Leave Donahue at 12; 00 (earlier do to it gets dark sooner)
Ernie's on Gull
10424 Squaw Point Road
East Gull Lake, MN 56401
Phone: (218) 829-3918
Sunday September 20, 2009.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Lodging info for Wisconsin 2009 Ride Sept 11,12,13
Friday night, September 11th, 2009
Days Hotel Lacrosse Conference Center
101 Sky Harbour Drive (exit #2)
LaCrosse, WI
608-783-1000
11 Rooms with two double beds have been blocked. $79.00 plus tax. Call and reserve under the name of St. Cloud HOG.
There are rooms with a king bed for $79.00. If you want a king bed room then call and ask for Jenny, tell her you are with the St. Cloud HOG group but want to get a room outside of the blocked rooms.
The rooms will be blocked until 09/01/09.
There is a restaurant attached to this motel. There is also an indoor pool.
Saturday night, September 12th, 2009
Country Gardens Motel and Lounge
100 West Sunbeam Boulevard
Soldiers Grove, WI 54655
Telephone: (608) 624-3254
Proprietors: Guy and Tammy Nelson
There are a variety of rooms available at different prices…they are as follows: (all prices include tax)
4 rooms with 2 double beds on the first floor: $52.03
3 rooms with 2 double beds on the second floor: $52.03
1 room with 2 full beds and a sleeper sofa that sleeps 2: $73.73
3 rooms with 1 full size bed: $41.18
This motel only has 14 rooms. I did not block the 3 rooms with 2 twin beds. You will probably want to find someone to room with you so we have enough beds for everyone.
There is a restaurant/bar attached. There is NO pool.
The rooms will be blocked until 09/01/09.
Days Hotel Lacrosse Conference Center
101 Sky Harbour Drive (exit #2)
LaCrosse, WI
608-783-1000
11 Rooms with two double beds have been blocked. $79.00 plus tax. Call and reserve under the name of St. Cloud HOG.
There are rooms with a king bed for $79.00. If you want a king bed room then call and ask for Jenny, tell her you are with the St. Cloud HOG group but want to get a room outside of the blocked rooms.
The rooms will be blocked until 09/01/09.
There is a restaurant attached to this motel. There is also an indoor pool.
Saturday night, September 12th, 2009
Country Gardens Motel and Lounge
100 West Sunbeam Boulevard
Soldiers Grove, WI 54655
Telephone: (608) 624-3254
Proprietors: Guy and Tammy Nelson
There are a variety of rooms available at different prices…they are as follows: (all prices include tax)
4 rooms with 2 double beds on the first floor: $52.03
3 rooms with 2 double beds on the second floor: $52.03
1 room with 2 full beds and a sleeper sofa that sleeps 2: $73.73
3 rooms with 1 full size bed: $41.18
This motel only has 14 rooms. I did not block the 3 rooms with 2 twin beds. You will probably want to find someone to room with you so we have enough beds for everyone.
There is a restaurant/bar attached. There is NO pool.
The rooms will be blocked until 09/01/09.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Up Coming Events
Add these to your calendar:
Ice Cream Social: Wanda and Jake will be hosting this event.
· August 23, 2009 after our regular Sunday Ride starting about 3:30pm.
· Cookies and Ice Cream
· She will make homemade ice cream! Everyone else will bring homemade cookies! We ask that you be “creative”, which means not the usual chocolate chip cookie and no store bought cookies!
Corn Feed: Tom and Marge will be hosting this event.
August 30. 2009 After our Regular Sunday Ride Starting around 3;30
July Birthday Ride: Sunday July 26th 2009
Melvin’s On the Lake (320) 796-2195 159 Lake Ave, Spicer, MN 56288
August Birthday Ride: Thursday August 20, 2009 Please note Thursday!
Meet at Donahue’s at 6:00 PM for a brief ride and dinner at Emma Krumbees
Emma Krumbees Restaurant
11935 Cty Rd 37
Albertville, MN 55301
763-497-4399 ..
