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.