Right about where the Parkway crosses over, there's a little sign for a park entrance, and I thought I'd take a quick peek. Right!
Permission was granted to take photographs.
Disappointed in the Pow Wow in Port Richey on Saturday, the gorgeous day Sunday invited us to ride out to Brooksville to check out the Pow Wow there! Shady Hills Road runs north from Route 52 between the SunCoast Parkway and Route 41, and reminds me alot of the roads back home with its twists and turns. Right about where the Parkway crosses over, there's a little sign for a park entrance, and I thought I'd take a quick peek. Right! ... and discover the Central Pasco and Gulf Railroad, www.cpgrr.org, open for rides, by donation. This park calls for a definite return with a day to spend! Along the way I saw mention made of primitive camping areas also. As I neared Brooksville on Highway 50, there were welcome signs directing me to the Native American Festival ... and into Beef O'Brady's parking lot? Down a path, across a small bridge, the restaurant had provided a field for use as dance grounds! The first of what plans to be an annual event, this Pow Wow was relatively small and more of an exhibition than a competition. There was a lot of focus put on education; the symbology painted on the horses, and the etiology of the dances. Click on pictures to enlarge.
Permission was granted to take photographs.
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The past couple of weeks have been unnaturally cold here in Florida, especially this far down the state! Rosie has spent most of her time huddled under her canopy since making our way home after the tempest on January 11th!
This weekend was forcasted to be beautiful! I woke early listening to rain, rolled over and finally got up a couple hours later. It was wet and warming up. The radio had been broadcasting advertisements about two Pow Wows, one just up the road and one in Brooksville. It was a good excuse to finally visit the flea market here, and very close to home if the weather turned miserable. The flea market was as impressive as the Pow Wow was not. Driving past the entrance on Highway 19 gives no indication at how big it really is! I looked in at the Pow Wow for a few minutes from the fenceline, then spent a couple hours wandering through the maze, checking out what the vendors had to offer! The sun decided to show itself, warming things us nicely! Still too early to head home, yet late enough to stay close. The Werner Boyce Salt Springs State Park covers quite a fair amount of territory. The main entrance is an easy walk from the campground where I live, taking just a nibble at one edge of the park. Rosie and I had visited the Scenic Drive entrance last week. Skye and I had taken a quick walk through one of the trails on Veteran's Day. Today, with my camera, I took more time, taking each of the open trails. The trail to the eagle viewing area was mostly closed, to keep from disturbing nesting birds. There is quite a nice picnic area by the kayak launch, and the Cauldron Springs trail offers nice views of the water as well. The parks we visit have their own section by state under the section title "The Road to Oz". My photos are posted there. Each of the Salt Springs entrances has its own slide show. Sit back and enjoy! We had a nice ride to Ormond Beach with Dianna, checking out our new Ion Air 2 Action Cam! After a nice lunch with Women in the Wind's 100th Chapter ... the Ormond Beach Angels at the White Eagle Inn, we headed down to John's Rock-N-Ride in Daytona Beach.
