Harley2004's Travel Blog

Tuscaloosa, Alabama, April 23rd, 2004 - Tuscaloosa, Alabama

 This place was Average visited Apr 23, 2004

Beautiful day again today. Cool this morning, partly cloudy, but plenty of sun. Out of the motel at 9:00AM for a kind of short ride on the back roads. I split the trip from Dothan, Alabama to Memphis, Tennessee, killing some time to see what the storms are going to do. They are still having rain, snow, hail in the part of Oklahoma, Missouri and Kansas where we are headed. Nice ride today, just North on Highway 231 out of Dothan which runs into Highway 82 just South of Montgomery and follow Highway 82 around Montgomery and on to Tuscaloosa. Spring is definitely here in this part of the world. All the trees have leaves, many wild flowers in bloom along the road and in the fields. The leaves are just beginning to come out on the pecan trees. It was also nice to ride on some winding roads through hills instead of always on flat land like we have in Florida. Our motel for the night is just off of Highway 82 near the Tuscaloosa Mall. After we checked into the motel we took a ride to Wal-Mart to see if I could get some prescription glasses. No deal, they would not make a pair of prescription glasses from my glasses. Insisted they needed a written prescription. Guess they don’t need the business. Anyway back into the motel after a short but great ride of only 204 miles, 7,560 miles this trip, 129,220 total miles. Oh, yes, it was actually 84 degrees when we arrived in Tuscaloosa. Wonder how long our luck is going to hold out.

posted Apr 11, 2005 | Comments (0)

Dothan, Alabama, April 22nd, 2004 - Dothan, Alabama

 This place was Amazing visited Apr 22, 2004

Got to sleep a little later today. Weather is partly cloudy and in the upper 60’s with a predicted high of 84. Should be nice and warm by the time we go to the registration area at 2:00PM for the ABC’s of Touring Picture. According to the weather channel, they are having rain and hail still in the area we are headed to next. That’s Northeastern Oklahoma, Southwestern Missouri, Eastern Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri. Hope it all has cleared out before our arrival. If things work out right, by the end of next week we will have the ABC’s of Touring pictures of the signs for Tenneessee, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Kansas, the small city of Xenia, Kansas and the Harley Davidson plant North of Kansas City, Missouri. Spent part of the morning on internet banking and making motel reservations on thru to Kansas City, Missouri. The motel we are in today does not have high speed internet and the lines into the MSN number here are overworked and are very slow. Went out to the Peanut Fairgrounds at 1:30PM for early registration event. We’re not registering, but need a picture of the ABC’s of Touring banner and I hoped it would be posted by 2:00PM. Banner wasn’t posted, but I asked one of the officials where it was and he stated it’s inside and he would put it up right now. He put it up and then took the picture of us, with the bike and the banner. We took a couple of back up pictures. That’s our first rally picture for this year and 64 points now towards the ABC’s of Touring and the first point we’ve added since we got the picture of the California state sign. There was nobody at the rally registration site so we returned to town. On the way back I got a "lovebug" behind my sun glasses and put my finger inside the glass lens to get rid of the bug before I got it in my eye and my glasses fell off onto the highway. I quickly stopped and got off and Peggy walked back to get them just as a dumb a__, in a cage made a U-turn and ran over them. Probably intentionally. Oh, well, they were from an old prescription that was several years old and I couldn’t see very well out of them anyway. Got to find a new pair. We’re in the event hotel and the group is gathering. The first two trailers arrived about 11:00AM. They parked the trailer in a motel parking spot, placed their pick-up truck in another parking spot and then of course their bike in another parking spot. I guess they think the motel should provide three parking spaces for each unit! Oh, yes, they had Alabama tags on the trailers. Anyway, back into the motel after only 16 miles today, 7,356 miles this trip, 129,016 total miles.

posted Apr 11, 2005 | Comments (0)

