Adventures By Guy

One of the things I like about riding and touring is that you never know what you’re going to find. If any of you know of Oark Country Store in the back hills of Arkansas then you’d feel right at home at the Moonshine Store out in the middle of literally… NO WHERE!

Went to bed late after reading into the night. An old favorite Phillip Jose Farmer sci-fi book. It was the first book in The World of Tiers series.  Got up around 0730 and by 0815 was eating a hotel breakfast of a waffle and 4 bagels and cream cheese with apple juice. Then I talked with a bunch of different old guys who rode bikes and were here for the unveiling of a memorial bench beside the Moonshine Store. Since I just retired in July I am finding out that I am the youngest of this group. They did a lot of sitting around and chatting. Mike was wondering if we should run down to Metropolis (250 miles). I looked at the radar and said let’s go. He decided to stay and that was ok by me because over breakfast I found out there are things to see in Casey, IL. Who knew???

It was sprinkling on and off so we went a mile into town. Casey is a small town in southeast IL. Back in 2000 it had just over 3,000 people but now it is down to 2,300. There is a company called Bolin’s that makes and then gives and maintains items to the town. Bolin’s even has their employees landscape and maintain the lots around these items. Very nice. All of these items are in the Guinness Book of Records.

First we went to the largest Wind Chime which had a rope you could pull to make it make noise. It was quite a deep tone. Then the largest Teeter Totter. Across the street was the largest rocking chair.  We walked down the street and found the worlds largest ruler, pencil, piggy bank, mouse trap, golf club, golf tee, barber pole, minion, puzzle, taco, ignition key (it was a Chevy key!) and Mailbox! Also while I was eating I learned that there is a store by the Mailbox where you can buy a pre-stamped Postcard and then put it in the mailbox.  When you put it in the mailbox it trips a sensor that causes the Mailbox flag to go up. The flag stays up for 30 seconds or so and then it goes down and awaits the next letter. Very cool! Everything must be functional too. So they are and the teeter totter works, you can also close the front flap on the mailbox by using an electric winch.

After wandering around a bit we headed south and west for 13 miles. Mostly flat crop land. Farmers are out in force trying to plant all they can before the rain comes. The machinery is so big down here. The fields are so large and wide open they can get it in. I remember when a 4 row planter was big now John Deere has a 48 row planter which is 120′ wide!!!

Now Casey is a small town but the Moonshine store is at an empty cross roads 13 miles away from the town of Casey. Population of 2! I went in and got a T-shirt because they didn’t have a sticker. They close the grill at 12:30 Sharp no exceptions. I wasn’t to hungry and Mike wasn’t getting a Moonburger so I was thinking of not getting one. Then… when am I going to be here next? So I went in and ordered a single bacon cheeseburger.  I see a family picking up their burgers and my eyes about popped out of my head! These things were huge. In diameter and thickness.  Lots of bacon too. I looked at the little old guy who got the double and asked… you think you can eat all that? Oh yes! His wife piped up…He usually doesn’t eat much but when we come here he eats it all… Ok, I gotta see this… and I was glad I ordered a single.  I was halfway through my burger and he was done with his. I congratulated him and told him… I wasn’t even hungry and I wished I had ordered a double. He laughed. Then we rode back to the hotel and many of us were milling around looking at each others bikes. I got a lot of questions about the Super Tenere and some of the things I put on it. Maybe 5 exclaimed… I didn’t even know that they made a tan one. Is that a stock color? Yes, it is. A lot of comments on the tank too. One guy even showed me a picture of a guy and asked… Did this guy sell you that tank? Yes, he sure did. I knew it! He lives close to me. It truly is a small world. Then it was time to go eat as a group because the MTF (Motorcycle Touring Forum) was the organizers of this shindig. Never heard of it before but they are a very nice group. Dinner was an excellent buffet. So full right now!!! Tomorrow’s agenda depends on the weather as another powerful storm front will be forming over night.

Here is the reason for the business.  Something as simple as a big juicy burger for a decent price.

That’s it for now. For some reason all my pictures of the chair, teeter totter, wind chimes disappeared.  Luckily Mike had some… but so.e of his pictures are gone too… especially the chair! Something is amiss!