John Turner

I haven’t flown in 5 years, so I had no idea what to expect today on my flight from Orlando (MCO) to Detroit (DTW) via Delta/Northwest. I did know that traveling light would be key to increasing comfort, so I decided on an unorthodox plan for my luggage. I had packed light from MI in the first place…just one small duffel bag and my backpack. I decided that the only thing I wanted to take with me to the airport was my helmet (essentially irreplaceable due to my gigantic melon), my iPod, and a book to read. So, I took everything else and boxed it up and asked my dad to ship it UPS after I left for the airport. Turned out it was cheaper than paying to check a bag, and I get a tracking number to boot.

I made sure the Harley was ready to check-in, and there was nothing of mine left in the side bags. Then I said goodbye to my dad and rode back to the rental place in Orlando. I-4 was a madhouse as to be expected in FL. No problems on the check-in, and they gave me a free ride to the airport. Flight check-in was no problem. I was about 2 hours early for my flight so I stopped at Nathan’s for a slaw dog and some lemonade. I figured that once I went through security there would be no food or anything like that because allowing vendors to bring in cartons and crates of food and other stuff past the security checkpoint is a major security hole. Then I went through security. It was nuts…I can’t believe they make you take your belt and your shoes off. How stupid is that?? Security theater at its best. Meanwhile, I had to wait while some woman tried to coax her little girl to go through the scanner. It gave me a chance to take a look at what people consider “carryon luggage”. I was laughing…one guy had two big suitcases with him. Nearly everyone I saw seemed to think that anything with wheels and an extendable handle meant “carryon” even though what they had were “suitcases” by any other definition. And nearly everyone had a laptop case just as big as their other bag to go with it. If it were up to me, they’d crack down on the whole carryon issue, big time.

So, I get through security and take the tram to the gate. I get off and what do I see but a bunch of shops and restaurants selling everything under the sun. Past the security checkpoint? WTF??? That makes no sense to me at all…there’s no way they are inspecting every person/employee/clerk and everything (food, dry goods, condiments, etc) that comes into that terminal, so what’s the point of making passengers essentially strip naked before allowing them through? Oh well…if it makes people who don’t know any better feel all warm and fuzzy, I guess it is worth it.

Flight back was uneventful. I can’t say it is good to be back in MI, but it is good to be home.

Headed back to Sebring this morning. Rolled out of Tampa along SR-60 pretty early. SR-60 uses the Courtney Campbell Causeway which was simply spectacular, especially with the sun coming up. 10 miles long, basically all over the water.

Google maps wanted me to catch I-4 and take it all the way to Lakeland to catch SR-98 and then US-27 but I wasn’t having any more Florida freeway drivers. So I decided to stay on SR-60 all the way through Brandon and into Bartow. This was good scenery and a good ride. Lots of farms, and lots of workers out picking berries and citrus. Only downside was how many semi trucks there were…heavy industry along here, too, with the phosphate factories and the farming. All of the trucks seemed to be going 80 MPH as a rule. Pretty scary when you’re on two wheels but at least I could see them coming a long ways off and there wasn’t a lot of other traffic to worry about.

I took SR-60 east to Bartow and headed south on SR-98. After awhile this meandered over to US-27 just 15 miles north of where I had to be. A quick little ride down US-27 and I was back at my dad’s house right at noon. Short ride, but all of the wind, sun, and crazy drivers over the past three days had taken its toll and I was pretty whipped, especially after not being on a motorcycle since November. Time for a nap! Then it was over to the mall to shop for a wireless printer for Dad and then dinner at Sunset Grille. I had fish again, this time it was blackened salmon. Three dinners, three different kinds of fish. Fun!! Then back to the house and packing for the flight home tomorrow. Distance today: 110 miles

After a pleasant dinner last night with my aunt and uncle and a very nice night of sleeping with the ocean noise coming through the balcony door, it was off to Tampa/Clearwater via Alligator Alley today. I woke up early and checked the bike to make sure nothing had happened to it overnight, as the hotel didn’t have a very secure parking spot for it. Then I went for a long, sunrise walk on the beach. A little cold, but simply spectacular and something I couldn’t do in MI, at least not in shorts and a t-shirt. I paid $1 at the pier and walked out to the end to watch the anglers for awhile, then walked back to the hotel. I wanted to get going so I skipped breakfast. I stopped at a CVS for some sunscreen and headed out of Deerfield Beach via 10th Street which turns into SR 869. I took that to I-75 aka Alligator Alley. Weather was overcast, temps in the 60s. At highway speeds, it was pretty chilly.

Got onto the “alley” and prepared for the long haul. That part of I-75 is straight. Perfectly straight. For miles. There are no exits, just a few roadside rest areas, most with no bathrooms or anything like that. It was cool motoring along and seeing the alligators sunning themselves on the other side of the canal that runs along the freeway. I saw a couple big ones, maybe 5 or 6 feet, and many smaller. Everything was flat and straight…no variation at all.

