Tupelo, MS to Marianna, FL

For Beth this 373-mile day was the worst she’s experienced in twenty years of riding. The temperature was hot all day and the humidity was very high. The wet vests are no help in such humidity. They actually are worse, because the make you feel hot and clammy.

The worst part of the day was on I-65 south of Birmingham. There was construction and an accident; it took two hours to go 14 miles. The temperature was in the high 90’s all afternoon. The traffic on I-65 between Birmingham and Montgomery was second only to I-95 at Christmastime. We’ve learned our lesson and will avoid this stretch in the future. We can’t do much about the heat as the Motor Maids convention is always in July.

We found a rest area with a shaded picnic table for lunch.

We got to our Bunk-a-Biker hosts, Loraine and Tony, in Marianna by late afternoon. Loraine and Tony were having a heat crisis of their own. Their air conditioning system was not cooling the house even though it was on. The system had been repaired recently. Tony went outside to check on the system and discovered that the repairman had use the wrong kind of tape for the ducts. The tape gave way allowing the A/C to cool the outside. Tony added some new tape. By the time we arrived the temperature in the house was coming down, but it was still uncomfortable. We decided to go to Beef ‘O’ Brady’s for dinner. We had a great meal in cool surroundings. By the time we got back to the house the temperature was down in the “reasonable” range.

Marianna, FL to Home

Because of the heat and humidity, we got a very early start. The sun was up, but just barely. The first 150 miles went OK, but the last 200 were difficult. From Chiefland, FL, we headed SE toward I-75. I didn’t have a toll transponder for the rental car, so our intention was to go to I-75 and take it down to St. Pete. We ran into heavy rain. Beth was able to go a few miles, but when the rain turned into a torrential downpour, she turned off the road and into the parking lot of a Mexican Bar & Restaurant. We went inside to dry out (I got soaked running from the car to the restaurant) and to have lunch. The food was excellent. Be sure to check out Las Micheladas on US 27 northwest of Ocala.

After lunch we made our way back to US-41 and took it south to FL-52. From there we took a variety of roads home. The weather improved almost immediately. We got home around 5 p.m., unloaded the vehicles, and waited for the driver to arrive with my bike. He arrived around 9:30 p.m. He dropped off the bike and two large boxes of parts.

The driver didn’t load the seat, so that arrived by FedEx two days later.

What’s next?

When we were in Spokane, one of Beth’s MM friends, Karrie, let me know she had a 2018 Harley trike for sale. I kept that in mind as a possible purchase, even though it wasn’t a Road Glide. Once I saw that repair by the dealer in Mississippi wasn’t going to work, I pretty much decided to buy Karrie’s trike. What convinced me was driving the rental car in air-conditioned comfort while Beth slogged through the heat and rain. It doesn’t feel right to follow her in a car while she rides through the heat and humidity of the Southeast as we go to Shark Week and visit friends and family over the next two weeks.

So… on Wednesday we drove over to Vero Beach. The traffic on FL-60 was terrible. There are lots of commercial areas and construction zones. Trucks use it as a major corridor to get to the Florida Turnpike.

I took the bike around the block. It’s just fine and I bought it.

I rode the bike home and went via FL-70. What a difference from 60. There was very little traffic, and we moved along at the speed limit. We now have a sardine can for a garage.

All older bikes need a little work, and this bike is no exception. It ran a little rough at idle and the brakes seemed a little weak. The windshield is a little shorter than I like; I got hit on the helmet with a few bugs, so a taller windshield seemed in order. I planned to move my GPS and phone holder from my Road Glide, so I added new spark plugs, a windshield, and brake pads to the list of things to fix.

After transferring the GPS and phone mount, I took the tank off and changed the plugs. When I changed the front brake pads, I discovered the right fork seal was leaking oil. Changing fork seals is not in my repertoire, so I took it to the Harley dealer today for that fix. They noticed I needed a new front tire, but the rear brakes did not need to be changed. After I got it home, I changed the oil and filter. Now we’re ready for Shark Week, a.k.a. the Road Glide National Rally, in Asheville, NC.