Lost in a big way

[YZMAN400]

Yo Woodsy...You woulda been proud of me today. Digger, my mom and I were going on a road trip to do some touristy stuff. Well she left me to navigate in a place I have never been....Let me tell you....We took the loooong way getting there. We were sooo far into the middle of no where there was nothing but swamp and road. Moms car was getting a little low on gas and I could sence a touch of panic in her voice...I knew I took the right turn then....It was great. Took us almost 2 hours for a 45 minute trip....It was sweet! :nener:


Oh and I found this down here rooting around...Its got a Briggs&Stratton V-twin transplanted into it. Thought you would like it.

 

[sparkysakitas]

is that a cushman ??? and it looks like yuor in florida?

 

[YZMAN400]

yup..... and yup

 

[sparkysakitas]

sweet :ride: so you brought the cold weather down here.
what part of fl?

 

[YZMAN400]

Cold....What the heck...Its 70 deg outside and Im sweating!

Im just a little north of Ft Myers. Be here till Tuesday. Then its back to 5 deg and snow...Brrrrr.....

 

[sparkysakitas]

anything below 50 now is freezing.
its nice down there i was in punta gorda for 1 1/2 years doing hurricane repairs no place to ride though

 

[woodsy]

INDEED DON'O!! Ol Woodsy could not be prouder of you!! You go down there for a touch of pure heaven,, escape all this maddening cabin fever, are out enjoying the sunshine and those glorious gulf breezes and you still havent forgot everything I have taught you about how to have fun!!!!!! And to toss the kid and the mom into the panic of a lost situation,,, thats just great Yzman!!!!
The pic of the scooter is indeed a KEEPER!!! Now thats the kinda stuff that I can get all cranked up about... Someone obviously took the bull by the horns and made something really special - only thing that would have been better is if the rider would have been standing up howling at the moon!!
Sooooooo,, has Digger driven you crazy with the "are we there yet" routine?? Has your mom spoiled him rotten with ice cream?? Wish I was there with ya,, she couldnt afford to spoil me,, gulf shrimp prices would get her...
Enjoy your vacation and bring some HEAT back with you will ya????? We had -16 the other night,,, those Floridians have no idea what cold is do they.........
Woodsy

 

[sparkysakitas]

i used to know what cold was....i grew up in boston area. but now being in florida for 10 years i kinda forgot what cold is.
but its a fair trade off to being able to ride 365 days a year with just normal riding gear :nener:

 

[YZMAN400]

Wish I was there with ya,,

Ya know its funny you should mention that. Cause just last night as I was sittin in the hit tub soaking my troubles away I had a strange feeling that I was being watched over. I looked left and right trying to figure out what the heck could be causing this odd sensation.....Hmmm nothing... Well I decided maybe a dip in the pool would help ease all that built up tension...Ahhhh nice and cool 85 deg coming out of the 105deg hot tub feels awsome. But soon there is that odd feeling coming back to me again. Well I figure that maybe I need to lay out in the sun to bake my troubles away...Yea thats what I need. So I hop out of the pool and procede to work on my tan (ie sunburn) and slowly drift off to nap land...only to be woken up by that feeling again. Well by this time I am starting to get a little sweaty from hanging out in the sun so I take another dip in the pool folowed by a dip in the hot tub again. Ya see thats how its done. Lay in the sun followed by the pool, hot tub, pool then back in the sun...its a vicious circle...So anyways I am back in the hot tub and again that feeling...So finially I gotta figure out what the heck is going on as at this point I am about as relaxed as a person can get without being dead. Well finially I turn around in the hot tub and am shocked by what I see. the spirit of Woodsy the Owl watching over me all this time....after the lost in the everglades episode Friday I shoulda known you couldn't of been far away.

Well yesterday also had some cool moments. The 1st is one of Diggers best friends that moved to Florida a few years back, turns out that he lives just a little bit aways. So Friday night we droped him off at his buddies house so he could visit for the night. Mom and I went to the local marina to check out one of these gated comunities....Good god man...I dont know what these people do for a living to be able to live like that. I couldn't afford the down payment on one of those places if I sold everything I owned down to my boxers. So we are walking down thru the marina looking at all the excess and I look down and see this feller floating by...How cool is that. The 1st manitee I have ever seen and hes like 10 ft away.

 

[YZMAN400]

Saturday afternoon we picked up Digger and went on a airboat ride thru the marshlands. Ya know the touristy thing. Well me being me knew we were at the right place when we got there. There was junk laying everywhere. Parts and pieces laying partly buried in the grass...ya know...kinda like Hubys place....ya know...my kinda people. So we get to the boat and let me tell ya that thing was cool. Carbon Fiber blades, billet aluminum hub, big block chevy..BIG lumpy cam.....yea baby she had some power...and the noise when he got on it and the tip of the blades start to make that chopy break the sound barrier sound....YEA!!! When he got her on the pipe and singing across the lake the noise was unreal!

