When you ride, you learn, after some time, if you are aware and in tune with your surroundings, to pay attention to smells. Bad smells might be road kill - so watch out for birds that are feasting, a vulture almost knocked me off my bike once. A farm field that has just been freshly manured might cause you to hold your breath, but not too long, lest you faint and fall off your bike. Riding by a body of water and you can smell the decay of a swamp, or you can tell when you are near a body of fresh water, or even the ocean.
I don't like the smell of diesel, and if I get behind a diesel vehicle, I've either got to pass them, choose a different route, or maybe take a break to let them get ahead (and far away). Some of my favorite smells when riding are fresh earth, fragrant flowers, wood smoke, hay, someone cooking out, and newly mowed grass. I really love the smell in the air after a cleansing rain.
When we were riding through Mississippi we were passed by not one, but two, 18 wheelers hauling some type of animal. They were travelling together, and although we couldn't see what was on the trailers, and maybe they were empty, they weren't smell free! Oh no. Whatever had been on them, left a very strong trail of urine. That is not a fun thing to smell, in your helmet, when riding a motorcycle. It seems to last for 1,000 miles, but in retrospect, it was probably 1/4 or 1/2 a mile. We managed to lose them once at a WMI (weigh in motion) scale, but lo and behold they were soon upon again and passing us, and filling our nostrils with their stench. YUCK. I was hoping for something diesel to be around right about then, to cover up the other smell! They were up ahead of us, but never too far, and never out of smelling range. Luckily (?) the rain caused us to detour for a meal and the trucks must have continued on, because we didn't have to deal with them when we got back on the road.
You can learn, when riding, to smell "rain" in the air. You can tell by the sudden drop in temperature too, that rain is imminent. Sometimes if it becomes really windy and cool suddenly, it indicates you're probably going to be in a bit more than rain, maybe some thunder and lightening. This might be a good time to stop for a bit. I like learning to pay attention to those signs, it makes me more aware and it beats driving in a car where there are so many distractions, that nature and it's smells are even on the radar!
Thursday, July 24, 2014
Monday, July 21, 2014
Fun "Facts"
It might be fun, it might be a fact, it might not be either, but it's my blog so if I want to include it, I will. LOL
MAPS
It's a fact that Janet is smart, and practical. She over packed her bike, but not with maps! She tears off only the section of each state she's travelling in and after she has traveled through a section, she throws it away. I have no idea how she's going to get back home mapless, oh wait a minute, she's following me!
At the 1st, and incorrect Hilton we stopped at in New Orleans, on day 2, the girl at the front desk gave me a map to the correct Hilton. She was so cute, she said, "Do you want to keep this map? Me, I love maps. I'm like Dora the Explorer". That cracked me up. Fact, and fun!
How do you spell Mississippi? Janet spells it like this M, I, crooked letter, crooked letter, I, humpback, humpback, I. Janet teaches me lots of new words and other interesting things.
WHERE YOU GOING, WHERE YOU BEEN?
Once we got into Texas and the Louisiana plates disappeared because we weren't near the border, Tricia noticed we were seeing absolutely NO out of state plates. Not the occasional one, NONE. Every license plate was from Texas. How odd. At a gas station on day 3, we saw a Florida plate! Yay! Tricia was talking to the lady, and this man in a truck said "Yes Ma'am, we don't have many people come to Texas, people leave Texas to go visit other places. Not much here." LOL After that we saw a plate from North Carolina, and until we got to our convention in Kerrville, that was it for out of state plates. It's a fact, and ain't it funny?
WHAT IS THAT?
Janet lost her glove one day, couldn't find it anywhere. As she swung her head (in her helmet) around, there was her glove, stuck to her ponytail via velcro! If only my camera wasn't packed away. I think I should get a helmet-cam for moments like that!
Weirdly enough we didn't see much road kill. Didn't see any of those weird turkey vultures they have in Florida either. I saw a couple of "road killed" animals, but they just looked like a fur coat, no substance, just a layer of fur on the ground. How does that happen? I don't even want to know.
We did see a huge wild boar outside of Kerrville on Friday, July 11 on our way home. I hate to see the car that hit that.
On the way back, on 12, outside of Slidell, Louisiana, I saw a dead alligator, on the side of the road. I wonder if it was one of those mating ones that tried to sneak up on a stopped vehicle and got itself run over. YIKES.
WE PARTY HERE!
We stopped for gas in Louisiana and I went inside to get ice for my water bottle. I was surprised to see a fully stocked liquor cabinet. I asked the cashier, "You sell hard liquor in a gas station?" She replied, in a very southern accent, "We sure do, we know how to party in Louisiana and ain't nobody gonna tell us we can't!" Oh my.
STRAW HAIR!
I forgot to include hair conditioner and I never remembered it until I was in the shower. The 2-1 hair products don't work that great for me, so my hair felt like straw. Note to self, next time remember it! I also forgot to bring a disposable razor....I did live without it, but would have liked to packed one or remembered to pick one up!
FAVORITE TRAVELING ITEMS:
My favorite items on this trip were my mesh pants (with armor) and my cargo net. Wouldn't have wanted to travel without either of them.
FAVORITE APP:
My favorite app is one Tricia told me about, and that is My Radar. That's all it is, a radar app. It determines your current location, then shows you the current radar for that area. Very helpful when we were trying to outrun the rain, or hide from it under a bridge.
MAPS
It's a fact that Janet is smart, and practical. She over packed her bike, but not with maps! She tears off only the section of each state she's travelling in and after she has traveled through a section, she throws it away. I have no idea how she's going to get back home mapless, oh wait a minute, she's following me!
