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I like to take a trip South in late February - early March. SWMBO is generally tired of me by then, and PMS has set in for me.
This year our January and February here in South Dakota have enabled me to get in some rides but not enough to prevent early onset PMS.

Mssr "Pants and I have made the run to the FWG in the past and he was up for a return adventure.

After clearing Medical at my annual physical on February 23rd I loaded up the Grey Ghost II and headed South East in the comfort of my Ridgeline. I set the GPS on "Avoid Highways", my first stop - Omaha NE. Night two was with ZZipp in Palmyra MO, and the third night was at Brinkley AR. I arrived at 'Pants in Lafayette LA on Monday, Feb 26th.

"Pants, his good friend Mike, and I rode into Mississippi to camp for the evening.


Mike


Somewhere in Louisiana


Crossing the "Big Muddy"


Lunch "Under the Bluff" at Natchez


Rode a bit of the Natchez Trace







Stopped briefly


Checked out an old plantation site before camping at a site in MS (pictures didn't come out).
Stopped for Ice Cream - but had to settle for Pop


The next day we rode a circuitous route to a friend of mine's place at Perdido Key, FL (just East of Gulf Shores AL).
We happened across this great little place at a fork in the road for lunch.




We rode the ferry across Mobile Bay








Captain Joey and Mike



My old friend and Shipmate Pete was away but his wife Sandy both fed and entertained us and invited us back on our return trip.

you SkooterG!



Day 1 & 2

Thursday we made the long slog to Dan's FWG5 arriving just in time to get our tents set up before dark.







Friday was a good day for local riding and we all rode together for a while before splitting up and going our own ways.







Looking for Manatees





I rode to a BBQ joint I'd read about somewhere for lunch.


FWG Nightly Hijinks.........





Many of you received a call.....




Loose?








First World Issues were addressed if not solved......





On Sunday morning, after a nice Thunderstorm that cleared the air "Pants, Mike and I set out for Sanibel Island and another friend's beach shack.






An old hunting buddy and his wife retired from Wisconsin to Sanibel right before the last hurricane.

Joey injured his back upon arrival and both Sig and his wife flipped into support mode inviting us to stay another day to get Joey sorted out.



We took Sig and Claudia to dinner the second night to the Mucky Duck on Captiva Island.






Tuesday morning Mike and I headed for Key West while Joey took a flight back to Lafayette to heal up.

We stopped for a good Mexican lunch somewhere before we got onto the causeway to Key West




Key West was full of "Spring Breakers"








And as Wheaton has pointed out "this is a family site", so, some of what we saw in Key West will remain forever hidden from view here.

I left Key West early on Wednesday morning -




It was a long slog to Jacksonville FL where I wanted to test ride a Sargent Seat on Thursday morning.
A night at NAS Jacksonville in their old BOQ, a quick stop at Sargent on Thursday, just long enough to test the seat and hand over my CC.

I then jumped on I-10 and headed for Perdido Key and a rendezvous with Mike

I stopped for breakfast at an old favorite.


I passed through this neat village on my way to see an old Captains brother.




Almost made it to Perdido Key before dark.



Spent a quiet night with Pete and Sandy, toured the area with Pete the next day while waiting for Mike to arrive.


Once Mike arrived we sampled some Tequila before Sandy fed us royally!


Pete doing what he is told


you SkooterG


SkooterG


SkooterG!
Sandy can cook!

Saturday morning Mike and I headed for Lafayette


We lunched at "Dans Po Boys" in Diamondhead MS - if you are in the area don't miss it! Outstanding Shrimp Po Boy - Mike is Louisiana Born and Bred and he said it was his "Best Ever"!

We arrived back in Lafayette thus ending the first leg of my winter adventure.



Texas Hill Country next.

Mike is a great guy, easy to talk to, John is okay too, i guess.

See you in June!

Good stuff John!

Excellent report. Great pictures!

And just how does SkooterG deserve all the love? Never mind, I already know.
Heck of a round trip there, BigJohn. Could you keep up with that fast coloured Versys1000?

