Wabasha Minnesota an enjoyable trip in more ways then one

Last weekend I went on a motorcycle trip with three of my friends.

It all started Friday evening when two, driving from long distances, were to show up at my house and stay over night so we could get a early start the next morning.

The first one showed up about 7 p.m., not long after my buddy from town showed up for a campfire and some smart talk.

We only had one person left to arrive, he was coming from the longest distance so it was obvious he would be the last on to show up.

He called about 8 p.m. and said he was about 15 minutes away, so when he called a half hour later I knew it couldn't be good.

He missed a curve only 1/2 mile from my house, he and his bike were in the ditch.

Miraculously, he survived with just a a few bruises to his body and his ego, even though he flew off his bike at over 50 miles per hour.

I truly think his helmet possibly saved his life, or at least kept him from taking a ambulance ride to the hospital. When he flew off his motorcycle he landed on the back of his head.

I can't stress enough how important it is to wear your helmet and a good leather jacket.

After we pulled his motorcycle out of the ditch he was able to drive it to my place. After we surveyed the damage I pulled off the broken passing lamps, we bent back his engine guard and his windshield bracket and finished our campfire we had started earlier.

The next morning we headed out to breakfast and then to a local motorcycle dealership to have them inspect his motorcycle before we took off.

After an hour or so at the dealership we were off, first stop was Northfield Minnesota, the site of the legendary Jesse James bank robbery.

After about an hour of taking in Northfield we took off on Minnesota Highway 19 to Red Wing the home of Red Wing boots.

Red Wing is an old river town along the Mississippi river and has several cool shops and eating establishments in it's many turn of the century brick buildings downtown.

About an hour later. I threw on my leather vest and sunglasses andwe left Red Wing for the next destination, Lake City Minnesota the home of Lake Pepin.

Lake Pepin is a dammed up section of the Mississippi river and the birth place of water skiing.

In Lake City we stopped for supper at a bar and restaurant named the "Port of Call". We stuffed ourselves with a chicken, shrimp and pork rib buffet.

Then we were off for are final destination, Wabasha, the home of the National Eagle Center along the mighty Mississippi river to do some eagle watching and have a drink at Slippery's. Slippery's is famous for being in the Grumpy Old Men movies, which were filmed in Wabasha.

We took in the city's local summer festival, "River Boat Days" which is a weekend of craft sales, evening street dances, a beer garden and a 6 p.m. parade on Saturday.

It was getting late so we headed back to the hotel. Sunday morning we loaded up the biker luggage, found a place for breakfast then off for home to end another fun filled weekend and rest up for the work week.