Friends in From Florida

Riding with Friends

 November 16-18, 2008

It doesn't get better than this.  Our friends flew in from Florida for a visit.  It was a visit that was long over due but our scheduled had postponed their visit for over a year.  In May of 2007, the KB and I flew to Florida for a visit.  We rented a Harley Fatboy, and rode for two and a half days.  The

 Fatboy was a poor choice on my part.  It is suspension challenged and rides rather rough.    When they arrived, they rented a Harley Ultra Classic and we rode for three days.  The riding in Southeast Texas can in no way compare to the scenery of the North central Florida horse country.  But we still managed to ride over 600 miles in three days.  

On Saturday we rode to the huge town of Rye, Texas.  We ate at the local restaurant and drank several cups of hot coffee while visiting with the local folks.  Nothing fancy but very nice, in a country way, and well worth repeating.  

Ride day two saw us on the road with the ladies to Brazos Bend State Park.  It was very cold when we  started out.  Warm clothes was the focus  of the pre-ride preparation.  On the was back we rode through some of the communities that were devastated by hurricane Ike.  My thanks to the ladies

 for riding in such cold weather.  

Day three was a well planned ride to Surf Side, Texas.  The original plan was to ride FM 87 

from Surf Side to Galveston.  But when we stopped by the Oyster Bay PD to inquire about the FM 87 road conditions.The dispatcher informed us that 

  Ike had washed away the road to Galveston.  Plan "B" was quickly formulated in the parking lot of a seaside park.  We rode to Angelton for lunch.  We stopped by the fire station to ask when the local workers eat lunch.  They sent us to Mama's Kitchen which had some comfort food.  Another life lesson relearned...  go native and eat what the locals are eating.  I noticed that there was a Chef's Salad on the menu.  I inquired as to how fresh it was.  The lovely waitress, who reminded me of Flo from Mel's Diner, responded that she "ain't never sold one of those."  Mama's is not really a repeat.  We rode on to Alvin then home.  It was a great day of riding.  

Tuesday morning we returned the rental to the Harley dealer.  It was sad to be putting an end to that part of their visit.  I rode home alone. 

It was a great visit and we are already looking at a plan to ride Florida or the Natchez Trace in the Spring.  

Many thanks to Gary and Carol for a wonderful visit.  And yes there was more to the visit than just riding motorcycles... a lot more.