I packed up some of the smaller merchandise I had left there after Biketoberfest, leaving my helmet stickers to make a little extra cash between now and Bike Week. As always, Johnny and I rattle on as we visit ... my 3 pm leaving time turned to 4 ... and was almost 5 by time Rosie and I really got on the road! It had turned into a beautiful, warm, sunny day in spite of the forecast for thunderstorms! Though I would have preferred to be back to my folks' place in Wildwood by dark, I am familiar enough with the route not to be concerned with the hour. By time I reached Eustis, the light was fading, making the occassional flash of lightning in the distance quite noticeable. There was a spattering of rain in Leesburg, just enough to make me damp. It was over quickly enough, and so warm, I didn't feel the need to stop to put on layers and chaps! There's a sign advising to move into the left lane where Route 44 takes a turn off Main Street ... too soon! Thankfully I had not moved all the way into the lane or I would have hit the curb of a median crossing if there had not been room to move back into the through lane! Dangerous! Dangerous spot! Florida DOT needs to be advised to move that sign! After crossing Route 27, Route 44 again intersects with Main Street on the other side of town. As Rosie and I are making the turn, passing the gas station entrance on the corner, I see the wind blowing the rain! Thank our lucky stars it was blowing straight up the road at us! Had it been a side wind we'd never have held a line! Though we were barely ten yards past the gas station, the rain was coming down so hard and visibility was so poor, I felt safer just following the car in front of me than trying to make a u-turn to go back and sit it out! I know there are businesses through there with places to pull over. I couldn't even see the shoulder of the road! Telling myself it was just a few short miles to Wildwood from there, I just prayed there were no really deep puddles! There was so much water running down the road it was like riding in a river as it was! After a couple miles, my fear and desire to find a place to pull off, turned into a teeth grinding determination to just get there! Thoroughly soaked, shivering and dripping wet, I opened the door to my folks' motor home and announced, "The Drowned Rat has arrived!" We clocked the distance when going to lunch the following day ... eleven miles! It is the worst rain I've ridden in since coming home from the Laconia rally back in "74. It gives me a new appreciation for the guys who made it a point to get me home when I needed to be back then! Riding back home from Wildwood, we veered off the main drag in Inverness to explore Fort Cooper State Park. Initially meaning to just ride through, I stopped to hike out to where the fort had stood. Reminder to self: Always bring walking shoes and take off riding clothes before beginning "a short walk"! John and Rita had just finished eating when we arrived, so I put off lunch for the ride home. I thought about stopping at Cracker Barrel in Eustis. As chains go, they have reasonably good dinners for a decent price in a comfortable atmosphere. Denny's or Bob Evans are ok too, but I much prefer the independent cafe-diner-restaurants! They get harder and harder to find!
On we rode, looking for a spot. The Rainbow Cafe looked promising ... but it closed at 3. Sunday! Skye and I found out on our way back from the Keys, very little is open on Sunday! By time I found a likely possibility, the light was fading from the sky. Deciding to keep on homeward before full dark fell, dinner turned out to be a couple microwaved hotdogs and sauerkraut! All in all, it was a good ride. Three hundred miles, there and back again.
Tim said "Hello" as I walked inside to pick up a current copy of "Born to Ride" Magazine, remembering both my face and my name from yesterday! We spoke a little of the new H-D Street (water cooled) 750 & 500 coming out next spring and he asked if I had seen the Guest Lounge. I had not! After battling a computer virus called Europe92 (what does that say about its creator?) over the weekend and finally feeling cyber secure, I found the Tugg box office closed this afternoon! I've been looking forward to seeing this film since I first heard about it on YouMotorcycle.com.
Though the online box office was closed, it indicated there were still 28 available tickets. The phone numbers I could find were for the theatre, yielding one automated response after another. Arriving early seemed the best way to claim one of the remaining tickets. This was a private showing, no tickets available at the theatre box office. The manager was very apologetic and found a number to reach Tugg directly. On the second try I was able to navigate through the auto response system to a live person. He couldn't issue a ticket either! My only hope was that there would be an empty seat that the theatre management would allow me to have. Back out to Rosie, hoping I had left the ZootFresh charger and my USB cord in my bags since my phone was now almost dead, and WildBill was to call me when he arrived. It wasn't there. "Are you here to see "Why We Ride"?" came a voice behind me. David, the owner of the only other bike I'd seen in the parking lot, was sitting in a car talking with his wife, Adrienne. "If I can get a seat." as I explained my ticket woes to them. With a look of relief on her face, Adrienne immediately offered her ticket. She was recuperating from food poisoning and much preferred to be home! David refused payment. We spoke of our travels as bikes began to drift in and park near us. We wandered inside. David and Adrienne had just finished dinner, so he was not interested in snacks. So much for repaying him for the ticket that way! Bill had just returned my call, indicating he had an extra ticket. Moments later, I overheard someone disappointed that tickets were not available at the theatre. So often, as one biker helps another, the only payment requested is to pass the favour on to the next person in need. I did just that, telling the gentleman someone would be there shortly with an extra ticket. It was given without a moment's hesitation! The film was wonderful though less adrenaline pumping than I had anticipated. One of Bill's companions also made the comparison to "On Any Sunday". There was a lot about racing, including women and children. The emphasis of "Why We Ride" was on motorcycling as a means of healing ... families, esteem, confidence. Yes! Today was supposed to be "chore day" ... pay bills, do laundry, go grocery shopping. After a late night in St. Petersburg visiting a sundance sister, I was looking forward to a relaxed day, just getting things caught up. Not to be.
