Hawg Hauler

Ridin' the Dragon...

2010-08-09T16:10:00.000-07:00

Tail of the Dragon and Blue Ridge Mountain Trip

2010-07-20T16:45:00.000-07:00

Last week Cathie and I hopped on the Road King and did a 6 day, 2,700 mile ride to Asheville, NC. We met our trip buddy Doug Monday morning in Milwaukee. We rode down on I-65 through Indiana and suffered through a 12 hour, hot ride, stopping in Frankfort, KY for the night. The next day we headed to Asheville, NC, getting a room at the nice Renaissance Hotel for two nights. The next morning we headed for the Dragon http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/video/riding-tail-dragon-9088145 and Blue Ridge Parkway, getting back to Asheville about 5 PM. On Thursday we rode through Smoky Mountain National Park, riding all day and getting 93 miles from Asheville (it was a very scenic ride). Then on Friday we headed through Kentucky, taking I-24 into southern Illinois, stopping in Bloomington for the night. Finally, Saturday we headed up I-39 to Wisconsin, riding through Madison and Oshkosh on our way home.

More photos can be seen at: http://picasaweb.google.com/sanderpjwi/SmokiesBlueRidgeParkwayTrip?authkey=Gv1sRgCLLI14XE746SfQ#

2009 final northern ride - for sure....

2009-11-21T18:05:00.000-08:00

While I searched the side of the road for charging deer, we got out for one more ride today. It's the first day of hunting season and you're taking your chances...

But, after a good morning walk, we decided to get the bike out for one more ride. The weather station said 55 degrees, so we put the leathers on and headed to Algoma for lunch (20 miles south). We were only out for a little more than two hours but it was a good ride to savor until my next... Perhaps we'll splurge while in the Keys this winter and rent one, but until next April... Here's Cath at the Algoma waterfront. There wasn't much wind today...

Warm-up before Winter in the land of the frozen tundra

2009-11-07T16:13:00.000-08:00

Great ride today. Swung through Footbridge, picked up friends Barb (1200C Low) and Barry (V-Rod), rode to Duvall for a heart attack special at Joe Rouer's, then to Green Bay to check out Tom, Dick, and Harry's. (It's close to a well-known place...) When we got home our weather station indicated it reached a high of 68.9...

Tomahawk Ride Sept. 18-19

2009-10-22T06:23:00.000-07:00

We took an overnight ride to Tomahawk for the annual MDA rally. Perfect weather this year. After visiting Tomahawk we checked out the vendors areas ...

Cath went for a ride herself...

We heard there were 40,000 bikes cruising northern Wisconsin that weekend...

We then took a short ride north for lunch came back to watch the parade.

We then headed north for the night to Minoqua. In the morning we contiued north, stopping at Arbor Vidie H-D, then to Little Bohemia

http://www.littlebohemialodge.com/

Another beautiful day....

It was a great 600 mile ride with good friends...

Ride on.....

Harley-Davidson Museum

2009-08-29T15:32:00.000-07:00

We took a quick trip to Milwaukee to visit my son and friends. One morning we went to the new museum - a great place. Cathie got a kick out of one of the late Felix Predko bikes...

She also liked the bike that one woman named Dot logged many miles on....

Plus she got to "ride" on an oldee...

Yours truly standing next to Felix Predlo's "King Kong"...

Chapter Two...

2009-05-14T18:19:00.000-07:00

The Toyhauler and the Sporty have been sold but... Life is good. Rode my Road King Classic home today from H-D/Buehl of Appleton. Electronic Fuel Injection, Security System and best of all... Electronic Cruise Control. We will ride in comfort now!! Ride on....

Georgia, South Carolina, North Carolina, then Home...

2009-03-21T06:07:00.000-07:00

From St Augustine we headed north, Stopping at Crooked River State Park for a couple of days. A beautiful park with the worst sand gnat population in the world.. We intended on taking the ferry over to Cumberland Island National Seashore, but two bus loads of school kids beat us to the landing....
As a result, we took an hour drive west and visited the Okefenokee Swamp to do a little alligator hunting. http://www.lilburnes.org/Students/Habitats/okefenokee.htm

From there we headed north to SE South Carolina and spent two nights at Hunting Island State Park, another beautiful park on the seashore.
No sand gnats, but that was because a huge cold front came blasting through with winds blowing 20-30 for two days...

