What Is Happening In My World

It has been about four months since getting back from Florida and leaving my Harley behind. (Brings a tear to my eye) I thought I should at least write something just to let you all know what has been happening in my world, in case you are curious. Also, I wouldn’t want you to think that I fell off the face of the earth. It is hard to find the time to write for myself this time of year, between working a ‘day’ job and my other writing jobs. Which reminds me, I just finished an article, Custom Crystal Harley Davidson Softail is a Shining Star. Please take some time to read it. I had a blast getting to know Venus and Her Shining Star. 

Where has the summer gone 

A rare sunny day in August.
A butterfly enjoying one of my
favorite flowers in my backyard.

It is hard to believe that in a week we will be in September and autumn will soon be upon us. My teeth start to chatter just thinking about it. Believe it or not, some of the leaves have even started to change. The summer has not been ideal here this year, especially for me. A lot of rain, and at times I found it down right cold. 

Sometime in July I remember wearing shorts, but that was only once. Then by late afternoon I had changed back into jeans and put on a hoodie. We were lucky to see the sun two days in a row. I am dreading the inevitable winter, which around here can start in October.

I was also truly set on getting another motorcycle to ride here, but that fell through yet again and I have remained bike-less for another year. Sad but true. I probably sound like a broken record, I have been talking about it for a couple of years now. Next year, I swear that is definitely going to change. Even if I have to beg, borrow or steal, okay I would never steal. But I am not above begging and borrowing.

The Times Are A Changing
The BF and I have been discussing selling the house in Florida. It has been eight years since we bought the house and we feel it is time to go somewhere different. It would at least give us a chance to experience new things and see more of the world while we are still ‘young’ enough to travel.  Although, it would be bitter sweet for me to give it up, and there is something to be said for the familiar. I love Florida and really love having a home away from home to escape the cold winters, but the problem with having a vacation house is you are always stuck in the same spot. Not to mention, you also end up seeing and doing the same things over and over again. 

There would be another upside, I might get a chance to bring my Harley home to Canada. I have done a little bit of research on importing a motorcycle from the United States and it is doable. Obviously, it will end up costing a few bucks, doesn’t everything though. However, compared to buying a new or even used Harley it might be worth it. One of the mandatory requirements is that the speedometer must be changed over from miles per hour to kilometers. Everything else on our bikes is stock, so I don’t think there will be a problem with the exhaust or tail lights. They give you 45 days after importing the bike to make any necessary changes.  It is something to consider, and it would solve my bike-less predicament here. I guess we will just have to wait and see what happens when we head south this winter. 

Shutterbug

Nikon L340 Bundle
Taken with my Kodak Z740.

I have never considered myself a photographer, instead I refer to myself as an avid picture taker. Lately I am finding that my Kodak digital camera just isn’t performing as it should. After all it is over ten years old and was once caught in a torrential downpour in the Caribbean. Albeit ever since its unfortunate shower it has had a “hit and miss” tendency with the zoom feature. Even so, it still works when it is in the mood and can take great pictures for being a 5-meg pixel camera. However, I am upset that I have missed some great photo ops when on my motorcycle tours because the picture was too blurry when using the zoom mode. 

For over a year now I had been researching different brands looking to replace my Kodak. I even had set aside some money for it, yeah, I amazed myself on that one. I recently found a great deal on Amazon.ca for a Nikon Coolpix L340 (20 meg pixel). It is not the newest model available and it is still another ‘point and shoot’ camera like my old Kodak, but I wanted a camera that was super simple to use. I like simple. None the less, it is perfect for someone like me, who openly admits that most of the pictures I take turn out purely by coincidence.

The Camera included the lens cap and strap, but it also came with some handy accessories; camera case, a tripod, tabletop tripod, 32 GB SD card, SD card holder, USB storage stick, lens cloth, battery charger with batteries, and cables to attach direct to a computer. All that for $319.95 Canadian!  Please refrain from letting me know where I could have gotten a better deal. Now if it would only stop raining long enough for me to test it out!

An Upcoming Ride
In a couple of weeks, I may get the chance to see how well my new camera preforms and I will actually have something of interest to write about. It won’t be about a motorcycle trip (sniff), but I think it will be a cool experience, one which could also be in the literal sense too. I am praying for an “Indian Summer” that week. 