At 9:30 my Daytona Beach friend called me to meet up at Doc's Pub & Grill in Dade City, with some of our other friends, for L.A.M.A. Day. Getting the essentials out of the way, I packed up my E-Z Jumps and ZootFresh USB Chargers and headed out. The main roads down here are arrow straight, flat, and boring. It's the wildlife that makes things interesting. Gators, wild pigs, and today a big bird nearly took me out! It could have been a turkey on the shoulder of the road, maybe it was a vulture, I don't know. As I approached, it took a few steps into my lane, then launched itself into the air. I ducked and leaned so as not to take it full in the face/chest and heard the brush of its feathers against my mirror and left handgrip. Whew! A few years ago, a (much smaller) crow hit me square on the leg. Fortunately, I had been in process of moving my feet up to my road pegs, so the impact wasn't as severe as it could have been. Still, the resulting bruise was significant, and let me know how devastating a full hit of this larger bird would have been. The weather was co-operative, the clouds giving way to blue sky as I headed east. Cool enough for extra clothes without having to bundle up. Even the 61 degree ride home from St. Pete last night was reasonably comfortable, given the bone chilling cold the same temperature would have been in New York! Rosie racked up over 1700 miles in November. Any guesses for December? After running errands Saturday morning, I headed up Highway 301 to Wildwood to visit my folks for the weekend. This is our "Thanksgiving" weekend due to my work schedule. I was happy to arrive in time for dinner with Skye and Dusty before they headed out for their return to Louisiana! Along the way I passed a place called Snooze-N-Scoot RV Campground ... pictures of Zzzzs and a motorcycle on the sign! This is a place I need to check out, which I did on my way home today. John and Mitzi just took the place over last December. They both ride and make sure the campground is biker friendly. The units look like they could use a little work, but the rates are reasonable, especially for long term stays. There are trees and shade and people waved to me as I rode through. I didn't stop to check out the laundry/shower rooms and pavillion. When John learned I was new to the area and headed toward Port Richey, he suggested "a nice riding road"... Route 673 past the National Cemetary over to Route 476 on over to Highway 19 ... and it was! There was very little traffic and nice sweeping turns. I only find roads like these on my own when I have an entire day to explore and get lost!
If she had a kickstart I could have primed her a bit with the key off. The only thing I could do was start her for a couple seconds and shut her down and repeat after giving her a minute. I'm not sure that was really the right thing to do, but she quieted down significantly, then I let her warm up good on as low of an idle as I could.
We took a GENTLE ride to the post office and she sounded about normal by time we got there. I'm thinking maybe I should start her at gas stops when she rides in TowTow to keep her well primed. On our way back to Julia's on FL 44, we were in the left hand lane (setting up for a left turn) doing maybe 50, when a white car came up behind us SO fast I thought it was going to run us over! Apparently the driver thought so too because s/he (?) swerved for the median as Rosie and I moved over as close to the right hand lane as we could without cutting off traffic there! I'm not sure what the speed limit on that road is, but that driver was going WAY faster than all other traffic! Rosie got a good wipe down when we got back ... and I noticed her spirit bell is gone. I guess the offering was accepted in return for keeping us safe! None the less, it was my decision not to overextend myself ... and it was a good decision. In the time they were away, a binding offer was worked out for my house. The contracts are presently with the attorneys. Maybe I'll ride to Nova Scotia late in August after the closing.
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I've been riding now for over 40 years, beginning in the dirt on a Honda SL-70 when I was 12. I always leaned more toward trials riding than racing, but also loved riding the tracks (flat track and motocross) with the guys I came up with when they'd practice (on a Honda Elsinore 125). Our motto then was "If you don't go down you're not riding hard enough!" ... not finding your limits. Archives
February 2018
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