FALL CRUISE

We had been traveling for over 2 months, but I wanted to go back to NC to spend Thanksgiving with my parents. Since we had been home less than a week and had just spent a couple days in Garner, Vicki was staying home.

So, I could fly, which I hate or drive, which sounded dull.  Fortunately, Jill and Monique came to town. They are new Vespa owners and Jill and I did some riding on Big Red and Scoot. Then the idea that had been at the back of mind jumped forward when Jill said "take Big Red". I looked at the weather and decided to go for it. I would make it a trial run for the Scooter Cannon Ball Race that I have entered for next April.  This was not to be the leisure ride I normally do. This was get on Big Red and ride like I stole it.

I left St. Pete at 6:30 AM and arrived in Orangeburg, SC at 5:15 PM.  That was sun up to sun down, a 10:45 day. Other than fuel stops, a 20 minute lunch break and waiting 20 minutes at a train crossing, it was riding all day. There were was some cold tempartures with a little drizzle, but mostly cool and sunny. I did a record 479 miles. About 22 miles of expressway, but the rest was US301 that was a mix of rural 2 and 4 lane road. I was WOT (wide open thortle) most of the way.  Fuel average was 52 miles per gallon.  The WOT really burns the fuel. Normally I get 60 to 75 miles per gallon.

The next day was 250 miles WOT.  It started cold but warmed up quickly. I had tried to buy a new armoured riding jacket in St. Pete but Jill said I had to have a red one. This morning I would have been glad to have even a pink one.

I left friday the day after Thanksgiving headed home and it was 34 degrees, but thankfully, my Momma had bought me new red winter riding jacket and I had bought winter riding gloves. It stayed cold for a long time. I arrived in Beaufort, SC in time for happy hour.  300 miles.

The next day I made the run for home. Weather was warm and traffic not to bad. 425 in 9 hours. My ass was sore, but it was fun.

The hard part of this trip was that I flew by lots of interesting stuff to stop and check out.  From the coffee pot on top of a 1930's gas station to the back packers walking on US301. All of it was pulling at me, but this was another mission. I did get one good story in Jessup, Ga.  I stopped at Charlies for breakfast. $5.50 for all you could eat fresh buffet including drink. Not setting under the hot lamp all day food. This was really fresh. There were to pecan farmers talking about grafting trees and that was very interesting. Then one started on to book and movie he had seen about some people who had planned to kidnap President Lincoln. The conversation progressed to present day. The older gentleman started talking about how this relates to Gitmo and the unfairness of the whole situation. I was not sure I heard right and listened closer. Yep, he said 10 years is long enough to hold people with out charging them.  This was music to my ears. A sensible red neck.

Next a women came in. The waiteress explained about the buffet and the price and the women said she and husband would take it. Then she went out in the parking lot and yelled at her husband "hurry up, they have a buffett"!!!!!! Like they were going to run out or something. There was only me and the pecan farmers in the restuarnt. A elder skinny man walked in that good have eaten all day and probably not added a pound.

It was great to get home. Especially that pumpkin martini Vicki had waiting for me.

10,902 mi to 12,353  mi = 1451

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CONCLUSION

4000 miles ended up at 4921.  If I had known that I was that close to 5000 miles I would have ridden across Florida and spent the night at the Hampton Inn in Perry, my usual last night on the road, and drunk a gallon or so of free margarita's.  There was surely no tequila in the ones I had in Flagler Beach.

Of the 34 days on the road, I rode Big Red 30 of days.  Everyday was not a transit day but Big Red was the main means of transportation on the whole trip.

No one tried to kill me and, for the first time, I did not try to kill myself.

I only had to wear the rain gear one day.  The weather was great until the last two days in Florida when the combination of heat and humidity were stifling.

It was another great trip.  However, I saw lots of damage from natural disasters and talked to some people who were not doing well economically.  Most of the rural people have always suffered financially but with the cut back in services their lives are more difficult.

I visited with many farmers and I have decided that most of our farmers are now share croppers once again.  They may own the land and equipment but they are contracted to grow for the major corporations.  If the corporation decides to cut the price these farmers have no choice but to take the cut.  There is no free market, it is what corporate America wants it to be.  Several farmers told me they had shunned government programs in the best.  As one said "if you don't get in, then there will be no problem of getting out".  Unfortunately he is now in the government programs because his corporate buyers want him their for their own advantages.

I was amazed at how many people I saw get out of the car and "dash" into a store and leave it running for 20 or 30 minutes.  Don't be whining about the price of gas if you continue to waste.

JAMES DEAN BYRD FOUNDATION AND ESCUELA BILINGUE LOS ALGARROBOS
The school is doing great and we raised $1,873 on this ride. If you have not bought a few miles yet, please click on the "donate" button and help the kids.
We thank all of those that gave and especially the Country Rode Motorsport for donations to the cause. Remember every dollar goes to the school project.

FOR THE VESPA PEOPLE
Big Red performed with no problems.