Dothan, Alabama, April 21st, 2004 - Dothan, Alabama

 This place was Amazing visited Apr 21, 2004

A beautiful day to ride again. Out of the motel under partly cloudy skies, light wind and upper 50 degree temperatures which climbed into the low 80’s by the time we got to Dothan, Alabama. Followed Interstate 75 North to Interstate 10 and then followed Interstate 10 West until it crossed Highway 231 near Cottondale, Florida. Took Highway 231 North for the remaining 32 miles into Dothan, Alabama. We stopped at the Alabama State sign and got additional pictures for the ABC’s of Touring program. We already had pictures of the Alabama state sign on the Interstate, but it was a large sign with the Alabama letter diagonally across the sign and was hard to read. The sign today is much more legible. After checking into the motel at 1:30PM, we visited the Dothan Harley Davidson dealer to get information on the HOG Rally. It is an extremely friendly dealership. Bought a tail light bulb for the bike and the guy at the parts counter was kind enough to loan me a screw driver to put it in with. Also, we have checked many Harley Davidson stores looking for a new helmet shield for Peggy’s HJC Helmet she bought at the Harley Davidson store in Nashua, New Hampshire. Dothan Harley Davidson store had one in stock and even put it on Peggy’s helmet. Registration is from 2 to 6PM tomorrow at the National Peanut Festival Fairgrounds plus we are staying in the Event motel, so we should be able to fine the ABC’s of Touring Banner without any difficulty. Finally back into the motel after a nice long ride of 246 miles, 7,340 miles this trip and exactly 129,000 total miles.

posted Apr 11, 2005 | Comments (0)

Alachua, Florida, April 20th, 2004 - Alachua, Florida

 This place was Great visited Apr 20, 2004

Finally got some warm weather. Was a little cool when we left South Florida today, but it warmed up nicely as we proceeded into Northern Florida. Felt good to do a nice long ride again. Those 40 mile trips just don’t scratch the itch to ride. We used the Florida Turnpike to make a fast exit from South Florida, changing to Interstate 75 where it joins the Florida Turnpike South of Ocala. We stopped at Exit Number 354 in Ocala for gasoline and then at a Krystal for a cup of coffee. Ran into a member of Palm Beach HOG who recognized us and brought us up to date on a few things we did not know about the HOG Group. Interesting, but we won’t go into that here. Can’t even remember this guys name, but he lives in Salt Springs now and is still a member of Palm Beach HOG. On the way out of Krystal we also ran into a guy from Boynton Beach who was fishing in this area. Wearing the Palm Beach HOG colors make one easily recognizable and gets some interesting banter going. Finally got hot later this afternoon. Rode out for supper without the heavy coat. Nice to be able to ride again in the hot sun. Into the motel at 2:30PM after a really nice ride of 272 miles today, 7,094 miles this trip, 128,754 total miles.

posted Apr 11, 2005 | Comments (0)

West Palm Beach, Florida, April 19th, 2004 - West Palm Beach, Florida

 This place was Amazing visited Apr 19, 2004

Out early again today for the trip into downtown West Palm Beach. We didn’t know exactly where we were going but we wanted to get there early and have plenty of time to find our way around. At 8:00AM it was cool, lower 60’s, so it’s back into the heavy leather coat, even if it is in South Florida. Business taken care of downtown we headed by Palm Beach Harley Davidson to buy a new pair of boots. No luck again, didn’t have any I liked that would fit, so I’ll just have to use another pair of cowboy boots that I’ve had for quite some time. At least they are comfortable. Peggy noticed the brake pad seemed to be squeeking, so it was off to Turbo’z, my "wrench". Couldn’t find anything wrong, still plenty of pad left and they work, they just squeek just before I stop the bike. Won’t worry about it, as long as they continue to work. Posted some pictures taken of us at the local HOG Group "Chili Cook-Off" event that we attended yesterday. Not many miles again, only 47 miles today, 6,822 miles this trip, 128,482 total miles.

posted Apr 11, 2005 | Comments (0)