We were up and out the door early last Saturday morning. This was the week end of our ride to Sikestom Missouri. We have organized this ride for several years and really enjoy the trip there and back.
Our meeting spot was the Forum Restaurant here in Crawfordsville and we wanted to arrive early enough to have breakfast before our scheduled 7:30 "kickstands up" leave time.
There were a total of 8 bikes (15 people) taking the trip with us and we pulled out of the parking lot right on time.
The weather started out great but they were predicting rain and storms for later in the day. My hope was to be safely at the motel before the storms kicked up :-)
We ran into a little construction on I-70 but the traffic was pretty light and we made good time. Our first stop was in Effingham Illinois where we took our first "butt break".
Rudee and I used to be able to ride 150 miles or more and just stopping when we needed gas. Now days we have to stop every 70-80 miles, guess we are getting old :-)
We left Effingham and the dark clouds started rolling in. The plan was to stop at Mt. Vernon Il. for lunch and it sure looked like we would be getting wet long before we got there :-)
The farther we rode the darker the skies became but about the time I thought the monsoon would start I saw the sign for the exit at Mt Vernon .... whew, we made!
I checked the radar on my Droid phone while we were eating lunch and it didn't look good. The entire 1/2 of Illinois was covered in shades of green, yellow and even some red! Oh-Oh, guess we better plan on getting the rain suits out.
We finished lunch and got everybody fueled up and back on the bikes. Still no rain, so out on the highway we went. "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead" :-)
As we rode south we could see the skies clearing on the horizon. I kept thinking that if we could just get there we would stay dry!
Somehow, someway we managed to do just that. I guess the rain that was on the radar just "fell apart" . Hows that for being lucky?
We arrived in Sikeston around 3pm after riding a little over 320 miles.
The reason for our trip was to eat at Lambert's, "home of the throwed rolls". http://www.throwedrolls.com/
Our group got checked into our motel. Some of us went to the pool and others took a nap. I did both :-)
We all met in the lobby at 5pm and rode to the restaurant to put our name in for a table.
Lamberts do not take reservations and they are usually busy every night. In past years we have had to wait up to two hours for our group to get a table.
This year the wait wasn't as bad, even though the parking lot was pretty full we all got seated in neighboring tables in about 20 minutes.
Lamberts serves up "country style" food and lots of it! Besides your meal with sides they have what they call "pass arounds". These are big pots of fried okra, tomatoes and macaroni, fried potatoes and black eyed peas that are carried around the restaurant and spooned onto your plate at your table. The big draw though is the hot yeast rolls! They come out piping hot and when you hear the guy yell "hot rolls" just raise your hand and he will zing one to you! Better be ready because they come "hot and fast". The rolls are followed by a waiter with sorghum to drizzle on your fresh hot buttered roll ........... ummmmmmmm, makes me hungry just thinking about it.
Needless to say, you don't leave this place hungry!
Rudee and I shared a combo plate of fried chicken livers and gizzards. She chose mashed potatoes for her side and I got cucumbers and onions. Our meal was great as well as the service and the company! We had a great time.
Sunday morning we had a quick breakfast at the motel and lined up for the ride back to Indiana. Today was going to be a longer trip since we stay on the two lane roads coming home.
We wound our way through the countryside through Missouri, over the Mississippi River into Illinois for a few miles and then over the Ohio river and into Kentucky. We rode through several small towns and the larger city of Paducah. In Marion Kentucky we turned North and caught a ride on a ferry back across the Ohio and into Illinois at Cave-in-Rock where we stopped for lunch.
The afternoon ride took us North through the corn fields of Illinois before finally crossing the Wabash river back into Indiana. We made a quick stop for ice cream in Vincennes before riding the last leg of our trip.
We made it back to Crawfordsville at 7pm and were both worn out. We had a great time riding with our friends. I had reset my trip odometer before we left and it showed we had ridden just over 700 miles in the two days of our trip.
We were both pretty tired from being on the bike for the last two days and I sure wish I had an extra day to recover but Monday morning it was back to work :-(
My work week was a busy one and went by pretty fast, almost as fast as a week of vacation but not quite :-)
Looking forward to a lazy week end so we can recover :-), I'll keep you posted!
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