Retired and Trippin

We returned home today, riding 223 miles from our motel in Branson, Missouri. It was mostly sunny and 61 when we left but by the time we got to Springfield, MO it was cloudy. We stopped at the Osceola Cheese store and then at Applebee’s in Clinton for lunch. When we left the cheese store it was sunny once again and remained that way until we arrived home. Our high temperature was 72. Our trip to Key West and back was fun and memorable. Another bucket list ride accomplished. Our total trip distance was 3,612 miles. Now to unpack, clean up the motorcycle and all those other post ride chores. Home sweet home and 60 inches of hi-def heaven. Life is good.

It was 62 degrees with sunny skies when we rode away from our motel. The start of a beautiful day. On the way out of Conway, Arkansas we had to stop for a picture of a Harley dealership with an unusual name. U.S. Hwy 65 was our highway all the way to Branson, MO. There were some pretty areas along the way despite the fact that the trees weren’t leafed out yet. We stopped at a Fred’s again, this time in Marshall, Arkansas so Chris could do some more shopping. Once in Branson we stopped at the Sight & Sound Theater ( https://www.sight-sound.com/WebSite/selectShowsForLocation.do?LOCATION_CD=BRANSON_MO ) to buy our tickets for the 3:30 show “Jonah”. We then checked into our room at our Branson motel, the Lynina Inn ( http://www.lyninainn.com/ ) had a lunch from our cooler and got ready to go to the show. What a great day! We rode 147 miles on a beautiful day in some pretty scenery. Life is definitely good. For pictures from today click on the following link: https://plus.google

Our departure from Vicksburg, MS this morning was accompanied by beautiful weather. It was 63 degrees under blue clear skies. We rode a few miles west on I-20 to the Navy Circle overlook to get a good view of the Mississippi River and both the former and current highway bridges. Interstate 20 took us west over the Mississippi River into Louisiana. At Tallulah we exited and started north on U.S. Hwy 65. We saw a lot of standing water along the highway and the Mississippi River (Lake Providence?) was high too. It was almost over some docks and was near some homes. In Dumas, Arkansas we stopped for lunch at Big Banjo Pizza where enjoyed a pizza and salad buffet. Also in Dumas, Chris stopped to shop for awhile at Fred’s. I took this time to clean up the motorcycle a bit. From Dumas we rode non-stop to Conway, Arkansas where we stopped for the day at a Best Western. Today we rode 252 miles with great weather and a high temperature of 75. For pictures from today click on the followin

We left Long Beach, Mississippi at 8:00. It was 54 degrees with mostly blue clear skies. Hwy 49 took us north through Wiggins and Hattiesburg to Magee, where we stopped for gas. It was a fortuitous stop. While there we found out that 49 was closed south of Mendenhall. A guy who was stocking shelves in the convenience store provided and alternate route to Jackson. We took Hwy 28 west out of Magee. It was a very pretty ride and every river and stream we crossed was flooded. At Georgetown we turned north and west on Hwy 27 and we lost our blue skies. We saw dark clouds coming so we put on our rain suits. In short order it was raining and it continued off-and-on all the way to Vicksburg. We had Chinese food for lunch and then checked into the Best Western motel before visiting the Vicksburg National Military Park. It is a large park that documents the 47 day siege of Vicksburg by Union forces during the Civil War. There is a 16 mile drive around the park. We made about half of it bef

Chris and I spent today in Long Beach, Mississippi seeing the sights. We rode around town and took some pictures of interesting places. We had lunch at the Harbor View Café, visited the Friendship Oak at the University of Southern Mississippi Gulf Park Campus and walked on the beach for a spell. We checked online for interesting things to see in Long Beach. The Friendship Oak ( https://www.usm.edu/gulfcoast/friendship-oak ) was the #1 tourist attraction. It really was a cool tree. At the Harbor View Café we enjoyed a seafood lunch. Chris was especially happy to enjoy a side of eggplant fries. Hurricane Katrina hit this coast in 2005. Most everything along the coast was destroyed. Today you can still see numerous vacant lots that are for sale. Many of them still have concrete pads and other relatively permanent features that were not blown or washed away. The Holiday Inn Express we are staying in, built in 2006, was a Sleep Inn prior to Katrina. Today we rode a whoppin 20 miles

NOT a beautiful day today . . . . but I can’t complain because I’m traveling with my Peach on my motorcycle. I am blessed. We blasted out of Panama City at 9:15 under cloudy skies with a temperature of 72.  Hwy 98 took us west over Saint Andrew Bay. We have some neighbors at home who spend a couple months each winter in the Destin, Florida area. They have been trying to convince us to join them. Since we were there we decided to check out TOPS’L, where they stay. It was a very nice looking complex and the apartment we saw had a beautiful view from the balcony. Pompano Joe’s was our choice for a seafood lunch on the beach in the Destin area. We waited forever for our food but it was tasty and the beach view was bueno. As we finished our lunch it started to rain and I got soaked running to the bike to get our rain suits. By the time we were togged up the rain stopped. Anyway, it rained off-and-on the rest of the day and some of it was very hard. Since the weather was dicey we

