That's all folks

I arrived home Sunday afternoon after a long ride from Panama City Beach. I elected to take the back roads and not the interstate. I was rewarded with a beautiful albeit hot and slow return to Tampa. I followed U.S. 98 most of the way until I hit the Sun coast Parkway.

Did I say hot? Hot doesn’t seem an adequate term. Hotter than Hell seems more like it. I went through a lot of water., drinking and just pouring it on me. I kept wishing all morning for rain to cool me down and got my wish but I was only five miles from home.

The bike ran well until I pulled into the driveway. The electrical system decided to go south and now it’s in the shop.

I can say it was a great adventure and easier than I thought it would be. There is something about being on the motorcycle all day as the countryside full of sights and smells that never seems to get old.

The trip is over and my Bucket List has one less item so it seems as I should be adding to the list. Can’t say what it is just yet as my wife reads this blog.

My adventure by the numbers


4130 miles traveled

12 states

80 or so gallons of gas

50 miles per gallon approximate

10 different beds (Alone. Ok there was one night with a dog).

16 family members I shared a meal with

2 people who stopped to offer assistance to me when I ran out of gas and had a minor mechanical problem

3 horses, 2 mules, 5 dogs, 3 cats, one plastic elephant and Zirky received a pat on the head and a scratch behind the ear

Too many detours to count ( I took a lot of right turns just out of the blue to see what was down the road. (My thanks to Dick H who suggested that)

Bugs on windshield were too numerous to count

1 submarine visited

1 laughing horse

1 30-foot tall Harley guy

1 spaceship

1 airplane made of hay

1 Longhorn cattle drive

1 scooter ride in Hannibal, Mo

1 embarrassing chicken dance

49 degrees the coolest morning

100 degrees the hottest day

1 person who mooned me

1 house found with 2 airplanes, submarine, and helicopter sticking out the walls.

1 photo of me in president Clinton’s the oval office.

0 accidents

4 of my friends standing in a cornfield with me

many mistakes by Zirky my plastic frog that was blamed on me.

1 really great trophy presented to me by my daughter Kellie. (new photo)

Thanks to all my family and friends who supported me in this trip ,especially my lovely bride Monique.


Mike Pease

ps. It was about time.

Family pics, New Orleans, big guns and an ass and heading home

Finally got to a place where I could get some family photos uploaded. Made it to my Daughter Toni's house in Justin, Texas. She also invited my daughter Kim, my grand daughters Meghan and Bailey. Also there was Collie, Toni's husband, grandsons Noah and Thomas and Kim's boyfriend Mo. There was also the assorted dogs, cats and horses. Thanks for a very nice evening.

After Texas I arrived in Alexandria, La. in good shape. Another little know fact. I was stationed in Alexandria a long time ago and went looking for recognizable places after I checked into the motel. Nothing found. Even the Air Force Base was gone and the house I once owned was gone. Gotta say Alexandria is very low on places for excitement and fun. A quick dinner and back to the motel and early to bed.

An early start for New Orleans got me there before noon. Found the Condo (Thanks Lynn) located in the French Quarter, checked in and walked the streets in the quarter looking for some entertainment. Saw a guy advertising 'Big Ass Beers'. Sign should have said Big Ass Guy selling Big Ass Beers.(photo) I also saw the assorted sax players, hookers, drummers, hookers and Mule drivers but the best was one was Uncle Willie and his stuffed toy dog Little Willie. Uncle makes his money by wearing a white tux and posing with the dog at street corners. He was one of the best I've seen in the quarter. (photo)
The Rains didn't spare the French Quarter. A downpour scattered tourists and locals and of course the hookers.(photos)

The next morning I left New Orleans at 5:30am heading for Panama City Beach. Thick fog covering the highways (photo and yes I stopped to make the photo) and a pretty sunrise was a nice surprise. Then the rains came. I changed into and out of my rain suit so many times I thought I was Mons Venus stripper. I did Make a tourist stop in Mobile to check out the USS Alabama and assorted military plans, tanks and submarines. It's Worth a stop if you ever go through there.

Panama City Beach greeted me with temps in the very high 90's. God I hate hot weather. Went to the beach to see if there was oil. Beautiful sand and no oil. Made a photo of condos lining the sand and an artsy photo of a Gull.

Pizza and beer in the room tonight and an early start for the last leg to Tampa. I am about ready to finish this great trek. I'll publish a wrap-up when I get back.

