Since I went to MN over the weekend, I had planned to take today off to have an extra day at home after getting back yesterday. And, luckily for me it was supposed to be the warmest day today out of my three day weekend. Especially lucky as well since it was way too cool in the mornings for me to take the bike to MN.
I had reached out to my two riding gal pals who are retired to see if they’d be interested, which they were. However, it turned out Denise could not go since it was her husband’s birthday, but Jody was still all in.
We met at the Sheboygan Marsh around 10:30 since she was coming from Chilton. When I arrived, not only was she there already, but so was the Sheriff. Who told him! Haha. Since we both had no need to rush, I suggested we go up the observation tower there since it had been a while for me, and apparently she has never been up it. When we approached there were three guys with bikes parked right below it, and Jody said she followed them there all the way from Kiel.
From there we headed to Glen with a stop for me to fuel the bike and drain my bladder. Then we both agreed we wanted to take Cty S south out of Glen to start off our Kettle run, being that it is super twisty with lots of elevation changes, and technically part of the northern unit.
From there we followed all of the Scenic Route signs to just north of West Bend, where we took Hwy 45 north to Kewaskum for our intended stop for lunch at El Pig’s Butt. She had never eaten there before, so that was a bonus as I knew she’d like it! Their special of the day was buy one burger, get the second one half off, and we both couldn’t pass that up! I had mine wrapped in lettuce vs a bun, and it was still very big, but I managed. Yum, yum!
From there we agreed to take Cty S north back to Dundee, but I didn’t realize we were supposed to take G when S diverted east, so we stopped in New Fane, and we agreed to take the next road back in that direction north of New Fane. When we were about to turn left onto the road off of Cty S, low and behold, there were those three guys with the bikes from the marsh coming south on Cty S and turning onto the same road. We waved at each other, and I giggled in my helmet. We lost them though when they crossed G and we turned north onto it, but when I turned left onto Cty S to get to Hwy 67, I had a feeling we’d run back into them, since I know the road they took connects to it. And, you betcha, there they were when we passed the intersection and I waved to them again. Another giggle in my helmet was had! Apparently they either went straight across Hwy 67 or turned left, as we proceeded north, but they were right behind us at the stop sign.
Our plan was to stop at the Ice Age Center south of Dundee to walk around and see if there were any good views, or some fall colors. When we arrived, I noticed I had been sitting on my RFID wallet the whole time since we left El Pig. Thank goodness I don’t move around much on the bike! We did find one Sugar Maple that was very spectacular orange and yellow, and one spotty Sugar Maple, but there were plenty of Sumac starting to change, and I told here about all of the orange Sumac in MN along I90 on my weekend trip, which looked spectacular.
From there we agreed Jody would lead and she had thoughts of taking me eventually on Snake Road north of Elkhart which I didn’t think I had ever been on before, and that is just what she did. Turns out I have been on part of it north of Cty MM. As much as I would have loved to follow her all the way to Chilton for a cream stop at Scoops, I was getting a little anxious to get back home. So, when we hit Hwy 57/32, she continued across it and I took it heading south, and I stayed on Hwy 32 all the way back to Grove.
I had an incredibly wonderful time today, and Jody was certainly a great riding companion, and exceptional company! Which I really needed after a very bad week, last week. However, I never bothered her with that, as I wanted to focus on the fun day, and since it is in my rearview mirror now.
Not big on miles, but just right for a later morning start!
