It's spring, so it must be time to go to Florida! - March 23rd ~ 28th, 2010

In the past my ride reports for my Florida trips have been fairly long to extremely long and filled with pictures.  Unfortunately I'm going to break that tradition this time.  There isn't much to tell and I didn't take a single photo the whole time I was gone.

The truth is that what has become my annual spring trip to visit my Dad was very much on hold this year, at least until I found a job anyway.  But we got a phone call on Friday the 19th from my Dad's step son and later wife explaining that he wasn't doing well and was in the hospital.  He had been complaining of extreme pain in his neck, shoulder and arms so they took him to the ER where as a precaution an EKG was performed.  The results of this and high enzyme levels in his blood that indicated alarmed the ER folks so they transported him by ambulance to Ft Myers where his cardiologist is.  There they determined that an angiogram should be done as a precaution.  This was scheduled for Monday the 22nd.

Julie and I discussed whether or not I should go down, well actually she told me to go and I resisted.  There wasn't anything I could do except wait on the test results and I hated to spend the money on the trip right at the moment.  So I decided to wait until Monday to hear how the tests went and then decide what to do. 

The test results were good, no real plague build up so there would be no need for a stent or any heart damage.  Good news!  At the same time it was explained to me that the high enzyme levels were indications of recent heart episodes and that Dad had lost a lot of weight since his surgery back in November.  All of this and the urgency in the voices of Dad's wife and step son prompted me to think maybe I should go on down.

So Monday night Julie and I started packing up the FJR for the trip and on Tuesday morning I headed out.  What I call "Florida Route 1", which is US 601 to US 301 to US 27 is my preferred route but I had waited until mid morning for slightly warmer temperatures to leave and didn't want to drag in after dark at my normal 'pit stop' location of Baldwin, Florida.  So I bit the bullet and headed for the Interstates.  I took I-85 to Charlotte, then I-77 to Columbia, South Carolina, then I-26 toward I-95.  My first fuel stop was technically in Orangeburg, South Carolina but in reality it wasn't far from I-95 where I put the FJR in the wind south bound.

I droned on down the Interstate, happy to be on a bike, but wishing I was somewhere else...  Construction was light and traffic was, as usual, moving on.  The only really interesting thing to happen was a trucker saw a sticker for the BRP (Blue Ridge Parkway) on my rear fender and mistook it for an MTF (Motorcycle Tourers Forum), noted my CB antenna and spoke to me on the radio about it.  Turns out he his an MTF guy and rider too so I slowed up a bit and we chatted until I jumped off I-95.  I was taking A1A and US 301 so that I could head for Baldwin and spend the night.  It was a little after 6:00 pm when I got there.  Not bad.  Not a lot of fun and not very scenic, but that wasn't the idea.

I had trouble sleeping during the night and when I did get to sleep I slept a little later than I normally do.  That put me leaving the motel around 9:00 am.  Once again I veered from my normal route which is to take SR 100 in Starke, Florida over to US 19 and run it south through the Ocala National Forest.  I have done this to avoid the traffic and congestion from Ocala over to Leesburg, but it's a little further.  This time I opted to go straight down 301 to US 27 and later I wished I hadn't.  Traffic sucked.  But I stayed on the bike and rode on, not stopping until I got to Lake Wales, Florida some 250 miles south when I needed fuel.  Then rode straight through again to Dad's house in Clewistion arriving just after 3:00 pm.  Total distance for the trip down; 762.3 miles.

With the exception of running two errands to the store for them and the nights in their spare bedroom after he tired out, I spent the rest of that afternoon, the next two days and Saturday morning sitting in a chair next to Dad's bed listening to him talk.  And man did he talk!  It had been determined that the pain in his neck, shoulders and arms were due to a pinched nerve.  Hmmph.  All this time I thought I was the cause of the pain in his neck, at least thats what he always told me!  Each day, really almost by the hour, I could see his spirits lifting.  He had lost his appetite during the previous days and weeks so I encouraged him to eat while he talked.  Actually I was kind of sneaky about it.  I'd bring in fruit or whatever in bowls or a plate and lay them beside him on the bed.  Then as he talked I'd occasionally reach over and grab a bite myself.  It didn't take long before he was reaching down and 'snacking' with me as we talked! 

When Saturday rolled around I hated to, but knew I needed to head back home.  I think it was close to 11:00 when I hit the road and headed up US 27.  This time I did take US 19 through the forest though and it was a much, much more pleasant ride. 

On SR 100 I had an interesting experience though.  It was getting late in the day, I was ready to stop for the night and Baldwin was a few miles up the road.  The FJR just seems to want 80 mph, I mean I really have to watch my speed while traveling.  The truth is I was letting it roll a little bit across that piece of country road just wanting to get to Baldwin.  I noticed three cars in a line coming the other way and eased off the throttle as they came close, then noticed the one in the middle was a deputy sheriff.  I chopped the throttle at the very instant he turned on the blue lights and hit his brakes.  Dammit!

