Dark and early this morning, three of us left my house at 5:15 AM to ride to Alva for an MSTA brunch. The temp was 73 F and it was a very pleasant ride all of the way. Leaving that early, even riding through Orlando on I4 was a breeze. Once we left I4, we took back roads to pick up US 17 in Lake Alfred and stayed on US 17 all the way to Arcadia where we took FL 31. Traffic was minimal and it was so nice to ride through the countryside.
Alva is an unincorporated community in northeast portion of Lee County, Florida. It is the oldest settlement in Lee County. It is still a rural, country settlement even though urbanization from Ft Myers is rapidly encroaching. The Caloosahatchee River flows through the town dividing it into the north and south banks.
A little more trivia. The Caloosahatchee River, which today artificially connects with Lake Okeechobee and flows to the Gulf of Mexico, is an American Indian word. The Calusa’s were a tribe living along the shores and waterways in what is now Lee and Charlotte Counties, at the time of the the Spanish conquest. The tribe is now extinct. Hatchee is Creek Indian word meaning river or out of the river.
We elected to have our brunch at the Alva Diner instead of going to the park as other MSTA riders did. Wuhan virus worries. We met a MSTA rider that I had never had the pleasure of meeting.. This delightful and remarkable lady is from Ft Lauderdale and she is very impressive. We had a good brunch a fantastic comradery. Rocky, she is almost 80 and rode solo to Alaska and back three years ago on a V-Strom solo. Today she rode her Honda. She also has two sport bikes.
After brunch, the three of us saddled up and headed back to Central Florida. We had a good ride back and only hit a few sprinkles. We rode a total of 331 miles. My two riding buddies had never ridden in that part of Florida. My thanks to Van for organizing this fine MSTA outing. Looking forward to the next ride.
Frenchie, our new riding partner
Clockwise: Frenchie, Alan, Carl, Claude
Alva is an unincorporated community in northeast portion of Lee County, Florida. It is the oldest settlement in Lee County. It is still a rural, country settlement even though urbanization from Ft Myers is rapidly encroaching. The Caloosahatchee River flows through the town dividing it into the north and south banks.
A little more trivia. The Caloosahatchee River, which today artificially connects with Lake Okeechobee and flows to the Gulf of Mexico, is an American Indian word. The Calusa’s were a tribe living along the shores and waterways in what is now Lee and Charlotte Counties, at the time of the the Spanish conquest. The tribe is now extinct. Hatchee is Creek Indian word meaning river or out of the river.
We elected to have our brunch at the Alva Diner instead of going to the park as other MSTA riders did. Wuhan virus worries. We met a MSTA rider that I had never had the pleasure of meeting.. This delightful and remarkable lady is from Ft Lauderdale and she is very impressive. We had a good brunch a fantastic comradery. Rocky, she is almost 80 and rode solo to Alaska and back three years ago on a V-Strom solo. Today she rode her Honda. She also has two sport bikes.
After brunch, the three of us saddled up and headed back to Central Florida. We had a good ride back and only hit a few sprinkles. We rode a total of 331 miles. My two riding buddies had never ridden in that part of Florida. My thanks to Van for organizing this fine MSTA outing. Looking forward to the next ride.
Frenchie, our new riding partner
Clockwise: Frenchie, Alan, Carl, Claude
