08 Group Vacation Day 1 - to Iowa

The next 10 blogs are another of of the Group Vacations. I act as the tour guide, plan the trip after getting some guidelines like dates and destination. They following me blindly, not knowing the destinations for each day. Its like a game. I give hints, some are really big some are very small, they try to figure it out where we are going and guess amoung themselves. This is the second year we have done this and I love it. I didn’t get all of it written up last year, but this year I committed to getting it done. Last year it was to the National HOG rally in Knoxville TN, followed by a trip through NC. This year its to the 25th Anniversary HOG party in Milwaukee WI. The adventure will be the days leading to the Milwaukee. We plan to go from KC up and around Lake Superior into Canada and then a slight detour to Milwaukee. The blogs are broken into sections, each being a day in the trip.

22 AUG 08 - Friday - Day 1

We leave after Mel, Marcia and Willy get off work. Jerry’s coming so departure is delayed a little. He just found out today that he can go, but will join us in the morning. He can not leave with us today. Hysteria ensues as the Waters had to find house and dog sitters, get more clothes packed and Marcia moves some of her stuff to the luggage that Jerry would be carrying.

I got the call that we were leaving early, so hurriedly finished my packing and zipped over to the Wendy’s’ that we normally met at. Its across the street from a Q-trip so everyone can gas up and eat without being inconvenienced too much. When sitting at the table with my evening meal I decided to check my messages and found that Jerry was coming, but that caused a delay from our early start so we are going to be leaving on time. I was really pretty happy as it gave me a time to sit and remind myself about the different riders and their individual riding needs during the trip. My life lately had been pretty hectic as I had been living with my Aunt who needs assistance since she had broken her leg. It was a welcome relief to sit and have nothing else to do but think. By 5:30pm everyone had gassed up, eaten a bite and was ready to hit the road. This put us at the end of rush hour and we took the long way out of town so we didn’t have to go through downtown KC. Our route once out of town was a simple one, I-35N until we get to Osceola IA where we will spend our first night at the Days Inn there.

The 156 mile trip was uneventful stopping only a couple times for the restroom and once for a picture by the Harrison County sign, a Presidential Race objective. At the hotel we found that Mel had made our reservations for the following night. But the motel was not busy and we were quickly unpacking. We decide to save money and all share a room. Dinner at a local bar and grill found us satisfied and ready for showers and bed. The diner had a salad bar. I sat there for and hour looking at it but had opted for something else. The result was I was hungry for a salad for the next few days.

Here are links to all the blogs for this trip:

1. 08 Group Vacation Day 1 - to Iowa
2. 08 Group Vacation Day 2 - John Wayne, Albert the Bull and Freedom Rock
3. 08 Group Vacation Day 3 - Buddy Holly, SPAM and the Joint
4. 08 Group Vacation Day 4 - Aerostitch and Canada
5. 08 Group Vacation Day 5 - Canada and Mackinac Bridge
6. 08 Group Vacation Day 6 - Yoppers, Pasties and outa gas John
7. 08 Group Vacation Day 7 - HOG 25th are you kidding me??
8. 08 Group Vacation Day 8 - Vinnie and Cody from American Chopper
9. 08 Group Vacation Day 9 - Last day of the 105th Anniversary Party
10. 08 Group Vacation Day 10 - Heading Home
11. 08 Group Vacation Day 11 - Snake Alley, Worldest Largest Pecan

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Part of trip: 2008 Group Ride to 105th Party

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