Florida, Dec. 2007

Theresa and I had been talking about making a ride through Florida during her Christmas time off from school. I started to planning things in Oct., making reservations for a place to stay in the Keys. I wasn't worried about a place to stay anywhere else. Told Joe and Betty Jane to go with us but they couldn't plan on having the time to go. So it was just the 2 of us.

As time grew near, Joe said he wanted to go, Betty Jane couldn't go, and he said Mike Youngblood, Mike Sudduth, and Carolyn Gore wanted to join in . I said the more the merrier, come on.

We met up in Greenwood on Dec. 27, 2007 and struck out east on hwy 82 going to Montgomery, Al, stopping to see Linda McIntyre and get refreshments before heading down to Dothan for the night. It was 7:30 when we arrived there and we were happy to be there because the misty fog was getting thicked on us the last 15 miles or so.

Next morning we took hwy 84 east going through Bainbridge, Ga. where our first metal cutting bandsaw was made, on to Valdosta, Ga. We turned south on I-75 going to Lake City, Fl. There we ask a local about where we needed to go to get on hwy 100 because we wanted to take the back roads int St. Augustine. Hwy 100 took use through some pretty country sides leading into Starke where we got on hwy 16, saw some old 30 something cars on the side of the road, also a dodge charger. Hwy 16 crosses the St. Johns River and comes out at the motel we would stay at.

That night we rode up town to see all the lights that were up for the Christmas holiday and ate supper. The next morning Dec. 29th we went on a tour of the old city. The best way to do that is take the trolley ride and the guide will point out places of interest, then you can get off the ride to tour and catch the next trolley to the next destination. We went to the Lighthouse and Mike S. and Carolyn climbed the steps to the top and Theresa took their picture waving down to us.

We left there headed south on hwy A1A towards Daytona. Mike S. and Carolyn couldn't stay gone from work too long so they left the group and got on I-95 headed to Key West on their own. We bid farewell and took hwy 1 to Merrit Island turned west on hwy 520, south 419 to 532 that took us to St. Cloud for the night. It was some good riding, not much traffic, saw a bear someone ran over, some alligators too.

We got us rooms and decided to eat pizzas for supper. Called an order in, they delivered, took the money and left. We opened the box up and it was the wrong kind. Theresa called the guy, told him the problem, they brought us the correct order, no charge, and we ended up having 2 pizzas.

Dec. 30th, Mike Y. and Joe left us this morning headed home. Theresa and I headed south on hwy 27 . This is a good road to see a lot of the different crops grown through the area. We got down close to Lake Okeechobee and started to see vast acres of sugar cane. They were cultivating young plants and in adjoining fields were burning the foliage off the cane and harvesting. I didn't realize they had that kind of acreage, and it was irrigated with water from the Okeechobee. We pulled off at one of the gates and took a gander at the lake. It's was a good ways out to the main body of water, showing the effects of the drought.

We stopped in Clewiston to get a bite of lunch and planning our route. We decided to turn at Belle Glade onto hwy 441 & hwy 98 and go to West Palm Beach to see how the rich people live. We got back on hwy A1A and rode it all the way down to Pompano Beach for the night. The next morning we rode on to Miami on A1A, stopping across the street from Donald Trump's new motel to get a bite to eat for breakfast. Got on hwy 1 up town and headed to Homestead and on to the Keys.

The ride down through the Keys was pretty good, traffic wasn't too bad and the road construction wasn't as bad this year, must have been off for the holidays.

I snap a few pictures as we were crossing some of the bridges, Theresa on left and a section of the old railway bridge that Mr. Flagler built. After the hurricane destroyed the railroad, the government used it to build a 2 lane highway on. Now they are used to fish off of.

I had booked us a bed & breakfast on the Atlantic side of Big Pine Key, 30 miles from Key West for Dec. 31 and Jan. 1. We checked in to our room, unload our bikes and headed to Key West to ring in 2008 that night. We road to the bouy and back to Duval Street, where all the action was to take place. We parked our bikes, went to eat supper and prepare to wait out count down for the New Year. As the night went on the crowds grew bigger. At around 10:30 I told Theresa I could see the New Year a lot clearer in daylight and I had all of this crowd I wanted. So we headed back to our room on Big Pine.

The next morning, Jan. 1, 2008, we ate breakfast with a couple from Germany and a couple from Canada that were on vacation, saying with the dollar weak they could come here for a little of nothing. We went back down to Key West to take the sights in. We did the picture taking, souvenir shopping thing and got lunch. We made it back to the B&B that evening and sat out on the beach sipping a cool drink talking to a guy from Washington State that was also staying there. Theresa ask if there was a place close by that we could eat at and he recomended The No Name Pub. Told us he and his wife found it the day before, said a lot of bikes were there and the food was good. He gave us directions to it.

It was starting to get dark when we went in search of the pub. We didn't get turned around going the wrong way but twice. As it got darked the deer started to cross the roads out of the trees and people's yards, which slowed us down a bit. Then all of a sudden there it was.

This is where they have all the money hangin on the walls and ceiling. They also have a great meal. We should have got one order and split it. Neither of us could get close to finishing all they put on the plate. Seafood plater was $17.00, and I can eat a lot but it was too much for me.

Jan. 2nd is one I will not forget soon. A cold front had moved in from the north, bring in the wind and cold. I was following Theresa and as we crossed the bridges back to the mainland the water spray was getting on us and the wind was blowing us sideways. We stopped in Homestead and ate a bite and rested for awhile. Then it was on up hwy 997 that runs into hwy 27. This was a change to our planned route, because of the weather. We were planning to go up the Gulf Coast on our way home.

As I said the temp was dropping and the farmers were gathering everything they could, fruits, tomatoes, and etc. We made it to Belleview, just south of Ocala for the night. It was getting colder as the sun was getting lower. We Heard on TV that night the Governor of Florida lifted the weight limit on trucks hauling farmer's products just to try to get the crop out.

Jan. 3rd, temperture 27 degrees this morning. We put all the clothes on we can and head out. I thought this was sunny, warm Florida?? We would go around 50 miles, stop, warm up and go again. We did this until we reached Crestview and Theresa said she wasn't going any futher, I didn't want to either. Boy a hot bath and warm room felt great that night.

The next morning wasn't as bad cold, temp when we got to Mobile was mid 40s. No problems on the way home, got to Minter City around 4:00, helped Theresa load her bike on her trailer and she headed back to Silver City. We had a great time, excluding the cold temp. Wish all of us coulkd have done all the trip together. Maybe next time.

Well , till later.