Tuesday, 7/23, Ride Update

    

Four Years....a few weeks over 4 years!

      Yep, time flies, and I’ve learned (or re-learned) that’s a fact regardless whether you’re having fun or not. After four years, the time seems right to breathe a little air back into Southern Comfort's lungs, so here goes. Hope you guys bear with me while I resurrect my blogging skills, and to those (over 133,500 former readers!) who have long given up on seeing anything new from SC, (and...YIKES.....even deleted the link!), here we go again......

.........It's a very hot July day today here in Ormond Beach, Florida, and I can work up a sweat just walking out to the mailbox and back. It's hovering at 102 degrees, without the heat index. With the beach nearby, and a new boat here in the garage, there's a few nifty ways to cope with the heat, but we...yes, WE....are going to hit the road tomorrow morning, setting out on an adventure. This time, and for my/her/our first time, 2-up riding on the Harley Davidson for about a month with my girlfriend, Robin. Destination: Out west, with the obligatory stop at Sturgis for the annual Black Hills Motorcycle Rally.

      I started kicking around the idea of my next long ride almost two years ago, and over time the plan began to crystalize. All I really wanted was to get back on the road and get away.....far away...from the East Coast. I love where I live, right in the heart of vacation-land, but I need some perspective, both scenic and personal. I've had some pretty rough times during the past few years, and it was, and is, time to go.

      Going last year was my original idea, but spinal surgery was suddenly required, and that sure put the screws on the that idea. As a result everything got set back until I healed up a little, so a ride during 2019 was put on the calendar. 

And also in 2018, out of nowhere (Jacksonville, actually....), Robin made an appearance in my life....a very good thing. So now it's 2019 and the ride is ON!

     Also my good friends George and Mitch At Rossmeyer HD twisted my arm last year and sold me an awesome almost-new 2017 Ultra Limited. That purchase removed any concerns about the mileage and expired warranty on my 2013 Limited. That 2013 bike sure did it's job in 2014 for my last Sturgis trip. No, that's not the only bike left. I kept the 99 Wide Glide bar-hopper that I'd picked up a couple years back. 

     On a side-note, it turns out that George and I were once neighbors in California, though we didn't know each other at the time. Small world! 

     So we're off first thing tomorrow morning, riding 2-up on the Limited. That's Saturday, July 20, 2019. No, no fucking trailer. Sturgis, here we come. As always, route and schedule TBD as time and weather dictate. The only firm scheduled date is our house rental on Main Street in Deadwood, SD, in late July. 

     We're avoiding Interstate highways like the plague, sticking instead to secondary roads so we can enjoy the United States as it was meant to be seen. We'll see the sights, meet the people, and yes, get stuck at some red lights, but anything is better than long miles on an Interstate. Ain't no deadline, and no intinerary, and there ain't gonna be one.

       The list of places we might hit include Memphis, Deadwood, Sturgis, Wyoming, the north-south back-road route through the Rockies, into Utah and Arizona, and making our way back to Daytona/Ormond. It might take a month...maybe a little more.

      For the record, friends and family have volunteered to stay conveniently close to airports, just in case Robin decides she can't spend another day on the back of my bike wandering aimlessly through the United States. And I think she's got what it takes, and can hang in there for the whole ride! Stay tuned as the story unfolds!

       We're asking our well-intentioned friends to restrain themselves....really, please, we're serious .....not offering any tips or advice on places to see, people to meet, places to eat, or routes to take, thus my reluctance to publish a possible route map. It's our adventure, and we want to discover it for ourselves as the trip unfolds around each bend in the road.

      So Cheer's y'all, and thanks for reading Southern Comfort once again....YOU ARE READING IT, RIGHT? Stay tuned for updates!

Cowboy and Robin, July 2019