Ice Cream Social: Wanda and Jake will be hosting this event.
· August 23, 2009 after our regular Sunday Ride starting about 3:30pm.
· Cookies and Ice Cream
· She will make homemade ice cream! Everyone else will bring homemade cookies! We ask that you be “creative”, which means not the usual chocolate chip cookie and no store bought cookies!
Corn Feed: Tom and Marge will be hosting this event.
August 30. 2009 After our Regular Sunday Ride Starting around 3;30
July Birthday Ride: Sunday July 26th 2009
Melvin’s On the Lake (320) 796-2195 159 Lake Ave, Spicer, MN 56288
August Birthday Ride: Thursday August 20, 2009 Please note Thursday!
Meet at Donahue’s at 6:00 PM for a brief ride and dinner at Emma Krumbees
Emma Krumbees Restaurant
11935 Cty Rd 37
Albertville, MN 55301
763-497-4399 ..
Lake Vermillion Ride
Book your rooms by calling Fortune Bay at this number: 1-218-753-6400
July 24 is the registration deadline for rooms at Fortune bay Casino and Resort
Rooms range in prices from $98 -$116 for double standard rooms.
Ride will leave Donahue's at 08:30 on August 15 and return on August 16. One night only.
We will see mines, taconite processing plants, scenic rivers and beautiful Lake Vermillion.
Join us for a ride to the Iron Range and on up to Lake Vermillion. Some of the towns we travel through on the way up are Onamia, Isle, Askov, Kerrick, Bruno, Carlton (Jay Cooke State Park) Cloquet, Forbes, Iron Junction, Eveleth, Virginia, Gilbert, Biwabik, Embarrass, and Tower.
I would like to know how many will be on the ride. Email me at jhuhtala@frontiernet.net or call and leave a message at 320-743-3453
July 24 is the registration deadline for rooms at Fortune bay Casino and Resort
Rooms range in prices from $98 -$116 for double standard rooms.
Ride will leave Donahue's at 08:30 on August 15 and return on August 16. One night only.
We will see mines, taconite processing plants, scenic rivers and beautiful Lake Vermillion.
Join us for a ride to the Iron Range and on up to Lake Vermillion. Some of the towns we travel through on the way up are Onamia, Isle, Askov, Kerrick, Bruno, Carlton (Jay Cooke State Park) Cloquet, Forbes, Iron Junction, Eveleth, Virginia, Gilbert, Biwabik, Embarrass, and Tower.
I would like to know how many will be on the ride. Email me at jhuhtala@frontiernet.net or call and leave a message at 320-743-3453
Diary of the Door County Ride
Door County Ride
Nine thunderous Harley Davidson motorcycles carrying twelve riders left Donahue’s promptly at 0700 Friday July 17th for a 400 plus mile excursion through Wisconsin to Algoma, Wisconsin located on the western shore of Lake Michigan. We got all the way to Cambridge before the rain came. Not raining hard enough to merit rain gear, we pressed onward.
We crossed into Wisconsin at St. Croix Falls and stayed on US 8, turned south on US 53 and somewhere near Chetek we caught “M”- a road only God and Dale Wegener’s GPS knew about. “M” was a beautiful twisty with lush green canopying trees and fern covered ground. Around 1:00 pm we stopped for lunch at Medford at a pizza buffet restaurant. Still not raining hard enough for rain gear we headed south on WI 13, turned east on WI 29 where we were made pretty good time, running in and out of nuisance showers.
Outside of Shawano, Wisconsin is a Harley Davidson dealer called “Doc’s” If you are ever in this part of the state, you have to stop here! Unique does not describe this store. He has a nice size retail store, limited bikes, (but who isn’t limited these days?) and a museum that features old cars and motorcycles and other curiosities. The motorcycle with four 45ci flat heads and five seats caught my eye. One could spend hours here but we needed to get back on the highway.