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| Mangled maps! |
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| Alabama. |
At the 1st, and incorrect Hilton we stopped at in New Orleans, on day 2, the girl at the front desk gave me a map to the correct Hilton. She was so cute, she said, "Do you want to keep this map? Me, I love maps. I'm like Dora the Explorer". That cracked me up. Fact, and fun!
How do you spell Mississippi? Janet spells it like this M, I, crooked letter, crooked letter, I, humpback, humpback, I. Janet teaches me lots of new words and other interesting things.
Once we got into Texas and the Louisiana plates disappeared because we weren't near the border, Tricia noticed we were seeing absolutely NO out of state plates. Not the occasional one, NONE. Every license plate was from Texas. How odd. At a gas station on day 3, we saw a Florida plate! Yay! Tricia was talking to the lady, and this man in a truck said "Yes Ma'am, we don't have many people come to Texas, people leave Texas to go visit other places. Not much here." LOL After that we saw a plate from North Carolina, and until we got to our convention in Kerrville, that was it for out of state plates. It's a fact, and ain't it funny?
WHAT IS THAT?
Janet lost her glove one day, couldn't find it anywhere. As she swung her head (in her helmet) around, there was her glove, stuck to her ponytail via velcro! If only my camera wasn't packed away. I think I should get a helmet-cam for moments like that!
Weirdly enough we didn't see much road kill. Didn't see any of those weird turkey vultures they have in Florida either. I saw a couple of "road killed" animals, but they just looked like a fur coat, no substance, just a layer of fur on the ground. How does that happen? I don't even want to know.
We did see a huge wild boar outside of Kerrville on Friday, July 11 on our way home. I hate to see the car that hit that.
On the way back, on 12, outside of Slidell, Louisiana, I saw a dead alligator, on the side of the road. I wonder if it was one of those mating ones that tried to sneak up on a stopped vehicle and got itself run over. YIKES.
WE PARTY HERE!
We stopped for gas in Louisiana and I went inside to get ice for my water bottle. I was surprised to see a fully stocked liquor cabinet. I asked the cashier, "You sell hard liquor in a gas station?" She replied, in a very southern accent, "We sure do, we know how to party in Louisiana and ain't nobody gonna tell us we can't!" Oh my.
STRAW HAIR!
I forgot to include hair conditioner and I never remembered it until I was in the shower. The 2-1 hair products don't work that great for me, so my hair felt like straw. Note to self, next time remember it! I also forgot to bring a disposable razor....I did live without it, but would have liked to packed one or remembered to pick one up!
FAVORITE TRAVELING ITEMS:
My favorite items on this trip were my mesh pants (with armor) and my cargo net. Wouldn't have wanted to travel without either of them.
FAVORITE APP:
My favorite app is one Tricia told me about, and that is My Radar. That's all it is, a radar app. It determines your current location, then shows you the current radar for that area. Very helpful when we were trying to outrun the rain, or hide from it under a bridge.
What Should/Could I Pack?
It's hard to plan well for a trip on a bike, on the road, for almost 2 weeks. I had already made a couple multiple state to state, or one country to another trips, and knew what over packing looked and felt like. I knew I didn't want to do that again, but still, the danger lurked.
I was smart this time though and did some advance thinking/planning for my trip. What would I really need clothing wise? What would I wear? My Aunt Jean had great advice, if you can buy it somewhere else, don't take it. Then if you need a shirt, and you buy it in Texas, you can always say, "Oh I bought that in Texas, or Louisiana, etc." I thought was fun and excellent advice!
I also decided to only bring lightweight shirts because the heat in Texas was expected to be quite extreme. I didn't have room for bulky cotton t-shirts, or time for them to dry if they were washed by hand. This was an great decision that worked really well for me on this trip. In Texas I picked up my long sleeved Florida convention shirt, and that was the only long sleeve shirt I had the entire time (except for my uniform shirt).
I packed my T-Bag (which is really just a helmet bag, but I use it as a luggage bag) a couple of nights before, as well as packing my saddle bags to see how it would all fit. This was a great idea, because the night before the trip I decided I needed to remove some unnecessary items.
Here is what I ended up taking with me:
White textile jacket (worn when riding)
Hydration vest (wore this some days, stored under cargo net over T-bag when not in use)
Mesh pants (worn when riding)
Leather boots (worn when riding)
Stored in my T-Bag:
1 air mattress (new) (put on bottom of T-Bag)
1 air mattress pump (electric, stored in T-Bag on way to convention, saddlebag on return trip)
1 pair of denim shorts
2 pair of white denim shorts
5 quick dry shirts tank tops
1 pair of nylon shorts (I wore these under my mesh pants most days, they wash and dry very well. I'd wash them out at night, hang them on a hanger and they'd be dry by morning. The quick dry tops were the same, easy to wash/dry).
1 Motor Maid sleeveless shirt
1 pair of jeans
1 pair of yoga pants
1 thin top
Tablet
Camera
Personal affects, makeup bag, straightener, under garments, jewelry, small first aid kit.
1 pair of Croc sandals (Camille told me these would be comfy, and I decided to try them, though I'm not a huge fan of Crocs. She was right, they are great comfy sandals for wandering around in. I slipped these under my cargo net, over the T-bag)
Saddlebags:
Bathing suit (left saddlebag)
Small purse (thanks Frankie, top left saddlebag for easy access at each stop).
Sun screen (left saddlebag for easy access)
1 Motor Maid uniform (vest/shirt/gloves, bottom of left saddlebag)
1 pair of black jeans (for uniform, bottom of left saddlebag)
1 half helmet (this fit in my new Leather Lyke saddlebags, left side)
1 ACMM t-shirt (stuffed into half helmet)
1 ACMM polo shirt (stuffed into half helmet)
1 rain jacket (right saddlebag)
1 seat cover (right saddlebag)
1 bike cover (right saddlebag)
1 pair of sneakers (I stuff an extra pair of sunglasses in each shoe, as well as a few pair of thin socks, right saddlebag)
2 pairs of flat sandals, (right saddlebag)
Battery cables, tools, spare fuses, bulbs (right saddlebag).
