Ride report april 22 2009

[Klem]

First of all, if you are missing your Ding a Ling a Ling it is at the gift shop.

Can you believe an eighty degree day and no wind in Kansas. What a day for a ride. We had 62 bikes at Burlingame, the meal was good and also the service. Again I want to thank everyone for the patience shown to the wait staff at all the places we go. Even being informed and prepared for our arrival we tend to overwhelm by shear numbers. Add the next problem that gray haired old men tend to look alike to young women. To make matters a little worse I think of the sixty guys there was maybe seven first names among the lot. Have you ever noticed how many Jerrys, Johns, Dons, Bobs, Bills, and Rogers we have in the group. The good thing is I can pronounce just about everyone's first name, can't remember half of them but one step at a time.

Back to the ride, it was great, about 25 followed me over to the Museum and all seemed to enjoy it. If you haven't been it is really Topeka's best kept secrets. If you have been you need to go back and check out all the stuff you missed the first time. The day was just about perfect for riding and as always the company was outstanding.

Roger took some nice pictures at Burlingame and if he is kind he will post them here. I shouldn't have put it that way, Roger has been putting a lot of time for the group with the google map of where we eat, you need to check it out. If he doesn't post the pictures I'll see if Becky will, she knows how to do stuff like that. I can sometimes and other times it just doesn't work so well.

Thanks again for making our lunch days all so memorable. I started joining Richard about 10 years ago, only one group then, and it was a big day to have 12 riders. We now have the two groups, with turnouts in often in the 40 to 60 rider range for each group, each week. We are the Kansas small town stimulation package, and what a fun way to do it.

Ride safe see you next week.

don

[shfls]

Thanks Don for inviting us to the museum. I really enjoyed looking at the planes and helicoptors. I also enjoyed listening to some of the guys talk about them in their experiences with them in their service lives. Evidently some of the guys were or still are pilots and it was kinda neat to hear aviation talk instead of car or bike talk all a time. I was also impressed by all the different engines and the cut-a-ways.

I particularly enjoyed following you and Stan around listening to your stories.

The museum was a really neat cap to a perfect riding day.

Don

[Chief]

Sorry for the delay in posting the pictures, but I had computer problems