One of the many desolate canyons I've been through recently!

The Mississippi Cruise ‘N Ride - Day 2
(The next 24 hours of the dream.)

We decide to visit “The Hungry House Café” for supper and make reservations for 7:00 that evening. It’s a short ride and by 9:00 we’ve had our fill of “home cooking” and local hospitality.
Some people turn in when we return to the boat. Some relax in the upper deck bar and rehash the day’s ride. We also do some planning for tomorrow’s ride.

8:00 am sees most of the riders up, fed and ready to go. We rouse the rest and head out just after 9:00 for a ride south along the western bank of the river. It’s a rugged, hilly route with a lot of small towns (and no malls). We stopped for coffee at Millville (right after I got some great video shots of the crew coming up a winding hill).

After that, we cut south west away from the river for a ride through the countryside. Eventually, we cut back east toward Dubuque where the National Mississippi River Museum & Aquarium houses the world’s largest steam towboat along with lots of other interactive displays on Old Man River. After a brief stop however, we decide to push on to Galena (Iowa) which is just a few miles from Dubuque and houses J&P Cycles. It’s a huge repository of motorcycle parts and is kind of a warehouse, show bike showroom and restaurant. We head there for lunch and more videotaping.

After lunch, 2 couples decided to head for the National Motorcycle Museum at Anamosa (about 10 minutes away. The rest of us head south and east along highway 52 to Mendota and then spend the rest of the afternoon working our way back through the cornfields to Dubuque to meet the houseboat.

We get back (a little late) at 6:00 pm and immediately hit the hot tub and the upper bar. It has been a long day although we didn’t go that far as we stopped a lot (166 miles).

Tonight we’re just going to BBQ some pork chops and bake some potatoes.

The Mississippi Cruise ‘N Ride - Day 1 (The Dream)

Ok, for those of you who have trouble dreaming let me do it for you. (I don’t have any trouble in that area!)

Here’s how I would imagine the first day of our Mississippi River Cruise ‘N Ride would go down. (Put yourself on one of the bikes.)

The first bike arrives at the La Crosse marina about 1:30 pm. It’s a couple. (I’ve already been there for a day with the captain and crew to set things up.) The people are supposed to arrive between 3:00 and 5:00 pm but somebody always shows up early! (Is that you?)

By 4:00 pm everybody has arrived except one. He’s phoned to say he’s been delayed and should arrive by 7:00. (Somebody is always late! Is that you?)

We’re busy getting settled into the various bedrooms and getting to know each other over cold drinks around the top deck bar. We’re pouring over maps and making up last minute food lists so that everything is absolutely perfect for the next 4 days. (It won’t be!)

The crew and I are also getting the BBQ ready for the evening’s meal - something simple like chicken, corn on the cob and salad.

I’m also video recording the event for posterity and will be after basic information from everyone to start us off (what kind of bike you ride, how long have you been riding, where are you from, are you afraid of spiders – that sort of thing).

Then we eat and settle around the boat with coffee and cold drinks for more mixing. (I’ll make sure everybody knows everybody else quickly – I’ve written a book on how to do that, so it’ll be a snap.)

Finally, at 9:00 pm the last rider arrives and we feed him and grill him and then settle in for the evening.

Around 8:00am the next morning, we’re “at the trough” downing pancakes, bacon, toast, eggs, coffee and orange juice and getting ready for our first day’s ride.

We manage to depart just after 9:00 – 7 bikes and 10 people headed south down highway 26 along the river to the Effigy Mounds National Monument (Iowa) for coffee and a stretch.

Eventually we head west and end up at Grundy Center for lunch in a quaint little diner.

I shoot some footage in the diner (so we know where we’ve been) and catch people throughout the day rounding a bend, cresting a hill and passing as a group and stop shooting when I get “the finger” from 2 bikers in a row!

The rest of the day we head south and west to meet up with the river again. We pass Maquoketa Caves but don’t have time to visit. (Maybe we’ll have time to return tomorrow?)

By 5:00 pm we’re at Prairie du Chien where we meet the boat and are greeted with cold drinks and a hot tub and time to relax and tell lies before supper.

287 miles – I could have done that on an electric scooter!