1 pair of clear safety glasses (right saddlebag).
1 Troll
I also had a small windshield bag that I used to hold a small bottle of Windex, Peroxide, an Ace bandage and a few small tools.
I did wash everything out, by hand, except my jeans and uniform items, giving them 2 nights to dry, at the Inn of the Hills. I simply used the technique Janet told me about, rolled them in a towel and wringed the towel to squeeze out the water. This worked great. I hung everything up across the shower curtain rod on hangers. It meant a lot less dirty laundry in my bag. Then I just put my dirty laundry in a plastic bag and stuck it under my cargo net.
I was extremely pleased with how and what I packed. My favorite packing item on this trip was definitely my cargo net. It made it hassle free when I needed to store my hydration vest, crocs, or dirty laundry! I don't think I'll ever go on a trip without a cargo net in future. It's the first time I've really used mine. I think I'd like one with smaller sections between the cord, but it's a great must have for bikers travelling.
I was smart this time though and did some advance thinking/planning for my trip. What would I really need clothing wise? What would I wear? My Aunt Jean had great advice, if you can buy it somewhere else, don't take it. Then if you need a shirt, and you buy it in Texas, you can always say, "Oh I bought that in Texas, or Louisiana, etc." I thought was fun and excellent advice!
I also decided to only bring lightweight shirts because the heat in Texas was expected to be quite extreme. I didn't have room for bulky cotton t-shirts, or time for them to dry if they were washed by hand. This was an great decision that worked really well for me on this trip. In Texas I picked up my long sleeved Florida convention shirt, and that was the only long sleeve shirt I had the entire time (except for my uniform shirt).
I packed my T-Bag (which is really just a helmet bag, but I use it as a luggage bag) a couple of nights before, as well as packing my saddle bags to see how it would all fit. This was a great idea, because the night before the trip I decided I needed to remove some unnecessary items.
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| My bike fully packed, July 2, 2014. |
White textile jacket (worn when riding)
Hydration vest (wore this some days, stored under cargo net over T-bag when not in use)
Mesh pants (worn when riding)
Leather boots (worn when riding)
Stored in my T-Bag:
1 air mattress (new) (put on bottom of T-Bag)
1 air mattress pump (electric, stored in T-Bag on way to convention, saddlebag on return trip)
1 pair of denim shorts
2 pair of white denim shorts
5 quick dry shirts tank tops
1 pair of nylon shorts (I wore these under my mesh pants most days, they wash and dry very well. I'd wash them out at night, hang them on a hanger and they'd be dry by morning. The quick dry tops were the same, easy to wash/dry).
1 Motor Maid sleeveless shirt
1 pair of jeans
1 pair of yoga pants
1 thin top
Tablet
Camera
Personal affects, makeup bag, straightener, under garments, jewelry, small first aid kit.
1 pair of Croc sandals (Camille told me these would be comfy, and I decided to try them, though I'm not a huge fan of Crocs. She was right, they are great comfy sandals for wandering around in. I slipped these under my cargo net, over the T-bag)
Saddlebags:
Bathing suit (left saddlebag)
Small purse (thanks Frankie, top left saddlebag for easy access at each stop).
Sun screen (left saddlebag for easy access)
1 Motor Maid uniform (vest/shirt/gloves, bottom of left saddlebag)
1 pair of black jeans (for uniform, bottom of left saddlebag)
1 half helmet (this fit in my new Leather Lyke saddlebags, left side)
1 ACMM t-shirt (stuffed into half helmet)
1 ACMM polo shirt (stuffed into half helmet)
1 rain jacket (right saddlebag)
1 seat cover (right saddlebag)
1 bike cover (right saddlebag)
1 pair of sneakers (I stuff an extra pair of sunglasses in each shoe, as well as a few pair of thin socks, right saddlebag)
2 pairs of flat sandals, (right saddlebag)
Battery cables, tools, spare fuses, bulbs (right saddlebag).
1 pair of clear safety glasses (right saddlebag).
1 Troll
I also had a small windshield bag that I used to hold a small bottle of Windex, Peroxide, an Ace bandage and a few small tools.
I did wash everything out, by hand, except my jeans and uniform items, giving them 2 nights to dry, at the Inn of the Hills. I simply used the technique Janet told me about, rolled them in a towel and wringed the towel to squeeze out the water. This worked great. I hung everything up across the shower curtain rod on hangers. It meant a lot less dirty laundry in my bag. Then I just put my dirty laundry in a plastic bag and stuck it under my cargo net.
I was extremely pleased with how and what I packed. My favorite packing item on this trip was definitely my cargo net. It made it hassle free when I needed to store my hydration vest, crocs, or dirty laundry! I don't think I'll ever go on a trip without a cargo net in future. It's the first time I've really used mine. I think I'd like one with smaller sections between the cord, but it's a great must have for bikers travelling.
The Frugal Traveler! How much did I spend?
I had a budget and I worked really hard to stay within it. If you're a big spender, you can stop reading this post right about here because the little bit I spent, averaged out to about $112 per day by 13 days, pretty cheap for such a great adventure.
I'm happy to say that I did really well with my little bit of $. I didn't buy a lot of stuff I didn't need, of course that is very easy to do on a bike, where would I put it? Some folks shopped and shipped their goodies home. I didn't do that. I don't really need anything, which is nice to say. I did buy a new set of ponytails for my helmet, but anyone knows that is $25.00 well spent! And I bought a few other fun things, like motorcycle soap and a leather Motor Maid hair holder, but nothing extravagant.