Great report John! Lots of familiar faces. Looks like the Virginia moonshine showed up as well. Nice trip. You guys must have had a blast!

FJRPittsburgh wrote: ↑Wed Mar 20, 2024 2:06 pm Looks like the Virginia moonshine showed up as well.

It was a good batch!

Why is he pissing on his bike? Was it on fire?

bigjohnsd wrote: ↑Wed Mar 20, 2024 1:00 am

Texas Hill Country - Blue Bonnets and a little rain.

After bidding farewell to Mike and Joey I loaded up the Gray Ghost II and headed West on Monday, March 11th.
I made a brief stop in Katy TX to drop off a gun stock I'd refinished then landed in Kerrville TX about 1630.
A long slog on I-10.

My riding partner from the Black Hills BMW Riders, Scott Henley, soon arrived after riding from Rapid City. Scott is a stud, it was below freezing when he left home and he rode through snow for the first several hours well into Nebraska, not actively snowing, but snow alongside the roads.

Tuesday was a nice day so we rode the Texas Twisted Sisters route, 250 miles.
(Interesting that this route was featured in the"Road Runner" issue that was waiting for me when I arrived home on Monday.)





The weather forecast was for rain each day Wednesday through Saturday, we got pretty lucky and only rode in rain a few times.
Scott and I rode a serendipitous route on Wednesday generally South and East of Kerrville, it was cool, 50s, but dry.
We stopped for lunch at a roadside BBQ joint just outside Leakey TX, a mistake which would come to haunt me a few hours later.

Thursday we shifted to a campground Tiny House and were all ready when JREW (John Wilson) and my friend Kip Walker rode in.
Kip arrived about 2000 after riding 750 miles from Alamosa CO.


On Thursday the WEAX looked good so we rode the Twisted Sisters route again, this time in the other direction.



Breakfast was at the Old Spanish Trail in Bandera TX,


"Fred" was looking over our shoulder for the meal.




It got warm enough to take off a layer halfway through.




The wildflowers were beginning to pop.



Wednesday and Thursday


It doesn't get more studly than this!


Scott and John planning our Friday ride.

Lots of exotic "Wildlife" here and there, all shootable for a fee.








Three JREW Photos above


John Wilson led the charge on Friday.




Texas goat trail roads were fun.






Texas "Big Bird"

Friday and Saturday we began to see Blue Bonnets everywhere





John planning our Saturday ride.


Saturday started out wet - a cool steady drizzle.

We returned to Bandera and the OST on Saturday morning. A little local color was in the house.


But our waitress soon ran the interloper off!



More Saturday goat trail riding. John did an excellent job planning our route but we fought the GPS the whole day.






There was a big "Too Do" going on in Luckenbach, we didn't want to park in a muddy field to see what it was.


After a Starbucks break in Fredericksburg TX , Kip Walker left us and headed back to Alamosa.


But Kip left me a present at the house, he lost the other glove on Friday.


Our Texas travels

I loaded up Saturday evening in preparation for an early Sunday departure following Scott Henley.


Scott elected to ride home and we managed to rig up comms with a PT Bold in my shirt pocket while driving.

John,
Tell me more about the Tiny House camping.
Where is that in or near Kerrville, Texas??
Help me find it, please.

dan

Dan Cooper wrote: ↑Wed Mar 20, 2024 10:37 pm John,
Tell me more about the Tiny House camping.
Where is that in or near Kerrville, Texas??
Help me find it, please.

dan

We stayed at the HTR TX Hill Country Campground
175 Riverview Road, Kerrville, TX 78028
I booked it through Booking.com.

As we rode around it seemed to us that there were many tiny house options at all of the campgrounds/resorts along the Guadalupe River near Kerrville. It appeared to us that some were even converting existing RV spaces to tiny houses.

A nice report of a great trip. I enjoyed being with you, as always, my friend. I wouldn't classify the riding as "epic", but the weather was nice, the comraderie even better, and for early March, that's plenty good enough. I'll do my own version of a ride report directly.

Obviously I was dejected when my back gave way, but very glad to be able to see you and Mike continue.

Great ride report buddy.

ZZZZIP