Key West Poker Run Trip

[OLDFRT]

     Left home about 6:35 this morning, and after a quick stop at "the house" for gas, my next stop was the Cracker Barrel in Bradenton for breakfast. Next gas stop was Exit 101 on I-75 in Naples, and then across the Tamiami Trail to Peterson's HD South in Miami to pick up my Poker Run package. Four stops starting at Key Largo for the Poker Run, one stop for gas on Big Pine Key, and I made it to the KOA on Sugarloaf
Key at about 6:15 PM. Back across the Highway to Mangrove Mama's for a GREAT Prime Rib Dinner (Blueberry Key Lime Pie for dessert) and back to my quarters (AirStream trailer, very nice and clean, and the A/C works great) for the night. 478 miles for the day, and that is a personal best for me. GOTTA get an Ultimate Seat for the Harley. More to come tomorrow evening.

[Bronxboy]

Nice Have fun !!

[_Sheffjs_]

 

[Tourus]

    Don, all those hours you've been working, you deserve a vacation
   
    Enjoy it

[Flrider]

Way to go Don. 

Have fun brother.   

Careful at night, all the critters come out at night, specially in Duval St. 

[Farside]

  wow, that's a heck of a ride. Sounds like it's well planned too. Be safe.... 

[OLDFRT]

Not much to report tonight, since I only rode about 45 miles altogether. I left the KOA about 9:00 for breakfast, and then rode into Key West for the final stops on the Poker Run, and spent most of the rest of the day wandering up and down Duval Street, checking out some VERY good looking motorcycles and some even better looking ladies. There was a Black Interstate staying at the KOA, but I did not see the rider, and that was the ONLY Valkyrie I spotted all day long. I got back to the KOA about 5:00, and relaxed for about an hour before I started packing up for the ride home. Now that it has cooled off a bit, I will pack some of the stuff into the Saddlebags before I go take a shower, and hit the rack. One more report tomorrow evening, about the ride home, and I will be picking someone's brain about posting a few pictures.

[_Sheffjs_]

Pick my brain on the pics.  But first get a free photobucket account. Not sure what others use. 

[OLDFRT]

Jerry, I have a photobucket account, but it has been a number of years since I used it. I believe that the Username and password are saved on my Blackberry at home.

BTW, about a half hour after posting tonight, I had a knock on the door of my trailer, and Bob (Black Gold Wing Jerry's son-in-law) was standing there. it turns out that he and his wife are staying in the same KOA, while he works on the A/C system at the Hospital. We had a nice little visit, and traded tips on where to eat on our next trips down here.

 

[Tourus]

     I'm sure seeing Bob there was a nice surprise, Funny that you 2 are staying at the same place, He's a good guy

Have a safe trip home
Looking forward to seeing the pictures, all the pictures

[Bronxboy]

While we wait on Don's Key West pictures, here are a few I took of the Boy's yearly fishing trip.







The Bill on this Sailfish went thru the foot of the deck hand   I can still hear him screaming !!

[Bronxboy]

Hey Don, I finally broke the seal on that Maple Syrup...Awesome 

[OLDFRT]

Glad you are enjoying it, Nick!!!!  Are you sharing it with your wife???

[OLDFRT]

OK, Final report on the trip: Rolled out of the sack at 4:30 this morning, and hit the road at 5:05. Uneventful trip to the Mainland (very little traffic, but several Monroe County Sheriff's cars) Just about sun-up, about 5 miles onto the Mainland, I came up on a Pickup sitting on the shoulder with a trailer with 5 Harleys on it, and the one on the left rear had fallen over. I guess that he had been looking at it when it happened, because there was not a mark on either of the 2 bikes that got together. I pulled right over, and helped him right the one bike, and gave him a couple of tips on better placement of the straps. He said that he had at least 4 extras in the truck, and he thanked me profusely for stopping to give him a hand. He was headed for Atlanta. Had breakfast at the Cracker Barrel in Florida City, and then damn near ran out of gas because I wasn't paying attention. I was running North on US 27. I checked my gauges, and they told me I had about 10 miles left in the tank, and the GPS said the next station was 18 miles ahead. I did a quick U-Turn, and the GPS said the closest one that way was 13 miles away. I slowed down to about 45 mph in 6th gear, and made it to the station, where I put 6.084 gallons in a 6 gallon tank. All is well that ends well. From there home, all went well. I did get a little drowsy a couple of times, but I found that taking it up over 100 mph for a few seconds got rid of the sleepy's!!!! I hit a small shower just South of Lake Wales, and was completely dried out within about 10 miles. 3 more small showers, all on County Rd 491, between US 98 and where I turn onto Grover Cleveland Blvd to go to my house. I was a little damp from the knees down, but that was the extent of it. All told, it was 993 miles round trip, and 10 hours and 40 minutes from the KOA on Sugarloaf Key to my back door. Right now, I am one tired and sore old man, so I am going to put this to bed, and see about posting the pix tomorrow night.

[_Sheffjs_]

Glad you had a fun safe trip. 

[OLDFRT]

No pix tonight. It is 4:30 PM, and I am going to bed. I have to roll out at 12:30 AM.