My BF’s mom and sister are coming to visit us from Germany and we have rented a houseboat for a few days to travel along Lake Temagami. The area is located 80 km north of North Bay and is about a 2 ½ hour drive from us. I have never been on a houseboat before, let alone camped out on one. I am not what you would call very sea worthy either, so I will be sure to bring my Gravol. Stay tuned, there will be an upcoming story!

In Closing…
Well that is what has been going on with me and why I have been so elusive on my blog. I really don’t lead a very interesting life in the summer but I just wanted to let you know that I haven’t forgotten about my faithful readers. See you soon.

South Beach Park – Vero Beach Florida

(3-9-17)

Our road trip today took us across Florida over to the Atlantic coast. We were headed to a place called Vero Beach and ended up at Park called South Beach to gaze at the Atlantic Ocean. 

I suppose this cruise was more about getting in a good long ride instead of going to any specific place. We certainly did what we set out to do with adding another 315 miles to our Florida riding season.


This was to be full day ride for us so we took off around 9:30 am. We took the scenic route along N. River Road (78), (the alternative is along 80) connected with 29/27 and then onto 70 most of the way over to the Atlantic coast. 

Route to Vero Beach

Of course, it wasn’t all non-stop riding, we took several pit stops along the way to stretch the legs and gulp down water. By early afternoon we reached South Beach Park. Bonus, unlike at the Fort Myers beach, parking was free.

Gotta luv places that cater to motorcycles! 

There was a boardwalk out to the beach, and we took in the beauty of the Atlantic Ocean with its brilliant turquoise blue water. We were obviously not dressed for the beach in our motorcycle boots and jeans and it didn’t take long before we started to overheat on the beach sand. I snapped a couple of shots of the ocean and then we headed back to where the picnic area was.  

We chose a picnic table under the shade of a cabana to plot our route home. Guess everyone would rather be on the beach than picnicking so we had our choice.

Nearby, there was a group of squirrels acting squirrely. 

They were so fast I barely managed to get one in the frame before they scattered up a tree. 

Heading back home we stayed on the Federal Hwy (1) unfortunately it is all stoplights and the traffic was heavy.  The plan was to take 714 and travel along the top of Lake Okeechobee down through Buckhead Ridge and Moore Haven. 

As we sat at a stoplight we noticed the sign for SE 714, however there was not one for SW 714, the way we needed to go. We chalked it up to how a lot of roads around here are disconnected because of the canals. (Usually a mile or so further up there will be the continuation of the road when it is like that). However, we should have turned because we realized later that it was in actual fact where we needed to turn, just the sign was missing. Chalk up our not so little detour as an excuse for more miles of fun and our extra miles ended up giving us another 50 of them. 



Route Back Home

"I have seen a fork in the road, but a rake was a new one on me"

As we headed along 76, laying in the middle of the road was a rake. Lucky I seen it and swerved to avoid potential disaster, just goes to show you that a motorcyclist always has to be aware of their surroundings. As much as I sometimes get lost in the scenic views and deep thoughts, part of me always pays attention to the road because something like that can be deadly. 

Shortly after missing the rake I noticed one dark cloud hovering above, it was very ominous looking yet the sun was shining beyond it. The road was damp and I just thought that we were lucky enough to have just missed the spontaneous downpour. (very common in Florida) Then a moment after that thought popped into my head something sharp hit my face, at first I thought it was a bug but then another and another. That ominous cloud decided it wasn’t finished after all and split open again as we passed beneath it. Soon it felt like I was riding through a cascade of spikey cactus needles, assaulting me in the face with a ferociousness that only speed can produce. At least we eventually rode out of it and before the chill of being wet would get my teeth chattering the sun shone down with its warm rays to dry me off. 

We connected onto 98 near Lake Okeechobee and followed that all the way down through Pahokee. The small sleepy communities that surround Okeechobee are quaint and the ride was relaxing. As we got to Pahokee, a section of tall palms lined either side of the road like sentries.  We continued until we got to SR 80 which would take us all the way home.

By the time we got to Clewiston the sun was quickly disappearing. We had planned on grabbing a bite to eat somewhere but now I was tired and we still had about an hour or so ride before we got home.  We stopped just to fill up gas and I switched out the lenses on my sunglasses from the day riding to night riding.  

We finally pulled into the driveway at 7:45 pm, a large glass of wine tasted really good….

Cruising Through Life & Enjoying The Ride...

Yeehaw Junction Florida and the historic Desert Inn

My reason to visit ‘Yeehaw Junction’ was to explore more of the history surrounding one of "Old Florida's" rural areas. Who am I kidding, it was just because of the funny name.  

