FINAL FLORIDA UPDATE

Sadly on Friday we will be heading back to Iowa (aka Siberia).  We've put on just a shade over 2,400 miles on the Wing this month with only one day of riding left now.  From the way things look back there, the Wing will be sitting in the shed pouting for quite a while!  There has been only two days here this month that I haven't been able to ride, and that was due to rain.  Hopefully we won't have to tunnel our way back!

On one of the rides I discovered a real redneck biker bar out in the middle of nowhere.  It was called the Outpost.  Believe me it makes Rockton look like a yuppie hangout!  I've attached a couple of photos, and I'll tell you more about it when we get back.

We went for a ride with the Panama City Wings.  Actually we have more riders on Wednesday nights than they do, and we travel longer also.  But like our group, we have a good time with them.

We went for a ride to St. George Island.  It's a barrier island that has been developed into a small town for tourists.  You have to ride across a long bridge to get there.

Here's a few photos of our last adventures:

CHAPTER PRESIDENT'S RIDE   HE KNOWS HOW TO USE ALL THE BUTTONS !

THE OUTPOST

REDNECK AT THE OUTPOST

LONELY WING AT THE OUTPOST

READY TO RIDE WITH THE PANAMA CITY WINGS

ST. GEORGE LIGHTHOUSE

BARRIER BEACH AT ST. GEORGE

RAKING THE BEACH IN FRONT OF THE CONDO

  

ANOTHER FLORIDA UPDATE

After several rides on our own and some with  the Gold Wing groups here in the panhandle, I have racked up over 1,500 miles now.  On one of my rides I stopped in to see the new Harley Davidson shop here in Panama City Beach.  I have one word to describe it--WOW!  It is one of the finest bike facilities I have ever been in.  I'll tell you more about my experience there when (if) we get back to Waukon.  I see the Weather Channel is predicting another blizzard for you guys.  They are even starting to give names to these winter storms.  I'll bet you have more colorful names for them!

On Saturday I went up to De Funiak Springs, FL for their chapter meeting.  Their ride afterwards was back to PCB to tour the Man and the Sea Museum.  Nice ride, interesting museum.  Stopped to eat at a local restaurant.  No prime rib sandwiches, but good shrimp po boys!

On Sunday we ventured up to Dothan, AL, where we rode with Gold Wing groups from Florida and Alabama.  We covered three states (Florida, Alabama, and Georgia.  We even got "way down yonder on the Chattahoochee" (The river that Alan Jackson made famous.)  We stopped at a small county park and saw the oldest covered bridge in south Georgia.  We then stopped a a little restaurant out in the middle of nowhere called the Log Cabin.  I had my doubts, but the food was incredible.  Kind of reminded me of the Rossville Store!

Here's some photos from our latest adventures:

THE NEW HARLEY SHOP

LOCAL BIKER BAR/RESTAURANT

WAUKON GROUP INSIDE THE WICKED WHEEL

BIKES AND TRIKES ON THE DOTHAN RIDE

COVERED BRIDGE ON THE DOTHAN RIDE

MAN AND THE SEA MUSEUM IN PCB

NAVY PATROL BOAT IN FRONT OF OUR CONDO

 

FLORIDA UPDATE

I am a little reluctant to send you guys this post because I know what you are going through back there weatherwise.  I guess Tom is doing worse with the weather than he did last year!  Maybe we'll have to give him his old job back; keeping track of Chuckles.

At any rate, we have about 500 miles on the Wing now and will probably put about 300 more on this weekend.  I'll be going to a Goldwing chapter meeting in De Funiak Springs on Saturday morning and then on to Mexico Beach in the afternoon for their annual Gumbo Festival.  Then on Sunday, the Goldwing chapter in Dothan, AL, is having a Valentines ride.  Monday we rode about 180 miles along the gulf coast to Indian Pass and Apalachicola (the oyster capital of the world).  At Indian Pass we stopped at a port where there were fishermen on the beach.  We talked to a guy from Minnesota who was fishing there from shore.  He hadn't caught anything while we were there.  So I told him, "I can't believe that anyone from Minnesota can't catch fish."  And right before we left, he did nail one. I did watch a college baseball tournament (outside) over the weekend.

I'm not even going to talk about the weather here, but you can probably get an idea from the photos below.

WATCHING COLLEGE BASEBALL TOURNAMENT IN PANAMA CITY

VIEW FROM OUR BALCONY

OCEAN FREIGHTER HEADED FOR PANAMA CITY PORT

CHUCKLES MUST HAVE BEEN THE CAPTAIN ON THIS ONE!  BEACHED!

PORT AT INDIAN PASS

SUNSET ON THE GULF OF MEXICO

IT'S NOT ALWAYS SUNNY IN FLORIDA

 

WE MADE IT!!

We left Waukon last Wednesday at noon with the threat of more bad weather coming.  We ventured to Hannibal, MO the first day and to Vicksburg, MS the next.  There we toured the visitor center at the Vicksburg battlefield and an interesting museum there in Vicksburg. We didn't tour the battlefield like we did in Chattanooga though. Because of the cold, icy weather they had here in the south, one of the buildings at the motel in Vicksburg had  frozen and broken water pipes.  There was no problem for us, so we continued on to Fort Walton Beach where we spent the night (Friday) and attended the Gold Wing Road Riders chapter meeting there the next morning.  We arrived in Panama  City Beach Saturday around noon.  I was on the bike by 12:30!!  I've put on about 200 miles so far, but my PMS isn't quite cured yet! We plan to attend the Panama City GWRRA chapter meeting tonight. Here's a few photos we took.

OUR DECK--READY FOR MEMORIAL DAY COOKOUT!

DRIFT IN OUR BACK YARD

WRAPPED UP WING AT VICKSBURG

NEAR IOWA BATTALION AT BATTLEFIELD

MUSEUM IN VICKSBURG

PCB TODAY--FOGGY BUT SIXTY SEVEN DEGREES