Returning the Harley and fly back home

I had plenty of time and my back was still killing me so I slept in a bit. Said goodbye to Skip and many thanks for putting me up. It was drizzling so I waited for it to let up and then headed for the bike rental place. The same nice folks were there and could not believe that I had put 2284 miles on the Road King in 7 days. Signed all the papers, getting my soul back, and the kid named Nate drove me to the airport. He worked there and was going to school at MMI (Motorcycle Mechanical Institute) where I had wanted to go 40 years ago (yikes). I love kids this age who love what they do and are fired up to do it. He was also learning computer programming (web site stuff) and was getting married next spring. Everything ahead of him. I had plenty of time in the airport so bought a good quick read and between there and the layover in Detroit, I got half way through the book. Landed in Burlington with fresh snow on the ground. Taxi to work, car home, catch up with Deb, dose of ibuprofin and off to bed, exhausted. It may a couple days to recover.

Last full day down the gulf coast

Last night I walked down the street to a ribs place, bad ribs as it turned out, and they didn't sit well the rest of the evening. It was 40 degrees when I left Marianna and I pulled something in my right side huffing the Harley around in the parking lot so that hurt (for the next coupe days). I think I was just plain old getting tired from the long days and it was time to head home. So one last long day down the back roads of the gulf coast. Up here on the peninsula, there are not too many people. It is pretty rural and more treed than other parts of the state I have visited. The smell of the salt water marshes as I blasted by brought back memories of being down here when I was a kid. Not much in the way of small quaint towns, but rather lots of left over 60's roadside tourist businesses long since gone. These roads are really wide with lots of mowed roadside. Saw cotton fields here and there, some harvested and some not.

I saw a sign for Cedar Key, which was where I was headed yesterday and decided to check it out. This little island is not like anything on this side of Florida. It was an old small beach town, much like Key West, but smaller and not commercialized much, yet. Might have to come back with Deb... The temperature was now over 70 so I lost that cold stuff from the morning. I texted Skip that i was headed his way and then sorta got lost going south, then east, then south and finally bumping into Rt 27, which I knew would take me to Cleremont. Skip had just gotten back from work, so he took me to an excellent Mexican restaurant and then we drove across town to a friends house in a nice development. This is the "new" Florida where they take 150 acres and build really nice developments. Very nice digs. We headed back to Clermont. Deb tipped me off that the weather was getting really bad on the whole eastern seaboard so I called Delta and got and earlier flight home through Detroit instead of LaGuardia, missing the main ugly parts of the storm. Not too keen on spending Thanksgiving in and airport. Off to bed and one last ride tomorrow into Orlando to return the bike.

Savannah GA to Marianna FL (the long way)

This morning I checked the weather and the way to stay warm and dry was to head straight for the mid- Gulf Coast, so I planned to go diagonally down to Cedar Key. I took my time packing to let the temperature go up a bit and then I took 95 until I got just north of Jacksonville FL and then took a small 2 lane road toward Gainsville. I stopped in Gainsville and re-checked the weather, and it had all changed. The Florida panhandle, which was supposed to be wet, now looked just overcast and warm. So I headed back north toward Tallahassee on a couple small roads and was rewarded with great weather. The panhandle is must more wooded and prettier than everything I had seen so far of Florida, Georgia and South Carolina, at least where I had gone. Traffic was very light and the roads were smooth. The Harley was a happy camper all day. There is not much "local" anything and many of the towns have empty storefronts. Chain stores are everywhere. I think this is the natural progression here in rural Florida. I am sure it exists somewhere, but I did not find much of anything. I thought about making it to Pensacola to find a restaurant Bucky had told me about with great airplane memorabilia, but it was 4 more hours so I stopped as the sun dropped in Marianna, and hour or so west of Tallahassee. This afternoon I had clear blue skies and 60 degree temps, so a very pleasant ride. Tomorrow it is calling for a little dampness so I'll see what the weather guys say in the morning.

