Dad’s 80th birthday was September 9th and myself, Lori and Dave all planned to be there to celebrate it with him. Originally there wasn’t any rain in the forecast for that day (Friday) so I had every intention of taking the bike. I packed up everything the night before in preparation of this too. When I woke up that morning there was huge rain out west, although our local stations said it might not even make it here because it would dissipate by then. So I made the decision to still try. I had old rain gear I had received free from being a member of Rider’s Club years ago. I pulled it out only to find it was an XL. The jacket fit perfect over my gear and I put it on right way before heading out. I stopped in Ripon for gas since I wasn’t sure how soon I would hit the rain, and it sure was dark off to the west (the direction I was heading into). I was almost to Mauston before it started. Unfortunately a truck with car trailer pulled onto the highway from the shoulder right in front of me before my planned stop there. I passed them, but if he hadn’t done that I would have at least been a little dryer upon arriving. I stopped at the Oasis with mouse and cheese statue which Dad used to take us to. I ordered breakfast and let everyone know I was there and going to ride out the rain. Well it wouldn’t stop and the radar showed it wouldn’t for quite some time. Oh and upon arriving there I found that my rain jacket tore under both of my arms and when I tried opening the pocket in the front, it tore open there too, so it was pretty much useless and I threw it out. Knowing I would have to ride in the rain and not wanting to stop anywhere else in Mauston, I bought a thermal long-sleeved Packers top at their gift shop to help keep me at least warm. I packed up an headed out. Besides my waiter, other patrons and workers there wished me luck and told me to be safe. Yeah, well I would try the best I could. Apparently I was in such a hurry, I forgot to turn on my map tracker. Leaving there I took Hwy 58 north with someone in a van riding me even though I was going over 60 mph. Eventually they turned off thankfully. Meanwhile it kept pouring. When I approached Hwy 173 on Hwy 21 a semi-tractor trailer pulled out in front of me. Suppose he couldn’t see me with the heavy rain, although I did have my high beam. From there to Tomah was not fun since I wasn’t about to attempt passing him. When I got to Tomah I found a gas station to stop at. I parked on the side opposite the wind and let my sister know where I was at. I was soaked with water in my boots. It was letting up so I thought okay I can probably head back out soon. Well it didn’t last long and it started to pour again. I was facing a Best Western and made the decision to head over there because I may need to spend the night if nothing else to at least dry my clothes. They had vacancy and I was shivering and didn’t want to go back out under those conditions, so I booked a room. My clothes I packed were dry because I used a zip-lok packing bag. Felt so good to get into something dry. Then I proceeded to call everyone to let them know I was safe and not going to pursue it anymore, also because it was still showing no end soon for the rain where I was at. Dried my clothes, wiped down my bike, walked over to Humbird Cheese to kill time and then ate dinner at the Perkin’s attached to the hotel.
Saturday, September 10
When I woke up it looked like it had just rained and sure enough there were scattered showers around. At this point I didn’t care, I needed to get out of there and the system of rain. By 8 a.m. when I was ready to head out it wasn’t raining but potential for running into some on my way to Winona. Luckily I only ran into some fog. It sure was cool and wind gusts out of the north when I was running that direction along the Mississippi. When I arrived Dad was out in a deep sleep. I figured he might be pooped from his birthday celebrations the day before, so I headed over by Canders. We visited and ran some errands before making it by Dad right after lunch. I bought him a chocolate shake since he cannot have cake. Although he just got done eating lunch he sure made room for his shake. Looked like he really enjoyed it too. Love to see him so happy like that. Later in the afternoon he was getting tuckered out again. When he laid down we headed back to the house. Canders made an extra yummy meatloaf dinner for us. Lori and Dave were up in the Cities visiting her grand daughter and didn’t make it back until after we ate. I was pooped and went to bed around 9.
Sunday, September 11
The plan for today was for Lori to visit Dad before breakfast and myself after that. When Lori got back she told me he was in a deep sleep and hadn’t woken up. When I stopped at 9 a.m. he was still in a deep sleep and I attempted to wake him up because the day before he said I should have. Well, he didn’t wake up so I just sat with him for about an hour before heading out. Kevin had been camping with his ST Group in Spring Green all weekend, so we were making plans to meet up to ride back together. I planned for us to meet in Hillsboro but he was packed up and on the road before me, so we decided to meet in Viroqua instead. I beat him to the gas station by just a bit and waited for him. Boy it was a beautiful day and given the very scenic area I was in, I saw a ton of bikes. From Viroqua we still headed for Hillsboro where we were planning on having lunch at Barbie’s Kitchen. From there we planned a more direct route home since he had done a bunch of riding over the weekend and I was still a little burnt out from my adventures and not sleeping well the night before. We stopped at All In Good Taste in Princeton for ice-cream and a break before heading all the rest of the way home.
Although I had a tough start to my weekend, by Sunday I was sure glad I had my bike to enjoy the beautiful scenery and weather. Maps and pics below...