The only place to stop for gas is the Indian reservation. I stopped to gas up even though I didn’t really need it because the last thing I wanted was to get stuck somewhere. The gas station was pretty sketchy and dirty…definitely not a showcase for the tourists. Breakfast was a Snickers bar. On a side note, having to put premium gas (93 octane) in the Harley vs. 87 octane SUCKS. Anyway, back to the road. I decided to get off the Alley at SR 29 and head for the Old Tamiami Trail instead of I-75. It was cool seeing “Panther Crossing” signs like MI has “Deer Crossing” signs. I found US-41 (aka Tamiami Trail, the pre-Interstate Alligator Alley) eventually and headed west.

US-41 turned north and I rode into Naples and civilization. Wasn’t too impressed with Naples..way too much traffic, way too commercial from what I saw. It was lunch time, so I started looking for someplace to eat before trying to find the freeway again. I noticed a burger place that advertised “50 different gourmet burgers” but it was on the wrong side of the street. I pulled over to try and turn around and saw that the place I had pulled into was called “Pastrami Dan’s”. That had a better ring to it than “gourmet burger” so I went there instead. Very good sandwich, way too expensive. I wouldn’t go back, but I was on vacation so no big deal. Then it was to the gas station for a top-off and back to I-75 for the ride into Clearwater Beach.

This was a hard ride…traffic on I-75 was very heavy and the drivers were mostly very poor drivers. I had to bring my A-game the whole way to keep from getting killed. I had no chance to sit back and enjoy scenery or anything else, but that is part of the territory when you tour on a motorcycle. I just concentrated on being safe and saved the sight-seeing for the one or two breaks I took on the way north.

Rolled into Clearwater Beach around 4-ish. The GPS was telling me the hotel was at a certain location but it wasn’t. Grrrr. Finally found the hotel. Got the royal treatment from the valets when they saw the Harley, I guess a logo does make a difference sometimes. Or maybe the Hilton just has really good valets. They had a protected area for motorcycle parking, covered by a security camera and everything. Very nice! The room was exceptional…on the 8th floor, great view, very well decorated.

Walked down the beach to Frenchy’s Rockaway Grill for dinner. I chose the grouper nuggets for an appetizer and blackened grouper fajitas for dinner. Both were fantastic…there’s nothing like relaxing on the beach with fresh fish
for dinner after a long, hard day of riding. Then back to the hotel for a cigar on the balcony and another night of sleeping to the sound of waves crashing on the shore. Why am I still living in MI again?? Distance today: 314 miles

Left Sebring, FL on the bike about noon after sleeping in and a late brunch with my dad at Bob Evan’s. I had to laugh…except for a couple of the waitresses (only a couple) and the cooks, I was the youngest person in the entire restaurant by far, and the place was packed. I had a route all planned out, but of course I missed my turns. Ended up out in the FL boonies at the junction of US-27 and SR-70. Quick water and gas break, then it was east on SR-70. I missed my turn again (I was trying for SR-700) so I kept going. I also was feeling pretty bummed because I realized that my headphones were back at my dad’s place, so no tunes and no protection from the wind noise.

Definitely out in the boonies, though. Banjo music, “Southern Comfort”-style, was on my mind. Stopped at a gas station somewhere along SR-70 for a location fix and got hit up by a beggar. He gave me a pretty good spiel about Harleys and how he owned a “47 panhead” back home and just needed money to get back to it so I gave him some money and moved on. I was starting to get back into civilization so I started thinking about finding a Best Buy or even a Wal-Mart or large truckstop that might have some headphones I could buy, but I wasn’t having any luck. Eventually I came up on I-95 and while I wanted to avoid freeways I realized I was running a bit late and decided to get on it anyway.

ATTENTION FLORIDA DRIVERS: YOU SUCK.

I was making my way down I-95 towards Deerfield Beach and decided to get some gas so I wouldn’t have to do it at tourist prices near the beach. I got off I-95 at Lantana Blvd and noticed there was a Costco right there. “Cool,” I thought. “They’ll have headphones I can buy”. But the place was absolutely packed. Every space in the lot was full. I didn’t even stop…I just went right through the parking lot and decided to get gas and get back on the freeway. While getting gas, I got hit up for money from another beggar. WTF?? I said “no, thanks” and then got a very pleasant surprise: I found my headphones buried in my back pocket!! Yay!! So, it was back onto the road, this time with tunes. Fun.

