Coop's Corner: Iowa Moto Guzzi Rally, Elkader

Sunday, July 9, 2017

Iowa Moto Guzzi Rally, Elkader - 2017

After a couple of extremely sultry days mid-week, the weather over our Rally weekend was just about ideal.

Who wouldn't want to be part of this???

My very first rally in 2005, I've not missed one in Elkader since then. George and Kaye (plus volunteers) have been coordinating this rally longer than I've been attending, finally earning the chance to step aside and take a breath. We owe them a debt of gratitude for the easy fun and pleasure that this rally has been for so many years. Dennis and crew have graciously stepped forward to continue the traditions and good times and we can't wait for 2018.

I left Friday morning at 5:30, a morning impossible to improve upon. I planned to stop at my normal Sideways Sun location to get a photo but I was too early, that spot was still in the shadows.

Mike and Speedy had gone down early on the 4th, got setup and did some exploring around the region during the week.

Two Mikes......all of us Iowa Riders for a weekend.

Once I was setup, lunch time was getting close, Rod was soon arriving so we decided to try a Gunderburger in Gunder.

IIRC, the "Loaded Cheeseburger" at a half pound was predominant at our table.

Friday afternoon's weather was perfect for some Iowa exploration; the trip down and my loop to the southwest....a fantastic 270 mile day

Back at the City Park in Elkader....

No question about it, Johnson's serves food....

.......that people line up for.

I promised Paul and Cindy a photo of Friday's plating ....but I got so excited about mine, I ate it before I remembered. I did however manage the discipline to get a photo of Saturday's meal (See below).

Friday night, a huge bright moon and a bluebird Saturday morning, our Ride for the day....

Seven bikes managed to keep up with the Royal Enfield on a roughly 160 mile loop. Honestly, their patience in putting up with me all day much appreciated. We had quite the variety of machines; numerous makes and persuasions.

The overlook, downtown McGregor.

A stop at Pike's Peak State Park......

I pulled into the parking lot of the beautiful church on the hill in New Vienna, thinking that we'd stop for a break and stretch our legs.....

Ken reminded us about the many buildings like this in relatively close proximity to each other....all of us wondering what it must have taken to build and keep these holy structures.

The priest saw us stopped there and right away offered the picnic tables and more shade in the park out behind the church. We also learned more about the building, the area, local tractor parades.....a very kind and warm welcome! Here Dave was worried about being asked to go in for Confession....but it never happened.

Thanks to Diana, Ken, Bert, Dan, Dave, Jeff and Kevin for a great ride!!

Saturday evening, our traditional pork chop meal, prepared for us by the local Pork Producers and served to us by Royalty.

The Pork Princess at work.....

Also in this photo, the woman just served, our Cookie Master. 1000 cookies for the weekend and I have it on good authority, the Peanut Butter's are exquisite.

Miss Pigtail serving the ice cream.....

What everyone was standing in line for.....

After the meal, the bikes lined up for the parade through town. As a parade participant AND a sidecar rider w/o passenger, I was requested to chauffeur the Pork Princess and for some reason was instructed to "Stand Here."

Miss Pigtail (Emme) and Pork Princess (Macie), two very Royal young women.

The Princess rode with me and Miss Pigtail rode behind us in the Morgan.....

In front, this was what the Princess and I saw.....

Some of our candy recipients.....

It's a lot better seeing the flashing lights in front than it is in the rear view mirrors

The back of this year's T shirt....

Packed up Sunday morning and almost ready to go...

The ride home....

The weekend....

Remember those cherries I picked last weekend??

(Karen, I waited all weekend for a slice even after Mike shared every pie cafe location that was within miles!)

16 comments:

EricJuly 10, 2017 at 4:43 AM
What a wonderful weekend and beautiful region to ride!
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RichardMJuly 10, 2017 at 9:23 AM
Beautiful area. Though a long trip at RE speeds.
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bocutter edJuly 10, 2017 at 12:51 PM
I'm wondering if the vintage MG in pic 13 is the same one I saw in Paris, Ontario vintage rally 3 weeks ago ...
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Speed BumpJuly 10, 2017 at 4:20 PM
It was a great rally...so lucky to have such a great group of friends to share the event with...weather, food, travels, & of course awesome bikes the 3 days could not have been more perfect...love your pictures!
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VStar LadyJuly 10, 2017 at 7:58 PM
Who knew you'd be hob-nobing with royalty...but the real question, did you have ice cream with that cherry pie?
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AnonymousJuly 11, 2017 at 10:46 AM
It was a great weekend. Thanks again for allowing me to tag along on Saturday. Ken serenity.
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TrobairitzJuly 11, 2017 at 10:57 AM
Yumm, that pie has to be my favorite picture of the post. Having said that though, it looks like a fabulous weekend with perfect weather. Well done.
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motormikeJuly 11, 2017 at 4:53 PM
Great time.. friendly event.. Congrats to " Sir " Cooper for answer'n the call to duty.
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Others say....