I spent approximately 350 on gas, 700 on lodging (but keep in mind, all but 4 nights I shared that expense with Tricia and Janet, so that really helped a lot). And I spent another 400+ on meals and miscellaneous. I had enough money left over, from what I'd saved for my trip, to buy myself a new laptop! Not an expensive trip by most people's standards, but I don't have a lot of $ so being able to stay within my budget just made my trip so much better.
Strangely enough, even though I work in IT, I have never ever bought myself a brand new laptop. I've had a few new desktop's, and lots of used of each, but this is my first new laptop. 2 days after I returned, I bought a new touchscreen Windows 8.1 laptop. I'm loving it! I did have to go back twice, the first time because I didn't realize until I got home, that the laptop I bought, wasn't a touchscreen, 15 minutes later I returned it. The second time, 2 days after buying my new laptop, the down arrow key kept sticking so I took it in to see if they could "fix it". I didn't want to try prying it up and breaking. They said they couldn't, the entire keyboard would have to be replaced, so they gave me a new, new laptop! Hopefully the 3rd time is the charm.
Next year, the 75th annual Motor Maid Convention is in Moncton, NB. It's an additional 600 miles each way, so that'll increase the lodging/gas/meal costs by at least 2 days on either end. I've already got my budget figured out and savings plan started! I'm going to talk to Lynne/Elizabeth about how they camp when they ride, and might consider doing that, at least on a night here and there. We'll see.
I've already starting planning my route. Since I want to spend some time back home in Nova Scotia with Tiana, I might just ride straight up and not stop over at any points of interest, like NYC or Boston (where I was born) which are places on my bucket list. But then again, it's early, I might change my mind a dozen times (in the next month). Nothing is written in stone!
Woo hoo, Moncton, via Nova Scotia, 2015, here I come!
Wakulla Springs Lodge, July 13, 2014
Some pictures I took at Wakulla Springs.
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| Fireplace by the front desk. |
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| Wooden ceiling in the reception area. |
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| Old fashioned (aka scary) elevator. |
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| Elevator gate. |
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| Ariel view of the lodge, no wonder we had trouble finding it. |
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| Antique ceiling fixture in our room. |
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| Wakulla Springs is a archaeological and historical site. |
Day 13, The Final Journey, Wakulla Springs to Home.
I got up a bit earlier so I could walk around outside and see some of the grounds. It was a beautiful morning, lots of animals waking up. I took a hot tea out with me and wandered down to the lake. I could see the floats and imagine swimmers from the 40's and 50's swimming and enjoying the water.
Once again, when it was time to pack up, I only had to throw a few things in my saddlebags and T-bag. I was loving the decision to do that the last 3 nights. I got spoiled living at the Inn in Kerrville Saturday through Friday, no packing and unpacking nightly.
We left after 8:30 to ride the last miles to home. For me, to Spring Hill it was about 196 miles. We got back on the road, looking for the gas station the server from the night before told us was 2 miles away, 10 miles later we finally found it! Good thing we weren't near reserve! We fueled up, for what would be the second last time of this remarkable trip.
We stopped at Bett's Family Restaurant in Chiefland, the same place we had lunch on the first day of our journey. We made the outside trek to the ladies room, enjoyed a nice lunch and debated how successful we'd be dodging the black clouds/thunder that had rolled in while we were stopped.
We checked our phones to see what the radar showed. It showed a massive storm right overhead. It wasn't raining yet, so we hopped on our bikes and headed south. Good decision, we didn't get rained on and finished riding down US 19 to Grover Cleveland and up through the country the back way to Brooksville under nice sunny skies, with just a few white puffy clouds in the sky. We were going to part ways at California and Powell, but when we got to the stop light, it was obvious if Tricia and Janet went down Powell they'd be riding right into a wall of rain. Been there, done that and Tricia bought a t-shirt! They went down Spring Hill and across Anderson Snow to Shady Hills. The both made it home safe and dry.
I left work at 11 AM on July 2, and arrived home about 2 PM, Monday, July 14th. Wow, almost 3000 miles and 13 days later, what a ride!
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| Early morning at the lake. |
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| Before the haze burned off. |
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| Nature noises. |
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| The lodge from the lake. |
Once again, when it was time to pack up, I only had to throw a few things in my saddlebags and T-bag. I was loving the decision to do that the last 3 nights. I got spoiled living at the Inn in Kerrville Saturday through Friday, no packing and unpacking nightly.
We left after 8:30 to ride the last miles to home. For me, to Spring Hill it was about 196 miles. We got back on the road, looking for the gas station the server from the night before told us was 2 miles away, 10 miles later we finally found it! Good thing we weren't near reserve! We fueled up, for what would be the second last time of this remarkable trip.
We stopped at Bett's Family Restaurant in Chiefland, the same place we had lunch on the first day of our journey. We made the outside trek to the ladies room, enjoyed a nice lunch and debated how successful we'd be dodging the black clouds/thunder that had rolled in while we were stopped.
We checked our phones to see what the radar showed. It showed a massive storm right overhead. It wasn't raining yet, so we hopped on our bikes and headed south. Good decision, we didn't get rained on and finished riding down US 19 to Grover Cleveland and up through the country the back way to Brooksville under nice sunny skies, with just a few white puffy clouds in the sky. We were going to part ways at California and Powell, but when we got to the stop light, it was obvious if Tricia and Janet went down Powell they'd be riding right into a wall of rain. Been there, done that and Tricia bought a t-shirt! They went down Spring Hill and across Anderson Snow to Shady Hills. The both made it home safe and dry.
I left work at 11 AM on July 2, and arrived home about 2 PM, Monday, July 14th. Wow, almost 3000 miles and 13 days later, what a ride!
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| Starting KM 107300, ending 111880. |
Day 12, Denham Springs, LA to Wakulla Springs, FL.