Now the raingear was needed and wouldn’t you know, we hit Green Bay during rush hour in the hardest rain. Going up the ramp off 29 to US 141,we could see through our fogging goggles and rain covered windshields that the traffic on 141 was stopped! It got going as we entered the merge lane and some kind Packer fan in a red pickup truck stopped and waved us onto the highway. Never again will I speak despairingly about cheese heads.
The next stop was McCoy’s HD in Green Bay just off I 43. Dale led us into a Burger King parking lot by mistake. (His only miscue of the whole trip) The HD dealer was a stones throw away up a wet grassy hill. Dale, Tom (with Aryliss on back) and others must have been hill climbers in their youth. OMG, I couldn’t watch. I went back to the street and turned right at the stop sign and entered the lot like a normal person. At McCoy’s we found out what $35,000 bikes look like. They look a lot like the $22,000 bikes at Donahue’s.
We reached our one star motel in Algoma about 7:00pm. The clerk (and owner) had more rules than a middle school principal. Henceforth, she was here-on referred to as “Lobby Nazi“. We settled in, jumped back on the bikes and headed uptown to the Steelhead Saloon. I would recommend the All-you-can-eat Fish.
Saturday morning was a balmy 47 degrees, cloudy and a slight breeze of 20mph out of the northwest. Riding out WI 42 through beautiful rolling farm country, we turn right onto WI 57 headed toward Sturgeon Bay. The view from the draw bridge at Sturgeon Bay was awesome but I didn’t have much time to look around as the bridge deck was that slippery, steel grid stuff. Boats of all sizes were tied up at the docks or headed out toward Lake Michigan.
Next stop will be Egg Harbor on the Green Bay side of the peninsula. Dale and his GPS take us toward the bluffs and the back way into town. Coming down a steep hill we could see bicyclists going from left to right through the T intersection. We turned right. Lo and behold, we find ourselves in the middle of the bicycle event of a woman’s triathlon. We proceeded to slowly overtake the stream of bicyclers. I felt confident that we could win this leg of the race until a local gendarme motioned us off the course.
Egg harbor was full of tourists and cars. We stopped at a park by the bay to get off of the saddles and stretch a bit. Some walked up toward the shops but most stayed by the bay to watch the moored boats bob in the three foot rollers. On to Fish Creek. More tourists and cars. Ephraim next. We found a café with outside seating. The weather is getting nice. Sun’s out, 60 degrees. Life is good.
It’s cherry picking time in Door County. On the way to Sister Bay we turned into the parking lot of a roadside stand. It was one of the nicer and busier stands we’d passed that day. An older guy heard us rumble into the lot and he came out to give us some grief about noise pollution. Turns out he was the owner and a biker himself. His name was Dale and he was probably 75 years young. He had recently gotten back from a motorcycle trip to Alaska and has driven his Gold Wing to Argentina (to visit his mistress?). He had a nice store with free samples of dips, salsa and anything else made from cherries. He offered to guide us through his orchard and show us some sights most Door visitors usually don’t get to see. We followed him through his orchard and stopped in front of an immaculate machine shed that held his harvesting equipment, most of which were specially made. He gave us a brief history how his granddad started the cherry orchard and why Door County is perfect for growing cherry trees. Dale and his family produce 60% of the cherries sold in America under the label of Seaquist Orchards.
He took us down a steep grade with a hard left turn down to the shores of Green Bay. That was the steepest hill I’ve ever driven. More history and back up the hill to a county park on top the bluff. The view was stunning. Old Dale knew the name of every island, the depth of the water and the details of the messy divorce of the couple that built a $29M house near the park. Hugs were exchanged and we parted ways. What a guy!!
The farther up the peninsula we rode, the less traffic there was. Sister Bay was pleasant, slower, and a lot like a post card you might find in Maine. We didn’t stop. We were off to Gills Point to check out the Washington Island Ferry. The road to Gill’s Point is a bikers dream. I have no idea why they made this road like this but boy am I glad they did. There was a stretch of pavement less than two miles long that had lots of gently rolling, small hills and back and forth corners seemingly made for no other reason than to make bikers happy. Our Dale, leading the pack, kicked it down and cracked the throttle and away he went- living like a man who had just gotten out of the hospital 6 days prior and deciding he had some more things to scratch off his Bucket List..
