Wednesday North Central ROMEO Lunch Ride for 3-9-16

[Roadpounder]

Well gang. It looks like the mantel of leadership has befallen me again. Accepting the challenge I took up the sword of battle (phone) and charged forth. After several attempts yielding negative results I was able to secure a venue promising full bellies for all. We were here last June and as I recall the food was tasty and generous. Although seating was a little scarce the manager advised me that they added more seating which should relieve the strain. It worked out well last time despite the seating situation as we kind of trickled in and as we did others were finishing up, so the seating worked out.

A quick check with the weather profits suggests that we should have a reasonably pleasant day topping out in the low 60s under partly cloudy skies.


Here's the time..........................................11:30 am

Here's the place.......................................Willie Burger
109 S. Kansas
Haven, Kansas 67543
620-466-5122


https://www.facebook.com/willieburgerLLC


http://bit.ly/1uLkbOc


3/9/16
The creator of all things weather smiled upon us today and we had glorious day for the beginning of March. After doing my usual face plant falling out of bed I set forth to do my usual soggy and groggy morning routine. Sometimes I feel like suing the bath soap makers for false advertising. They constantly show some guy getting exiting his morning shower all refreshed and invigorated, ready to take on the day. That has NOT been my experience as any of you who attend our Tuesday morning world peace summit will attest to. I step out of the shower to a vision of the day bearing down on me like a speeding semi truck, prompting the thought that "This is gonna hurt!" Perhaps I need to change my brand of soap. Usually after I get some food in me I manage to get most of the cobwebs swept out and I can carry on with the day. But I digress. Being the chronic procrastinator that I am, I didn't get a load of laundry in until late Tuesday night, knowing full well that it takes two full cycles of the drier to dry the load. By the time the load was washed I was going comatose in front of the TV so I loaded the drier with the intent of starting the second cycle in the morning in time to have dry clothes to wear on the ride. Rising in the morning I stumbled through my routine and got everything done in time. I had planned to bring my computer to show Richard my database of all the places we've visited for future reference. Before I realized it the time was getting short and I had to scramble to get out the door. Opening the garage walk in door I was stunned by what I saw. Or more accurately what I didn't see. MY BIKE WAS GONE!! after a brief search I found it in the driveway. I had forgotten to put it away the night before. I guess all the cobwebs weren't gone yet. Mounting up headed for the gas station and then the Sleep Inn. Rolling into the Sleep Inn I was greeted by about 8 bikes already and I was hit by the realization that I had forgotten the signup sheet. More cobwebs. I was reasonably sure that Richard has returned from his adventure and I was hopeful that he had one. All told we had an even dozen leave from Salina. After a little tire kicking and picture taking 10:00 arrived and we departed. A little cool but a good ride ensued. We got to Innman and I noticed another place that we haven't visited before. So, much like my name, I repeated the name of the place in my mind repeatedly trying to etch in permanently in place. Usually information like that quickly evaporates if I don't make a deliberate effort to remember it. You wouldn't believe the number of tools I've lost by just absent mindedly putting them down never to be seen again. We pulled into Haven with about 8 to 10 bikes already there. Richard was there and he quickly assured me that he did in fact have a signup sheet, relieving me of that burden. Unlike the last trip to Haven the grocery store parking lot was pretty well occupied so we avoided it. I parked and started to to my photog thing and got pics of all the bikes outside. Two doors down from Willie Burger is a Pizza shop that I thought might be a prospective venue for a visit in the future. We were a substantial crowd for the guys at Willie Burger, but they took us in stride. I was the last to get my order in and by then a chair had opened up at Richards table. While waiting for my order I went to my bike to retrieve my computer to show Richard the data base if restaurants I had set up. Why is it that whenever you want to show someone something on the computer, it crashes. And the more skeptical the person is about computers, the more severe the crash. I tell you its a conspiracy!! I did manage to get the file recovered and the data base worked well for the demo. Richard also had a suggestion for a new place and Emory Witt came forth with another. Both went into the computer and I found three more on the web. Five in all. If any of you have any suggestions feel free to send them to me. So far I have 59 places that we've visited or are on the list to visit. When it came time to leave I joined up with Big Jim, Morey, Little Jim and Diesel Dave. Big Jim needed a shouldered bolt for his front fender so We made a few stops in search to no avail. Going back by way of Hutchenson we headed back to Salina.

I'm an old school twin guy.

twins.jpg (52.16 KiB) Viewed 535 times

[Outback]

I joined awhile back, but haven't gone anywhere yet. I wanted to tell you of a place I ended up, by default, to eat about two weeks ago. It's the Benton Airport. Benton is a very tiny town, but has a local airport, probably for private aircraft. We had to find Benton to buy mower parts, and while there I was asked where we were going to eat, as it was about noon. We told him we hadn't decided, and he said we should try it. The restaurant is called Stearman's, I think, like the old airplane. Very roomy and popular, from what I could see. They serve beers but also enormous servings of food. Price was a bit high, but not too bad, if you consider how much you get. Benton is a little bit northeast of Wichita. We took I-135 south to Park City and turned east till we hit the super two highway, then further east. It took us to the north side of the town of Benton. The airport is a little southwest of Benton.

Another place you have probably already tried, is the Sand Stone Saloon in Brookville (I live about 2 1/2 miles from there). Not a big menu, maybe just burgers, but I've eaten there a couple times and it's very good. I think they are only open Friday through Sunday, either mid afternoon or late afternoon.

There are a couple good places in Ellsworth, but the bridge is out just west of town, if you are on old 40 highway, so you have to either go by interstate, or take a sand road detour a few miles. I don't recommend it as the sand was a little loose. One of the restaurants, I was told, is down town. You have to go in from the alley way to a basement to eat. Rustic I was told, and very good. The other is on the highway and serves steaks. I don't know their hours.

There is a good place to eat in Little River, but you have to find out what days and hours they open. We went and hadn't checked. They were closed that day.

Bruce Loder, Brookville (785-826-5995)

[Roadpounder]

Thanks Bruce:
We've been to the Stearman Field twice before but I have been planning a return trip since it's been about a year since our last visit. I looked up the Sand Stone Saloon on the web and it seems they're only open Friday thru Sunday, but they do say that they do private parties. So I'll give them a ring and see if they would be interested in having us. If you can find names and phone numbers of the other places you mentioned that would be a great help. We've also been to the China Cafe In Ellsworth and would like to set up another ride there. Unfortunately when I called there was no answer. Do you know if they're still open?

Thanks
Marty