kinda cool, low 40's but we started off at a nice 75mph pace out of the metro area, wicked it up to about 80-85 and settled in down past Richmond VA for the first gas stop. Temp dropped to mid 30's but we were ok, although Barbie had to add more clothes so we waited.... Hopped back on the interstate and rolled on in the still dark morning hours at about 90mph or so... next stop 100 miles to reserve and we pulled off the road. Again, Barbie asked if he could take off his shoes and let his feet warm up and his hands warm up... added another sweatshirt... me and George drank a cup of coffee while we watched...

Off again... a little plain Nissan sedan came up on our ass about 100mph, so naturally we wicked it up to 105...stayed that way for the next hour.... pulled off in Fayetteville NC about 4 hours after we started ( normally a 5-6 hour trip)... during that part of the trip, we noticed that with 3 bikes runnin, the first 2 would squeeze thru the cars and they'd close the gap on the 3rd, so we'd be sayin..WHARES GEORGE?... a recurring theme of the trip... hahah

Next stop, gettin warmer, so Barbie needs to start takin off some clothes... next stop, some more...and on... ( see what I mean about the lead paragraph?)...kept this pace of 95mph up constant the rest of the way down. Just before Jacksonville Fl, we pulled off for a gas stop and while BSsing with a tow truck driver, he mentioned that we should take the shortcut around town instead of going over the bridge at 3pm..well, that was EXCELLENT advice. we hopped onto the 295 outer loop and rolled on, picking up another bike as we were on 295 doin about 85-90.. then this guy decides we aren’t doin the car slalom fast enuf and starts to scoot around the slow lane, I glance over and this HARLEY Dresser is rollin right along.. , so naturally IAINTLETTINNOHARLEYPASSME takes over... heh heh... well, there we are, the 2 of us, scootin and swervin and dodgin and weavin... bout ninety to a buck.. then, I found my opening. ... I let him pass me thinkin he was on it, and wicked it up to about a buckfifteen and whoosh... got the opening, and a bout a 1/4 mile later didnt see him at all.. hahaaha.. anyway I let him catch up, he gives me thumbs up and we start ridin side-by-side thru the traffic.. all smiles... this guy actually RODE his Harley the way it was supposed to be..RODE!...anyway, I found another opening and 95 traffic was getting thicker as we were getting closer to Daytona, so I blew by him and didn’t see him again... Ethan ( Barbie) then blew by him and rode with him, he caught Ethan and yelled over, MAN THOSE VALKS ARE FAST! with all big smiles... anyway, the 100 mile reserve hit about that time, so I pulled over at the next exit waiting for Barbie, the Harley guy, and ya... where's George... they saw me, but the Harley guy kept goin, we waved and that’s the last we saw of him (too bad woulda liked to rode with him some more...hahah)... last gas stop till Daytona...all the time, George would be bringin up the rear gettin cut outta the gap of the cars as they got pissed as the front guys squirted by... George haddta wait... WHERE's GEORGE?

I think we saw a total of about 2 or 3 cops on the entire 850 mile trip. We stopped for lunch ( where Barbie removed more clothing), a long lunch at that, and made it to Daytona in time for the 6pm dinner gathering that TJ put together. No hotel room lined up, we'd wing it. Had a GREAT dinner and saw some great folks.... Wingcruiser from UK, Hotglue from Houston, Sandy from Virginia( we didnt even know each other till meeting in Daytona...), and a LOT of others that I cant mention but wont forget ( cause this article is so long)...

Hooked up with Lamont and he mentioned that we could try the Hotel he was staying at to see if any last min vacancies... turned out that when we went over there, they didn’t have a room for Friday nite, but had one for Saturday nite.. but they DID have the Pelican Room available and would we like to bunk there? well, we said OF COURSE!!! ..they rolled up 3 rollaway beds into the top floor suite and we all went to Lamont and WIA's room to use their shower.... after cleaning up, we went down to the hotel bar and hung out watching the bluehairs do kareoke and some BUTTUGLY broad across the bar... I ordered a BUD, Ethan ordered a Labbats (dont got any) a Molson ( dont got any) then a BUD, and George caught on quick and ordered a Bud Light... hahaha... drank out beers, made fun of the ugly lady ( at LEAST another 800 miles before she'd look good...hahaha) and watched babies be born on the TV monitor above the Ugly one's head ( you HAD to be there...)... finished our beers,and LIGHTS out!

