Although my phone died shortly after Mt. Morris, I am certain we did at least 120 miles and then adding my trip back and forth from Princeton to Ripon, I would say that was an additional 30 miles for me. And, also even though there wasn’t much color at the overlook, the view up there was still breathtaking, as usual.
