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.
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