I decided to take the “back way” into Deerfield Beach, down A1A from Lantana. About 40 miles according to the GPS. I figured the scenery would be great, a road right along the water, etc. Not so. Because in Florida, it turns out regular people like me aren’t allowed to see the water. Only rich people are allowed near the water. Regular people get to look at the roofs of rich peoples’ mansions over giant walls and gates instead. And A1A is only 35 MPH with no passing allowed. Ouch, especially when you get stuck behind a freaking RV the entire way south.

Finally rolled into Deerfield Beach and checked into the HOJO. Dinner with relatives at Bonefish Mac’s and then back to the hotel to get some shut-eye…big trip over to the Tampa side tomorrow. And alligators! Distance today: 173 miles.

We were on the road early this morning, about 6:30 AM. Quick stop for lunch and gas and then got to the rental place in Orlando early, about 1:30 PM. The drive in from Dalton, GA was super easy. A little rain early in the morning going through ATL, but no big deal, especially in the Flex. Picked up the Road King…originally they were going to give me a Classic (FLHRC) but I asked them to switch it out for a regular FLHR so I could have the locking side bags. Then I said “and hopefully it isn’t white” and the guys behind the counter laughed. “We don’t have any white bikes here, that’s for sure,” said one. Two thumbs up!

I haven’t been on a motorcycle since mid-November, so it took me a little while to get my “legs” back, and also a few miles to get used to the Harley’s power. A lot more power than my Vulcan 900 for sure, but that’s to be expected given the difference in engine sizes. One thing I will say: the FLHR is smooth over 60 MPH or so, but it vibrates like a mother for anything less. The one I rented had almost 8000 miles on it, so it wasn’t a break-in issue. Also, the stock seat sucks and the the stock handlebars are not high enough for someone as tall as I am, so the riding position is not the most comfortable. But I can’t complain, it is a rental and I’m only going to be riding a couple of days so I’ll gut it out. But, if I was paying $20K, I’d be pretty cranky about it.

All in all, the ride in to Sebring from Orlando was easy…basically effortless sitting on that much power. My dad followed me in the Flex. We actually had some construction on US-27 South…they were filling in a couple of sinkholes. Too funny. Say what you will about MI, but at least we don’t build important stuff like roads and schools on quicksand.

Tomorrow I will help my dad get settled, and then around noon I’ll be heading for the east coast and Deerfield Beech to visit relatives. Distance today: 78 miles motorcycle, 531 miles car.

Drove Detroit to Dalton, GA today. Pretty easy drive, the Ford Flex is a great car. Lots of room, lots of power, very comfortable, easy to see traffic around you. Going to stay in a motel and get back on the road to Florida in the morning. Final destination is Sebring, FL, but with a stop at the Eagle Rider franchise in Orlando first to pick up a Road King.

Heading down to Florida for a few days. Going to drive down with my dad, then rent a Harley in Orlando. Ride around for a few days visiting relatives and friends, then back to Orlando and a flight home.

Today was the last day, leaving Chicago and heading back to the D. I got up, met Peter downstairs for the standard motel breakfast and we planned our route. We decided that we would go into the city to get near the water, then grab the 80/90 tollway out through Indiana to I-69, then I-69 north to US-12 in Coldwater. From there we could do the very familiar ride east on US-12 back to Ann Arbor for Peter and back to the D for me. We figured that since it was early Sunday morning traffic in the city wouldn’t be bad and we could get through on the bikes without having to sit idling in traffic. We packed up the bikes, stopped to gas up, and left. I made sure to put a bunch of singles in my rain jacket’s outer pockets so that I could grab them easily with my gloves to pay the tolls.

Peter took us into the city on the freeway to Addison Street and we headed east through the city to Wrigley Field. It was nice riding through the city on an early Sunday morning…very little traffic, just some people walking around getting their newspapers and bagels or whatever. The sun was coming up over the lake and things were starting to warm up a bit. We passed Wrigley and got over to Lake Shore Drive and headed south. There were a ton of bikers (the bicycle kind, not the motorcycle kind) riding on Lake Shore. We didn’t think anything of it until we got closer to downtown. Turns out the day we thought wouldn’t have much traffic was the day of some sort of race or marathon (bicycle and running). Downtown near the water was packed. ARGHH!! On top of that, they were doing construction so they had gone through and ripped up the asphalt which made the road surface a treacherous set of grooves for miles. It was worse than the grates on the Mackinac Bridge. ARGHH! So much for planning! LOL

It took us 20-30 minutes to get through the crowds and the traffic…we were going to stay on Lake Shore but it was so bad we both instinctively decided to get on the Interstate ASAP so we cut it short and got onto the I-290 spur outbound. From there it was the standard leaving-Chicago-on-the-freeway route. Skyway, the whole bit. Nothing major, just some freeway riding. We got into Indiana and it started raining. We pushed on down 80/90 through Indiana, pretty much soaked but not very cold. We stopped for gas and a pee break at a service plaza and kept going. The scenery was nice, the ride was uneventful, but it was day 4 and I think both of us wanted to get home. We got onto I-69 and powered north to Coldwater, getting there about 1:30.