Cheers

Bad drinks, a big chicken, a sale and Hermine chases me

Hurricane Hermine chased me into and around Texas got me wet only one time. My daughter Kellie and family took me out for an early Birthday dinner and I got to make a fool of myself (photo) It was some sort of ritual where restaurant staff sing as the Birthday person gets to look stupid during a dance. Of course I couldn't let that go by with playing it up and really looking stupid. Had a drink early in the evening and it really made my eyes light up...I need more of that stuff.(photo) Thursday I Went to my other daughter Toni's house and she got the rest of the clan to her house in Justin, Texas. Toni, her sister Kim, with Grand Kids Noah, Thomas, Bailey and Megan. Collie, husband of Toni and Mo, Kim's boy friend along with two dogs, couple of horses and a cat. Great dinner, great company and a chance to catch up on the past.

This morning I left Justin, Texas with Hermine howling at me but no rain until I got near downtown Dallas in Atlanta kinda traffic. Crazy, Crazy, Crazy traffic. I just scratched Dallas off my list of places to move to.

The rain began and I pulled off the road to a funeral home covered driveway and put on my bright yellow rain suit. Just as I was leaving, the funeral guy pops out the door and asked if he can be of help. I told him he was too early " I'm still alive". A blank look and retreat back inside ended that encounter.

Of course I proved the old adage of - the faster you put on your rain gear the faster the rain stops. Not one to tempt an adage I kept the banana suit on until I hit Longview, Texas. I think I know why they named it longview. If you look around you will have a long view. There are just miles and miles of miles with nothing much to see. Back to the rain suit. Off came the gear and guess what, it rained on me. Not bad as it cooled me off from the 95 degree heat.

Just before I left Texas a for sale sign caught my attention. I sure would have liked to buy it but couldn't figure how to get it back to Florida (photo.
That may be too much for this old guy to handle.

I'll report tomorrow or the next...

Back in Texas and it sure is hot, wild cows and watering system

Mostly an uneventful trip from Little Rock to Weatherford, Texas. Left Little rock in 50 degree weather and landed in Texas at 95 degrees. What a swing of temps. Little Rock has an area like our beloved Ybor City with the exception it was done right. Lots of places to ear, several bars and tons of tourists. Ate at place called the Flying Fish. Catfish was outstanding and the decor is pretty funny. Fish with wings hanging on the walls.

The road to Texas was what some would say boring, straight, flat with little to see but miles and miles.

Speaking of boring, this posting is smack in the middle of boring but hope to liven it up later.

It's now later and I have at least something to report. I arrived at Brother Rick's and his lovely bride Gloria's house. Oh yeah, their two dogs greeted me at the gate.

Had a great time catching up with Brother Rick and his lovely bride Gloria, the old dog Sam (it was was too old and tired to care who I was) and the new dog Hanna who was a bit standoffish and liked to bark at me. Maybe she thought I was a new (old) dog coming into the household. We did come to an agreement. She would bark and I would ignore her.

Got a tour of Ft. Worth and the surrounding area. I've been gone too long and things sure have changed. The even a new Cowboy new stadium (photo). Made a trip to
TCU football field. Someone left the door open and Rick and I just walked in. (Little know fact. I attended TCU about a hundred years ago). (photo)

Made it to north side of Ft. Worth where the famous Billy Bob's Texas bar and rodeo arena are located . Got to see some wild and not so wild cattle on the way to the Northside. Met some honest to goodness cowboys and cattle drivers and the new watering system they recently installed and lots of fresh road apples. (Photos

Rode in the rain to my daughter's house. first rain I have been in for 2600 miles. (see photo of me in my fancy rain suit)

Now at my Daughter Kellie's house and being entertained by her kids Kayla (her artwork) and Jared his itouch he won. We spent some of the time in the garage with their dad Wayne looking for a tornado that was sighted nearby. No tornado touched down so no photo. Dag-nab-it!

I guess that is it for a while unless a tornado hits and then there will be lots of photos.

Don't drop that, road to little rock and Clinton Library

I guess I gotta confess to something. I dropped my bike. Standing still in front of the motel yesterday down it went. I've always heard it happens to everyone and I got my turn yesterday. No major damage to the bike but my ego sure took a hit along with a few very sore ribs. Hard to explain unless you saw it happen. I've a sneaky suspicion the frog had something to do with it for keeping him confined during the trip. Can't prove it but there were frog prints on the tank.

After a good nights rest it was off to Little Rock, Arkansas. Stopped off to see a concrete wall that is supposed to hold back the Mississippi River. Yeah
right. Made one last shot of a corn field and was surprised to see some of my friends there. Almost got to the fair city when I begin to see pigs everywhere, on the road, off the road, at gas stations and even in front of the hotel. After checking around I discovered they were really razorbacks as Arkansas had a football game planned for that day. Go Hogs! Go Gators with their first win of this year. They sure better get better.

