South for spring

[trbig]

I left the house this morning with a dead camera, so no pics, but @ 550 miles later and 5 states, (Oklahoma, Texas, Arkansas, Louisiana, and Mississippi) I've met up with Bob Falter from Iowa here in Jackson, MS. About to go get a bite to eat and a beer or three, then headed to Destin, Florida tomorrow where it looks like we're going to get rained on a while, but supposed to let up by early evening. There for a couple days, then to Orlando, then down to Key West for a few days to do the Duval wobble : ) He had a rough winter in Iowa this year, so I'm taking him to get his pasty white legs in some warm saltwater.

Springtime is here in the south. Wildflowers line the roads and the trees are in bloom... and gators are out in the watery spots in Louisiana. Low 70's temps for most of the day, though I left at 41 degrees.

More to follow.

[BA80]

Quit thinking about Bob's legs.

[MaximPhil]

Hi Tod,
Hope you have charged that camera 'cus you know how much we love pictures Have fun and keep the story going.
Phil

[JeffH]

Glad to hear you are on the Road again, excelente!

Ah, so this is what Harry is missing?

Just don't get too wobbly on Duval and get hooked up with the Pink Cadillac convertible guys wearing the boas.
They are trolling for converts.

....... but this ain't your first rodeo in KW. Keep us posted.

Jeff

[trbig]

Before we left on our trip, I bought a new pair of Tourmaster WP (Waterproof) boots from Motorcycle Superstore. I put them on and stood in a tub with water up to the ankles and the left one immediately leaked. MS said no return because I dunked them.. not meant to dunk, blah blah. I wrote a lengthy response defining the term "Waterproof" vs "Water resistant". I wrote the company (Tourmaster) and finally, after 5 days, got the same response from them. I angrily (But professionally) wrote a response telling them what I thought of their product, their company, and their customer service, and told them that I would make sure that every website I'm part of and every website that lets me write a review, I'd make sure to try to steer others away from their company, and asked her (The company rep) to pass that along to her boss. The very next day, I got a lengthy apology from one of the product managers telling me that dunking the boots is one of their tests they do on them. lol. He asked me to send the boots back for replacement, and I told him I couldn't, that it was too late, and I needed them for the trip we're now on. He told me that wasn't a problem.. wear the boots, see how they perform and work for me, and when I get back, ship the boots back to them and they'll replace the boots for a new pair that he'll personally make sure perform as promised. So.... Hopefully they will fix some things, because I am also going to point him to other reviews that say the boots aren't waterproof as well. Some say yes, some say no. Sounds to me like they need to look at some people in product testing..

ANYWAY.. So Thursday night, Bob and I were walking across a ditch to go to dinner. No signs up about "Danger: Quicksand" or anything.. My new boots didn't leak mud anyway.. It would have been higher on the boot, but I now have a pair of pants where the bottoms resemble those boots..






I was going to wash them, then saw we were riding into this, and thought it unnecessary.






Luckily, the rain died off at about the same rate we were travelling, so all we hit was some misting. And my boot still needs washing. The bikes ready to roll out...







Eskimo Bob. It was in the mid 50's, so we just kept the rain gear on, though that stuff messes with your system of doing things. With the extra pockets, you always forget which pocket you put whatever you're looking for in.







Here's a shot of Bob while going under the tunnel in Mobile, Alabama.







We were heading to Ft. Walton Beach, but decided to go down to Pensacola, FL, first, then ride down the shoreline to Ft. Walton. This is from the bridge heading into Pensacola Beach.







Bob at the beach. Not the best weather I've ever been here for, but as I told others, it still beats the heck out of work! Surf was up higher than I've ever seen it here.











A shot of the bikes under the Pensacola water tower.







We had a celebratory beer at the beach to say a final farewell to winter, then hopped back on the bikes for the 45 minute ride along the coast to Ft. Walton Beach.







After checking in to the hotel, we grabbed a quick bite to eat, then grabbed a cab over to Destin to the Harbor Walk. I was here just a few months ago, and the change is so drastic, (For the better) I didn't recognize things at first.







We walked down to the end and found a few small bars that the locals gather at. Better atmosphere and cheaper drinks than the main "touristy" places had. Live bands and assortments of types of music. Bob at one of the local watering holes, trying to pick out a souvenir koozie.







After sufficient antifreeze was had, we wobbled back towards the spot the cab dropped us off. Along the way, Bob stopped and had some mighty big dreams... lol.







And final shot was a heron hunting... I like taking thse night shots where you have to let the camera sit for a while gathering light and hope things don't move and blur the pic. At the end of that dock to the right, there was a sign on the last pole before going into the water saying, "No alcoholic beverages beyond this point.. " lol.









Bikes are running great, though I've got a small seep from my left crank seal. (Leaking onto my new boots I'll be returning.. lol) I'm having my wife ship me a crank seal to Key West. I may change it out really quick when we get there.. and I may not.

About to go grab a bite to eat. Here in Ft. Walton Beach for another night. Sitting here finishing this up in the room and the sun has popped out. Forecast for low 70's. Surely there's some trouble that needs causing somewhere..

