05-20-2015, 05:24 PM
It's taken me well over six days to get over these flu symptoms that for some reason would not let go of me. Today I woke up feeling better than what I've felt for what now seems an eternity. It turned out that on my last outing on the CB I had filled the tank, and she had sat in the garage with a full tank and nowhere to go. At exactly 9:AM with 4,083 miles on the odometer, I suited up (boots and all) and headed north on Hwy 441 from Boca Raton to Palm Beach. The plan was to follow 441 West and take it all the way to Pahokee on Lake Okeechobee. Once I got to Pahokee I stretched my legs and continued north on 441 (the prettiest scenery of the trip) past Taylor Creek up to the town of Okeechobee. This consumed some 110 miles since departing the house.
If any of you are familiar with the state of Florida, you will know from your travels here just how flat it all is. Well, flat terrain aside the beautiful countryside available along my chosen route made it all worthwhile. This is cattle country here in Southern Florida and there are many interesting creeks and larger rivers that almost beg one to park by the road and explore the scene. After almost 140 miles I passed Fort Drum, it was almost ten minutes after I passed a gas station that my fuel quantity began to flash. Not a problem I thought since there had been plenty of stations up to this part of my trip. Well, as the miles passed that miles to go counter just kept ticking down so I decided to cut my speed down from the posted 60 MPH to just below 50. There is a feeling that a pilot experiences when flying over water on a single engine at night that seems to affect the muscles that force your butt to sort of "pucker". I had not felt that sensation in years. Yet here I was in broad daylight on land on my CB and no station in sight. The tension would lessen slightly when some prehistoric insect would impact my helmet with a sudden plop and there would be one more victim joining those already stuck there. The Florida Turnpike passed under my stretch of rode and I began to ponder that maybe I could be better off switching to a far busier route. Just about then in the distance I could make out what I could swear were some sort of structures. I was not going to get too excited until I had better proof. And this is how I came to "Yeehaw Junction". I filled my tank with regular had a soda and took off down the road without any trace or need of that dreaded "pucker reflex".
After 30 miles I turned off on Hwy 192 heading East straight to Melbourne Fl. and on to AIA (the coastal scenic route) but finally turned back for something to eat and the convenience of I-95 heading south. I made it back to Boca Raton at exactly 5:35 PM. I had ridden 379 miles in a little over eight hours.
Other than almost running my CB out of gas and almost ruining a perfect day on the bike, I'm very pleased to still feel the joy one gets when all is right with the world. I would do it again in a New York second. Yes, there was a minor "pucker" interlude, but hey, it's part of feeling alive![/b]
If any of you are familiar with the state of Florida, you will know from your travels here just how flat it all is. Well, flat terrain aside the beautiful countryside available along my chosen route made it all worthwhile. This is cattle country here in Southern Florida and there are many interesting creeks and larger rivers that almost beg one to park by the road and explore the scene. After almost 140 miles I passed Fort Drum, it was almost ten minutes after I passed a gas station that my fuel quantity began to flash. Not a problem I thought since there had been plenty of stations up to this part of my trip. Well, as the miles passed that miles to go counter just kept ticking down so I decided to cut my speed down from the posted 60 MPH to just below 50. There is a feeling that a pilot experiences when flying over water on a single engine at night that seems to affect the muscles that force your butt to sort of "pucker". I had not felt that sensation in years. Yet here I was in broad daylight on land on my CB and no station in sight. The tension would lessen slightly when some prehistoric insect would impact my helmet with a sudden plop and there would be one more victim joining those already stuck there. The Florida Turnpike passed under my stretch of rode and I began to ponder that maybe I could be better off switching to a far busier route. Just about then in the distance I could make out what I could swear were some sort of structures. I was not going to get too excited until I had better proof. And this is how I came to "Yeehaw Junction". I filled my tank with regular had a soda and took off down the road without any trace or need of that dreaded "pucker reflex".
After 30 miles I turned off on Hwy 192 heading East straight to Melbourne Fl. and on to AIA (the coastal scenic route) but finally turned back for something to eat and the convenience of I-95 heading south. I made it back to Boca Raton at exactly 5:35 PM. I had ridden 379 miles in a little over eight hours.
Other than almost running my CB out of gas and almost ruining a perfect day on the bike, I'm very pleased to still feel the joy one gets when all is right with the world. I would do it again in a New York second. Yes, there was a minor "pucker" interlude, but hey, it's part of feeling alive![/b]
![[Image: 713006a64f6e36905d7de29ff404c6aa.jpg]](https://cb1100forum.net/forum/uploads/imp/201505/713006a64f6e36905d7de29ff404c6aa.jpg)