ROMEOS

I hope Al enjoys his 2 week hiatus from setting up rides and I'll do my best to fill his shoes while he's gone. But he's set the bar pretty high with the great job he does coordinating rides for our group! As you may have noticed, Roger Smith extended a generous invitation to attend the South Central KS Annual Fish Fry hosted by Junior and Shirley Wege at the Twisted Oz Motorcycle Museum in Augusta. If you are interested in that event it sounds like a great time and I'd love to go and catch up with Junior and Shirley and enjoy lunch with Roger and the South Central group.

But since Al has tasked me with setting up a ride for next week I'd be dodging my responsibilities if I didn't set something up in our area. But if you're inclined to ride to Augusta next week and catch a free lunch go for it. But if not, I think a fall ride through the Flint Hills is an excellent choice as well so I've set up lunch for us at the famous Barnyard Cafe in Alta Vista.

The last time we visited the Barnyard Cafe was September, 2018 and before that it was 2011. You might be interested to note, and this is according to an extensive historical search of ROMEO history and the ever-reliable steel trap that is Duane Buck's memory, that the second ever ROMEO ride in history (around 2002) was to the Barnyard Cafe in Alta Vista!! And if that isn't enough trivia for you, according to the same reliable resource, the first ever ROMEO ride was to...GUESS, c'mon GUESS...Lost Springs, KS. Ok, enough of that nonsense and down to the brass tacks. The Barnyard Cafe opens at 8:00 and serves breakfast until lunch service begins at 10:30. Due to the time of year and the fact that they serve up some of the best burgers in the area, I'm recommending a lunch ride with arrival time at 10:30 in time for the beginning of lunch, but of course as always your arrival time is completely up to you. So to sum up, let's meet next Wednesday, October 11 at 10:30 AM at:

BARNYARD CAFE
605 Main Street
Alta Vista, KS Oh, and as an aside, Hwy. 177 has been closed for some time between I-70 and K4 but is scheduled to be open no later than Oct. 13 so you might need to find an alternative route from the north. I believe you can take K57 south from the Grandview exit on I70 and go south that way or ride the fabulous Skyline Drive from Alma to Alta Vista. Or you can arrive from the east via K4. No matter what, you should consider the Skyline Drive ride either on the way there or on the way home![/size][/size]

It was a perfect day for a ride into the Flint Hills with temperatures in the high 70's and a bright sunny day! The wind did come up a little bit on the ride home but it was quite manageable. According to my count there were 47 wheels that showed up at the Barnyard Cafe: 15 motorcycles, 2 trikes, 1 Vanderhall, and 2 cages. Those wheels carried 21 humans and one canine out to enjoy the day. Topeka Ron was the first to arrive and discovered that the ol' Barnyard was a cash only establishment so he headed home before anyone else arrived. Next time Ron, hang around. Mike H. is a cash cow and he would have loaned you a ten spot until the next roundup.

The special today was BBQ meatballs and Mac and Cheese with green beans, but the real hit was the hamburger straight off the menu board. A few of us ordered the double for just a shade over $7 and discovered that we bit off a little more than we could chew! Even at that it didn't stop some of us for stopping for a little bit of pie in Dover on the way home.

We had a new ROMEO today. Jan E. from Lawrence joined us today as a newbie and we would like to welcome her to the group. Jan, we hope you enjoyed the day and will become a regular. BTW, the Skyline Mill Creek Drive was as fun as always and I hope everyone took advantage of that little jaunt between Alma and Alta Vista either coming or going.

I am attaching a few photos to prove that we actually showed up for a little Barnyard time:
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I find it interesting that it took 22 vehicles to bring 21 people

Good catch Don. It was 15 plus 2 trikes or 17 including 2 trikes. Would love to have you come to a ride and help me count. Miss seeing you!