August Ride Schedule

August 2—Ft. Meade & Lake Buffum
August 9—Gulf Coast Beaches
August 16—Lake Placid
August 23—Cedar Key
August 30—Lake Panasoffkee

As we are pretty well set on breakfast at Snellgroves every Saturday morning, we are moving the ride start from the Depot to J. Arden Mays Blvd., next to the Whistle Stop Cafe. That's where we end up anyway. See you there.

Gunny

July 26 Ride To Pecks Old Port Cove

Ten of us met for breakfast at Snellgrove's this morning. Afterwards, Bill McDaniel, J.T. Sims, Mark Pfister, Kyle Russell, Lloyd Lowery, his wife, Julie, & I headed for Crystal River via, Zephyrhills, San Antonio, Brooksville and Lecanto. We stopped at US-19 and W. Ozello Trail so Bill could set up his video camera, then headed down the twisties to Pecks. A lot of slow traffic kept speeds to a minimum, but it was still a nice ride, especially for Mark, Kyle & Lloyd who were riding it for the first time.
Lunch, as is usual for Pecks, was excellent. We headed towards home about 12:30 p.m. This time Ozello Trail was a little less crowded, giving us a better chance to enjoy the pleasures of this particular stretch or highway. Arriving at Citrus Way and US-98, we decided to straighten out our route and head for the barn as skys were threatening rain. Although we did experience a few brief showers along the way, the resultant cooler temperatures were welcomed by all.
All-in-all, it was a good ride. Hopefully, Bill will have more pictures and/or video posted on The Navigator's Rides.
I hope to see you all on next week's ride.

Gunny

July 19 Ride

Eight of us met for breakfast at Snellgrove's this morning. Afterwards, six of us headed south en route to Pine Level, the former county seat of both Manatee and DeSoto counties. Everything went well until a bee flew into Preacher's helmet, precipitating the first stop of the day. After everyone grabbed a water, we were off again. The plan was to head south on 665 then south on Pine Level Road. Arriving at Pine Level Road we encountered the second problem of the day. Pine Level road turned out to be hard packed dirt covered by pea gravel. Now Gold Wings are great bike in almost every respect but they do not like the dirt. Besides, there was no way Preacher was going to take a chance on dinging his Wing. Keep in mind that there are few roads down there and most are not paved. So, we took a LONG detour. We did finally make it to Old Pine Level only to find that the buildings shown on the web site were no longer there. The only thing left that we could see was an old historical marker. Interesting, but not what we were looking for. Ace chased down a local pulling into his driveway who pointed out the remains of the old hanging tree which had been blown down by Hurricane Charley and the location where the courthouse had stood. He was also informed that the first floor of the Pine Level Methodist Church was the original schoolhouse. Oh well, the joy is in the journey, not the destination. Leaving the location, Robert informed me that he was getting low on fuel. A quick search of the Nav system showed the closest gas station close to our route home was the BP at Myakka City, so off we went. Upon arrival, we found all but one pump was out of order and the working pump only had regular and Robert needed premium. So it was off to the next station, 25 miles away. Did I mention that there aren't many services down there? Anyway, everything worked out and we all made it back home. Did I mention that it was the journey, not the destination?
For more see Ace's blog.

Gunny

Four Corners Photographs

Click here for Four Corners Photo Album. Check back often for updates.

The Ride Remembered

Here are a few pics of our trip from my camera (Please note that clicking on the picture will show you an enlarged copy).

The road from Taos to Sante Fe
starts out with majestic views of wooded mountains, but quickly changes to desert scrub with almost no transition area.







I wish we had spent more time in Madrid, NM. The people were very friendly and definitely unique. The atmosphere was very laid back. Bryan, to his credit, wanted to hang around until the Madrid Roadhouse opened for lunch, but, as usual, I was in too big of a hurry. Note Pete's Russian made Ural motorcycle and sidecar. Pete rides this thing summer and winter since the sidecar wheel can also be a drive wheel. That's Pete sitting next to Bryan below. Pete also participates in local naked horseback rides. I was afraid to ask how that works. Boyd is being regaled with local legends by the boardinghouse owner.



The view from Sandia Crest is pretty impressive, but the real treat is the ride up. But since I don't have pictures of the ride, I'll show you a view of Albuquerque, NM from the crest and the radio tower array at the top. You'd think you would get a great cell phone signal up there. You can if you stand in exactly the right spot while holding your left arm and right leg in the air. The Hummingbirds liked the area, too.





Since the Petrified Forest/Painted
Desert was our first National Park on the trip, we spent a lot more time taking pictures than was really warranted. The Painted Desert views were great, but one was pretty much the same as another. The desert colors do change from one area of the park to another, but we were tired of the view before we got to the color changes. The most interesting thing in the Painted Desert is the Painted Desert Inn. It is no longer used for guests but is still an interesting structure.
At the south end of the park is the Petrified Forest. "Forest" is a misnomer since the trees are no longer standing and most have broken into pieces over time.

Keep watching this article. I will add more as time permits.

Home Again

Boyd and I made the final 408 mile leg of our journey yesterday, arriving back in Lakeland just after 4:00 P.M. The trip, mostly on US-280 and I-75, was fairly uneventful until we reached the Ocala area when we started to get some rain. Thankfully, it didn't get very heavy until we exited I-75 at Lake Panasoffkee and then it didn't last too long. I heard from Bryan last night. He was in Cincinnati for a Reds game. I don't know when he intends to be home.

All in all, it was a great trip covering approximately 6,600 miles. We learned that the desert Southwest is very hot this time of year (I don't care if it is dry heat!), and after a while more rocks are just more rocks. There were many amazing sights to see, but we were all very happy to see greenery again. Boyd is working on putting together a collection of photos and videos taken on the trip. I will share some of those here when they are available.

Ride with Pride
Gunny