Hey All,

Wow September is already here.  Time for school buses to start running again.  Be sure to watch for them on a road near you.  Also September means to start thinking about rides for next year.  We have our planning breakfast in October so think now.  All we need is the idea where to ride and a date if it is an event.  We can do the planning form there.

Things for this month are the Labor Day Parade in Fond du Lac.  We will line up behind the police department on Johnson and Main St. at 10:00.  The parade is at 11:00.  If you just want to view us in the parade, sit near Main St and Scott St. After the parade we will ride to the Sheboygan Co. fair to watch one of our members in a Demo Derby.  Here are the results of the Fond du Lac Demo Derby from Chuck Quackenboss…

Well....the good news is Dan and I came out of the demo alive.....but the bad news is Our cars didn’t and have since been laid to rest in the junk yard.

I gave and received many hard hits before I was taken out in the first heat race, (by a 20 yr old FEMALE driver ...ugh).  After she gave me a hard hit to the front right fender area and breaking several much needed parts such as the A-frame, tie rod, Axle and even the transmission housing.....so that hit was VERY fatal to my car, and had to be loaded back on the trailer by a forklift.

Dan on the other hand had much better luck that I did....His first heat a hole was punched into the gas tank so he was forced out of that heat.  BUT after my car was fatally wounded we removed my gas tank and installed it into his and had him back up and running for the night consolation heat where he took 1st place and moved up into the feature, where he finished 2nd (when his battery gave out and it decided it was done getting abused for the day)

So overall we finished better than we thought we would.  I received a plaque for best looking car to enter the demo, and also a nice trophy for 3rd place.  (ohhh and a week later as I am typing this I have a cast on my left hand for a torn ligament in my thumb that was injured during the demo......all that AFTER my loving wife told me I would get hurt if I entered this demo.....so ALL I hear now is..."I told you so"....LOL

Dan received two nice trophies for 1st and second and some cash for first.

And at this time....Dan has purchased another car to wreck.....and ....well....I am still trying to plea bargain with my sweet, loving, caring wife to let me enter the next one which is at the Sheboygan Co Fair on Sept 6th (labor day) at 1 pm.....so if anyone has a beater car they care to get rid of real cheap please let us know.
 

Here is a note from George about the ride up north at the end of July…

Hello everyone,

Just thought I would report on our up north ride this last weekend.  At 7:10 am I pulled out of my driveway to head to Ken’s house.  As I pulled onto highway 41 I noticed a light mist starting to form on my windshield.  My first thought was "Oh no this is not going to be enjoyable, but at least it is not bad enough to require rain gear yet."  I stopped at Kwik Trip on Hwy 44 to top off and headed out.  The mist had stopped and the further I went I noticed the roads were dry except under the trees.  My happy smile reappeared and the ride to Ken’s was nice and peaceful.  I arrived at Ken and Leanne’s house at 7:54 am and was greeted by their dog, who sounded really tough that morning but as it turned our every time I tried to pet him he ran off and kind of hid.  I was also greeted by Leanne who had her hands full carrying the cutest little puppy you would ever want to see (noted this dog was the topic of discussion often through our entire trip), I went in the house and was greeted by Ken, Mike and Nita.  The next thing I knew it was raining not real hard but enough to make us wait a bit before leaving (this was the only time Ken was not in control of the entire event).  At around 10:30 after Ken had checked the computer and came up with his expert analysis of the situation we pulled away from Ken and Leanne’s house.  Leanne I think had tears in her eyes because she had to leave the puppy behind.  I attempted to console her over the CB, but everyone was just ignoring me.  Every time I made any suggestions or answered a question, I was ignored.  After about 30 miles I realized that none of these people were ignoring me, but that my radio was not transmitting (this happened a couple of times through the trip).  After about an hour or so we made our first stop and I fidgeted with the connections and my radio started to work.  Well I had a lot of talking to make up for and I think about an hour or so later everyone was wishing my radio would quit again.  There were several times when it looked like we were going to run into some heavy rain, but Ken had expertly planned our route and we just sort of slid around the clouds or else they just held the rain till we were past.  The roads were in great except a short stretch where Ken and Leanne got there signals crossed and both swept the same curves and in so doing missed the ones that one of them should have been doing (I think it was Ken).

