J
Jack Klarich
Guest
Nice ride its warm here in Florida some rain due this weekend but not a total wash out be safe
Sugar Land to Key West
- Thread starter Gas Gauge
- Start date
Gas Gauge
Junior Member
O.K., Glider, this is getting creepy, how did you know I had a dog named SPOT?
Gas Gauge
Junior Member
Midnight in Panama City, end of day 2. I couldn't update yesterday because I totally forgot my password.
Friday, Oct. 30, Day 1, left Sugar Land at 6:00 a.m., drizzling, not a good omen. Went to pick-up my brother on the other side of town.
Helped my brother pack his bike and headed for Galveston @8:30, weather looks like it's clearing up. While going down I-45, with my brother leading, I see a duffle bag go flying by me and thought "Hey, Rick has one just like that!" He failed bungy cord 101.
I pulled over to the shoulder and walked about a 1/4 mile back, reached over the barricade and retreived his duffle. Nothing missing, not even a tear, lucky I had room in my tour pack since I was wearing my leathers.
Got to Galveston for the Lone Star Rally, every booth was cleaning up from the massive storm the night before. The rally was awesome, it gets better and better every year. Stayed 2 hours longer than we should have, got back on the road at 1:00 headed for New Orleans.
Got on the Bolivar Ferry to cross Galveston Bay, met this guy heading home, hooked up with him to Beaumont.
Passing lots of bikers heading west for the rally, waved at every one! Really awesome sight passing all of those fine bikes!
Hit a bad traffic jam just west of Beaumont, 1-1/2 hours to get through (bad wreck on the west bound side).
About 3 hours behind, we're never going to make New Orleans. Still passing lots of bikes coming out of Louisiana heading for the rally.
Coming up to Lake Charles, LA we caught up with the massive storm, started pouring rain, my brother still in the lead, I just saw an 18-wheeler move over right into him and force him off the road onto the shoulder, I don't know how he kept it upright, he seemed cool and collected. He's my little brother, but I always thought he was cool, he just proved it!
That was close enough, we are calling it quits, pull off and check into a motel, bikes out in the pouring rain, what a mess. End of day 1.
Saturday, Oct. 31, Day 2, h
Happy Holloween! 9:30 a.m., getting another late start. Didn't get dinner, so we ate the free hotel breakfast. Have to clean the bikes up some and repack. Trucking it today, comitted to making Panama City to get back on schedule.
It's a long way across Louisiana, finally cross into Mississippi at 2:00, 3 stops for gas. 1 hour later we are crossing into Alabama, 1 hour after that we hit Florida.
Stopped at the Florida visitor center to take a break, picture is of a navy Blue Angels F-16, I love them! Sorry for not many pictures, our plans changed a little drastically and caused us to adapt and overcome. I'll do a better job tomorrow. In spite of the delays and pouring rain, we are having a blast. Benn a long time since I've spent this kind of time with my brother, riding is just so great for the soul!
It's 4:00 p.m., we find out we're still 3 hours from P.C., we just looked at each other and shrugged and said, "Let's go for it". Pulled into the hotel in P.C. at 7:30, skipped dinner again, bro went and picked us up a 6-pack instead, I like the way he thinks!
It's going on 1:00 a.m. Sunday morning, after downloading photos and typing all this (I remembered my password somewhere on the road). Planning on waking up early and making the 8 hour trip to my Uncle's house in Lakeland, daylight savings time is fixin to end and we are going to lose an hour of daylight in the morning. End of day 2.
p.s. Hey R.J., sorry I didn't get the chance to shout at you in Slidell, I'm sure you understand how the circumstances changed our plans. I thought of you when I flew by!
Friday, Oct. 30, Day 1, left Sugar Land at 6:00 a.m., drizzling, not a good omen. Went to pick-up my brother on the other side of town.
Helped my brother pack his bike and headed for Galveston @8:30, weather looks like it's clearing up. While going down I-45, with my brother leading, I see a duffle bag go flying by me and thought "Hey, Rick has one just like that!" He failed bungy cord 101.
I pulled over to the shoulder and walked about a 1/4 mile back, reached over the barricade and retreived his duffle. Nothing missing, not even a tear, lucky I had room in my tour pack since I was wearing my leathers.
Got to Galveston for the Lone Star Rally, every booth was cleaning up from the massive storm the night before. The rally was awesome, it gets better and better every year. Stayed 2 hours longer than we should have, got back on the road at 1:00 headed for New Orleans.
Got on the Bolivar Ferry to cross Galveston Bay, met this guy heading home, hooked up with him to Beaumont.
Passing lots of bikers heading west for the rally, waved at every one! Really awesome sight passing all of those fine bikes!
Hit a bad traffic jam just west of Beaumont, 1-1/2 hours to get through (bad wreck on the west bound side).
About 3 hours behind, we're never going to make New Orleans. Still passing lots of bikes coming out of Louisiana heading for the rally.
Coming up to Lake Charles, LA we caught up with the massive storm, started pouring rain, my brother still in the lead, I just saw an 18-wheeler move over right into him and force him off the road onto the shoulder, I don't know how he kept it upright, he seemed cool and collected. He's my little brother, but I always thought he was cool, he just proved it!
