Light a Candle, Say a Prayer...

The other day Tom and I decided to take off on a ride for the day--this came after some deliberation time as to whether or not the trip would be two days or one. We really like staying at the old Mom and Pop-type motels but, unfortunately, for many of those spots, their days are waning. We have a couple or so picked out in different locations, but it's just not as easy to happen along them anymore. We also like to sit out at ride's end for the evening and look at water--oceans or rivers preferably. Since we're a bit land-locked for a short trip, we started looking for river-type spots. While looking online, we decided that (a)the recession must either be a well-kept secret from most folks or (b) the proprietors of bed and breakfasts along the river don't update their sites. The prices were, as we say at Highbanks, a little salty. We decided that we could have a good ride, come home, take a shower in a familiar place and then sit on the deck and watch the fish jump in the lake--at a much reduced cost. More gas money for the next ride.


So, once we decided that, we headed south east through Ferdinand (and wow how it's growing up along the interstate!), then look highway 62 toward Saint Meinrad. Just as we were heading out of town, I saw a sign for the Monte Cassino Shrine. I told Tom, so we turned around and headed up, up, up the hill to this peaceful, beautiful old chapel.


Once you arrive on the grounds, you feel at peace. It's secluded, but not in an earthly "ick" way...it makes it all the more sacred. The chapel is always open and they have mass there every week as well as pilgrimage services throughout the year. There was no one there while we were there, so I felt comfortable taking lots of pictures. 


And I did. 
https://picasaweb.google.com/100061414693744195920/MonteCassinoAtSaintMeinrad?authuser=0&feat=directlink


We have several aunts and uncles (2 on each side) who aren't faring so well these days. It was a needed opportunity to get to sit in silence and prayer after lighting a candle for peace for all of them.


After we left the shrine, we headed to Leavenworth to the Dock for lunch; after sustaining some pretty devastating flood damage, it's back up and looking great--it just wasn't open today. The sign on the door said to come back Friday at 4...


So back up the hill we went to the Overlook. We were once again greeted with a bit of sticker shock at the prices on the menu. Tom got a lunch special with a couple of catfish filets, some onion rings, and a side salad that set him back $17.00--for lunch! Either we've become incredibly frugal of late or prices are sliding pretty quickly on the up scale. We found out later this wasn't true at all places along the route...we just weren't far enough south, yet. I realize that people need to make a living, but I hope good businesses don't price all the fun out of people's leisure time.


We got back on the bike and headed to Corydon and then crossed the bridge on hwy 135 into Kentucky. Our hope was that we would have a river ride much like the one on the Indiana side of the river. It was more like a game of hide-n-seek with the river...it sure was fun when we'd find it after riding awhile, though. It's a pretty river in this part of the country. 


Kentucky likes little towns--on our route we went through a bazillion of them--some so small we couldn't really see "town". But that's okay. We live in a town that used to be, too...but it's still home. We went through towns with names like Lodale, Battletown, Mint Springs, Cedar Flat and passed through areas such as Drinkwater Hill, Little Bend, Boone Hollow...the imagination can take over and see how many of these areas got their names. Fun along the ride. 


We stopped at Hawesville because it was getting awfully close to ice cream time--our vice whenever we're on the bike. We went to a neat restaurant on the main drag called Irby's. It's a pretty big place and I would guess at lunch time it fills with people and chatter. We were there in the lull of the mid-afternoon so there was just one other older guy in there studying on a crossword puzzle in the newspaper. Irby's has really reasonable prices--Tom kind of sighed when he saw what all he could've eaten at lunch for $7.00--but he perked up immediately when he saw the many, many pies on the board. He knew there was a piece of strawberry-rhubarb with his name on it. And yes, he enjoyed it immensely. As for the ice cream--none at Irby's. But the nice lady that waited on us told us to hop across the bridge to Cannelton and there we'd find some good ice cream at Wall's. So, after a glass of water, a quick trip to the facilities, Tom paid for the pie, thanked the lady for her ice cream suggestion, and off we went to find the bridge. It was right outside of town. Over the bridge we went, saluted the "back home again in Indiana" sign and there sat Wall's...a good old fashioned drive in with that neon soft-serve cone in the air. And she was right--the ice cream was mighty fine. While we ate, we visited with a couple who had come from Germany and spent a year visiting the US. It was a nice visit. Tom asked him what he had discovered. What he said made good sense...he now understood why, when in meetings, that minds don't always meld. Perspectives are different. He felt the best thing he learned and could take back to share was a bit better perspective to walk in an American's shoes when making considerations. They also said everything was huge in America...lawns, roads, motorcycles (as he looked over at the Harley), and food portions. I said the later had kind of back-fired on us as a society, but maybe people were beginning to wake up to it. They also said that people were welcoming and they felt wanted wherever they stayed (I think in their little van at campgrounds across the country). That always makes me feel quietly relieved...good to know we kids are minding our manners with the company. We said our farewells and back across the bridge we went. We headed to the next bridge at Rockport and crossed back once "again in Indiana". The route at this point became very familiar, so we pretty much just cruised on home. We debated about another stop for supper, but decided the ice cream was doing its trick, so we'd wait until we got home and throw something on the grill.