We managed to catch a few "Where am I now" locations and stopped at this great park for lunch.  (Au Clare Dells – most likely not spelled right).  Here again Ken had instructed us to bring a sack lunch and found a nice dry picnic table for us to eat at.  After that we walked down to this awesome view of the river and some small falls and rapids.  At this point I had to convince Nita not to jump off the ledge and ride the rapids down river.  (there were a few times when she was about to attempt some sort of dare devil stunt and I had to stop her)  We left there and continued on our journey heading to another of Jerry’s points.  I never I lived so close to the center of the universe.  If you have been there you will understand.  After that it was on toward Phillips, our first stop for the evening.  I think at least once during that part of the trip I saw spread his hands and part the clouds in front of us.  (what a guy)  We went to the local A&W to eat supper that evening and Leanne decided to walk back to the hotel while Ken and I went to check out one more of Jerry’s locations.  On the way to the hotel some guy on a bike tried to pick Leanne up.  Fortunately she declined or who knows what may have happened.  (there some strange people in this world)  Our trip to our next location was rather uneventful and when we found the spot, I felt like I had picked up more than small change.  On our way back to the hotel Ken had a close encounter with a bobcat that decided to cross about 2 seconds in front of him.  We arrived back at the hotel rather late and after Ken had covered his and Leanne’s bike we were approached by a Korean war vet who thanked us for doing all the ride to honor veterans.  (bet most of you never knew Ken did all of these, but he graciously took credit for them)  I think we would have been out there talking till morning, but since the mosquitoes had twice lifted Ken off the ground, we decided to head in and call it a night.

On day 2 we headed out at about 8:30 am to find a few of Jerry’s sites again.  Once again great roads and as I commented on how clean these curves were, I found out that while Ken and I were out playing with cats, Leanne had gone ahead and swept all the curves on our route.  She is such a hard working woman.  At one of our stops I felt as if our world was about to cave in on us, but all went well.  We saw several eagles (not the Philly type) and turkey vultures.  Part of our trip took us over near the Mississippi river on some very enjoyable roads.  We stopped in a small town (the name eludes me at the present time) for a nice sandwich.  I happened to notice they had a 2 pound burger on their menu which no one else had notice.  I think Nita was disappointed that she had not seen it or she would have ordered it.  If you eat it you get a free shirt and your picture on the wall.  I am pretty sure they were happy she didn’t order it or they would have been out another shirt.  We came out of there only to notice my bike had sunk into the pavement along the road.  I think a few minutes later and it may have tipped over.  After that we continued our cruise along the river taking in the awesome scenery.  As we approached the town of Nelson, we decided we needed gas and a stop at the Nelson Creamery.  This place has single scoop ice cream cones for $1 and doubles for 2.  We assumed it was going to be good because there was almost no place to park and we had to wait a bit so Leanne could pull into a space being vacated by a car.  I must say the ice cream was excellent.  We made a stop along the Mississippi to walk out on an observation deck and watch a few boats go through the locks.  Then Leanne led us up the ledge to a great scenic overlook.  Here again I had to stop Nita from climbing out on to a tree branch and taking pictures while hanging upside down by her legs.  I tell you that woman is wild.  We finally at our hotel in La Crosse for the night.  We decided to get something light for supper.  So we walked to the nearby Perkins and while some ate a heavy meal soup, I kept my meal light by only ordering a piece of wild berry pie with ice cream and a pot of coffee.  (this is a widely accepted highly healthy part of every diet)  We walked back to the hotel and after Ken made a quick check of the weather all headed off to bed.

On day 3 we found our next Jerry spot and headed off to find the last destination of our trip.  On the way we past some miniature ponies which reminded Leanne of the puppy and I believe I once again saw tears flowing.  After riding some more nice roads we came to our final destination.  The only thing I can say about this place was that it was fast and some of the character there had obviously lost their heads.  As we left there I know I had tears in my eyes thinking that this lovely 3 day adventure was about to end.  We did manage to wave down several National Guard and Army Reserve troops as we passed through Camp McCoy.  We took a short break at a BP station on Hwy 21 and 51 and knowing that we would traveling our separate ways at some point form here said our goodbyes.  A few miles down the road Mike and Nita turned off and headed toward their next destination and then at Wautoma Ken and Leanne headed toward home.  I continued on my way down hwy 21 to Oshkosh and my home.  I really want to thank Ken and Leanne for setting up such a great trip and I really need to thank Mike and Nita for putting up with me and all my crazy stories.  I must add I really look forward to riding with all of them again soon.  God Bless You and I know he has because you are such fantastic people.

George Gunther.
 

On September 10th we will leave for the Davis Rally.  This is a rally in New Hampton Iowa.  We will be camping in St Charles IA.  It is about 15 mile west of the rally.  If you want to come along please call me.  There is a hotel in St. Charles if you want to stay close to us.  The Rally has vendors and the last big weekend of our rides.

On the 19th is the Where Am I Now ice cream social.  I will be sending out the address and coordinates to the party soon.

Things to come..

October 9th is the color ride.  We will meet at Ken’s house at 9:00.  Coffee will be served at 8:00 if you arrive early enough.

On October 17th is our planning breakfast at Golden Corral in Oshkosh.

Happy Birthday to you, Happy Birthday to…
  2     Robert Bradley
15     Richard Madsen
18     Nancy Schwartz
28     Terri Schlack
29     Tina Phillips

Happy Anniversary to…
  4     Mark & Laurie Weiner
  6     Dean & Tina Phillips
  9     Robert & Lori Vandenberg