I got a bit of an education today. Went to the President Clinton Library. Five bucks with a senior citizen discount got me in the front door. Pretty impressive place. Saw his Limo, and tons of photos of his campaign and all manor of presidential things. There was even a replica of the Oval Office. Couldn't believe the photo that was on the wall. (look closely at the photos).

Back in the room and resting up for tomorrow when I take off for Fort Worth, Texas.

Connecting with my roots and back in the saddle

Sorry for the break in this great literary piece. I spent the last couple days with my cousin Judy and her husband. I was treated to some great home cooking, a night at their lake house complete with a boat ride as well as some great red wine. Judy and I went exploring the countryside looking for my past. I found the one-room-schoolhouse I started school, the farm where I spent lots of time with her family. Nice to see the barn that brought back memories of building forts in the hay loft and her dad teaching me to drive a truck.

I tried to find some of my ancestors head stones in a cemetery overgrown with 7 foot high prairie grass. No luck. I did find the farm that my Grandfather (Gramps) farmed over 40 years ago. That place brought back some memories of farming, and living with no indoor plumbing or electricity. Man things sure changed in the past four decades. It couldn't be that I waited abut forty years to go back. My bad.

There was one surprise for me. I spied a beautiful lady with shining hair that hung over her brooding long lashed eyes. I tried playing it cool, teasing and my own brand of flirting to no avail. I then thought of a gift of some wild flowers and that did it. She slowly come over and snatched the bouquet from my hands and walked away. All hopes of spending quality time with her were crushed. (click on the slide show to see a picture of my beauty.

Now off to another day on the road. A 7 a.m. departure planed. The temperature was a brisk 49 degrees which means that at 70MPH it's sub-artic. Planning payed off with a jacket I had tucked away but it still was chilly for a few hours.

I cruised south on Missouri highways nursing my sore butt and began thinking of alternate forms of transportation. In Hannibal, Missouri I ran across a different type of wheeled vehicle but after a trial ride it seemed too small and besides I looked a bit stupid on that thing. (click on the photo show to to pictures). I left Hannibal behind and then came across one more potential ride in Wellsville, Missouri. No pilot was found but as I began to think that the one only one capable of flying that thing was the scarecrow from Oz. (hint- it was made out of straw)

Anyway I made it to Hayti, Missouri. Hayti by the way is pronounced 'hey-tie'. just in case you might come through here to experience a little bit of nothing. I did find a pizza joint that would deliver a pie and cold beer. Ain't America great?

Off to Little Rock, Arkansas tomorrow. Staying across the street from the Clinton Library. Can't wait to see the dress.

Cheers.

Flying saucer and a pink elephant

What day would not be complete if you didn't happen to see a flying saucer sitting in a field along I-55 just outside of Livingston, Illinois. After a quick exit and a ride back through town I came back to the saucer. Turns out to be an original Futuro home and as the web site says the Futuro house was designed by Matti Suuronen. Its design encapsulated the distinctive themes of 1960's Utopian architecture; mobility, increased leisure time and new materials. Residents of Tampa will recognize the distinctive shape. The 2001 Odyssey adult entertainment club on Dale Mabry Highway has one at their establishment. The saucer I found is empty but was once was a house until the Racoons got to it. The web site http://www.futuro-house.net/ says there are only 6 know homes left. Don't know if the one I saw is one of them. Bye the way, Zirky thinks it is a space ship sent by his planet Zirkonion friends to save him from this earthly life. But I wouldn't believe him since he's a plastic frog after all.
Along with the saucer is a 30' pink elephant and no I was not drinking and a 30 or so foot Harley Davidson Guy. (The statue began life as a Muffler Man who used to stand outside a muffler shop. Along side the The Pink Elephant Antique Mall is a giant Twisty Treat Ice Cream man who is claimed to have had a part in a 1990 Julia Roberts film called Flatliners. Anyway that was what i was told by the shop owners. If you are ever in Illinois and traveling along I-55 at exit 37, take some time and grab an ice cream and look over the collection. The owners are great.

I thought my day was complete with unusual things until I came across a Dutch
Windmill along side a back road outside the town of Industry,Illinois. Seems as it was part of a Tourist camp from around 1927.

I gotta say that Things have changed in the farm land since I was last here. Gone are most of the small farms with pigs, cows, some corn and replaced with thousand acre corn and bean operations with no fences as far as you can see. The equipment has gone from the small John Deere tractor to monster machines with more electronics than Best Buy.
Check out the photos. I'll be back in a couple day when I hit the road again heading towards Texas.