Anyway, I also really wanted a full day trip, one of those “oohhh my body aches, but what a ride” type of cruise. 235 miles (378 km) later I had gotten what I asked for. 

(FYI: If we had come in from the other way we might have seen a town sign, but we didn’t so I had to rummage through the Internet to find one.  The Yeehaw Junction Welcome Sign –Photo by Jim )

Our road trip started like so many of ours do when we venture north, using the starting point in Alva and heading out along North River Road we connected onto FL-29. From 29 through 27 it is mostly Orange groves between flat open fields. (Note to self: check wind velocity before leaving) Eventually all that gave way to the open range of Cattle Ranches along FL-70 with the air getting a little ‘ripe’ in spots. 

Shortly after passing the Cracker Trail Country Store, (which by the way, had gas pumps) my gas light came on. Really, it couldn’t have warned me before. 

I was resolved to cross my fingers and hope that another gas station would appear on the horizon. A good lesson to learn, it is always a good idea that when riding a back country road, don’t pass up a gas station. You never know when you will find another. 

As I was running on fumes it would be 22.4 miles (36 km) later until we would finally come across a Sunoco Gas Station on US 441. Totally relieved that I made it we filled up and took a few minutes to stretch. Little did we know that it would only be a short ride, 13 miles (21 km) before we pulled into the Desert Inn Bar & Restaurant.  

History of the Desert Inn Bar & Restaurant

The Desert Inn dates back to the 1880’s when it was established as a trading post along a four-corner trail system used by the areas cowboys and loggers. The Desert Inn serviced the locals in more ways than one as it also doubled as a brothel.

Eventually actual roads made their way to the Desert Inn in the early 1930’s, and the area became known as “Jackass Crossing” or “Jackass Junction” in honor of the ranchers and lumbermen who relied on mules to work the cattle or haul lumber. It wasn’t until the 1950’s when the Florida Turnpike passed through that the state legislators felt that the name was a little too risqué for the influx of winter tourists and changed the name to ‘Yeehaw Junction’ which also tied it into the nearby railroad depot. 

There are several versions of how the origin of the name ‘Yeehaw’ came to be. One suggests that it was named for the Seminole language word meaning "wolf".

But I am more inclined to believe the version that suggests that “yeehaw” is similar to the noise a mule makes. It even ties in nicely to the original name from when the area was referred to as ‘Jackass Crossing’. See,even the Desert Inn agrees.

A plaque stands proudly in the front of the weather-beaten building proclaiming a bit of its history (Funny there was no mention of it having being a bordello on the sign) and in 1994 was registered in the National Register of Historic Places. 

Click to enlarge image

Exploring the grounds
We had no intention of eating there, so we didn’t venture inside for a photo op. I imagine it would have been interesting judging by the exterior – “C'est la vie” (That's life), opportunity missed.

Met a few chickens wandering the grounds out back. 

-Fresh eggs or chicken for the restaurant?  

The motel out back has recently (how recent I can’t say) undergone an exterior face lift by adding a painted log wood façade. 

Not sure how the inside of the rooms look.  (I got the feeling that it is more likely used as an “hourly” stop over – remnants of the ‘good ol’ days’ perhaps). 

But their website does proclaim to have clean rooms  and it is good to know that it always “passes the health inspection”. 

Well in that case, who wouldn’t want to vacation on a busy road smack dab in cattle country…

Homeward Bound, but first let’s eat

On the way back we varied our route to take us through Okeechobee and then on into LaBelle. 

The wind had really started to pick up and extreme gusts pummeled at me making for a very hard ride back through the vast openness of the countryside. (I just held on real tight).

We stopped for supper at The Log Cabin in LaBelle on FL-80.  We got there shortly before 5pm and already the place was filling up fast.  As its name would suggest, it looks exactly like a log cabin on the inside, with rows of picnic tables and rustic decor. However, they seem to be a little slow on taking the Christmas decorations down. Even the inside was decked out in Christmas garland. 

The restaurant offered a nice selection of smoked BBQ fare. The prices were reasonable and I was amazed when they offered a free cup of soup for a starter and free ice cream for desert. How often does that happen now a days? (For the record, I declined both)

“Hog” Parking  - reserved for Harleys - haha

Yeehaw Junction Florida Route

Cruising Through Life & Enjoying The Ride...



History Sources: 
Florida Rambler  Studio Hour Glass  Wikipedia  Desert Inn Restaurant