Duck hunting and cold rain to Savannah

We got up about 5:30 am and a couple friends, Bucky and Robert, were there as well as Brads dad. I didn't take a shotgun since I wanted everyone to come out alive but they lent me enough camo that I wouldn't scare the ducks off. It was raining so I had my rain gear on under the camo. It was warm and drizzly as we all took positions around the water. Robert got stuck with me and I parked it where I could see the action, but not scare the ducks off. It was really peaceful with the soft rain, the thick swamp and warm air. Brad and Bradley got a couple wood ducks and Bucky got a shot off at one that Brad had missed. I duck hunted a million years ago, but it was always 12 ga shotguns and the bird much higher. Here in close quarters, they use 20 ga shotguns that are much evolved from the ones we had on the farm. The shooting was all over in a couple hours and we went back to camp and had a big feed of sausage, eggs, grits, toast and coffee. What a great way for a 12 year old to grow up.
So I suited up for rain and Bradley escorted me down the now wet dirt road in case I dropped the big 800 pounder, but it was sand so not too slippery.
It was drizzly but my rain stuff kept me dry for the morning. I headed south toward Myrtle Beach and as I got close, the rain picked up, the traffic got bad and the road got real slippery. I decided these last 2 were a bad combo and would probably be what I would face all down the coast, so I turned around and headed west on another small 2 laner until I hit rt 95 (superslab). It would not stop raining no matter how many times I said "this sucks" so I stayed on 95 with the cruise control at 70 until finally the sky opened and it stopped raining at about 1pm. By this time, I was getting a little damp so I stopped for coffee to figure out the next move. The cold front was swinging in and there was rain below Savannah and aso to the west of me so I rode as far south as I could before the rain started again just south of Savannah. I got a room at 4:30 and took in the shower to get my body temp back to normal (wet and cold for hours). I walked to a chain pub place (Hooligans?), sat at the bar and had a tall beer (walking back) and a burger. I chatted up a retired railroad guy heading for Florida from NJ. Back to the room to sleep. Looks like tomorrow morning it is going down into the 40's so I have everything hanging up drying tonight. Back on the 95 slab in the morning.

Greensboro NC to Mt Airy to Florence SC

Had a great evening with Pete, Louise and Char. Good to catch up and see their new house. I decided to head to Mt Airy a little north and then head back down to meet my niece Kathy, her husband Brad and their son Bradley. They live in Charleston SC but spend every other weekend at Brad's fathers camp in Florence NC 2-3 hrs north. So it was a quick hop and I of course had to make it an all day ride, so north it was. Mt Airy is the town that "Andy of Mayberry" (ask your parents) was modeled after and they are milking it still. My brother and I have been there on our previous trips and he also took his wife there this last summer. They were setting up for Christmas today and the cute Main Street was again sort of a little too cute, but hey, it's a tourist trap. I parked on main street and did not realize the Harley chose a spot with the American flag behind it (now I know why the blinker goes off every time I drive by an American flag..). You can see my new ride in all it's 103 cubic inch glory. It is actually pretty comfy to ride. the suspension sucks (hitting expansion joints is like sitting on a garbage truck full of scap metal) but the engine is smooth and sweet and the brakes (ABS) actually work really well.

I let the GPS get me to Mt Airy and then found a small 2 laner that took me south to Florence. More sort of rolling geography with lots of town past their prime. Cotton, and lumber seems to be the crops around here. Kathy sent eh address of her father-in-laws which I found easily and soon Brads dad appeared (very nice retired doctor), expecting "Uncle John", and sent me down the road (past 3 dead deer) to their hunting camp. Brads grandfather came to America without his parents at the age of 13 and made a new life in Florence. He bought a lot of land, and the camp sits on a large tract of land with a many acre pond that deer and ducks live. The camp is a warm, knotty pine classic and Brad met me at the end of the dirt road to guide me in over the 15 speed bump / water dams (the Harley did fine). We took the ATVs for a tour of the grounds as the sun went down. Kathy and their son Bradley arrived and soon Brad's dad showed up with take-out Greek chicken, rice and dessert. Everybody went to bed early to reset up for hunting ducks the next morning and Kathy and I got caught up. I was itchy to head south next morning with the cold front coming in, but agreed to go out with them in the morning to witness a swamp / duck hunt. These southern folks know hospitality for sure.

Dublin GA to Greensboro NC

Left Dublin GA at dawn and headed north. Looks like there are 2 or 3 days of warm weather up north so decided to do a loop and see my neice Charlotte and her folks, then swing down through SC and catch up with my other niece Kathy. Found a rt 221 that went north through the puckerbrush and pretty much stayed on it all morning. This road is pretty quiet with some sleepy towns sprinkled in to fuel up the logging trucks (and truckers I imagine). Lots of cotton fields and logging. The cotton must be harvested late because I saw lots of un-harvested fields and lots that had the cotton in bales the size of a trailer (30-40' long, 10' high, 8' wide or so). Not sure how they get these on the trucks?
It was cold through Georgia so I had all my layers on until I got into NC where the temp started rising and got reasonably warm by the end of the day.  The GPS took my right to Pete, Louis and Charlottes house. Louis and I took Char to her dance class and she gave me the nickel tour of Greensboro and a cold local pint. We picked Char up after her class and met Pete for pizza. The back to their house to catch up on Char's school projects, etc. Cloudy grey day but a heck of a lot warmer than home. Tomorrow I have a lazy day since my niece Kathy is coming north with her son and husband to dick hunt and I am meeting them about 160 miles south. We will see what the weather man says in the morning..