One day we went to view the historic lighthouse and have lunch on Hilton Head Island. After being denied access to the lighthouse by the exclusive Sea Pines Plantation Gate guard because we had kayaks on the roof of our truck (??!!$%^$&!!), we decided we had "had enough" and it was time to head home. http://www.seapines.com/
We stopped two nights in Asheville, North Carolina and visited the Biltmore Estate. Words can't describe the largest house in the US, completed in 1895 with modern plumbing, electricity, refrigeration, you name it. http://tinyurl.com/d84u96

We were a week or two early for the spring bloom but the grounds were a sight to see.

Woke up Monday morning and then drove 15 hours straight through to home, a great place to be, even though we woke up to snow this morning...

In total, the almost seven week trip was 4,725 miles by truck... and 418 gallons of diesel. There were also 1,860 pleasurable miles of riding the Sporty!! That's an average of 122 miles per day (I'm a numbers guy...)

St. Augustine

2009-03-09T16:46:00.000-07:00

After setting up in the Indian River RV Park in St Augustine yesterday, we headed downtown to the historic district. This is the oldest house in America's oldest city.
One of the older found wells...

Today we headed west to Ravine Gardens State Park. http://www.floridastateparks.org/ravinegardens/default.cfm

A nice place...

A 1930's version of the current economic "stimulus" package...

From there we headed back east to St Augustine, doing a whirlwind tour.

They wanted $21.95 a head to check this place out.....

After the Alligator farm we were thirsty... http://www.fountainofyouthflorida.com/

Cathie got this peacock all excited.

Tomorrow we head north to Georgia. We will be in State parks so WiFi access will probably again be limited.. http://gastateparks.org/info/crookriv/

Bike Week Highlights!!??

2009-03-09T06:39:00.001-07:00

On Tuesday it was cold, and Cathie looks it...

This bike was on display by a metal sculpter. a bargain at $35,000, compared to the $75,000 bike behind it.

We stayed at the Volusia County Fairgrounds in the most secure campsite you will ever see. The site was operated by ABATE of Florida, a motorcycle rights organization. All property was tagged, including us, and the toyhauler was inspected on arrival and when leaving.
One of the security patrols at the exit gate...

More security patrols....

It was no bull, really....

One day we went to a vintage bike show and auction with 100's of bikes. This is a 1951 Indian Warrior cycle designed for Wisconsin winter riding....

This is a V-twin Martin...

One day we went to "Cabbage Patch" to witness the cole slaw wrestling, quite a sight...

The bartenders were also quite a sight, too bad it was a little too chilly for them...

The ultimate winner of the cole slaw contest...

Saturday at Daytona Beach

2009-03-01T05:17:00.000-08:00

For some reason, there weren't many people on the beach...

As they say, a picture is worth a thousand words...

Bike Week Begins

2009-02-27T16:14:00.000-08:00

Welcome to Daytona Beach...

Keys Bike Trip

2009-02-26T16:23:00.000-08:00

Monday morning we started a four day bike cruise to the Keys.

US 1 has been improved considerably in the last 2 years....

The main reason we wanted to head that way was to see some good long-time boating friends. They have lived on their boat for about a dozen years, having cruised the southern Caribbean in their sailboat and living in Key Largo the last 5 years. Candi manages a very nice 77 slip marina there and Larry is the Asst. Manager at the local West Marine store.

Here they are on their "new" very nice Albin 36 Trawler.

This was the view near our hotel room.

Sunset after a great day with great friends...

Cathie snapped a photo while headed home today...

When we got back "home" this afternoon some neighbors came to visit...

The Space Coast

2009-02-19T05:35:00.000-08:00

On Monday we headed to Titusville. We'll be based out of here until March 8. We are in a more traditional campground and like it much better than the "luxury" RV resort we were in while in Punta Gorda. There are actually trees and the rigs are not packed in like cord wood. We are close enough to the office that I have free WIFI at "home".

We took a ride south to Cocoa Beach for lunch the next day.

My brother Tom (from Pennsylvania - next to me) and sister Pat (from Wisconsin) are now Florida residents and winter in the area. My other brother Jim (from the Seattle area) is also down for three weeks. As a result, we are having a happy reunion.

2009-02-14T05:44:00.000-08:00

Night time accommodations on the toyhauler... Bob and Bev camped out for three nights in the "Ramp Room".

After Bob and Bev headed North, Cath and I hopped on the Sporty and headed South for the afternoon. We ended up touring Pine Island, a bit more "Old Florida". Coming back off the Island we stopped in Matlacha, a small key that appears to be home for the local artist's community. We then took a quick tour of Cape Coral. To us it appeared more spread out, less glitzy and quieter than the Punta Gorda area.

