in the wind

We spent the week end getting familiar with the new bike. Saturday morning we headed out early. The skies were overcast and it started out cool but the weather man promised sunshine and warm temps for later in the day. We shared a quick breakfast and decided to head towards French Lick Indiana. We had stopped at the casino there on the way home from the truck show with Steve and Trish back in March. Rudee had forgotten to cash in a couple of her winning tickets so we thought today would be a good day to get our money.
We headed south on SR 231 and after about an hour and half we stopped for our first break at a McDonalds in Spencer Indiana where we shared a glass of iced tea and shed our heavy coats.
The biggest issue we have on the bike is that our headsets in our helmets are not compatible with the Harley. We have ordered new cords for the headsets but until they come in we cannot talk to each other while we ride and we both miss sharing things we notice on our ride.
Back on the bike we continued south and finally ended up in the town of Loogootee Indiana. It's a nice town with a really funny name. I have no idea where they came up with it but will have to research that some day.
We made a quick stop for lunch at a nice small cafe. Rudee always prefers the "local flavor" over the fast food chains and we usually end up with a tasty meal and today was no exception. After lunch we only had a few more miles to ride into French Lick. Our first stop was at the Casino where Rudee cashed in her tickets and got her $24. While she was doing that I quickly lost $30 in the slot machines :-(. Oh well, so much for being winners.
We didn't stay long in the casino and Rudee suggested we ride a few blocks down the road and visit the historic West Baden Springs Hotel. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Baden_Springs_Hotel
The Hotel has been completely remodeled and is quite a site.

Inside the dome is breathtaking. We walked around the rotunda and lobby areas imagining what it must have been like when Al Capone and Diamond Jim Brady were frequent guests.They do have scheduled tours that you can take or you can just roam around on your own like Rudee and I did.

We spent about an hour looking around and decided we had better get back on the road. We headed back north towards Rudee's Mom and Dad's house in Plainfield.
We only made one stop for gas and a short break on this leg of the trip and we both felt good when we arrived. We stopped into the Harley shop near their house and cashed in our coupon for a free t-shirt to add to my "hog" wardrobe. We called them just before leaving the shop and arranged for them and Rudee's sister and her husband (David and B.J.) to meet us at Applebee's.
We had a leisurely dinner and lingered for quite awhile afterwards talking and catching up. We eventually said our goodbyes and fired the bike up and headed home.
We had a long day on the bike and rode almost 300 miles and we are still smiling. What a ride.
We are planning on more rides and fun this week end when we attend the Indiana GWRRA Rally in Greensburg In. We are both taking the day off on Friday and will pack up the traveling circus and head to Hidden Paradise Campground in St. Paul Indiana on Thursday right after work. It should be a fun week end. I'll keep you posted.