Orlando to Macon GA

So my dad's alarm woke me at 3:30 again (I always wake up at 3:30 for some reason), but I rolled over for a couple more hours. Skips son Steve was heading ff to work and Skips was getting up to head off to his teaching job at a local community college. We got coffee, caught up some more, checked the weather which was looking iffy all over. I loaded up the Road King, said good bye and headed north on 27. My plan was to just ride north as far as I could to get north of the rain. I stopped mid-morning for coffee at Mickey D's and met an older guy (late 70's?) who saw me working on my netbook, so i chatted him up. He started talking about working on old computers in the Navy which I had never heard of so was a bit skeptical until he told me he build CP/M computers with S-100 bus' and then I knew he was the real deal. What a blast from the past. He joined the Navy and worked on some tube-tube computers which were room sized. He says they used to sleep in then because they were warm. He built computers after that with parts as a business. We had a great chat and then I got back on the road.

I stayed on 27 until 441 came up and then I stayed on that into Georgia. It was kinda busy until I got north of Gainesville and then it got very remote, like Nebraska remote. It was straight and flat with nothing but trees for a loong time. Up into Georgia I started seeing cotton fields and blueberry field (yes blueberries). There is also a huge logging business in the wilderness near the Okefenokee swamp where they appear to clear cut and then replant pine trees of some kind. Traffic was light and I set the cruise control to 60 and popped in my earbuds.
It did of course rain a few times but I had my Frogg Togg top and bottoms which kept me nice and dry (and warm). Deb lent me her waterproof mitten covers which worked great over a light pair of work gloves and my hands stayed warm and dry. As I got further north and toward he end of the day, the temperature started dropping and the warm mid-70's I had near Orlando turned into upper 40's as I pulled into Dublin, GA, just east of Macon.
So a good day. The Road King and I are pretty well bonded and it is actually pretty comfortable. The Beemer must be a little peeved at me right now, don't say anything to it.

Taxi's, Planes and a black Harley Davidson

Left the house at 3:00, the usual nervous about flights, baggage, forgetting something, etc, and specks of snow in the headlights, a good sign I am getting off at the right time. Quick stop at work to call the taxi and print boarding passes. Flights all worked, even the Detroit transfer which was 2 terminals on other ends of the airport (OJ Simpson through the airport), and 20 minutes to get there. The luggage held the plane up (I am guessing my luggage) and I arrived in Orlando on time and the big bag with my helmet and bike garb did too. Called the bike rental place for the free ride the guy in LA told me about, but it was a $15 re-reimbursement taxi ride instead. Taxi driver was either new or experienced as he had me type directions into his Android phone and then he proceeded not to follow the subsequent directions. The Road King is big, black but amazingly easy to ride since it sets you so low. You can't tell it weighs 800-something. The only danger is the testosterone rush when you roll on the throttle, and watch the "testoserometer" needle ride , oops, that's the speedometer. I may have to stop for some estrogen infusions somewhere..

I had the iPhone GPS get me out of Orlando and headed to Clermont where my high school roommate Skip offered to put me up for the night (thanks Skip!), but got there early afternoon so decided to ride to the gulf and get my "Harley legs" under me. The 2 laner was pretty unbusy until about 3:30 when people were getting off work, so lots of stop and go and traffic maneuvers, which was quick tutorial on low speed handling of the Road King. This thing is all torque with 6 gears. Heel shifting is new, but optional if you have a strong foot.

  I saw a sign for Pine Island and headed for it. It was a small group of pretty nice houses on a small island at the end of a causeway. So I can say I touched the gulf. I texted Skip that I'd be at his place about 5 and headed back east through the traffic on Rt 50.

Skip gave me the nickel tour of his shop where he restore old mini-cars (King Midgets, look it up). He also lived my earlier dream of working on motorcycles and has seen most everything made. I love people who follow their passions..

His good friend Mel stopped by on his Harley and we went to an Italian place and met another friend Steve (who rides an mid-80's Kawasaki GPS 1100 tricked out to drag race, but also barely street legal. He built it with a good friend in Chicago from a stock GPZ and $18K worth of "custom" stuff. Now he rides it to the drag strip, swaps the rear end for a big slick and wheelie bar and races it. Great guys and enjoyed the evening. It was nice to catch up with Skip after all these years.

  Crashed after a very long day, excited to ride the Harley somewhere tomorrow.