I put a brand new rear tire, rollers, weights and drive belt on at the beginning of the trip.

The rear tire was a Michelin City Pilot and I got right at 3,000 miles out of it.  I was hoping for better but it is what it is. It was replaced with a Pirrelle GTS24 and now has 2000 miles and is looking good.

We had to change the exhaust gasket at 8,000 +/- mile on the gasket.  This is OK, except the gasket costs, $34 and any time you remove the muffler you are supposed to change it.  I would think you should get more mileage out of it or at least make the gasket cheaper.  There are  alternatives and I may look into them.

I did not change any fluids.  I think changing oil more often than the manufacturer recommends is a waste. But that is just my opinion. Others will disagree.

I still find my notes from google maps and a print map the best guides. I did keep the Garmin on the scooter the whole trip and found it to mildly informing.  Many times the roads I was on were not even in the data base.  I have been using GPS since they were born, but not in cars or scooters. It does not have the flexiblity in need to roam.  Maybe there is something I am missing in the data base.  I have found the smart phone to be the most valuable electronic piece of equipment. I use it for navigating and finding important places like gas stations and hotels.

Be sure and let your credit card company know that you are traveling.One of the parameters for detecting cc fraud is multiple gas station fill ups in a short period of time, even if they are just $5 each. Some one did "borrow" my cc and was shopping in Calif while I was in New York.  Fortunately they were shopping in Walmart and my cc company knows I do not shop at Walmart.


WHAT'S NEXT
Not sure there will be another scooter trip this year, but you never know..  The next big scheduled trip will be next April when we hope to race in the Scooter Cannonball Run.  A rally race from Savannah, GA. to San Diego, CA.  


In Sept we will doing the "Poormans Orient Express" train trip from London to Istanbul.


All these and future adventures can be found at lostboater.com

Thank you for following our travels.
Ken

DAY 33 & 34

DAY 33


We left Beaufort at the crack of dawn....literally.

First stop was the gas station where my credit card was declined. My primary credit card had been cancelled a few days ago as some way or other it had wound up in California shopping at WalMart and even my credit card company knows I do not shop at WalMart. Fortunately I had the $6.14 to pay for the fill up.

We headed south for Savannah and a "Gucci" coffee.  When I pulled over to take a picture of the bridge I did not see the pile of glass until it was to late.  It was pull back into traffic and get clobbered or ride over the glass. Happily the tires were able to take the glass and there was no problem.

 Coffee was had at Goose Feathers.  This is a great little coffee shop/bakery I discovered on Scoot when we came through here in 2009.

After a great coffee and bagel we started our way out of town. This turned into an adventure as the GPS had no idea how to get out of town and so, as usual, I just winged it an not only did we get a good tour, but we eventually made it out of town headed south on US17.

I was running down the highway thinking there was going to be nothing to show you when I passed the "smallest chapel in the world".  Blew right by but said "what the heck" and made a u turn. There I met Jimmy McMillan and his son Chris.  He was sixth generation of the Le Count family that came to these parts as French Huguenots.  His family has been in the farming business since they landed in Georgia. We discussed the present state of farming.  He was a talker and I could fill pages about his farm, his family, his cars, his 9 tractors (his best tractor is a 1998 Russian one). Chris was interested in getting a scooter, but we could never talk about Big Red because his Dad would not shut up.  I don't even think he took breaths. He wins the talker of the trip award.  I stepped into the Chapel and met Le Shante Mary Robison. She too is 5 generation in this area. She come often to the chapel just to have a quiet moment and mediate. The quiet ended when we walked out side  I wanted to learn more about her but we made the mistake of stepping out side and getting Jimmy Mc into the conversation. When I realized that there was no hope of having a two way conversation I loaded up and headed out.

We headed for Brunswick and Woodbine.  I had been greatly anticipating lunch at Capt Stan's Smokehouse joint in Woodbine.  Sadly it was closed on Monday.  Capt Stan recognized the scooter from my previous visit and came out to say hello. I moved on down to Kingsland and Steffins restaurant for lunch. It  has been there since 1948 and just got it's fourth owner.

 brunswick bridge

 everyone always loves this sign

From there I headed to Jacksonville. Fires are everywhere and riding in the smoke was choking.

 smoke

 9a bridge in Jacksonville

We stopped into Bromos Porsche for a visit. Don had just left on a plane to Wisconsin for this weeks race and the car had left on Sunday.  But, there are always race cars of some nature in the garage.  I even got to touch a 2.3 million dollar car. It is a Miller collectors car and they actually drive it!

1963 watson indy racer

paul, franck and andy (he has been here 40 years)

From there we headed down A1a to Palm Coast to spend the night with my old friend Ed.  It was hot and humid !!!!!!!! I had to stop and take a cooling off break before I traveled the relatively short distance from Jax to Ed's house.

