Wow! What a Blast! The 5th Annual Secrets Tour was the best ever! Some drivers have made all five and we envy them. Thanks to Dan and Nancy Herman for all the planning and great driving routes -- it is not that easy to research, time, and execute two days of enjoyable driving! This was the second time for Jana and me and we thought it was the best. For the weekend we put just over 650 miles on our B and she sported a big smile the entire weekend.
The trip to the starting point in Stockton on Friday was exciting to say the least. Mother Nature decided to get into the act and get some attention by flashing lightning, blowing, squalling and raining, but other than pausing on our journey, it did not deter us from our weekend.
Thirteen cars and 25 participants experienced the drive. Because of the severe weather Friday afternoon and the rain that evening, we were forced into a Tops Up drive to the Friday night fish fry in Pearl City. While we were inside enjoying fish, beer or wine it was raining and flashing outside.
Saturday morning started out cloudless and dry. Our first stop was the Eco Drive Wind Farm, where we were briefed by wind farm manager Kevin Lee, with a lot of time for questions and answers. We found it to be very informative and it shifted our thoughts a little bit about the whole idea and how it works. Not sure that the birds agree that the risk for birds is low, because my MG experienced several bird dropping hits while parked in their lot!
From there, the driving was pure heaven. Lots of ups and downs and twists and turns. We went past Apple River, New Diggings, Strawbridge, Hazel Green, and stopped for lunch at Nick's Cafe in Cuba City -- the Presidents City (because of the street banners).
From Cuba City we made a twisty drive and stopped at the Potosi Brewery for a quick break and refreshments. From Potosi we headed toward Viroqua for our Saturday night stay, and dinner at the Fireside Restaurant. On this route we passed by Beetown and stopped at Schurman's Cheese Store, then Bagley, Wyalusing, and crossed the Wisconsin River at Bridgeport. After a quick unscheduled stop for gas we proceeded to

Wauzeka, and Stuben, then the Lock and Dam #9 on the Mississippi River where some people saw a Bald Eagle.
On Sunday, we started out by visiting the Vernon Vineyards Winery. The owner, Bob Starks, opened just for us. They have a lovely setting and Dan took the opportunity to make a group photo, (which appeared in last month?s Driveline).
From there we were onto lots of beautiful scenery and twisty roads. We were lucky and only saw a few drops of rain on our windscreens during the morning. There were small churches and school houses, quaint little towns with pretty names, beautiful barns, lots of cattle, horses, and fields of grain: America the Beautiful!!! Some of the roads we traveled on or passed by were called Stage Coach Trail, Indian Creek Road, Tiger Whip Road, Brewery Hollow Road, Pigeon River Road, Crow Hill School Road, just to name a few.
Finally we headed toward Monroe, Wisconsin, and Baumgartners which has all sorts of goodies to eat and drink. It was a nice place to end our Secrets Tour, which was completed with no driving breakdowns.
Southwestern Wisconsin has the most scenic and well maintained county roads, and Dan planned a route that was the best. Dan and Nancy: we hope there is a 6th Tour next year! Thank you for a weekend of wonderful memories of driving and friendship!
— George Phariss (78 russet brn B)

(Some great pics were mostly in last issue. --Editor)