We had lunch at a Chinese buffet, gassed up, and got onto US-12 for the ride home. I followed Peter to his place, I wanted to make sure he actually got home safe so his wife wouldn’t be angry at me. LOL I was going to take the back roads home but after all the rain in Indiana I was kinda cranky so I opted for the freeway and rode home from there. Got home, hopped into the truck and drove over to the kennel to pick up dogzilla around 5 PM. She was so happy to see me and I was really glad to see her. It felt good to be home! Total mileage today: 310

Left Milwaukee and Water Street Brewery and headed south to Chicago. We decided to save some cash and stay in the ‘burbs instead of the city, plus we figured it would be safer parking the bikes where we could see them instead of some garage or whatever we would find in the city.

One thing I found that was strange but weird was that Elk Grove, IL actually has a grove with elks in it! Or at least a park. We got off the freeway an exit too early (maybe by design?) and ended up riding down the main “drag” which went right by a big park. I’m looking at the park thinking “that’s a nice park for a suburb” and I notice a bunch of elk chillin’! Always nice to see wildlife unexpectedly like that.

Found the motel, no problems. Standard commuter motel, pretty basic but nice, no issues. Unpacked, and I got on the net and started looking for someplace to eat. Peter and I had already decided not to do pub food again and the Chinese food in Green Bay had us thinking “Thai food!”. I found some stellar reviews for a place called Happy Elephant so we decided to check it out. Turns out the restaurant was just a short walk away from the motel, but we had already jumped on the bikes so we rode over anyway. The food was excellent. Really nice little place, absolutely spotless, well decorated. The chef/proprietor came out to our table not once but twice to talk to us and make sure everything was OK. Very refreshing change from most places. Next time I am in Chicago I am going to make a point of eating there again, even if I have to drive/ride a ways to do it.

After dinner we rode down the street a bit to a park. The weather was great (and no helmet law!!) and I wanted to smoke a cigar. The park was in the path of O’Hare arrivals so as it got dark we could see the planes stacking up in formation. Pretty cool. Peter and I smoked and talked and then rode back to the motel to crash. Total mileage today: 300

Left Manitowoc and since there was no easily mapped way to Milwaukee without getting on the Interstate and since we were both cold and soaked, we decided to hop on I-43 and make a run for Milwaukee ASAP. So that’s what we did…I think we averaged 80 MPH the whole way…just one solid run straight down the highway. We were really moving, still getting wet every once in awhile from intermittent showers and road spray. I just kept my head down and focused on getting to Milwaukee as quick as possible. Peter was right on my tail. We got close and I happened to look down and saw my reserve light on. I had no idea how long it had been on, it could have been on for a tenth of a mile or it could have been on for 20 miles, that’s how focused I was on the road ahead, the traffic, and getting to Milwaukee. In any case, I signaled a stop to Peter because I didn’t want to risk running out, even though we were just coming to the outskirts of Milwaukee. There was no way to know if we would find gas downtown in the city.

We stopped and gassed up, then got back on the freeway and headed into downtown. We rode around for awhile, not quite sure where to go. It was pretty dead where we were…just office buildings, no traffic. We pulled over and Peter told me one of my hardbags was jiggling around pretty good. I checked it and it was blatantly loose so while I busted out the toolkit Peter got on the web via his phone and started looking for someplace to have lunch. I tossed a quarter into the parking meter just to be sure…no sense getting a visit from Johnny Law for something silly like not paying the meter. I got my hardbags squared away (note to self: next time use Locktite) and packed up the toolkit. Peter told me he had found a block that a had a couple restaurants and it was only about half a mile away so we saddled up and headed over there.

What a difference half a mile makes! It was like night and day…one second we’re riding through ghost town and then we make one turn and there’s all these people walking around. The sun even came out! We parked the bikes and saw Water Street Brewery across the street and headed over. We got a table and ordered beers and lunch. The beers came, and when Peter saw the glasses he said “they even have the correct drinking utensils!” so I knew we were in a serious beer spot. I ordered a BBQ chicken pizza to avoid yet another pub burger and fries and the pizza was really good. The beer was great. The restaurant was real nice…they had a beer can collection that was out of this world but something I thought was even more interesting was their beer tap collection.

I got on the MiFi and we scoped out hotels in the Chicago area. Peter and I wanted to stay on a budget so we looked out in the suburbs instead of the city and found a Days Inn in Elk Grove, IL. Called ahead to reserve a couple of rooms, got back on the bikes, and headed out. Someday I will go back and check out the Harley museum and the various breweries there…Milwaukee looks like a fun place!