That was close enough, we are calling it quits, pull off and check into a motel, bikes out in the pouring rain, what a mess. End of day 1.
Saturday, Oct. 31, Day 2, h
Happy Holloween! 9:30 a.m., getting another late start. Didn't get dinner, so we ate the free hotel breakfast. Have to clean the bikes up some and repack. Trucking it today, comitted to making Panama City to get back on schedule.
It's a long way across Louisiana, finally cross into Mississippi at 2:00, 3 stops for gas. 1 hour later we are crossing into Alabama, 1 hour after that we hit Florida.
Stopped at the Florida visitor center to take a break, picture is of a navy Blue Angels F-16, I love them! Sorry for not many pictures, our plans changed a little drastically and caused us to adapt and overcome. I'll do a better job tomorrow. In spite of the delays and pouring rain, we are having a blast. Benn a long time since I've spent this kind of time with my brother, riding is just so great for the soul!
It's 4:00 p.m., we find out we're still 3 hours from P.C., we just looked at each other and shrugged and said, "Let's go for it". Pulled into the hotel in P.C. at 7:30, skipped dinner again, bro went and picked us up a 6-pack instead, I like the way he thinks!
It's going on 1:00 a.m. Sunday morning, after downloading photos and typing all this (I remembered my password somewhere on the road). Planning on waking up early and making the 8 hour trip to my Uncle's house in Lakeland, daylight savings time is fixin to end and we are going to lose an hour of daylight in the morning. End of day 2.
p.s. Hey R.J., sorry I didn't get the chance to shout at you in Slidell, I'm sure you understand how the circumstances changed our plans. I thought of you when I flew by!
Kaptain's Kid
New Member
DAD! IT'S ME!!! Im following you, sounds like you're having fun. Please keep being safe, I'm praying for ya'll
p.s. check out my bike model
p.s. check out my bike model
Gas Gauge
Junior Member
Woke up at 5:30 a.m. planning some hard riding to get to Lakeland. Abandoning the coastal route because we realized there is nothing to see but condos and traffic. Going back to I-10 over to I-12 and down to I-4, we're going to fly.
Stopped at a rest stop somewhere near Ocala, after 7 hours riding, 3 hours to go.
Bikes tucked away in Uncle's garage for the night, man these Harleys are road warriors, sitiing on the porch enjoying some brewsky's.
Thank you guy's for endulging my family monitoring this site. I am very close to my family, and told them to join this community to monitor our adventure.
Gas Gauge
Junior Member
yea, I got the idea that I overstepped the bounds of this site by inviting my family to join and monitor our activities. I also had crazy web connection problems in Key West since we were staying at a rented house and had to rely on a wireless connection.
But....since you asked I'll try to find the time this Saturday to update the remainder of the trip. I'm certain it will be enlightening and entertaining, since any trip like this never turns out the way it is planned. It was full of excitement, break downs, rescues, and a whole lot of fun.
Thanks for asking!
But....since you asked I'll try to find the time this Saturday to update the remainder of the trip. I'm certain it will be enlightening and entertaining, since any trip like this never turns out the way it is planned. It was full of excitement, break downs, rescues, and a whole lot of fun.
Thanks for asking!
Mavagrand
Senior Member
Please do, I was enjoying the read. I'm not aware of any rules against the family joining. The moderators are pretty good and enforcing the rules, if ya had done something wrong, you would KNOW it. I live in Bartow, just a few miles away from Lakeland and have ridden to the Keys myself. Florida is a good state to ride. Looking forward to reading the rest of your posts.
Gas Gauge
Junior Member
O.K. ISP problems over the weekend kept me crippled, let's see what I can post from work over the next several days.
I'll start with reposting the photos that got moved in photobucket.
Story recap....made it to Panama City FL. late Saturday night Oct. 31, 2009 after a hard days ride from Lake Charles, LA. Woke up early Sunday morning, Nov. 1 2009....
Woke up at 5:30 a.m. planning some hard riding to get to Lakeland. Abandoning the coastal route because we realized there is nothing to see but condos and traffic. Going back to I-10 over to I-12 and down to I-4, we're going to fly.
Stopped at a rest stop somewhere near Ocala, after 7 hours riding, 3 hours to go.
Bikes tucked away in Uncle's garage for the night, man these Harleys are road warriors, sitting on the porch enjoying some brewsky's.
I'll start with reposting the photos that got moved in photobucket.
Story recap....made it to Panama City FL. late Saturday night Oct. 31, 2009 after a hard days ride from Lake Charles, LA. Woke up early Sunday morning, Nov. 1 2009....
Woke up at 5:30 a.m. planning some hard riding to get to Lakeland. Abandoning the coastal route because we realized there is nothing to see but condos and traffic. Going back to I-10 over to I-12 and down to I-4, we're going to fly.
Stopped at a rest stop somewhere near Ocala, after 7 hours riding, 3 hours to go.
Bikes tucked away in Uncle's garage for the night, man these Harleys are road warriors, sitting on the porch enjoying some brewsky's.