[BA80]

Always just a little ray of sunshine aren't you Tod?

Great pics, too bad the weather is sucking so bad.

[trbig]

Always just a little ray of sunshine aren't you Tod?

Great pics, too bad the weather is sucking so bad.

Always here to brighten someone's day!

Weather may not be perfect heading out, but it dang sure could have been a whole lot worse, and today is pretty dang awesome!

[trbig]

Didn't really do much today. Just took it easy and enjoyed the warmth. I rode into Destin for a while. I know some of you are ATGATT people, but it felt pretty nice cruising around town a bit without a helmet and in a t-shirt and jeans.

There's two bridges you cross to get from Fort Walton Beach to Destin. This is just a shot of the water tower as you cross the first bridge.








Along the way to Destin, I saw some people kite surfing, so I turned in to take a look.















On in to Destin...







And here's where we were last night.







I rode down to the beach and took a few pics...















I met back up with Bob at a Fort Walton Beach for dinner and a "Bacardi Bucket". We sat and chatted for a bit and bikini watched. Actually, the funniest part was watching a little girl throw sand on her littler brother, then the older brother blasting her in the face with sand like, "How do you like it!?" Of course she cried to mom and got him in trouble. Women are trouble makers from very young...















And just to prove I was actually there too.. Note to self.. Take the 50 lbs of stuff out of your pocket for pics.








I had been planning for weeks to take Bob to a place called Baytowne Wharf in Sandestin. It's a really nice spot.. family oriented, but still had several restaurants and drinking establishments. Sunset out on the wharf is one of the best vantage points down here. I rode out there to make sure I could find it with Bob later, but when I rolled up to the guard shack,I was told that because of loud motorcycles, NO motorcycles were allowed in. More proof of the "Loud pipes lose rights" thing. So here we sit in the hotel, enjoying a few cold ones and getting ready to head out to Orlando/Kissimmee in the morning. Sorry not too interesting a report, but at least you kind of get to see the area if you hadn't before.

[BA80]

I knew you would end up with one of those fruity drinks sooner or later. It's missing the little paper umbrella though.

[MaximPhil]

Thanks Tod. Keep those pictures coming.
Phil

[trbig]

Not much to report... 460 miles of superslab with overcast skies. Highlight of the trip was tucking in behind a string of cars travelling anywhere from 100 to 110 mph for close to an hour. My bike is a little buzzy from @ 75 to 85, but 90 and above is smooth as glass now that I put this OEM exhaust back on it. Bob didn't partake and I had to wait a while at our turn off.

Safely made it to Kissimmee, FL, and put a dent in the population with about a dozen lobsters at the buffet. Then I took Bob over to Downtown Disney where he hated it. lol. Too much walking on bad knees. Back at the resort for a few hours, then leaving for Key West in the morning.

[CRXSi90]

Looks like a fantastic trip. Thanks for sharing the pictures! I'm envious!

[trbig]

Safe in Key West. Several pics, will try to post tomorrow.

[IanDMacDonald]

Pics are great! I need time and a nearby riding buddy to have this much fun. Thanks for sharing!

[trbig]

We left Fort Walton Beach on Saturday, heading to Kissimmee, and just a few miles north of town, and went by the Air Force's armament museum. I innitially pulled over for the static display of the SR-71... One of my favorite planes in history. Had I known this was here, I would have made a visit, but it was closed on Sunday. Aircraft weapons was what I did while in the Air Force. I'll be back...
The SR-71.








Then I looked around a bit and saw the three beauties I mainly worked on all parked together... From right to left, the F-15, the F-16, and the A-10.




The F-15. I heard pilots tell stories of firing the big AIM 7 missile (Radar guided, @ 70% kill rate, cost of $50,000) that's mounted against the engine's intake, to get enemy jets to turn so they could hit them with the smaller AIM 9 missiles.(Heat guided, @98% kill rate, cost of just $9,000)





And probably my all-time favorite of jets: The A-10. An airplane literally designed around a 30mm gun. A tank killer that is really a flying tank itself with arguably the best survivability of any plane ever made. There's a bathtub shaped area around the pilot that can take a direct hit from a 37mm round, and with the backup systems it has, theoretically, with half a wing missing, half the tail and one engine gone all on the same side, it should be able to fly home. 11 stations to load whatever kind of bombs or missiles you felt like you needed, and a load carrying capacity that if they could somehow hook one up, it could carry another A-10.





Ever stare death in the face? lol. We had one of these guns go off in our shop one time. It made world-wide military news. Not in a good way. lol.





So we rode away and headed to Kissimmee. My favorite restaurant of all time had closed down, but there was another that had all you can eat lobster on the buffet. It was calling my name... I didn't actually count, but at least a dozen of these were mutilated for my enjoyment.






Then I thought I'd take Bob to Downtown Disney. Quite the happening place with lots of shops, stands, restaurants, and bars. He hated it. Too much walking and too many people.








But we did sit down for a few and drink a beer while listening to a guy play the steel drums..