Don's Miles Today: 120.0 Don's Total Miles: 2,124.7
Sherry's Miles Today: 268.0 Sherry's Total Miles: 2,493.0
We woke up to a very foggy morning. I was up, showered, called Lisa, and out to the bikes I went. Lo and behold, I beat Sherry because the bikes were still very wet from the fog in the air. I dried the bikes the best that I could but the fog was "re-wetting" the bikes almost faster than I could dry them. I meandered around the parking lot for a bit taking some pictures and making a plan for some coffee and possible breakfast. The hotel had NO breakfast or coffee except for the DIY coffee in the rooms and I usually try to avoid that stuff.
I went back into the hotel and sat in the lobby surfing the phone and reading some of the most intelligent political statements on Facebook. Thank goodness the Founding Fathers didn't have Facebook or we would still be having spots of tea in the afternoon, driving on the WRONG side of the road, and New York's subway would be The Tube. Thankfully Sherry bounded out of the elevator and saved me from my Facebook instructional period.
She told me that she bought some beef jerky to feed to the kitty and was joined by a fellow guest at the Quality Inn who said that he was Little Gotti because he worked for John Gotti. You judge. They talked about the cat, our travels, his travels, and other things before she could break away and retreat to her room. He was actually a very nice guy and, like a lot of other people, just needed someone to talk to for a few minutes. Then again, you hate to be mean to a guy who goes by the name of Little Gotti.
We loaded up the bikes and decided to head a couple blocks down U.S. 90 to a Waffle House. Amazingly, this would be our FIRST Waffle House experience for the whole trip. We went in and our streak of great service that we have gotten for the past week continued. We had breakfast and pulled into the Exxon station to top off our tanks before taking off.
This was also going to be our "goodbye point". Just 4 miles along U.S. 90 near Downtown Lake City Sherry would be turning off and start heading north. So we said our FIRST goodbye. Then I took a couple of pictures. Then came our SECOND goodbye. At that point we asked the lady at the pump
next to us to take a picture of us together. That brought on our THIRD goodbye. It was beginning to be like that proverbial phone call that ends with "you hang up" "no, you hang up" "ok, I am hanging up now" "did you hang up yet" "no, you hang up" etc. With effort we got on our bikes, fired them up, and off we went. When we reached U.S. 441 Sherry beeped her horn and off she went to the fading sound of my horn beeping.
My ride home was uneventful and as I pulled near my home in Ormond Beach I stopped to top off the tank one last time for this trip. Minutes later I was home. I sent a text to Lisa to let her know I was home and another text to Sherry to tell her the same and to also give her my final miles. Miles are important to bikers. If you're a biker you know what I mean. It is the reason that each chapter starts with the daily and total miles. About 4 hours later I received a text from Sherry saying she made it home but rode past her house to do a few twisties before wrapping up the ride.
The first thing I have to comment on is the weather. Let's face it, it is the "wet season" in Florida where daily temps average OVER 90° (unless you are Don and you are riding across the Panhandle....Mom Nature thought it funny to MAKE ME buy a hoodie) and the humidity is high. When the ground gets hot it triggers storms. So afternoons in Florida can have rain and thunderstorms at the drop of a hat...OR not. I am happy to say that we were in the "OR not" side of things for the entire trip. It is very, very hard to believe that we rode 8 full days in the summer in Florida and did not get a lick of rain except for a couple little spits.
Right now in our country there seems to be a lot of hate and mistrust going on. Let me tell you, we did not see ANY of that while on the trip. We greeted with love and we were met with love. Absolutely each and every person we met or did business with were smiling and friendly. Many went out of their way to be nice. The thing to remember is that you will reap what you sow. If you are smiling, friendly, complimentary, and genuinely like people....you will receive the same in return. I will admit that I had the advantage of having Sherry with me. She genuinely loves everyone and lets them know and do you know what happens....everyone genuinely loves....or at least kind of likes a lot....Sherry. I benefited by riding on her coattails. I try to be nice and funny and loving with people but I don't hold a candle next to Sherry. She makes me look like an amateur. Bottom line is that we met GREAT people along the way.
Riding through the Everglades was almost mind blowing. It made me think about the native peoples that made that region their home hundreds and thousand of years ago. That continued as we rode up the the Gulf coast north of Tampa and into the Panhandle. The miles upon miles of wilderness. Even in the 21st Century I have to believe that there is still a lot of land that has never been touched by a human. I love riding the "roads less traveled" and look at the buildings. I imagine the buildings that were not there in 1960. That was before Disney. That was before expressways or inexpensive and efficient air conditioning. The population of Florida in 1960 was roughly 5,000,000. The attractions were the beaches and places like Cypress Gardens, Weeki Wachee, Marineland, Silver Springs, etc. Orlando was a nice sized town in Central Florida with 200,000 people (it is about 2,000,000 in 2020). As Sherry and I rode along the highways I would imagine what it was like in 1960 and even before.
As I ride around I marvel at the American worker. They report to their jobs EVERY SINGLE DAY. Do they moan and groan about it....sure they do, but they show up and they do a GREAT job. Every time I cross one of those bridges that scare the crap out of me I am REALLY glad that the American worker takes pride in doing a good job. The waitress still comes to your table after 6 hours, smiles, and says "hi, my name is Tracy and I'll be taking care of you today". The doctor that has seen 40 people that day cares just as much about the last patient as they did with the first. I see all those company trucks running all over the place carrying plumber, appliance repair people, carpenters, and more that do their best at every stop. It is amazing and on a motorcycle road trip I can see it happening right before my eyes. Of course, at the same time, I am thankful that I am no longer part of that. After putting in my 55 years I am out riding a motorcycle. But I never stop appreciating what they are all doing.
After all is said and done.....THERE IS NO PLACE LIKE HOME. I love riding my bike, as does Sherry, and I enjoy staying in hotels all over the country. I like eating in restaurants and meeting people. But there is still a great feeling to come home and to be loved by my wife and dog. So even though we are already dreaming about our next ride we are really, REALLY glad to be home.
Hope that you have enjoyed the journey. God willing there are still a few more road trips to be had by me. So stay tuned and watch for the next adventure.
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