We watched the ferry arrive and passenger and cars get off. We elected not to go to Washington Island so we saddled up and started our trip down the east side of the peninsula back toward Algoma, stopping only to take a group picture at the Door County line.
We used the motel’s grill to grill hotdogs and brats to go with the chips, coleslaw and potato salad- all compliments of Dale. (Dale’s setting the bar pretty high for our next road captain.) We gathered the Adirondack chairs and picnic table around the bon fire where we consumed beer, rum and Cokes and talked smart. We all learned a couple things that night: picnic tables have weight restrictions (Lobby Nazi is not going to be happy with us) and Dwight is really looking forward to the year 2015; Clarice, not so much.
Sunday morning was gorgeous. We had continental breakfast and slipped out of Dodge before You-Know-Who discovered her broken picnic table. Green Bay traffic was light as was traffic on WI 29W. At Shawano, we hopped on WI 55N - a road that is colored yellow in the HOG atlas. This 60 mile stretch of road runs from the Menominee Indian Reservation just north of Shawano to Cranden on US 8. It is a fantastic, twisting bike road with beautiful forests, nice curves, good grip, hills and glimpses of the Wolf River which is popular with kayakers. At noon, halfway to Cranden, we stopped at Northwoods Restaurant in Pickerel where the food was excellent and fair priced.
Catching US 8 at Cranden, we set our sights on St. Croix Falls some 240 miles away. We crossed the border into Minnesota around 6:30- 10 hours from Algoma. Most of us got home somewhere around 8:00. For me, I was 436 miles from Algoma -a trip that took 11 hours. Overall, we ran over 1000 miles in three days. I am sure we all will agree it was a trip we will probably take again someday.
Ride safe.
Jim Huhtala,
Activity Director
St. Cloud H.O.G.
Nine thunderous Harley Davidson motorcycles carrying twelve riders left Donahue’s promptly at 0700 Friday July 17th for a 400 plus mile excursion through Wisconsin to Algoma, Wisconsin located on the western shore of Lake Michigan. We got all the way to Cambridge before the rain came. Not raining hard enough to merit rain gear, we pressed onward.
We crossed into Wisconsin at St. Croix Falls and stayed on US 8, turned south on US 53 and somewhere near Chetek we caught “M”- a road only God and Dale Wegener’s GPS knew about. “M” was a beautiful twisty with lush green canopying trees and fern covered ground. Around 1:00 pm we stopped for lunch at Medford at a pizza buffet restaurant. Still not raining hard enough for rain gear we headed south on WI 13, turned east on WI 29 where we were made pretty good time, running in and out of nuisance showers.
Outside of Shawano, Wisconsin is a Harley Davidson dealer called “Doc’s” If you are ever in this part of the state, you have to stop here! Unique does not describe this store. He has a nice size retail store, limited bikes, (but who isn’t limited these days?) and a museum that features old cars and motorcycles and other curiosities. The motorcycle with four 45ci flat heads and five seats caught my eye. One could spend hours here but we needed to get back on the highway.
Now the raingear was needed and wouldn’t you know, we hit Green Bay during rush hour in the hardest rain. Going up the ramp off 29 to US 141,we could see through our fogging goggles and rain covered windshields that the traffic on 141 was stopped! It got going as we entered the merge lane and some kind Packer fan in a red pickup truck stopped and waved us onto the highway. Never again will I speak despairingly about cheese heads.
The next stop was McCoy’s HD in Green Bay just off I 43. Dale led us into a Burger King parking lot by mistake. (His only miscue of the whole trip) The HD dealer was a stones throw away up a wet grassy hill. Dale, Tom (with Aryliss on back) and others must have been hill climbers in their youth. OMG, I couldn’t watch. I went back to the street and turned right at the stop sign and entered the lot like a normal person. At McCoy’s we found out what $35,000 bikes look like. They look a lot like the $22,000 bikes at Donahue’s.
