06-27-2010
Sunday's Ride
The Misfit Chronicles Continue......
Hello Misfits,
The Misfits convened @ the Melbourne VFW around 9:30 AM on Sunday morning to get ready for the ride to Lake Tohopekaligia and Crabby Bill's. We had 21 bikes meet for breakfast and the usual friendly get-together on this morning filled with blue sky and many puff ball clouds that carried the potential for the wet stuff. Herb brought two new Misfits, Don and Anita, who went to the same high school up north that Herb attended. He and Don both graduated in 1969. Welcome, Don and Anita! Kelley brought new Misfit Kerrie who was riding a Honda Shadow. Welcome Kerrie! We saddled up our horses and made for the 7-11 @ Post Road for the liquid oats that they would need for the ride west into the interior.
It looked somewhat ominous as we rode west out Post Road, but once we got on 192 west bound the clouds looked less threatening. By the time we passed Camp Holly, the day was looking really good. The Misfits settled in to enjoy the ride out 192 with its views of the St. Johns River and the bucolic and rural countryside. At Holopaw, we turned south onto Armadillo Alley (S.R.441). The road was little traveled this day, and we had it mostly to ourselves all the way to Kenansville. There we found what shade we could and took a long break to hydrate and enjoy that "being in the middle of nowhere" feeling. Sometimes we all just stopped talking for a moment to listen to the silence that was broken only by the occasional vehicle that passed by.
Then we took the short hop up Canoe Creek to the Heartbreak Hotel where we took the first Misfit Classic Photo. Again we were struck by the remoteness of this out of the way place. I mean there was NO ONE around as we filled up the lot with our bikes. Most of us come from suburbia with its noise and congestion, so the isolation of Canoe Creek was a treat. We rode on angling north and west up Canoe Creek taking in the views of the wide open countryside with its green fields, horses, cows, sandhill cranes, and early views of Lake Marian to the west. We only passed a few cars until we got to the St. Cloud end of Canoe Creek!
In St. Cloud, we crossed 192 onto Narcossee Road and the last leg of our trip to Crabby Bill's. Once we got to the south shore of Lake Tohopekaligia, we could see boats crisscrossing the calm waters of the almost perfectly round lake. The Misfits pulled into Crabby's a tad after 1:00PM and settled in for lunch and some cool drinks. Today everyone stayed inside since it was in the 90s out on the deck. Hard to believe the last time we were here all of us were leathered up and cold! The staff at Bill's was cordial, and the service was good especially with a large group hitting all at once like we did. I took some pics of the Misfit denizens of Crabby's that I'll be sending right after the Chronicles.
Pat
Gary, Danny, Donna, Bonnie, and Michelle @ Crabby Bill's!
Barry, Sonia, Rich, Steve, Kelley, and Kerrie at Crabby's!