"it was auspicious to approach any situation from a deferential, inquisitive place. Conceding that there is much to learn is the best blueprint for discovering something new." ----B. Fuller

The Man straightened stiffly above the block of salt fixed to the stake and looked at the young cattle ringed about him. The pasture was holding out well and the stock was looking good. This bunch would be ready to sell in another month, maybe sooner if the market was right.

A stir among the cattle down near the river brought him round to face the swinging bridge he'd built years before. Someone was coming toward him from the bridge. Someone in breeches, but it didn't look like a man, somehow. What was a woman doing in his pasture this time of night?

He bent over the salt again; maybe if he paid her no heed she'd go on past and let him mind his own business. He heard her footsteps come nearer and stop. "Good evening," she said.

Her voice was smooth with book learning but friendlier than most, and somehow almost shy. When he made no answer she went on, "I've been sitting on your swinging bridge....I thought I'd like to say thank-you...." Her voice stumbled a little, then she tried once more.

"You are Mr. ____". His name sounded strange in her voice, but she went on to tell her own.

"That's what they've called me the last sixty-eight years," he said, looking past her face to the hills fast darkening under a single star. "I reckon the woods are free for those that like to walk there."

The unfamiliar voice laughed a little. "That's what Emerson said: the grove belongs to the man who walks in it with an open heart....On that basis I guess I've owned part of your woods for a good many years.....". She made a final effort. "I've always wanted to thank you....."

Something deeply hidden stirred in him. "There's a stump up there, in the notch of the woods", he said slowly, "that before the timber grew so tall you could stand on it and see all over this country."

He kept still a minute, remembering, then, "I used to stand up there an' look at things, an' wonder how they come to be like they was, an' how the hills was created, an' all the things in Nature.... I told my wife I guessed all the religion I ever had I got standin' on that old stump, a-wonderin'..." He turned his face away from her.

She helped him out. "I know about that, a little. This afternoon I saw......." Her account of a thing she had really taken time to look at eased him, and he answered with telling of the badger den at the foot of the swinging bridge.

When she had gone, he turned to watch her. After a moment she stood clear and unmoving against the sky. You could hear the sounds of the river where she stood. She was one that could stand still long enough, he thought, really to hear what a body was saying, or a river.

Then she walked down the farther side of the slope and was gone. ------Margaret Snyder from A Chosen Valley

Fall was the end of harvest, end of the growing season, a burst of color and sun-warmth before killing frost turned the land gray and cold. Fall was a moody time, full of both life and death, a time when we were reminded of the power outside of us, reminded that the seasons happen to us. We do not invite the change to come.-------Ben Logan, from The Land Remembers

When you get those rare moments of clarity, those flashes when the universe makes sense, you try desperately to hold onto them. They are the lifeboats for the darker times, when the vastness of it all, the incomprehensible nature of life is completely elusive. So the question becomes or should have been all along, what would you do if you knew you only had one day, or one week, or one month to live. What lifeboat would you grab onto? What secret would you tell? What band would you see? What person would you declare your love to? What wish would you fulfill? What exotic locale would you fly to for coffee? What book would you write? ------- Ben Tyler

We were also cautioned about journeying far from home. As an example of the dangers, the town had a badly crippled lady named Lucy, who as a girl had traveled to New York City. As she traveled along a sidewalk, sightseeing, she was struck by the outstretched hand of a suicide who had leapt from high above. Her spine had been shattered and for the rest of her life, she was to walk bent forward at the waist, tapping the sidewalk with two black canes. Whenever the subject of travel to a big city was raised, someone would say, "Just remember what happened to Miss Tripp." ---- Ted Kooser, from Local Wonders

"Steamboats are like wedding cakes without the complications...." ----Mark Twain

"It's not about having lots of money, it's about having lots of options......." -----Chris Rock

As the very proud father of three former ponytail wearers, hopefully I can get away with this....."For the past few years it's been fashionable for young women to wear ball caps and to snap the strap on the back under their ponytails. I like the looks of that, their shiny ponytails jauntily swinging, but it's hard not to think of the rear ends of horses. There's a piece of harness called the crupper that goes just under a horse's tail to keep its nose down. If the horse lifts its head to look for a way out of whatever predicament it's in, the crupper tightens and hurts the horse. But it's foolish for parents to think that a ball cap might keep a young woman from running away. Anybody can see they're made for running." ------Ted Kooser, Local Wonders

"I tell the guy's girlfriend that the only difference between the book's main character Phaedrus and myself is that I am neither brilliant, tortured or insane, she looks at my bike and there is an uncomfortable silence." --------ahendepe (a.k.a. Vermin)