Day 2 and what a day it was

I guess if things go wrong it should all happen on the same day. Since I have a navigator and copilot named Zirky I defer all responsibility and accept no blame other than letting a small brained plastic frog take command. This was my day...Someone left the fuel switch in the wrong position and instead of having a small amount of reserve gas, the bike burned the every last drop 1/2 mile from an exit and gas. Needless to say the frog is also blamed for stopping the bike on the uphill not downhill for an easy coast to the station. The day was saved by Robert, another biker on the way home from work who stopped and took me to the station and back for a round trip of about 5 miles. He Would not take any payment, only a promise I would help the next stranded biker I saw. On the bright side I did however miss all the rain showers.

The next minor screw up was a fat frog finger punching the wrong destination into the GPS resulting in a scenic tour around Tennessee. All Zirky would say in plastic frog talk after my ranting was, #$@*# *&%, which is pretty strong language for a frog.

In spite of the above listed frog caused problems I did see some pretty cool places and sights.
Managed to make it to Lookout Mountain in North Georgia, Ruby Falls and Rock City. Now Rock City is that place that used to be advertised on barns around the nation. Well Rock City really isn't much. A local advised me not to waste the money, I did however make a photo of a Rock City souvenir. The craziest thing I found is a place called Sam's Tree House. (see photos) It's multi level conglomeration of a house, airplane, helicopter and submarine. According to info I found on the web it also features a submarine prop from an 1960's Elvis movie. It is supposed to be owned, built and lived in by Sam Edwards, author and adventurer, former aid to President Jimmy Carter. The airplane is a bedroom. There is also a den, library, kitchen. He has to duck under the branches to get around in his home. It was also featured on a network TV program on unusual homes. No one was home or maybe Sam just didn't want to get involved with a guy with a pet plastic frog.

Off to Illinois tomorrow and meet up with my cousin Judy and her husband Jim. I may not get through the door after she reads about my misadventures.
CHECK OUT THE PHOTOS.

First Day Out

I made it through the first day of riding. What was I thinking! Leaving Tampa at 7 a.m. with 476 miles on the first day out sounded OK but about half way through I said to myself, Self, this ain't too bad, until my butt chimed in and over-ruled my first thought. It took me a total of 7 hours 26 minutes of traveling time and a grand total of 8 1/2 hours total time. I am writing this standing up.

I managed to dodge rain the entire trip with just a few drops hitting me. Overcast all day and on the cool side.

I didn't see much along the way as I took the interstate. One big billboard I did see said
"What in Hell did I miss"? I'll try to find out what the hell that meant.
Traffic was unremarkable except for Atlanta. At least one million cars going bumper to bumper at 15 miles over the speed limit and me right in the middle. Maybe that sign was suggesting something. This was on a Sunday afternoon. I don't even want to see it during Monday rush hour.

In the future I'll eliminate Atlanta as a favorite place to drive. In comparison, Saigon and Paris seemed like a country drive.

Anyway, Zirky (my plastic frog traveling companion) are checked in a hotal so all is well here in beautiful downtown Kennesaw, Georgia.

I'm off for Paducah, KY in the morning. Not as far as today and maybe I'll see something worth writing about.

Aug 29th - Heading Out

It's Saturday and I'm all packed up with everything loaded but the big-screen TV. It seems as I just might have too much stuff, but I'll let you know. Tomorrow is Sunday, August 29 and I have about 400 miles ahead of me to my first stop in Kennesaw,Ga. That's my goal and here are my hopes...it's cool, It won't rain, I haven't forgotten something important, I won't run out of gas and 400 miles on the bike will be a piece of cake. Tomorrow night I'll check in and and let you know if any of the above came true so stay tuned.
I hope to make a few photos to add to the slide show you see on left of this post.

Mike

it's about time I did something I've wanted to do for years. I'll be 70 in September and that long-distance solo motorcycle trip I've thought about for years is about to happen.

I finally got to the point of being retired, having a very understanding wife and with most of my friends split on "Go for it" or "You are nuts!? Which ever side you fall, I'm ready to leave Tampa for the Midwest and my old home town of Alexis, Illinois where I spent a lot of my youth on my Grandfather's and Uncle's farms. When I left there in 1960, I never looked back (something I'm sorry for now) as I went off to the Air Force planning to return when my hitch was up. I never made it back as that hitch lasted over 23 years followed by a career in photojournalism in Florida lasting another 25 years. Can't wait to seeing my cousin Judy after a few decades. After the midwest it's on to Fort Worth/Dallas area to see my three Daughters and my Brother.

I plan on taking some back roads that might lead to nowhere but that's why U-turns were invented. Whatever I do or find, I'll report back.