RIDING IN FLORIDA

 I'm not trying to make you guys that have your bikes and convertibles in storage jealous, but just to keep you informed, Bob & Julie have arrived in Panama City Beach, FL.  We arrived on the 31st, and I couldn't wait to get the trike off the trailer because I wanted to join the Gold Wing chapter in Ft. Walton for their annual New Year's day ride.

We ended up having a dozen bikes and one car on the ride.  The leader (every bit as good as Bob) took us on some winding back roads through Florida and Alabama.  He took us to Enterprise, AL to Shane's Rib Shack for eats.  We ventured through some small towns with names like Mossy Head, Argyle, Ponce DeLeon, Coffee Springs, and Sweet Gum Head.  The county roads seemed to be in really good shape.  The ride totalled around 150 miles with temps in the high 70's.  They actually treated me as somewhat of a celebrity after reading the article in Wing World.  I plan to join them again in February for their meeting and ride afterwards.  We also plan to attend chapter get-togethers and rides with the Alabama chapter in Dothan.

I'm sorry to report that the Panama City Gold Wing chapter has closed.  Several years ago, the chapter president got tired of having to do all the work involved in keeping the chapter going, so he stepped down.  No one seemed to be very interested in taking over, and without any enthusiastic leadership and less riders the chapter closed.  We still have some friends here who were chapter members and hopefully we will be able to get together with them again while we are down here.

HERE'S WISHING ALL THE WEDNESDAY NIGHT RIDERS A HAPPY NEW YEAR!