Our hotel didn't have breakfast, so we decided we'd grab something to eat a bit later. We wanted to get on the road and hope for better riding today than yesterday.
I saw a dead alligator on the side of the road near Slidell, LA. Yikes....imagine hitting one of those in your car. Maybe someone like Janet scared it to death when it tried to creep up and eat her while she tried to put her rain gear on.
The skies turned dark, and it was obvious we were going to run into rain, unless we got lucky again and it only clouded over and drizzled a bit. We could hope for that. So far on the trip, we'd been pretty lucky at not having to ride in too much rain.
Our luck ran out. We hit a wall of rain. It was so much rain, so fast, I couldn't even see in front of me. I had to pull over to the shoulder of the interstate and even that was a scary thing. I must confess, I didn't have my visor on my helmet, just glasses. I did have it in my saddlebag, so as we sat at the side of the highway getting drenched, I put it on. Tricia didn't have the mesh pants on that Janet and I did, so her jeans were soaked. We managed to get safely off at the next exit. The water was inches deep on the road. We parked under a gas station pump roof while Tricia went inside to buy a dry shirt. I lent her a pair of jeans from my saddlebags, and when she came out, we went into Denny's for something to eat. After lunch/dinner, we got back on the road.
As Tricia pointed out, since we were in Mississippi during the rain, and lunch, we'd now eaten in all 5 states on our trip! Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas!
We managed to stay dry for awhile. We stopped under a bridge, Janet's jacket was flapping loose from under her cargo net. A couple bikes pulled up behind us, it was Mary Youngblood and Maggie from Tallahassee. They were heading home, which was about 3 hours away, and we were still undecided about our destination for the night.
We were dry for the next 100+ miles. We stopped for gas again and to check the map, and about 1 minute after we left the gas station, but thankfully before we got back on the interstate, it started raining. We parked under the bridge and hung out for awhile.
We had fun under the via-duct, (as Janet's calls it). She sang some gospel songs,told me a railroad riddle (that for the life of me I can't remember) and then she and I took off our helmets and jackets, and we went out into the rain. It was so refreshing! We were sorta singing and dancing in the rain, it was exhilarating!
We checked the radar on our phones, and it looked like a dark rainy cloud just over us. We figured if we could get east a bit, then go south, we'd get into dry territory again. We were right, not too long after we pulled out and got off 10 E, we were out of the rain.
The ride down 83 to 20 and then to 267 to Wakulla Springs Lodge was awesome. It was 80F, sunny, and just beautiful roads in that part of Florida. We were getting tired though, so when we did stop for gas, and to find a place for the night, we took the first place we found on our phones, which was Wakulla Springs Lodge in the State Park. It was still 84 miles from where we were, but we needed to know we had a reservation for the night. We did pass a few mom and pop motels between the gas station and our final destination for the night, so lesson learned, but sleeping out in the woods if we hadn't found a place, just didn't seem like an option any of us wanted to chance.
When we turned into the road for the lodge, off of 267, it seemed like we rode and rode and it was hard to imagine any kind of lodge so far back in the woods, but we finally found it and it was a very welcome sight indeed. We were tired and hungry!
I took lots of photos of the lodge, I'll post them on a separate page! Suffice it to say, another old building (built in 1937) that I loved exploring.
We got our room settled, managed to slip into the dining room before they closed and had a lovely meal before we headed upstairs.
All we could get was a double/twin, but when we went into the room, the closet was huge and the attendant told us some folks put a cot in it and used it for their kids. I perked up at the word "cot", and secured one. Rolled it into my room and was a closet dweller for the night! Everyone had their own bed, it was great.
Time for a cold shower and some rest. Hopefully the lodge wasn't really haunted, although the guest book by the bed had some entries that would leave you to believe otherwise.
We rode quite far today, maybe 700 KM, so we definitely made up for yesterday's terrible traffic. We were tired, but happy, tomorrow would be a short day, only a couple hundred miles to go.
I saw a dead alligator on the side of the road near Slidell, LA. Yikes....imagine hitting one of those in your car. Maybe someone like Janet scared it to death when it tried to creep up and eat her while she tried to put her rain gear on.
The skies turned dark, and it was obvious we were going to run into rain, unless we got lucky again and it only clouded over and drizzled a bit. We could hope for that. So far on the trip, we'd been pretty lucky at not having to ride in too much rain.
Our luck ran out. We hit a wall of rain. It was so much rain, so fast, I couldn't even see in front of me. I had to pull over to the shoulder of the interstate and even that was a scary thing. I must confess, I didn't have my visor on my helmet, just glasses. I did have it in my saddlebag, so as we sat at the side of the highway getting drenched, I put it on. Tricia didn't have the mesh pants on that Janet and I did, so her jeans were soaked. We managed to get safely off at the next exit. The water was inches deep on the road. We parked under a gas station pump roof while Tricia went inside to buy a dry shirt. I lent her a pair of jeans from my saddlebags, and when she came out, we went into Denny's for something to eat. After lunch/dinner, we got back on the road.
As Tricia pointed out, since we were in Mississippi during the rain, and lunch, we'd now eaten in all 5 states on our trip! Florida, Alabama, Mississippi, Louisiana and Texas!
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| Tricia in her new, almost dry, t-shirt. And my jeans, which were dry, LOL. |
We were dry for the next 100+ miles. We stopped for gas again and to check the map, and about 1 minute after we left the gas station, but thankfully before we got back on the interstate, it started raining. We parked under the bridge and hung out for awhile.
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| Janet under another bridge! |
We had fun under the via-duct, (as Janet's calls it). She sang some gospel songs,told me a railroad riddle (that for the life of me I can't remember) and then she and I took off our helmets and jackets, and we went out into the rain. It was so refreshing! We were sorta singing and dancing in the rain, it was exhilarating!
