The highway south of Fennimore was unusually rough but improved by the time we got past Lancaster. The church crowd was out heavily in Dickeyville. We crossed the Mississippi River into Iowa at Dubuque.
Old Man River
Good motto
Dubuque County Courthouse
Our only planned stop for the day was the National Motorcycle Museum in Alamosa, Iowa. Founded in 1989, the museum houses over 400 motorcycles. We visited here ten years ago with Normie and Biker on the way back from Grand Lake. It was located downtown then but it has since relocated to a large empty retail building where exhibits were laid out in a pleasing and effective manner.
Lots of parking space
The entryway
One of Evel Knievel's HD XR750 jump bikes
Is it a bird? Is it a plane? No, it's Sherm Knievel
Always loved Big Daddy and Rat Fink
Easy Rider replica
Someone familiar
I remember these
The Gelbke Roadog
So that's how it worked
There were area after area of themed displays
I thought this was gaudy...
...until I saw this
A Vetter Terraplane like Terry's
1906 (Glenn) Curtis Twin - early belt drive
The famous Flying Merkel board racers
Racing on the boards
Who knew Husqvarna made motorcycles
Early stacked Indians
A 500cc Ariel Square Four
Not your every day mannequin at the Shell station
1929 Morgan Aero - an early Slingshot
Eye catching drag bike
Hill climb bike
Hill climb
Streamliners
Vesco's twin Yamaha 650 power plant
Record setting engine
They even had bicycles
This was a Monster, all right
Motorcycles were everywhere
Suzuki 500 Titan - one of the best value motorcycles ever
1974 CB450 Honda - I had a 1972
1972 R5 350 Yamaha - I had a 1970
They pulled some special bikes together for this
Right side
Left side
All in all, the museum was well worth visiting. We only spent a couple of hours and could have stayed for days. We recommend it to anyone near the area.
We followed US 151 to US 30 and then dodged and weaved to I-80 West, where we encountered a strong headwind. I saw a sign for a Sudbury Marine and RV Park near Meringo, Iowa. There was nothing on their website to indicate where the name came from.
We stopped for fuel at a Flying J in Altoona, Iowa and then followed US 65 South. This is the same highway that goes from Springfield, Missouri to Branson. Eventually, we joined I-35 South. As we drove along, we came to the conclusion that we have never seen this many dead raccoons in a single day.
We fueled again in Cameron and then headed west on US 36 to St. Joseph, Missouri, the eastern terminus of the Pony Express. Then we continued southwest on US 59 and crossed the Missouri River into Kansas at Atchison, home of an upcoming festival honouring Amelia Earhart. Then it was on to Topeka. We will be heading for Santa Fe the day after tomorrow, completing the AT&SF Railroad tour.
Using the Wyndham Rewards app, we booked a room at the Topeka Wanamaker Super 8 and then stopped for a Mongolian Grill supper. HuHot Mongolian Grill had good food and friendly service and many locals were dining there, but the price at $14.29 each was a bit steep. Then again, we could have made it worthwhile if we had been really hungry.
HuHot Mongolian Grill - Topeka Kansas
First Bowls
Waiting for the grill
This grill guru got right into his job
The Super 8 had seen better days. It was a walk-up and we were on the third floor. The room was small and the beds were doubles, not the advertised queens, but we have seen a lot worse. On the plus side, the WiFi was blindingly fast. I had time to sort and post the photos but that was it. The blog was now two days behind.
Today's Route (505 Equinox miles):
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