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