Ride Route and Story Time

I finished the rough route map.  It looks like this:

This is kind of an old map.  The new individual route maps have me much closer to the coast in Florida.

Here is how it all breaks down:

I need to add another column for Lodgings.  It looks at least 3 of the nights will be in a State Park.

Hotel nights for South Padre, Galveston and New Orleans (of course) and possibly Tampa.

State Park nights for:

Corpus Christi: Mustang Island (outside of Chorpus)

Mustang Island State Park

Panama City

St Andrews State Park

Key Largo.

John Pennekamp Coral Reef State Park

The state parks look like real shitholes right? ;-)

Two days before the start of the trip I am going to drive a truck and trailer to Miami and then fly home.  After the ride, me and the family will drive up the East coast of Florida because my wife tells me there might be some things the kids would like to do there.  ;-)

Enough logistics, story time…

I close my eyes and I imagine a scene 15 years in the future…

Somewhere outside a west Texas roadhouse in March, a husband and wife and their two children (late teens, early twenties) stand beside their motorcycles.  The older man and woman are on a big, heavy BMW sport bike with knobby tires.  The young woman is by her yellow BMW F800GS and the young man is by his black Ducati Diavel.

The three are stripping off riding gear in order to get a late lunch inside.

Son: “Dad, your back tire’s flat”

Dad: “Oh shit, so it is”

Daughter:  “You guys promised to let me do the next one”

Mom: “You did promise”

Son: “I don’t remember promising anything”

Daughter: “Bullshit!”

Son:  “Fine, you can plug the damn tire”

Daughter: “Thank you”

Dad:  “Do you know what to do hon?”

Daughter:  “You’ve showed me a dozen times.  Just let me do it.”

Dad:  “Right.  We’ll be inside.  Can I order you something to drink?

Daughter: “Bud Light”

Mom:  “Try again, we’re not done yet.”

Daughter: “Coke”

Ten minutes later, the young woman finishes up and heads inside.  After lunch, the three return to their bikes.

Dad: “Right, on to Colorado then.  Just two more hours.”

He begins putting on his riding gear.  The young man starts to inspect the tire but stops as the older man taps him on the lower back and shakes his head.  The young man nods.  The young woman doesn’t see any of this.  The older man and woman climb on the sport bike

Daughter:  “You aren’t going to check it”

Dad: “No need”

Daughter: “Thanks.”

Dad: “’Course.  Shall we then?”

All three start up their bikes and head out onto the highway with the couple in the lead.  The young man on the Ducati lifts his front wheel off the ground for about 100 feet.  The older man pretends not to see it in the rearview but smiles inside his helmet.