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| Trying to wait out the rain. |
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| Our map is getting drenched and falling apart. |
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| Tricia, keeper of the map. Maybe she'll be ex-map keeper since she didn't keep it dry, or in once, piece! |
The ride down 83 to 20 and then to 267 to Wakulla Springs Lodge was awesome. It was 80F, sunny, and just beautiful roads in that part of Florida. We were getting tired though, so when we did stop for gas, and to find a place for the night, we took the first place we found on our phones, which was Wakulla Springs Lodge in the State Park. It was still 84 miles from where we were, but we needed to know we had a reservation for the night. We did pass a few mom and pop motels between the gas station and our final destination for the night, so lesson learned, but sleeping out in the woods if we hadn't found a place, just didn't seem like an option any of us wanted to chance.
When we turned into the road for the lodge, off of 267, it seemed like we rode and rode and it was hard to imagine any kind of lodge so far back in the woods, but we finally found it and it was a very welcome sight indeed. We were tired and hungry!
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| Wakulla Springs Lodge. Our last night "home away from home". |
We got our room settled, managed to slip into the dining room before they closed and had a lovely meal before we headed upstairs.
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| I had an avocado burger and a glass of wine! Perfect. |
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| My room, the closet, and clothes dryer. |
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| Janet hiding (from a ghost?), nope from the camera! |
Sunday, July 20, 2014
Day 11, Winnie, TX to Denham Springs, LA
We had our continental breakfast, got some ice, loaded the bikes and we were ready again to hit the road. I was glad I only took out of my bike what I needed, it made getting ready so much faster/easier for me.
We'd turned the mood around from glum, to "Hey we're not done yet, we can still have some fun!"
We headed out. At our first gas stop, I was so surprised when I went inside and saw a full liquor cabinet. I asked the lady there, "You sell hard liquor here?", she replied (in a southern drawl), "We sure do, this here's Louisiana, and we know how to party and ain't nobody gonna tell us we can't!" Ha ha.
Somewhere, maybe 60 miles west of Baton Rouge, there was an overhead sign saying something about 10 East being closed. We didn't see anything, and I didn't read the whole sign. Fast forward an hour or so later, and we came to a detour. 10 E was completely closed. We had to get off the highway and detour. And now it was bumper to bumper traffic and it was starting to look like rain. As it started to rain, I made the executive decision to turn off at the next exit, time for lunch. Good idea, we got into a Chili's and it started to rain heavy. We were there a long time and it poured, but we were inside dry, so we didn't care.
I tried to find out if 10 E was open yet, but couldn't be sure from the info I got calling the highway patrol info number. Tricia asked a couple of guys going into Chili's, they thought it was still closed. The traffic wasn't bumper to bumper on the detour, so maybe it had started to flow. We figured we'd better go that way so we started out on the detour path, and it wasn't long before we met up with the high volume of traffic from earlier. For the next 3 hours we were in traffic hell. We might get to go along at speed for short bursts, but then as soon as there was a traffic light, miles of traffic were affected. When we were finally able to get back on 10 E, we were exhausted from all the stop and go riding.
We did some more hanging out in gas station walk-in beer coolers.
We had heard the shutdown was caused by a chemical spill, yikes. We were just east of Baton Rouge, but ready to stop for the night. We had some trouble finding a room, we finally found one at Candlewood Suites in Denham Springs, LA. We'd ridden about 300 miles, but because of the detour, total miles (that counted towards home) for the day were only about 225. Our room was a suite, with a full sized refrigerator, office area, stove, kitchen sink, everything you'd need for an extended stay, even though ours was only overnight. Very nice. I claimed the desk! The girls were tired, so after we all showered, Janet fell asleep, followed quickly by Tricia. I commandeered Janet's laptop and did a blog entry. Here we were 2 days from home and I only had about 3 days of my blog done!
Did some blog work, then finally went to bed around 1 AM or so. We were hoping for a bit earlier start tomorrow since we'd lost so much time today. If only I didn't have to go to work on Tuesday!! But wait, work is how I pay to ride, so better hush complaining about the money maker, LOL.
We'd turned the mood around from glum, to "Hey we're not done yet, we can still have some fun!"
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| Winnie, TX |
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| I might a crayon short of a box, but here's my BOX! LOL |
Somewhere, maybe 60 miles west of Baton Rouge, there was an overhead sign saying something about 10 East being closed. We didn't see anything, and I didn't read the whole sign. Fast forward an hour or so later, and we came to a detour. 10 E was completely closed. We had to get off the highway and detour. And now it was bumper to bumper traffic and it was starting to look like rain. As it started to rain, I made the executive decision to turn off at the next exit, time for lunch. Good idea, we got into a Chili's and it started to rain heavy. We were there a long time and it poured, but we were inside dry, so we didn't care.
I tried to find out if 10 E was open yet, but couldn't be sure from the info I got calling the highway patrol info number. Tricia asked a couple of guys going into Chili's, they thought it was still closed. The traffic wasn't bumper to bumper on the detour, so maybe it had started to flow. We figured we'd better go that way so we started out on the detour path, and it wasn't long before we met up with the high volume of traffic from earlier. For the next 3 hours we were in traffic hell. We might get to go along at speed for short bursts, but then as soon as there was a traffic light, miles of traffic were affected. When we were finally able to get back on 10 E, we were exhausted from all the stop and go riding.
We did some more hanging out in gas station walk-in beer coolers.
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| Tricia enjoying the cool air, and making a call. She is a cooler caller. Ha ha. |
Did some blog work, then finally went to bed around 1 AM or so. We were hoping for a bit earlier start tomorrow since we'd lost so much time today. If only I didn't have to go to work on Tuesday!! But wait, work is how I pay to ride, so better hush complaining about the money maker, LOL.