We left Leesburg, FL at 9:00. It was 70 degrees and skies were partly cloudy. We rode west on Hwy 44, caught I-75 north, and exited at Hwy 27 (westbound) in Ocala.  At Willitson we took Alt 27 west and north to Perry.  On the west side of Fanning Springs we crossed the historic Suwannee River ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1S0keeGIgcY ). We saw several big horse operations along Alt Hwy 27 with their miles of fences, big entry gates and one even had a horse hospital. We saw some nice looking horses also. All of this made Chris think of her cousin, Deb. Wildflowers were abundant along here too. We stopped in Perry (Florida) for lunch. Our Garmin  was checked for dining options and we chose an Italian family restaurant that ended up being closed. So we stopped just down the road at Pouncey’s. Their menu showed “zipper peas” as an option for a side dish. Chris asked what zipper peas were. The waitress said they were very similar to “acre peas”. Well that didn’t help a bit, so we

Today was a sad day. We parted ways with Mel and Trisha. They had to get home sooner than us so we were returning at a different pace. They took off around 7:30. Chris and I departed at 10:15. It was 82. We rode Hwy 997 north to Hwy 27, which took us north to our day’s destination, Leesburg, FL. Best Western provided us our lodging. We stopped for lunch at Dixie Fried Chicken in Clewiston . . . . the food was very good but the waitress was very surly and lacking in social skills. We passed numerous orange groves and truck loads of oranges. This was a very traffic congested route on the north end with numerous stop lights. We rode 283 miles today with a high of 88. The swimming pool at the motel felt pretty good. For pictures from today click on the following link: https://plus.google.com/photos/104542123131082631220/albums/5998605168803126241?authkey=CKWJrty76IrB_gE

Mel had a good time snorkeling last night. See the end of my Day 6 entry for more information and a link to a few of their pictures. We rode out of Key West at 9:00 under blue clear skies with a temperature of 77. It was beautiful. We rode Hwy 1 back to north and it was a little quicker than the ride down. 128 miles later (around noon) we arrived at a nice flat Super 8 Motel in Florida City, FL where we were able to check in, unload our stuff and drop our trailers in the parking lot. We rode a short distance up the road for lunch at the Casita Tejas Mexican Restaurant, which was very tasty. After lunch we rode out to the Everglades National Park. On the way to the park we saw a panther crossing sign, one of many we’ve seen in the area of the Everglades. I We walked the short Anhinga Trail and Gumbo Limbo Trail. On the Anhinga we saw quite a few gators, birds, fish and turtles. On the way to the Pa-hay-okee Overlook we crossed over Rock Reef Pass at a breathtaking 3 feet above s

Today was a tourist day and we did no riding. We got to sleep in and get rested. We started the day by doing a trolley tour of Key West. We learned many interesting things. At one time there was a railroad connecting Key West to mainland Florida. Some of the houses are connected by hurricane rods to help stabilize them during high winds. The last hurricane to hit Key West directly was in 1919. Key West is the driest city in Florida. Key West is known as the 2 X 4 island because it is about two miles wide and 4 miles long. A large portion of Key West was created by filling in a swampy area. The Key Lime pie originated in the Florida Keys. In 1980 Calvin Klein purchased the first one million dollar home in Key West. Harry S. Truman visited Key West frequently. Jimmy Buffet was “discovered” in Key West. Ernest Hemmingway owned a home in Key West. Cock fighting was once popular in Key West. When it was outlawed people just let their fowl run wild. Now you can see them all over town and

We left our motel in Fort Myers at 8:20 under blue clear skies with a temperature of 63. We rode south on I-75 to the Naples area where we exited and found our way to Hwy 41 which took us straight east across the Everglades. It was a fun ride. Mel told me via the CB radio that he was seeing alligators on the north side of the highway. We pulled over and found a nice big gator sunning himself at the edge of the grass. We kept our eyes peeled the rest of the way and saw many gators just off the road. We stopped for gas and paid over $4/gallon and we saw the smallest U.S. Post Office in Ochopee, FL. Before we reached the Miami area we turned south on Hwy 997, which took us by numerous fruit/vegetable stands, nurseries and fields growing who knows what. The speed limit here was slow, which should have prepared us for Hwy 1. In Florida City we caught Hwy 1, the Dixie Highway, which took us south to Key Largo. We stopped at the John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park for a picnic and foun