Southwest Florida

2009-02-11T16:16:00.000-08:00

The weather finally has warmed up here, motivating us to get out and about. Bob and Bev, good friends from Wisconsin are visiting a few days, so today we did a 25 mile bike ride toward Boca Grande. Here we are near the end of the ride... A couple days before we took the Sporty out for a 100 mile ride to Siesta Key, just south of Sarasota. In spite of the look on my face, I was actually enjoying myself...

Out of the cold!!

2009-02-05T06:18:00.000-08:00

Well, we finally got out of CCCCCold Door County on January 28. We were late starting as we were waiting for parts for the roof rack to carry our new kayaks south. We ended up visiting good friends in Milwaukee and staying the night with them. Thanks Greg and Carol!! The next morning we headed south, breezing through the Chicago loop, then taking I65 through Indiana. Good thing we were delayed in leaving as a huge ice and snowstorm had just passed through Southern Indiana, Kentucky and Northern Tennessee. The roads were plowed and clear and we made good time until we got to Nashville. There, a Semi crash held us up in a traffic jam for an hour. We ended up stopping in Pulaski, TN. A rather infamous spot from history that we found out about later.

From there we headed to DeFuniak Springs, FL where our good friends Cindy and David had been storing our toyhauler in the hay barn on their ranch. After loading up and de-winterizing the toyhauler, we then spent Friday and Saturday on the ranch, hooking up the rig on Saturday afternoon for an early start to Punta Gorda Sunday morning. We had a great time with them and I got my fill of chocolate cake as I celebrated?? my 60th birthday. Thanks again Cindy and David!!

We got on the road early and got to Punta Gorda about 8.5 hours later. After setting up the toyhauler, we got a call from Green Bay sailing friends that winter in FL wondering where we were... We ended up going the Larry and Diane's house for a Super Bowl party with them and Jim and Pam and Lil, Larry's mom. Thanks!!

We've spent a couple of days settling in, this morning waking up to the results of a huge cold front, with temps below freezing. Fortunately these rare occurrences in south FL don't last long, with temps forecast near 80 this weekend.

On Tuesday Cathie and I got hooked up with a couple of snowbirds, Crazy Charley and Fast Eddie. It was blowing about 20-25 out on Charlotte Harbor and in the mid-60s. We had a nice sail with them...

Hoping to fire up the Sporty and get the kayaks in Alligator Creek soon!

Destin, Florida

2008-12-06T14:26:00.000-08:00

It took me a while, but I'm finally getting around to updating the blog. We're now at home in Wisconsin looking at about a foot of snow. Our beaches here look like those on the Emerald Coast. Except the white stuff is not sand...

We spent four nights at Henderson Beach State Park. A nice place.

One day we took a short bike cruise along the length of Highway 30A towards Panama City checking out the "out of the way" beach communities. We saw ALLOT of for sale signs.

We then headed back north 40 miles to see David and Cindy again, accepting their gracious invite to park the Toy Hauler at their ranch. We spent two nights with them before heading back to the cold north on Sunday, Nov. 23rd. On Saturday we visited the US Air Force Armament Museum at Elgin Air Force Base.

Here is Cathie standing next to an F4 Fighter like the one that David flew in many missions in Vietnam.

Here I am receiving my pilot training in a Wart Hog...

Saturday afternoon Cindy and Cathie played in the backyard while David and I enjoyed watching college football.

Sunday morning we woke up, winterized the trailer, loaded up and hit the road by about 10 AM.

We're hoping to head back in mid-January but may be delayed a couple of weeks because of work... Arrgh&*!!!

2008-11-16T16:37:00.000-08:00

From New Orleans we headed East toward Pensacola. We ended up in Elberta, Alabama for two nights at a more traditional campground, about 7 miles west of Pensacola. http://www.lazyacrescampground.com/

Cathie quickly made friends with our neighbors.

I found a new friend also...

The first night we got together with good friends from Wisconsin who ended up treating us to a great seafood dinner they cooked at the condo they were renting on the Gulf.

The next day was warm and dry so we took the Harley for a 100 mile ride to Fort Morgan Historical site and back. http://www.800alabama.com/things-to-do/alabama-attractions/details.cfm?id=1158

Fort Morgan was constructed from 1819-1834 as part of the defenses of Mobile Bay. During the Civil War it was the site of one of the final major sea battles of the Civil War. Under the early light of dawn, Union Adm. David Farragut began his attack on Mobile Bay, Alabama. During the battle he was purported to say the famed statement "Damn the Torpedoes! Full Speed Ahead!" http://www.battleofmobilebay.org/

We then were invited to join some friends north of Fort Walton Beach, so we decided to head East again. We ended up near DeFuniack, Fl at a quiet RV resort at Juniper Lake.

