Why not,,,,FLA to NC for Chrstmas

DEC 19 Though I ride my scooters almost daily in St. Petersburg I never go more than twenty blocks from my home. My passion is solo scooter trips and I was having withdrawal symptoms. I was going to North Carolina for Christmas and the weather looked half way decent so I said “why not....” My wonderful wife said “have at it and I will meet you there”. My non-scooter friends “your nuts” and they are calling the Betty Ford Clinic to see if there is a cure for this ridicules idea.

I had done no service on Big Red since riding the 8,000 miles that I finished in July and since this was a last minute decision I took Red to St. Pete Scoot for service. They found that the belt had lost a big chunk. Otherwise it was in good shape. This was a Gates belt from Scooterwest, not a OEM. Wear I expected, but the big chunk out to me is a defect.

Big Red and I blasted out of the garage about 7 AM and joined the early rush hour traffic. To clear the the Tampa Bay area quicker I have taken to riding I-275 across the bay and the Veterans Expressway north on the east side of the airport. My house to the Veterans usually only has moderate traffic, but once on the Veterans there is no traffic.

 crossing tampa bay

i do not have a sun pass, but i use the lanes anyway. the state takes a picture of your license and sends you the bill.  this is easier than stopping and digging on money on the scooter

I had forgotten that as you move inland the temperature drops. It got cold. North of Brooksville I came upon a few deer crossing the and I all but locked up the brakes to miss them. They were gone before pictures could be taken.

I stopped in Wildwood to visit our good friends Andy and Dinata. Andy has just recently finished tongue cancer treatment. Tongue cancer? Who gets tongue cancer Andy? Andy is a very low key guy with a great dry wit and without a tongue he would be a wallflower so we are all very happy that he is going to be alright. He is getting stronger everyday. Andy had the pain, but Dinata had all the stress as his caretaker through all of this. Andy was on morphine and was out of it most of the time, as Dinata lived the reality of it all.

By now it had warmed up and I was on and off US301. I had wanted to ride FL/GA 121 and I spent some time on it, but had a major detour. So, once the detour put me back on 301, I just stayed there.

There is not much to see in north Florida and south Georgia but pine trees and prisons. Prisons are one of Americas major industries and I am waiting for it to outsourced to China. Or maybe we should outsource the crime

 the gps says we are on US1. we are not. i finallly decided that it was still in africa

Rolled into Statesboro, GA, the town with 4 main streets, n main, s main, e main and w main. The home for the evening is the historic Statesboro Inn a 16 room inn, one block from the intersection of all the mains.

DEC 20 George Washington did not sleep in the Historic Statesboro Inn, but George Bush, the junior, had lunch there and was interviewed by Sean Hannity. The owner left and went on a cruise while they there.

Today was supposed to be a race to beat a cold front that was supposed to come blowing through with heavy rain. It looked like it was ready to hit, so I called it a day just after noon in Laurinburg, NC.

Went to the General McArthur for dinner. My brother had recommended it. It was like most “good” southern restaurants. Quantity over quality. But I have to admit that is was better in the quality than most hog trough.

DEC 21 I waited until it warmed up out of the 30’s before I layered up and road down the road. I felt like Ralphy’s brother in the movie A Christmas Story. A few stops to visit cousins along the way and then I rolled into Mom’s about 3 PM to surprise her for Christmas.

Great ride even it was cold.

cousin fred

Merry Christmas

DEC 27  It had been a nice Christmas with family and friends. On the 24th the sewer system had  backed up and Roto Router showed up to clean the drain. Today Vicki had loaded the car and I had loaded up Big Red and thrown the sheets and towels in the washer.  Vicki came up from downstairs with her cat, the last item to be packed, and told me the shower was backing up again. This was not happy news. She hit the road and I stayed to deal with Roto Rotor instead of making my 92 year old mother, who still lives by herself, deal with . I am working on a 2.5 day window of dry weather to make it home. People say "you don't ride if you don't ride in the rain". Well, I can tell you I don't ride in 45 degree rain. I am at my extreme just riding in 45 degree temperatures.

Well, Roto Router finished about 2 pm. I made the mistake in asking them to install 2 bathroom faucets that I did not have time to deal with on this trip.  How much could it cost?  $200 a faucet!!!
$400 !!!!  I was stunned but it served me right for not asking in advance for a price.

Mom said goodbye and I hit the road. I like to take different routes whenever possible so I went a little west and picked up US 1 near Sanford and headed south. It was a good ride. I roled into Camden, SC just as it turned dark.  I wanted to stay in a B&B in town, but after this trying day I just dropped into a Holiday Inn Express.  Maybe I will be smarter tomorrow.  It is 44 degrees.

Dec 28 I spent the night in a Holiday Inn Express and did not wake up smarte,r just colder. By the time I hit the road at 9 it was just 35 and stayed that way until after noon. By the time I rolled into Waycross it was a balmy 55.

 the john birch society. thought they were long gone.

my gps

 in the south we still shut down the town for a good funeral

Dec 29 It stormed and rained all night but by 9 I was willing to give it a chance. The temperature was 55.  Made it home with no rain and the temperature had reached 73. It is nice to live in Florida.

 we stayed in the pond view inn.  there is no pond and no view since the rooms had no windows.

 some one needs to tell these people they lost.......twice

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