Day 10, Time to Turn Back, Kerrville to Winnie, TX.
Friday, July 11, 2014
Well it's time to head back east! We didn't rush out the door to start our return trip. We had breakfast in the Inn's dining room and I wandered around saying farewell to my Canadian friends, again. I'd already said my good-byes last night, but then I saw them all at breakfast so I repeated my sad song, boo hoo.
The weather reflected our mood, it was gray and dreary. It started to drizzle as we left. We were all a bit down that our great adventure was coming to an end, and so fast. We filled up across from the hotel, and at about 8:50 we were off to 10 East to journey back to Florida. The clouds followed us, but it didn't rain. It was cool enough, we had to stop so Janet could put her jacket on.
We drove to Sealy and we stopped for lunch at Hinze's B-B-Q. We had fun in there, like almost everywhere we went. Janet and I were waiting for our food and this little girl, maybe early 20's, came up to us, after reading Motor Maids on Janet's shirt and said, "You ride motorcycles?". We told her we did, and Janet told her we'd just come from Kerrville and were heading back to Florida. She said "Wow, you rode all that way to clean a house?" What? She said, "You're Motor" and then emphasized the word "Maids" on Janet's shirt. She thought we rode motorcycles to clean houses, too funny. Bah ha ha. Janet and I laughed so hard....Every time we thought about her, we'd crack up again!
I got me some pecan pie, since Billy Gene's wasn't open in Kerrville when I went there for pie. Elizabeth reminded me, it is not pe-can (rhymes with man), because a pe-can pronounced that way is something that goes under the bed, (a pee can, ha ha ha). She said it's pe-khan! The weather stayed cloudy to Sealy, so it was very comfortable riding weather, not too hot, but when we came out after lunch, the sun was out and it was HOT again.
We kept going south, then went East/Northeast for a bit, we stopped in Alvin for the cheapest gas we saw on our trip, at $3.29 per gallon (the highest we saw was in the Panhandle of Florida at $3.71). We continued on 6 S until it ended at 45 (the same 45 we traveled on north of Houston last week, luckily here it wasn't as hectic). We went south on 45 into Galveston, (if you break out in song singing "Galveston", no worries, Janet sings a song about everything), our destination for the day. Galveston has some gorgeous old mansions we rode by. Maybe something to visit on another trip at another time.
I wasn't sure where the ferry was, but having looked at the map earlier, and seeing Galveston was a strip of land and we needed to keep going east, I just kept driving figuring we'd hit the end of the strip at some point. We came to a beach and asked the attendants where the ferry was, turns out we were less than 1/2 a mile from it! Yay.
We got in line, and it was hot. A few minutes later, Gracie and Roger pulled in behind us! Surprise! They had come through Houston, where it was bumper to bumper, so even though our way was a bit longer distance wise, I think we made the right choice to avoid riding through Houston on a Friday afternoon.
We had to wait for about 30 minutes before our lane could ride onto the ferry. We chatted, and Tricia talked to the lady in the car in front of us, begging to be let into her car for some A/C. LOL
We saw a sign after the ferry that said "Local residents can now get sewer services." From the smell of the area, I'd say it was about time.
There wasn't anywhere to stay overnight, and with the smell, we didn't really want to stay in that area. We found 124 N, which we'd need to be on to go north and pick up 10 E again. When we stopped for gas, we talked to a guy and found out that it was only 17 miles to the interstate. We were tired, but we could definitely drive a bit further for a decent room for the night. We rode north, found a LaQuinta in Winnie, TX and that was our home for the night. I decided not to unstrap my luggage, I wasn't really liking that whole pull it all off the bike, lug it inside, do the same thing in the AM, and then again in the PM. I took only what I'd need for the night, then put my bike cover on the bike to deter would be "looters". Time for a cold shower, after a long day of riding, still one of my favorite things at the end of the day!
We were discussing where we'd head for the next day, and looking at the map I saw the town Pascagoula. What a funny name. Well it just so happened, Janet knows a song about Pascagoula. Seriously. She was sure I'd have heard it, but I hadn't, so when singing it didn't jar my memory, she pulled it up on You Tube. It was funny and I'll never forget that town, or that song!
You can hear it here (The Day the Squirrel Went Beserk):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K16fG1sDagU
Tomorrow we'd be half way home, so we needed to get some rest for another long day of riding in the heat, and now that we'd be leaving Texas, we'd probably be back in the humidity again.
Well it's time to head back east! We didn't rush out the door to start our return trip. We had breakfast in the Inn's dining room and I wandered around saying farewell to my Canadian friends, again. I'd already said my good-byes last night, but then I saw them all at breakfast so I repeated my sad song, boo hoo.
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| Lynne packing up her bike. She keeps her camping utensils in her saddlebags! |
The weather reflected our mood, it was gray and dreary. It started to drizzle as we left. We were all a bit down that our great adventure was coming to an end, and so fast. We filled up across from the hotel, and at about 8:50 we were off to 10 East to journey back to Florida. The clouds followed us, but it didn't rain. It was cool enough, we had to stop so Janet could put her jacket on.
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| Mileage (KM) leaving Kerrville. Raindrops on my odometer. |
I got me some pecan pie, since Billy Gene's wasn't open in Kerrville when I went there for pie. Elizabeth reminded me, it is not pe-can (rhymes with man), because a pe-can pronounced that way is something that goes under the bed, (a pee can, ha ha ha). She said it's pe-khan! The weather stayed cloudy to Sealy, so it was very comfortable riding weather, not too hot, but when we came out after lunch, the sun was out and it was HOT again.