We reached our one star motel in Algoma about 7:00pm. The clerk (and owner) had more rules than a middle school principal. Henceforth, she was here-on referred to as “Lobby Nazi“. We settled in, jumped back on the bikes and headed uptown to the Steelhead Saloon. I would recommend the All-you-can-eat Fish.
Saturday morning was a balmy 47 degrees, cloudy and a slight breeze of 20mph out of the northwest. Riding out WI 42 through beautiful rolling farm country, we turn right onto WI 57 headed toward Sturgeon Bay. The view from the draw bridge at Sturgeon Bay was awesome but I didn’t have much time to look around as the bridge deck was that slippery, steel grid stuff. Boats of all sizes were tied up at the docks or headed out toward Lake Michigan.
Next stop will be Egg Harbor on the Green Bay side of the peninsula. Dale and his GPS take us toward the bluffs and the back way into town. Coming down a steep hill we could see bicyclists going from left to right through the T intersection. We turned right. Lo and behold, we find ourselves in the middle of the bicycle event of a woman’s triathlon. We proceeded to slowly overtake the stream of bicyclers. I felt confident that we could win this leg of the race until a local gendarme motioned us off the course.
Egg harbor was full of tourists and cars. We stopped at a park by the bay to get off of the saddles and stretch a bit. Some walked up toward the shops but most stayed by the bay to watch the moored boats bob in the three foot rollers. On to Fish Creek. More tourists and cars. Ephraim next. We found a café with outside seating. The weather is getting nice. Sun’s out, 60 degrees. Life is good.
It’s cherry picking time in Door County. On the way to Sister Bay we turned into the parking lot of a roadside stand. It was one of the nicer and busier stands we’d passed that day. An older guy heard us rumble into the lot and he came out to give us some grief about noise pollution. Turns out he was the owner and a biker himself. His name was Dale and he was probably 75 years young. He had recently gotten back from a motorcycle trip to Alaska and has driven his Gold Wing to Argentina (to visit his mistress?). He had a nice store with free samples of dips, salsa and anything else made from cherries. He offered to guide us through his orchard and show us some sights most Door visitors usually don’t get to see. We followed him through his orchard and stopped in front of an immaculate machine shed that held his harvesting equipment, most of which were specially made. He gave us a brief history how his granddad started the cherry orchard and why Door County is perfect for growing cherry trees. Dale and his family produce 60% of the cherries sold in America under the label of Seaquist Orchards.
He took us down a steep grade with a hard left turn down to the shores of Green Bay. That was the steepest hill I’ve ever driven. More history and back up the hill to a county park on top the bluff. The view was stunning. Old Dale knew the name of every island, the depth of the water and the details of the messy divorce of the couple that built a $29M house near the park. Hugs were exchanged and we parted ways. What a guy!!
The farther up the peninsula we rode, the less traffic there was. Sister Bay was pleasant, slower, and a lot like a post card you might find in Maine. We didn’t stop. We were off to Gills Point to check out the Washington Island Ferry. The road to Gill’s Point is a bikers dream. I have no idea why they made this road like this but boy am I glad they did. There was a stretch of pavement less than two miles long that had lots of gently rolling, small hills and back and forth corners seemingly made for no other reason than to make bikers happy. Our Dale, leading the pack, kicked it down and cracked the throttle and away he went- living like a man who had just gotten out of the hospital 6 days prior and deciding he had some more things to scratch off his Bucket List..
We watched the ferry arrive and passenger and cars get off. We elected not to go to Washington Island so we saddled up and started our trip down the east side of the peninsula back toward Algoma, stopping only to take a group picture at the Door County line.
We used the motel’s grill to grill hotdogs and brats to go with the chips, coleslaw and potato salad- all compliments of Dale. (Dale’s setting the bar pretty high for our next road captain.) We gathered the Adirondack chairs and picnic table around the bon fire where we consumed beer, rum and Cokes and talked smart. We all learned a couple things that night: picnic tables have weight restrictions (Lobby Nazi is not going to be happy with us) and Dwight is really looking forward to the year 2015; Clarice, not so much.