Besides, it was the end of the evening, and we had some water to watch...even it was in our own back yard. Love that water...

First Time Out--For an International Cause

Even though the weather teased us back in March allowing us to made a few trips "round the block" and for the occasional trip to the ice cream parlor, today marked the first day trip on the HD. As usual, it was a good day.

Seldom is the time when riding, on the HD doesn't equal a good day.

Today's ride had an international flare...albeit the ride itself didn't leave the Midwest. The ride was a fund-raiser for a young lady to have the opportunity of a lifetime--travel with a group to visit and get a taste of life in Greece, Italy, and France.

What a neat opportunity for a kiddo.

It was great to get back out into the open air, on the two-lanes around the area.

We headed to our destination of Lawrenceville, IL as our spot of rendezvous. When we walked into the Elks Lodge there, we were greeted by the smiles of familiar faces --Gena and Rob Ruppel. We had a little time before we headed out on the ride, so Gena and I played a little catch-up.

Our ride headed out from Lawrenceville and we took a little trek down the road to Westport and our first stop on the poker run. One thing about a poker run...you don't exactly get tired of riding. We drew our cards and then headed outside the stop for some fresh air and chat with some of the other riders. I was drawn to the bikes all neatly aligned as a photo op. There's just something about a row of bikes that draws me photographically. A beautiful sight indeed.

From Westport we all saddled up and headed to the little town of Palestine--a neat little burg that reminds me of a town in the old west. The curbs are lower that the sidewalks, the streets are wide (nicely sized for a cattle drive through town if necessary), and the storefronts just have that western look to them. It's like most other small towns; struggling to keep going amongst all the day-to-day businesses locating around the big box stores on the edge of town. There are a few little antique shops and, I will admit, one little spot that sells some mighty fine ice cream. (Note the incriminating evidence still in my hand in the picture of Tom and me.)

From Palestine, we headed to Robinson for another card draw. It became amusingly apparent that each and every one of our stops were at little bars. And, if you're not drinking, it becomes more of a People Watching 101 class. So, we became good students. As you can imagine, the longer the ride went, the more fascinating the riders became. Fortunately, the most active participants were the backseat riders. Never a good idea in general while on or in a moving vehicle, but the lesser of two evils to at least be in the backseat than at the controls in their level of revelry.

From Robinson, we headed to Oblong...I've always been amused by the name. It makes me want to see an aerial photo to see if the town is actually that--oblong. We drew our next card and, at that point, Tom was staring at a small flush and I was sitting pretty with two pair. Off to the next location...

St. Marie. It's okay...we'd never heard of it either. The tiniest of towns, it looked to have the greatest per capita of little row house-type bars I'd ever seen. The one we stopped at for the card draw was hardly big enough to hold us all...and we weren't too huge in numbers. A quick trip in to draw a card (not a good draw), and it was decided that we and the Ruppels would forego the final stop and our chance to improve our playing hands in favor of some really good Mexican food down the road closer to home. That sky just wasn't getting any clearer, and we were all pretty satisfied staying dry up to this point. So, we bid our good-byes and our thanks to our hosts and away we went back to the familiar sign of welcome to Indiana.

And yes, I sang the opening line of the state song...

It was a fine day for a ride; but with good weather, good riding companions, and sitting in the backseat behind my best friend in this whole wide world, how could it get any better?

That bests a flush or a full house any day.