In a deep sleep, I heard a distant alarm clock in my dream. Gradually coming up through the layers of sleep, I realized that awful noise was MY alarm clock and it was 0500. I shut it off, struggled out of bed and quickly dressed donning my riding gear. By 0530 I was on the road driving Mae Lyne's rig (she was still soundly sleeping) heading to the west coast (of Florida).
One of our PGR members in Largo (the St Petersburg/Clearwater area) has a daughter with only a few months to live; she has bone marrow cancer. On her bucket list, was a wish to ride on a motorcycle. Her dad rides a Harley; but it is setup for solo only. He was appealing to anyone who had a trike or a sidecar.
It was cool and the roads were still wet from last night's severe round of thunderstorms. When we get late afternoon and evening rains, they can lower the temperature 15 to 20 degrees F. It was 70 F (21 C) which is cool for this time of year - and I was dressed for 90 F +!! But it felt good as I rode under the light of a bright almost 3/4 moon. Traffic was light and the rig and I rolled right along.
I saw dawn breaking in my mirrors and realized I was hungry. Around 0620, I wheeled into a Cracker Barrel Parking lot, turned off the Bonnie and went in for Breakfast. For you folks across the pond, Cracker Barrel is a chain of restaurants specializing in Southern country cooking and decorated country style with antiques of all kinds. As I sat there eating my eggs, pancakes, and sausage, I watched the sun peek over the horizon.
After breakfast, I headed toward Tampa. I rode through the Tampa metro area, across a calm, placid, sparkling Tampa Bay and on to Largo.
After much searching and several telephone calls, I finally found the staging area. I just don't do well in cities. In all twelve bikes showed up including one bike and one sidecar. Tammy's dad met us and led us to their home.
At the sounds of the bikes arriving, Tammy's mom brought her outside. I wish you all could have seen her face. One of the members had bought a leather vest and had PGR patches sewn on it. He presented it to Tammy.
We determined that she would not be able to get in and out of the sidecar and that she would do better on the trike. Her mom decided that she wanted to ride in hack. With dad in the lead, the trike with Tammie second, we left for about a seven mile ride through the suburbs of Largo. I hope Tammy enjoyed her ride as much as her mom enjoyed hers! I decided to refrain from flying the car!!
We stopped at an American Legion of which her dad is a member and had water and sodas - and air conditioning. It had gotten quite warm out.
We left the American Legion and headed back to their house, said our goodbyes and went our separate ways - each feeling really good that we had helped make a wish come true.
Four of us rode together as far as Tampa. We were stopped at a traffic light and the bank thermometer read 100 F (37.8 C). Definitely warm.
The ride back home uneventful and as long I was running about 70 mph (113 kph), I was not too hot. Total miles today were 240 (386 kilometers). It was a good day.
One of our PGR members in Largo (the St Petersburg/Clearwater area) has a daughter with only a few months to live; she has bone marrow cancer. On her bucket list, was a wish to ride on a motorcycle. Her dad rides a Harley; but it is setup for solo only. He was appealing to anyone who had a trike or a sidecar.
It was cool and the roads were still wet from last night's severe round of thunderstorms. When we get late afternoon and evening rains, they can lower the temperature 15 to 20 degrees F. It was 70 F (21 C) which is cool for this time of year - and I was dressed for 90 F +!! But it felt good as I rode under the light of a bright almost 3/4 moon. Traffic was light and the rig and I rolled right along.
I saw dawn breaking in my mirrors and realized I was hungry. Around 0620, I wheeled into a Cracker Barrel Parking lot, turned off the Bonnie and went in for Breakfast. For you folks across the pond, Cracker Barrel is a chain of restaurants specializing in Southern country cooking and decorated country style with antiques of all kinds. As I sat there eating my eggs, pancakes, and sausage, I watched the sun peek over the horizon.
After breakfast, I headed toward Tampa. I rode through the Tampa metro area, across a calm, placid, sparkling Tampa Bay and on to Largo.
After much searching and several telephone calls, I finally found the staging area. I just don't do well in cities. In all twelve bikes showed up including one bike and one sidecar. Tammy's dad met us and led us to their home.
At the sounds of the bikes arriving, Tammy's mom brought her outside. I wish you all could have seen her face. One of the members had bought a leather vest and had PGR patches sewn on it. He presented it to Tammy.
We determined that she would not be able to get in and out of the sidecar and that she would do better on the trike. Her mom decided that she wanted to ride in hack. With dad in the lead, the trike with Tammie second, we left for about a seven mile ride through the suburbs of Largo. I hope Tammy enjoyed her ride as much as her mom enjoyed hers! I decided to refrain from flying the car!!
We stopped at an American Legion of which her dad is a member and had water and sodas - and air conditioning. It had gotten quite warm out.
We left the American Legion and headed back to their house, said our goodbyes and went our separate ways - each feeling really good that we had helped make a wish come true.
Four of us rode together as far as Tampa. We were stopped at a traffic light and the bank thermometer read 100 F (37.8 C). Definitely warm.
The ride back home uneventful and as long I was running about 70 mph (113 kph), I was not too hot. Total miles today were 240 (386 kilometers). It was a good day.
