Before I rode to the west coast “The Sun Coast” of Florida, I decided to see just where in this state a friend of mine, who recently moved, was actually living. I acquired his address and how about that – he lives within 25 miles of my Sarasota destination. I couldn’t very well be right across the street and not at least stop in and say howdy – so that’s exactly what I did. Bob was out having fun on his latest toy, a zero turn radius riding lawn mower but was able to pull himself away from that for a little catch up time over a cold glass of iced tea. First thing I noticed when I walked into the house was what a MASSIVE organ Bob has.
Now that is one large organ. This thing must have 300 buttons and keys – all digital of course
Bob, Susie and I sat and talked about retirement, the FAA, guns, computers, and various other topics for a couple hours then it was time for me to get back on the road. Always nice to be able to drop in on old friends and you can just pick up where you left off years ago….
Gotta be thirty years we’ve known each other – If I only had a picture from 30 years ago….
From Bob’s house I had to ride through down town to get to Ski’s house. On the way this noise from my bike was starting to be of some concern. There has been a squeak that I thought was just the trailer hitch but after several attempts to find out exactly where it was coming from – the trailer hitch was eliminated. I actually thought that I might have a broken motor mount or possibly even a cracked frame (I know – the Irish always go to the worst possibility). Anyway – as soon as I got to Ski’s house I called Rossiter’s Harley Davidson and they said they would move me to the front of the line, and if I got it right in, they would do everything they could to have me out of there by the following afternoon. The next day I called them around noon and the bike was ready – all they could find was a missing rubber mount for one of the exhaust pipes. The squeak is gone but I’m not too sure about everything being fixed – I’m probably just being paranoid. Whatever – ride it till it breaks then get a U-Haul.
Phil, Shelley and I had a great time. Mostly just relaxing around the house and consuming more than a few adult beverages. We went to a Tiki Bar after we got the bike all squared away. I’d never been to a real Tiki Bar. It’s just an open air bar along the side of the road. I didn’t get a good picture but I’ve been assured that we will encounter lots of them on our travels – so look for a picture in a future post. It was a chamber of commerce day in Sarasota, not hot or humid – perfect for relaxing at the Tiki Bar. Thank you for your hospitality – Slainte.
Phil & Shelley at the Tiki Bar on “The Intercostal” Osprey, FL – near Casey Key
Time to head back to the other side of the state again. Since I went north of Lake Okeechobee on my way over, I went south of it on my way back. The landscape was much the same – many orange orchards and cattle ranches. I did pass a citrus processing plant and I could smell the oranges for half a mile before I got there – they must have had 30 truck loads of oranges there for processing. I thought about stopping, but it’s Sunday, probably no tours on Sunday. It was another easy day on the bike – sure is nice to have that squeak fixed.
Cattle ranch along the road in central Florida – I know, wrong thing in focus but at 70 mph, that’s about the best I can do.