Sunday morning was gorgeous. We had continental breakfast and slipped out of Dodge before You-Know-Who discovered her broken picnic table. Green Bay traffic was light as was traffic on WI 29W. At Shawano, we hopped on WI 55N - a road that is colored yellow in the HOG atlas. This 60 mile stretch of road runs from the Menominee Indian Reservation just north of Shawano to Cranden on US 8. It is a fantastic, twisting bike road with beautiful forests, nice curves, good grip, hills and glimpses of the Wolf River which is popular with kayakers. At noon, halfway to Cranden, we stopped at Northwoods Restaurant in Pickerel where the food was excellent and fair priced.
Catching US 8 at Cranden, we set our sights on St. Croix Falls some 240 miles away. We crossed the border into Minnesota around 6:30- 10 hours from Algoma. Most of us got home somewhere around 8:00. For me, I was 436 miles from Algoma -a trip that took 11 hours. Overall, we ran over 1000 miles in three days. I am sure we all will agree it was a trip we will probably take again someday.
Ride safe.
Jim Huhtala,
Activity Director
St. Cloud H.O.G.
Monday, June 22, 2009
MDA Ride was a Success
Angie Knutson did a Great Job organizing and leading the MDA Ride this past weekend.
Wanda Jacobsen also did a tremendous job with the tickets and raffle and all the other thing most of us did not even see happen in the back ground.
Hats off to everyone who helped make the MDA Ride a success.
Wanda Jacobsen also did a tremendous job with the tickets and raffle and all the other thing most of us did not even see happen in the back ground.
Hats off to everyone who helped make the MDA Ride a success.
Door County 17, 18, 19 July
We have changed the destination of this ride. We are going to Door County for the Sunset and Sunrise.
Hotel rooms are very hard to get in July. I have some rooms booked but only till 8 July.
Check your calendar.
Please if you want to go on this scenic and romantic ride and we need a head count as soon as possible. Call or E-Mail Dale and Sharon Wegener to tell us you want to go.
SharonWegener@yahoo.com or 320-230-5974.
Thank you
Dale & Sharon Wegener
July 17 and 18th we have a ride going to Door County.
We leave @ 0700 on Friday the 17th from Donahue’s and will stay in Algoma WI. both nights.
Friday night we will have a bond fire on the beach of Lake Michigan and relax.
Saturday we will do the loop of Door County stopping to enjoy the sights and a cup of coffee along the water.
Saturday night we will enjoy the sunset over the water and then a short ride back to the hotel and relax.
Sunday morning we can enjoy the beautiful sunrise from the hotel “ If your up and then go back to sleep”
Sunday we head for home with great photos and memories.
The motel is Algoma Beach Motel 1-888-254-6621, reservations are under St. Cloud, bikers HOG. Rooms are $75 single queen or $139 for two queen beds or 4 people. Plus tax.
Hotel rooms are very hard to get in July. I have some rooms booked but only till 8 July.
Check your calendar.
Please if you want to go on this scenic and romantic ride and we need a head count as soon as possible. Call or E-Mail Dale and Sharon Wegener to tell us you want to go.
SharonWegener@yahoo.com or 320-230-5974.
Thank you
Dale & Sharon Wegener
July 17 and 18th we have a ride going to Door County.
We leave @ 0700 on Friday the 17th from Donahue’s and will stay in Algoma WI. both nights.
Friday night we will have a bond fire on the beach of Lake Michigan and relax.
Saturday we will do the loop of Door County stopping to enjoy the sights and a cup of coffee along the water.
Saturday night we will enjoy the sunset over the water and then a short ride back to the hotel and relax.
Sunday morning we can enjoy the beautiful sunrise from the hotel “ If your up and then go back to sleep”
Sunday we head for home with great photos and memories.
The motel is Algoma Beach Motel 1-888-254-6621, reservations are under St. Cloud, bikers HOG. Rooms are $75 single queen or $139 for two queen beds or 4 people. Plus tax.
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