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DAY 34  JUNE 31
HEADING HOME

Ed and I headed over to A1A to go done to Flager Beach for a "Gucci" coffee.  I immediately started to bitch to myself when we came to the $2 toll for the private bridge. Fortunately, Ed paid for me since as a resident he only pays $1.25

Over breakfast Ed looked at my route on his smart phone and pointed out I could take Cty 305 at Cody Corners as an alternate to get home.  I said no I would just stick to my route but as I was riding down highway 11 I passed 305, thought about it, and made a u turn.  It was a nice alternative.  Back on my main route, FL 40, even though I was headed home, I got bored of riding on the long straight road. For the first time on this trip the Garmin came in handy. I told it to take me "home" by the shortest non-highway route. It said turn left and I obliged and it was good alternative.  Again today it is HOT!!!!! This took me down some nice shaded roads. After about 45 minutes, the Garmin tried to take me a direction I did not want to go, so I ignored and headed off in my own direction.

Sadly, I started to close in on home and the crowded urban environment that I live in. Not sad to get home, just sad to be leaving the open road.  I really do love these trips. Just 10 miles from it was so hot I had to take a cool down break.  It was not this bad running across Kansas last year in 110 degree heat.

Big Red back in the barn with Scoot

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DAY 32

DAY 32 JUNE 19


I got off to a later start than I planned.  My parents were up early and the newspaper had come with the article about their anniversary, so I had to stay and discuss it. (N&O article)  When I was finally ready to leave, Mom asked if the phone on the table was mine. I said no, it was my brothers and he would be by to get it later.  Twenty five miles down the road I realized I had left my phone a Mom's to0.  So, I back tracked the 25 miles and started all over again.

There is not much going on on Sundays in the rural areas I travel so when we came to long straight stretches of I let Big Red run.  I hope to do the Scooter Cannon Ball run across the U.S. next year and I really needed to ride it "like I stole it" some to find out how it feels and the gas mileage.  Big Red was steady as a rock, but the gas mileage really took a hit.  At WOT (wide open throttle) the gas mileage went from 65 mph to 50 mph.

 we turned 10,000 miles today.  that is 4168 miles on this trip

 charleston bridge

About 1 pm we rolled into the St. Johns Yacht Marina just south of Charleston.  Our good friend Louise, who lives on her boat, is here for about 3 months working and we really wanted to see her again.  She was our friend Bob's best buddy before he passed away.  You may remember Bob's ash's traveled  to California with me last year.  We found out Louise was just as excited to see us.  We were here first visitor at her new location.  She had a perfect lunch prepared; chilled sliced fruit and avocado dip with chilled water from the "Pig". We really wanted to stay longer but after about an hour and half we hit the road.  We had to make a few more miles today.

 louise proudly showing her "pig" card from the piggley wiggley

Riding to Beaufort, SC had more traffic and so Big Red was reined in for this part.  It also was also hot, 112 F at one of the stop lights.  We rolled into Beaufort about 5 pm, checked into the only hotel right downtown and headed out for a couple of frozen margaritas to chill off.

the glass was refilled several times

379 miles


a disclaimer.  not all maps reflect the exact route, but are a close approximation of actual route.  most are pretty damn close and if you zoom in you can see the route. (yes bob, this is for you)

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DAY 28 TO 31

DAY  28 TO 31

I spent 5 wonderful days in Garner with my parents, family and friends.  My parents are in their 90's, living at home and going strong.  Mom and I worked in her garden and flowers and Dad and I went out to breakfast and went over old photos and detailed what they are about.  They start in 1937 when he joined the horse artillery and ended 24 years later when he retired.  Mom raised five boys while Dad was overseas and did a damn fine job of it.

 The event ended with a large 70th wedding anniversary for them at the local church where close to 100 family and friends attended.  At was a grand event and they were featured on the front page of the local living section of the newspaper.  I learned from the newspaper that the government does not even track marriages beyond 50 years.

 

While there I had some new experiences.  I helped extract honey from beehives.  Evidently this can only be done while drinking beer. 

my buddy jake

 

I checked off a couple of restaurants I had not gone to in years, but had a hankering to visit.  Circus Circus is my favorite chili dog dispenser and they were still great after all these years.  Next was Jade Garden and Chinese restaurant near NC State U.  Vicki and I had our wedding reception there.  The owner at that time was a friend and we told him to let the cook do whatever he wanted to do. It was a fanatic meal.  It was nice to visit but the food was just normal Americanized Chinese.

 

I was kindly invited by the Raleigh Scooter Club to attend the monthly meeting.  The only problem is I got the invitation on Wednesday but did not read it till Thursday and I was as we say, a day late and a dollar short.  Thanks Star for inviting me and hopefully I can make another on in the future.

 

I had not written done my mileage when I arrive and was surprised when I went out and found it to be 9876. That has to be a good omen.

big red gets a bath

 

THE SCHOOL

While we take this short break we would like to remind you that, as usual, we are also riding to raise money for the Escuela Bilingue los Algarrobos in the small town of Canoa, Ecuador.  These kids, like many around the world, need help to get ahead and that is what we are trying to do.  So, if you can, buy a few miles for the kids.