Next morning, got up and went over to Dennys with WIA and Lamont. then hit Mainstreet, then off to Sunshine Mall. hung out a while, saw kool things, saw kool folks. Hooked up with Justin ( Viking exhaust fame) and he ACTUALLY LET ME ride his recently renovated scooter. Now for those of you who have not seen this thing, let me tell you that Pictures do NOT do it justice! this thing is a work of art. both on the performance side as well as the style side of things. So, there I go, down the road on this beast, Justin says wait till between 4000 and 7500rpms till you say you like it or not...well I tell ya, for a bike without a blower, this thing takes your breath away! it is SAWEET!... I am convinced that these pipes are on my list ( right after the BLOWER that I want from Lamonster)... anyway returned the bike, in one piece as I found it, and thanked Justin again for allowing me to ride it. WOW!... saw JeffK with his newly renovated scooter with Blower and Viking pipes and headwork.. he says he drawing about 150 ponies now at the rear wheel... DATS WHAT I WANT!... Saw Hal and he REALLY did us right as he had some extra tickets to the VIP box at the track.. only 2 of em though, so either Barbie or Wheres George couldn’t go... well George won out so we hit the track. Ethan actually hooked up with Chris and Melissa ( BTW, Sorry to hear about your loss Ray, my prayers are with you and your family) to get trackside and into the pit area. After the racetrack, we hit the vendor booths quickly, stopped in the Honda area, snapped some pics, and headed back to Sunshine mall to see what folks were doing for dinner... Helped Mark and Justin break down the booths and load up the trailer ( sorry bout that gas attack Justin..heh heh), helped Hal and Chris break down the Direct line tents and load parts onto the truck. During all that, a group had formed for dinner and we tagged along to eat with them. 1 hour wait, so we decided Dennys was the place to be Saturday nite in Daytona Beach! Jerry Lewis served us... HAY LAYYDY... food took a Loooong time to make, so we had time to create trouble ( as Valkcabbie writes earlier on the boards)... Lamont got a superbird sandwich, which ended up being more hummingbird than superbird... TJ had a cold omlette, I had some kind of chicken fingers, and, Puff had a HECK of a time trying to get a cup of hot tea... a fun time was had by all. Well, that was it for me, I hit the wall, and decided that Daytona was done with me for the nite. Went to the room to pack up for the trip home and chill out about 10pm.... George ran off to Main street one more time and Ethan took a walk on the beach...

Next morning, get checked out, rollin by about 6:15 or so... no traffic, so we are cautious about cops lookin for folks headed home... first 30 miles or so, nuttin, so wick it up to about 80 ( really with the flow of traffic).. 85.... 90.... 95.... the rest of the way home...... yehaw. Just like rollin down we saw about 2 cops rolling back... couple a harley roadkings wanted to hang, one of em, all modified, came blowing by George, and Barbie, and was beside me before I sawed him..... IAINTLETTINNOHARLEYPASSME takes over again...we are rollin about a buckfifteen, he aint pullin, but I aint pullin niether, dead even... hmmmm.. that caps it! I'ma gettin that blower!...this guy must have dumped a BUNCH of dough into this scooter for it to roll like that... anyway, we keep this up for about 5 or so miles, and both back off to about 95 to let the others catch up... we rode in a pack for about another 30 miles, then the e3 of us blew by em and they didn’t keep up... we pulled off for gas and as we hit the ramp, waved at em as they stayed on the road... uneventful the rest of the way home... 90 or so mph... met a guy on a Beemer who rolled with us for a while, but we thought we lost him in Richmond, but he popped up out of nowhere around Fredricksburg again.. we blew him off one more time and about that time hit our exit off of I95 where we bid farewell to George and rolled the rest of the way home. We rolled in about 7:30 or so...13 hours later with both a Breakfast AND lunch stop...

This trip was GREAT for many reasons. Saw old friends, reinforced new ones, fell into some fabulous deals by some GREAT people, saw and had all the variables that COULD have made it a bad one turn into a good one ( hotel, no tickets, no breakdowns)...

I'd like to THANK Ethan and George for a fantastic ride and will ride with you anytime again. I'd like to thank Lamont for helping out with the hotel and in general for being the guy he is, Hal and Chris and Mellissa for the gracious gift, Justin for allowing his baby to be placed in my arms, TJ for settin up the meet and greet Friday nite, Wingcruizer for the Dragon Money ( shoot me your mailing address bro), Valkcabbie and Puff for a great dinner Sat nite, Wia and Crazy Rick/Not-so-crazy Karen for hangin with us... and ALL the others we met