We are members of Passport America and found this resort in our directory as we were driving East. The owners (Donna and Bill) were very friendly, former sail boaters, so we had some things in common. They invited us to join them and another nice couple staying in the Park longer term for dinner the second night. http://www.passport-america.com/campgrounds/united_states/florida/defuniak_springs/juniper_lake_rv_campground/

After taking a 125 mile cool ride today on the Sporty, we have decided to move to the Beach and made reservations for the next four nights at Henderson Beach State Park, located on the Gulf at Destin, FL. http://www.floridastateparks.org/hendersonbeach/

New Orleans

2008-11-11T16:01:00.001-08:00

We got to New Orleans about 3 PM where we would spend two nights at the French Quarter RV Park http://www.fqrv.com/.

This is a first-class place with mostly high-end RV's as neighbors. We were the lowly "trailer trash"...
After setting up we walked the two blocks to the French Quarter. We had dinner and walked around, having a $10 beer at a nice Jazz Club on Bourbon Street. We didn't go into the live sex club, even though there was no cover...

Today we walked down to the waterfront and the French Market and look at the sights in daylight.

The public transportation in this area includes electric Trolleys.

This is Jackson Square. You can see him riding his horse behind Cathie. The church is Saint Louis Cathedral.
To get to the waterfront you have to go through the "wall"...

This is a photo of what I call a "Hurricane Gate". During Katrina it kind of kept the water out.

After walking back "home" for lunch we fired up the Sporty and rode over to see our neighbors at the local cemetery.

We wondered why this particular crypt was so popular.

Then we headed to the Garden District. http://www.bigeasy.com/maps/garden-district.html

We parked the bike and walked around, checking out the neighborhood.
While walking on the fringe of the district, we went by Realtors office that had a listing for one of the restored homes in the district. It was a bargain at $2.75 million.

Heading South - Winter 2008-2009

2008-11-09T16:19:00.000-08:00

We headed south on a Friday, driving to Effingham, Il. We spent our first night "Boon Docking" at the Wal-Mart parking lot there. When we got there, there was one motorhome. After we got in the Toy Hauler, turned on the furnace and had a beer, two more arrived. We were the last to leave in the morning at 8 AM.

By 1:30 PM the next day we were set up at Tom Sawyer's RV Park on the Mississippi River in West Memphis. At this point south on the River, barge traffic is almost continuous. http://tomsawyersrvpark.com/index.html

That evening we went downtown and checked out the famed marching ducks at the Peabody Hotel http://www.peabodymemphis.com/peabody_hotels/the_peabody_ducks.cfm

From there we went to Beale Street for dinner and took in a few Blues clubs. http://www.bealestreet.com/home.html

Today we didn't do allot. In the afternoon, we headed back across the river to Memphis and visited the National Ornamental Metal Museum and discovered the Kohler Corporation in Sheboygan is one of the mainstay training grounds for artists through a artist's program they operate.

It's cold here - 53 today - We've decided to head further south than originally planned. Tomorrow we head to New Orleans and will be in the French Quarter tomorrow night. It better be warmer....

Harley Davidson 105th Anniversary

2008-09-10T16:51:00.000-07:00

On August 28th we headed to Milwaukee for the 105th Celebration. We had left the Hauler in Muskego at our friends Carol and Greg's house 2 weeks ,after attending their youngest daughter's wedding.

Here we are on Saturday. Note that Greg's and my bikes are twins, Greg having purchased his new in 1997.

Saturday we met up with our friends from Oshkosh, Rosie and Doug.

We cruised around the area downtown and ended up eating lunch at a brewery in the historic Third Ward. It was warm and we were thirsty...

We ended up on Brady Street and did a little bike sight seeing.

Cathie liked this one...

We checked out Summerfest grounds Saturday night going to see and hear Buddy Guy. Friday night we went to see ZZ Top, (I forgot the camera).

A passer by took our photo on the Summerfest grounds Saturday night.

All in all it was an interesting weekend, we learned what not to do at a big event like this. We had left our truck with my talented son Brandon for some needed repair work two weeks before and rode the Sporty home. We then rode the bike to Doug and Rosie's on Weds. the 27th, riding down to Milwaukee on Thursday. Later Sunday, we picked up the rejuvenated Suburban from Brandon, packed up the Hauler and headed home...