We kept going south, then went East/Northeast for a bit, we stopped in Alvin for the cheapest gas we saw on our trip, at $3.29 per gallon (the highest we saw was in the Panhandle of Florida at $3.71). We continued on 6 S until it ended at 45 (the same 45 we traveled on north of Houston last week, luckily here it wasn't as hectic). We went south on 45 into Galveston, (if you break out in song singing "Galveston", no worries, Janet sings a song about everything), our destination for the day. Galveston has some gorgeous old mansions we rode by. Maybe something to visit on another trip at another time.
I wasn't sure where the ferry was, but having looked at the map earlier, and seeing Galveston was a strip of land and we needed to keep going east, I just kept driving figuring we'd hit the end of the strip at some point. We came to a beach and asked the attendants where the ferry was, turns out we were less than 1/2 a mile from it! Yay.
We got in line, and it was hot. A few minutes later, Gracie and Roger pulled in behind us! Surprise! They had come through Houston, where it was bumper to bumper, so even though our way was a bit longer distance wise, I think we made the right choice to avoid riding through Houston on a Friday afternoon.
We had to wait for about 30 minutes before our lane could ride onto the ferry. We chatted, and Tricia talked to the lady in the car in front of us, begging to be let into her car for some A/C. LOL
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| Waiting in line at the ferry. |
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| Please let us have some A/C! LOL |
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| Gracie and Roger (and her iPad) on the ferry. |
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| US Naval Museum near Galveston. |
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| Bikes on the ferry. |
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| Another ferry going back to Galveston. |
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| These birds were people watching. |
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| Going to check out the sea after we got off the ferry near Crystal Beach, TX. |
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| These birds were so cool. They flew in ribbon like formations. Very surprising to see that they were actually pelicans! |
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| The seashore. It was very, very smelly, and littered. YIKES. |
We were discussing where we'd head for the next day, and looking at the map I saw the town Pascagoula. What a funny name. Well it just so happened, Janet knows a song about Pascagoula. Seriously. She was sure I'd have heard it, but I hadn't, so when singing it didn't jar my memory, she pulled it up on You Tube. It was funny and I'll never forget that town, or that song!
You can hear it here (The Day the Squirrel Went Beserk):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K16fG1sDagU
Tomorrow we'd be half way home, so we needed to get some rest for another long day of riding in the heat, and now that we'd be leaving Texas, we'd probably be back in the humidity again.
Day 9, Elections, Banquet, Awards, and Packing Up!
Another early 8 AM meeting and mad rush to the dining area for a quick breakfast.
This was an election convention, so there'd be no leaving the meeting room early. We did get to sit at round tables for a change, which was nice. You could write and it was more comfortable than the usual line of chairs. The election process seemed long, but in reality it went pretty quickly. We were done by noon. We had a new slate of officers. The process made me realize I don't think I'd like to run, too tough if you didn't win. We had some excellent candidates, and it was tough sometimes to know which one to vote for. The good thing about that is, if you had 2 in a run-off for a position, and they were both great, Motor Maids would win regardless of who got the office.
While the ballots were counted, members would make announcements. One announcement was there would be a wedding ceremony in the lobby at 3 PM! Sherry, from last Saturday night, who was anxiously awaiting the arrival of her fiancee, was having a Motor Maid wedding!
I had leftovers from Chili's Tuesday night for lunch, and spent some time by the pool chatting, and some time getting my stuff organized to be repacked for leaving in the morning.
I did go check the auction winning tickets to see if we won anything. I offered to check for Janet, and she said "Call me if you need help carrying my basket back". I went over and sure enough, Janet won the big basket she put a ticket in for. I had to lug it to her room and she couldn't believe she won it! Good for her.
The banquet and awards ceremony.
Elizabeth got longest distance traveled direct, Lynne second. I think Christine was actually the longest traveler, but Google Maps (that they use to determine distance) had her coming from Digby to Saint John, NB on the ferry, which she didn't do.
It was a great evening. I went over to meet with Janet and Tricia to see what plans we'd make for heading out in the AM. Tricia had to get her parcel down to the lobby for UPS, but she didn't have any packing tape. Kevin, from maintenance to her rescue again (she had to call him more than once on this trip, coincidence? Hmmmm I wonder....LOL).
This was an election convention, so there'd be no leaving the meeting room early. We did get to sit at round tables for a change, which was nice. You could write and it was more comfortable than the usual line of chairs. The election process seemed long, but in reality it went pretty quickly. We were done by noon. We had a new slate of officers. The process made me realize I don't think I'd like to run, too tough if you didn't win. We had some excellent candidates, and it was tough sometimes to know which one to vote for. The good thing about that is, if you had 2 in a run-off for a position, and they were both great, Motor Maids would win regardless of who got the office.
While the ballots were counted, members would make announcements. One announcement was there would be a wedding ceremony in the lobby at 3 PM! Sherry, from last Saturday night, who was anxiously awaiting the arrival of her fiancee, was having a Motor Maid wedding!
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| Angie Graves, Sherry & Keith, Glenda Harmon. A Motor Maid wedding! |
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| Sherry and Angie. |
I did go check the auction winning tickets to see if we won anything. I offered to check for Janet, and she said "Call me if you need help carrying my basket back". I went over and sure enough, Janet won the big basket she put a ticket in for. I had to lug it to her room and she couldn't believe she won it! Good for her.
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| Janet's winning ticket got her this! |
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| The loot she won! |
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| At the banquet. |
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| Catherine, Elizabeth and Janet consipiring. |
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| Awards Banquet. |
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| Denise working hard..... |
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| Elizabeth and Lynne presented with their long distance awards. |
It was time to get everything ready to go back on/in the bike in the AM. We decided we'd meet for breakfast at 8 AM and have our bikes packed by then. Kerrville was awesome, but it was time to say good-bye.
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