99 All this for a tire?



March 24.  When we started on this winter trip some of our friends had questioned the condition of our front tire.  And now even strangers in grocery parking lots are making comments.  The condition of the tire, the comments of strangers and the thought that the last leg of our journey may involve snow covered roads, I decided to make arrangements for a new front trike tire.  We use a tire designed for the rear of a motorcycle for our front tire. The rear 

tire is designed thicker and with it on the front we can increase our mileage from the nine to twelve thousand miles to as many as twenty-five thousand.   There is a Bridgestone I like to use.  With our tentative travel plans in front of me I finally arranged for a Honda dealer in Memphis to order and install the tire when we arrived Friday at 1pm.  No more 100 mile wandering days like yesterdays.  Time to check out of our Chiefland motel room and get on the road.  

     We continued on Hwy 19 staying as close to the West coast of Florida as possible, I would like to give Ruthie the opportunity to walk the beach at lest one more time.   When we reached highway 30 we turned left toward the Florida panhandle.  Just outside of Medart we stopped for

lunch at Hamaknockers BBQ, very tasty and a nice visit with a motorcycling couple from Canada camping on St Georges Island.   Asking "what's in the area we need to see or should take a look at"  is how we are directed to some note worthy sites.  Today we decided to pass.  They told us if we took a loop thru Sopchoppy we could see the site of the worm grunting contest.  I think we will save that for some future trip. 

      We continued next to the Gulf checking once in a while for camping prices, a bit pricey so we continued on.  Soon we hit Apalachicola Florida, it had the look of a quaint little tourist town.  We checked out some of the local inns but it was obvious they knew the value of their trendy little town.  We settled for a chain hotel on the edge of town and wandered into the village to check it out.  We received a tip on a sea food restaurant overlooking the canal.  The view was nice however we had better fare at the Freezer.  It was a pleasant motel and only the second time we have been called to ask if we were pleased with our accommodations.  

Sign at a little Alabama country store,
pull your pants up!



    March 25  The next morning it was cool as we rode along the gulf, we stopped so Ruthie could have a walk along the beach,  with the wind and cool weather she wasn't to excited about it.  When we mounted the trike we decided it was time to start veering North.  Some where between Panama City and Fort Walton Beach we set the GPS on Philadelphia Mississippi.  For the rest of the day we fought a very strong side wind from the South and by evening I was ready for a rest. 

Casino Barge tied up. 

  During the evening I found a economy room at a Casino by Luna Mississippi.  It would put us in a good position to make our tire appointment at Memphis on Friday.  A little Casino information for you.  The casino is located adjacent to the Mississippi river.  To get around gambling restrictions some of the operators get away with it because of an old law that allowed river boat gambling.  The one we were at was on a barge that was on a bed of water connected to the adjoining hotel complex that was on land.  (who knows if there is actually water under the barge itself any more.)   The casino I worked at by Northwood Iowa was built in a corn field with a layer of water underneath it to get around the regulations.  I have heard that the laws have now been changed and they have drained the water.  We had seen storm clouds rolling in and it looked like we were in for a bad one,  During the night their were high winds, rain and even some hail, it was nice to be in a secure building.



Water was a bit cool, last day for sandals for a while.



    

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

      Friday morning we packed up and headed out to the trike, they had been nice enough to let me park it under a covered entrance and with the high winds and rains we were very grateful.    As I drove the trike up to load it I missed a phone call.  Checking, I

 

found it was the Honda dealer informing me they didn't have the tire and didn't even know if it had been shipped.   They then told me they could have it Monday,  knowing that a lot of motorcycle dealers are closed Monday, I questioned him, yes they were closed Monday so I guess it will be Tuesday, (don't they even think before they talk). Okay I'm a little more than frustrated now.  The hotel let us stay another night (failing to mention that it was at an increased rate because it was now the weekend.) in my present mood it was probably better that I didn't find out until later.   One humorous moment while extending our stay for another evening, finding out where we lived the receptionist asked. "do you all have a summer up there??"   Back in our room I fired up the computer and spent the rest of the morning and part of the afternoon trying to find another tire.  I found my second choice a Michelin rear tire in a Memphis suburb.  Saturday the 29th it would be.