Bike Trip to Coast of Maine and Bay of Fundy

2008-07-10T06:41:00.001-07:00

In June we took a 6 day mini vacation ("From what?" some might say) to Maine and the Bay of Fundy (world's biggest tides at 50 feet). We flew to Portland and rented a brand new Harley Heritage Softail from Big Moose Harley. A really sweet bike.... See: http://www.bigmooseharley.com/

We ended up riding 1,100 miles in 4 days up the coast of Maine on Route 1 and then up the Canadian coast of the Bay of Fundy. All we had was a H.O.G. (Harley Owner's Group) magazine article and my TomTom Map GPS for "navigation". We made no reservations and just rode and stopped where we felt like it.

Our first stop was Bar Harbor, Maine. We stayed at a nice B&B right downtown. http://www.barharbormanorhouse.com/

From there we rode north through many coastal towns, all looking like a postcard.

While riding north, we decided to stay in Canada the second night and crossed the border at Calais.

Continuing North, we spent the second night at a B&B in the historic district of Saint John, NB, Canada.

The Mahogany Maor B&B was a nice B&B with the hosts being very accommodating. http://sjnow.com/mm/

The next morning we got going early and had a 12 hour day on the bike, heading north to Fundy National Park http://www.pc.gc.ca/pn-np/nb/fundy/images/S-F-07.pdf

It was obviously low tide...

and Hopewell Rocks National Park (at low tide also).
http://www.thehopewellrocks.ca/

We ended up heading back south to St. Andrews by the Sea, an out of the way, quaint resort village in southern New Brunswick. We stayed at the Kennedy Inn, built in 1881. http://www.kennedyinn.ca/

The next day we took a ferry to Deer Island, NB, Canada and then another ferry to Eastport, Maine. A little foggy and rainy that day, but the ride was still pleasurable (except for the landing at Eastport where the ferry pulled up on a rock beach... almost laid the bike over, but made it up to the end of the road where the customs guy was waiting).

Our original plan was to stay in Eastport but, after having lunch in a sports pub in town, with it raining fairly hard at the time, we decided to head further south. The first 1/2 hour of riding was the worst of the whole trip, but as we got farther south, the rain stopped and we actually saw sun! We finally stopped in Bar Harbor again for the night. Bar Harbor was the most touristy of all places we stopped so there was allot of activity and good choices for evening dinner and entertainment. We met some folks that were sailors and ended up hoisting a few beers over dinner at a nice little pub. The accommodations that night were the most expensive of the trip. a neat and clean, 1970's vintage motel room...

The next day we headed south and stopped for lunch in Camden, Maine, another touristy spot with a great natural harbor.
After lunch we headed south, planning on staying the the historic district of Portland. Along the way we saw a sign for the Maine Cat Catamaran factory so decided to detour about 12 miles to check out the plant. We are trimaran sailors also. See: http://trimarankimosabi.blogspot.com/
The shop Foreman was very cordial, informing us the shop has a crew of about 15 people, putting out about 8 boats a year. This is a photo of an almost finished Maine Cat 41. Sweet boat!!
From there we headed to Portland, staying our last night at the Percy Inn, a very nice B&B. Our room was a top floor studio apartment. http://www.percyinn.com/

The next morning we woke up, had a leisurely breakfast and returned the bike to Big Moose Harley Davidson ( a 5 mile ride), getting a ride back to the airport from the owner, Steve Reynolds.

Fortunately, the closest we got to a "moose" was at the dealership. When we turned the bike in, we were told a rental in the last week hit a moose with the rider ending up in the hospital and the Harley being totaled. A memorable ride and great service from all the staff at the Big Moose HD dealership!!

For a map of the route we took, see:

http://tinyurl.com/6ne223

For those with time on their hands who want to suffer through 238 photos and movies from the trip, see: http://tinyurl.com/5vqsz6

The new adventure begins...

2008-05-14T05:28:00.000-07:00

Monday I came home with the "new" hauler. It is an easier tow than kimosabi, our F-31 trailerable, folding trimaran (see: http://trimarankimosabi.blogspot.com/) . From the photo you can see it even has a "Ramp Room", a screened in back porch!

Cathie's Camper (or Phil's Folly) is a like new, 2004 Keystone "Tail-gator", 18'9" (22' overall) feet long, with full galley, head with vanity and shower, furnace, air conditioning, queen bed, etc.

While we love our trimaran kimosabi, the accommodation of the toy hauler is like the Hilton by comparison.

We'll try a couple short "cruises" this summer, including the 105th Harley Anniversary in Milwaukee in August.

Then, after the boats are put away, we'll take a trip south in November, probably leaving the hauler in storage somewhere south and going back to "cruise" in February and March.

The back opens so we can carry all the necessary toys (Harley, bicycles, boats, etc.) for our next cruise via land instead of water.

The bike is the hawg......