I heard from a highly reliable classified source that on Wednesday morning there will be a large brightly glowing object in the eastern sky. There have been no reports as to what it might be, but rumor has it that warm air and clear skies will accompany it.
Rise and shine! Were leaving early. We'll join up at the Sleep Inn for a 9:30 departure. Keep an eye out for the large brightly glowing object in the eastern sky.
TIME....................11:00
Here it is.............. Pops Diner
128 N Walnut St
Peabody, KS
(620) 983-2307
Facebook page........https://www.facebook.com/PopsDiner/?fref=ts
Web Page.............
Map site.............http://bit.ly/1uLkbOc
6:00 came early. I just couldn't sleep any longer with a wiener dog standing on my head. Fritz had decided that I had slept long enough and he had some important guard dog duties to perform, ridding us of squirrels, rabbits and the like. I staggered to the deck door and let the dogs out to save the world for human and canine kind, whereupon I collapsed into my recliner, grabbed my computer and checked my Facebook account to see how many heads I caused to explode. I was somewhat disappointed finding that there were only two nocturnal basement dwellers who declared me to be a blithering idiot. I must be losing my touch. But that's another story. Shortly thereafter my phone rang and I instantly had visions of creditors with pitchforks and torches, seeking their pound of flesh. To my great relief it was Richard inquiring about the route of the Salina group. My steel trap mind (albeit very rusty) creaked and groaned in a desperate attempt to recall where we were going, let alone how to get there. I seemed to recall something mentioned about Roxbury, but I wasn't sure. Richard decided to join up with us in Roxbury and I assured him that I would steer the group in that direction. As time relentlessly marched on it came time to prep the bike for Leo. After the second trip to the garage Leo was putting 2 and 2 together and started getting excited. I got him on board and fired up, and as per usual I had the nagging feeling that I forgot something. Let's see. Phone, camera, tooth, all here. THE SIGN IN BOOK! Shut down go back into the house yet again to retrieve the wayward document. At least I caught it before we were half way to Peabody. On the way to the Sleep Inn we needed to stop to feed my noble steed. I pulled into the Dillons on south 9th, my eyes darting wildly searching for the blue haired little old lady to whose awareness of motorcycles is more than a little nebulous. Safely arriving at the pump I reached for my wallet to retrieve the fist full of cards necessary to secure my 2 cent / gallon discount and purchase my fuel. True to form I chose the one pump that was demon possessed. Upon running my cards the pump it gave me an evil laugh and roundly rejected my request. My patients taking a severe hit I made another attempt. Again with the vision of thunder crashing and lightning flashing the pump bellowed a warning to leave while I still can. Throwing caution to the wind and risking the insanity of repeating the same action and expecting a different result, I made one last attempt and the pump finally relented and surrendered its motion producing treasure. I arrived at the Sleep Inn to find Little Jim to be the first on the scene. Shortly Big Jim rolled in and while I was getting some shots Big Jim was unfolding his map to select a route. I asked what he had in mind and he was thinking of taking K4 east and K15 south. I suggested going through Roxbury since that's where Richard would be, so that became the plan. Our tire kicking got away from us and we wound up leaving about 10 minutes late, but we were on the road with the aforementioned brightly glowing object in place in the sky. It didn't take long to slip in to my comfort zone and start enjoying the ride. The only distraction was the growling in my stomach owing to my lack of breakfast. At Roxbury we came to the appointed rendezvous point only to find Richard conspicuous by his absence. Considering that Richard probably knew how to get there we pressed on eastbound encountering some rather unnerving sandy patches allowing my Quota to give me an occasional jab as it to say “pay attention”. Before too long Peabody loomed on the horizon and I followed the leader in. Although the ROMEOs had been there before I had not. I was pleasantly surprised to find a town that screamed Mayberry. Most of the buildings downtown were made of block reminiscent of the 1920s and 30s. The first thing that caught my eye was the corner building with the sign above the door saying POPs Diner. How quaint I thought. It wasn't til a little that I realized that it was the bank and the diner was across the street. I got Leo settled and went about the picture thing. Being a little late I wanted to get inside and I focused on taking the shots and forgot to get a count of the bikes. I got the sign in sheet going on it's rounds and got to my photo mission. The staff was scurrying about taking and filling orders and seemed to have all well under control. After getting the shots, David and Charlot Herrman and Steve Errebo had room at their booth and invited me to join them. They all had the days special of Salisbury steak with mashed photos and mushroom gravy. That really looked like it would hit the spot so I followed suit. While I was waiting for my meal Richard and Joyce stepped in. I had thought they didn't wait for us in Roxbury and went on without us. As it turned out they encountered the unmistakable sigh if spring “ROAD CLOSED”. There are really only two seasons in Kansas. Winter and Construction. After weaving his way through all the detours he eventually made his way to Peabody. Graciously he was willing to make up my shortcoming and count the bikes. He came up with 39. When my meal came I dove in with relish. As expected it did hit the spot. So much so that there were no leftovers for Leo. After settling up and paying my respects to the owner I went outside to insure Leo that he wasn't abandoned. Harold Chase joined me and when he found out that Leo had been aced out, he went back in and scored a piece of raw ground beef for him. Pound for pound that meat amounted to a small meat loaf for him. All bellies full and settled we started to gather our things up and head home. Several of us decided to ride together with Big Jim, in the lead. It turned out to be as near perfect day as one could ask for. Comfortable moderate temps and sunshine with some wispy high cirrus clouds. Even the obnoxious noises emanating from my clunky old Guzzi sounded musical. We rolled into Durham and Jim stopped. I remembered him mentioning something about doing so. We pulled up in front of the Main Street Cafe. Entering the place looked vaguely familiar. I quickly realized why we were there. Jim had his pie radar up and we found this place. Slowly the memory was jogged and I remembered being there before. The main thing that reminded me was their having the holy grail of fruit pie, strawberry rhubarb. Almost every one chose that option and when it came down to Jim and I there was some concern that we may have to step outside to “discuss” who might get the last piece. Much to my relief there was enough for all. They don't call him “Big Jim” for nothing. During our visit I was able to score us a place to ride to for Wed. the 15th. Even more satisfied than before we pressed on for Salina. Pulling through Gypsum we encountered some poor soul who apparently tried to negotiate the curve on the north end of town too fast and rolled their minivan. There were two squad cars there but no EMT so either they had already left or there were no injuries. I hope it was the later. Rolling down K4 Jim signaled his intent to turn on Kip road only to encounter that familiar sign of spring “ROAD CLOSED”. It looks like he had to take the long way home. Knowing that I'd encounter the same on Centennial I followed Jim 9th street to Shilling where Jim turned into Wal Mart where I tooted a friendly good bye and continued home, totally spent after a great days ride.
Our total bike count was 39 including Honda, Harley, Yamaha, Suzuki, BMW, Kawasaki, Kymco, Can Am and Moto Guzzi.
We had a total head count of 41 coming from Salina, Minneapolis, Moundridge, Hutchenson, Abilene, Enterprise, Lyons, Shawnee, Junction City, Denmark, McPherson, Lindsborg, and Canton, with our high miler being Steve Errebo from Denmark at 138 miles.
- For those motorcycle campers who prefer to rough it.
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