Looking in my mirror I saw him initiate a very quick and hurried turn around, undoubtedly expecting what looked like a sport bike from the front to run.  I was already slowing, and by the time he had gotten completely turned around I had my four way flashers on and was almost stopped on the side of the road.  When he pulled up behind me I was off the bike, had my gloves off and was taking my helmet off.  The officer was a younger man and he walked up to the other side of the bike and very politely introduced himself to me then thanked me for stopping so soon and easily!  I really didn't know what to say at that point, but he continued and asked me if I knew why he had stopped me.  I replied, "I'm sure I was going a little faster than he would like to have seen me going..." He smiled and said "76 mph."  I hung my head and said "Really?  My speedometer was showing 70, which I know is speeding (55 mph speed limit) but, well, there wasn't any traffic to speak of and this thing (pointing to the FJR) is so smooth..."  He smiled at me and I continued, "Listen, I've got a lot of respect for law enforcement and you guys have a tough job, so let me explain that my license is in my wallet, that is in this bag on the fuel tank, and my registration is in the left saddlebag.  I'm going to have to open both to get them.  But I'll open the tank bag first and let you look before I get my wallet, and I'll open the saddlebag when your ready we'll do the same thing with it.  OK?"  He smiled again and told me he just needed my license, so I did just as I said and gave it to him.

He went to his car and I stepped around to the other side of the bike and stood there a minute.  He was getting out of his car when I started to take my jacket off.  "Don't do that..." he said. "Keep your jacket on." And he handed me back my license.  "Slow it down just a bit, OK?" he went on, "We've had some deer run out in front of vehicles on this road and I just need you to slow down just a little.  You obviously know what your doing and have a good bike there, but just in case of a deer it'd be better if you were taking it a little easier."  I told him no problem and that I appreciated it and shook his hand.  Then he sat there behind me until I had gotten my helmet and gloves on, then pulled out in the road and blocked it for me while I pulled out.

Very cool.

I did slow down, and got to Baldwin a little after 6:00 pm.  The first thing I did when I got in my room was turn on the TV and found the weather channel.  I couldn't believe what I saw.  The forecast was for high winds, rain and a strong possibility of hail and tornado's in the afternoon for most of Georgia and South Carolina.  Sumbitch.

Julie and I talked on the phone for a while and she rather strongly urged me to get up and leave very, very early so that I'd have a better chance of missing the storms.  She was obviously right and I spent the evening getting ready for an early departure.

At 5:30 am I was on the road.  I was in my rain pants and had the tank bag covered, if it started raining I was prepared.  It was still dark and to be honest going up that part of US 301 in the early morning darkness was eerie.  Now once again I found myself in need of making time, and as bad as I wanted to and had planned to continue up US 301, I turned off and headed for I-95 again.  It was still dark as I merged onto the big road and with little to no traffic on the road I felt somewhat better about it.

The sun started to rise about the time I got to the Jekyll Island area and I'll always remember the sight of a suspension bridge in the distance off to my right in the early morning light.  In fact I wish now I'd stopped and took a picture of it, but I was on a mission.

I stopped north of Savannah for fuel and to get a cup of coffee to shake the chill off.  While fueling the bike I had an interesting conversation with the guy next to me fueling his SUV.  He was very interested in the bike and fascinated by the distance I was riding.  His eyes got huge when I told him that my son and I had just done a ride nearly 1100 miles long in just over 18 hours and laughed when I told him that made us official Iron Butt riders!  Later as I was sipping on my coffee I checked in with Julie and she told me the storms were coming in early and that I'd better quit dilly dallying and get my butt home, so I made my mind up to Iron Butt it home.

My next stop was in Orangeburg, South Carolina for fuel.  Up until I had gotten on I-26 it was an absolutely beautiful morning, but heading west on I-26 I could see the clouds rolling in.  As I pulled into the gas station I heard some truckers on the CB talking about how bad the rain was in Columbia... *sigh*  One fueled up I decided that instead of heading into the rain and having to deal with it on an Interstate among cars and trucks I'd go up US 601.  That way I'd be able to travel slower, safely and not have to contend with much traffic.

The entire way up 601 I seemed to be running just behind the rains.  The roads were damp, but no standing water and not a drop was falling.  At the same time, the sky's off to the west were U-G-L-Y, and from the weather reports the storms should be coming my way.  Yet somehow I managed to stay dry.  In fact I didn't see a rain drop until I got to Kannapolis, North Carolina, not far from the house, then rode the rest of the way home in the rain.  It was about 2:30 pm when I rolled into the house and I had covered 786 miles since leaving Clewiston. 

The total miles for the trip was 1548.4, which works out to almost 400 miles a day, and they were all relatively 'short' days.  However, I told Julie when I got home that between this trip, riding down I-85 and back the other week-end to ride some mountain roads and the SS1K Bryan and I did before that, I've had enough Interstate riding for the year!  I'm ready for the mountains!

Bruce