Headed for Tupelo

I am leaving Thursday morning for Tupelo, MS, birthplace of Elvis Presley. It looks to be about 750 miles from Deland, so a long day of riding ahead. I'll get off to an early start to try to cover as much ground as I can in the cooler weather.



The Guzzi is loaded and ready to go!

Just some ramblings...

NOTE: Click any of the pics to enlarge
I leave for my motorcycle trip to California in a few days so I have been getting ready for that. I am going to meet my buddy from Papillion, NE, Mike "Stal" Caniglia (Stal is short for Italian Stallion!!) in Springfield, MO on Friday (6/20). I have lined up the Rest Haven Court Motel on Route 66 as our lodging for the night. This is an old original Route 66 motel from the late 1940's. Here are some pics from then and now...




On Saturday the 21st we'll ride some of Route 66 as we make our way through Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas. We'll be going right through Amarillo, Texas, home of the Big Texan 72 ounce steak. I hereby challenge Stal to see if he can finish it(free if you do!) From Texas we enter New Mexico and get to our lodging place Saturday night, the Blue Swallow Motel in Tucumcari, New Mexico, another original Route 66 motel from the late 1930's.








I got my pre-ride haircut today in Deland at the old fashioned barber shop...nice n short!!


We'll leave Sunday for the Phoenix area and stay with my sis Mara and her husband Robert and the kids. Looking forward to seeing them. We'll spend Sunday night at their home.

Monday morning we'll head for Malibu, California where the Moto Guzzi National rally is being held. Last I heard they are expecting well over 200 Moto Guzzis there. We will be staying in Calabasas, CA at the Good Nite Inn Monday night through Friday.


Friday morning (6/27) we will leave California for Tucson, AZ to visit my good buddy Dave and his family. We will stay there Friday and Saturday nights.

Early Sunday we will start making our way back up towards Omaha. We have not yet decided where we will stay Sunday night.

Monday evening we will arrive in Papillion, NE assuming all goes as planned.

I intend to hang around in the Omaha area until either Thursday or Friday and then start making my way home to Florida (hopefully back in Florida Saturday evening).

Whaddya think? Sounds fun huh?!!

The rainy season has returned

Florida's rainy season is back. It typically consists of afternoon storms popping up out of seemingly nowhere. Hence, I have been soaked to the bone the last two days riding home on the Guzzi Breva. Oh well, no harm done.

Mike "Stal" Caniglia takes his motorbike out for a test ride...

CLICK HERE!!

Airport day at Bob White Airfield

I spent several hours at Bob White Airfield today in Zellwood, FL. Champ Pilot Jim and I went up in the mighty Champ for an hour. That was a load of fun.

After that we met up with Super Cub Pilot Jim and SCPJ took his first flight in his 1942 Piper Super Cub in 15 years!

I also got some pics and footage of other planes, including a North American T-6. VERY COOL plane!

Check out the pics and videos....

Click HERE to see lotsa pics!

Tonight....

I have received some keen things in the mail this week. Most of them are related to my upcoming motorcycle trip across this great land, from Florida to California, sea to shining sea.

CLICK ANY PIC BELOW TO ENLARGE

Along the way my riding buddy Stallion and I will need sustenance to keep us going so I got a little selection of jerky snacks.


To keep us cool I bought a couple cooling bandanas. These bandanas have little beads in them and are flat when dry. Soak them in water for 10 minutes and the beads swell to 400-500 times their size. You then wear it around your neck and the cooling sensation last 18-24 hours!




I bought a couple more pairs of socks made with motorcycling in mind. They don't fall down, are comfortable and breathable for those long days in the saddle of the Guzzi.


As the trip progresses I want to document things that happen. So I bought a pocket-sized motorcycle log book. Additionally, I am bringing a laptop computer which Stal most graciously gave to me. It will allow me to update this blog along the way. A few of the keys on the pc keyboard do not work so I got this cool, cheap roll-up blue keyboard. The other nice thing about having the pc with us is that it has the Technoresearch motorcycle diagnostic software loaded on it so we can plug our bikes into it and perform maintenance along the way.



The Breva now has a brand new Pirelli Diablo Strada rear tire. She'll also be getting a full fluid change soon with some nice, new engine oil and gearbox and rear drive oil.


Finally, my friend Super Cub Pilot Bob (SCPB) from Omaha sent me a wickedly cool videotape from 1991 of his lovely wife Barb flying in a P-51 Gunfighter airplane. SCPB is on the left and Barb is in the middle with her back to the camera. Also is a lot of awesome video of SCPB piloting his radial engined Stearman biplane! Man was that sweet!! As a matter of fact I need to get outta here now and go watch it again. Thanks SCPB!!

Light Sport Aircraft

This is a video of a Challenger II light sport aircraft in flight. Another option I have been looking into....