So he stops and points over to the trees and I think this is the 1st one of these I have ever seen in the wild. A real american Bald Eagle in all its glory

As we are all distracted by this wonderfull sight he quitely says ya all may want to take a peek to your right, next to the boat....WOAH!

That was one big gator. And as you know those boats dont sit all that high up off the water. If that gater had decided he was hungry.....well Id probably be typing this one handed..

Towards the end of the ride he slowly nudged the boat up agianst the bank and a bunch of baby gaters scrambled into a hole under a tree. He thumped on a tree root with a paddle and inside I hear this menacing HIIIISSSSSS........and manage to get a shop of one pissed off ma gator telling us it may be time to leave

 

[YZMAN400]

Well I think I need to go warm up my coffie. Im sitting out on my moms patio typing this in my shorts and t-shirt enjoying a nice cool breeze and beutiful blue skies.

I started my morning off with a nice 5 mile jog around a nice green golf course ( I know it needed knobby marks badly) thru a comunity where every house has a channel and boat in the back yard...Yea I wouldn't last 1 month in a place like this as I test ride the dirtbikes up and down the street at 11pm.

Oh and last night as I was drifting off to sleep I could hear the race cars from a local short track up on the pipe as they roared down the straights...What a way to be luled into sleep.

Im not so sure I want to come back to Michigan :think:

:laugh:

 

[woodsy]

but its a fair trade off to being able to ride 365 days a year with just normal riding gear :nener:

I spent a considerable amount of time down yonder when I was yonger and just could never get to the point that I could tolerate the summer heat and humidity.. Just couldnt hack it..
Couldnt breath....
As a payback for all the times that YZman has hyjacked my threads I am going to do the same to him and tell you guys a short Woodsy tale...
Back in the late 60's I had a buddy who had a brother stationed at Eglin Air Base in Fort Walton Beach (Pensacola) down there.. Dan (my bud) and I jumped in my 67 Cougar/289 3 speed with Cragars and L-60s,, cool car.. Anyway,, we syphoned gas from county road trucks along the way (DUMB KIDS!!) and drove straight thru from Michigan and got there in 21 hours... Dans brother was a staff sargent with lots of connections,,, those guys hid us on base for almost three months and we had a BLAST!! I left my mom a note on her kitchen table written on a paper plate that read "Mom, went to Florida,, be back soon,, Scott",, she still has it to this day..
THe only negative part of the whole trip (thankfully we didnt get busted for stealing gas or I would still be in prison probably..) was I was at that tender young age of pimples and I soon found out something really strange about heat and pimples.. About the third day down there I noticed these strange scabs starting to appear on my face.. Everyday these things got a little bigger.. They started out just tiny, about the size of the led of a pencil.. At the end of the first month they were dime size and there were probably 15 of them.. Now,,, I am not a real gorgeous person anyway but I have always been a ladies man so I am not that ugly... I was in the prime of my life back then and chasing skirt was seconded only to biking and these facial scabs were really starting to cause me problems.. Those tanned ladies down there would purposely go the other way when they looked at my mug so it was a huge problem...
About one week before we were going to head home we found a steal of deal on a Benson Heli-Copter - 900 bucks - we couldnt pass it up so we bought it and started breaking it down to haul it home (picture 14 foot rotor blades strapped to the top of a 67 Cougar and you guys will know that I havent changed much over the years,,,,,, I stopped stealing gas once I discovered that work didnt hurt that bad but I NEVER did stop doing stuff like buying a heli-copter on the spur of the moment...
Anyway,, during the process of dismantling the chopper I got scrapped on the face by a piece of aluminum and tore one of the scabs almost all the way off.. Low and behold,, under neath the scab was this tiny little pin hole in my skin that was probably a zit at one time, that for some reason kept seeping the stuff that our bodies seep to make scabs,,, it just never stopped seeping for some reason... I seen that I started pulling 3/4 inch diameter scabs off my face and under each one was a tiny little hole no bigger then the prick of needle... I spent my whole time down there wearing those ugly scabs and missed MANY chances to,,,,,,,, talk to the girls,,, because of it arrrrrgggggggggggg.......
By the way,,, we flew the chopper one time and crashed it - twisted the nose of it almost all the way around to the rear.... It was an interesting flight.... My buddy Dan went on to get his pilot license years later and got into crop dusting.. He had a terrible accident while taking off in his duster fully loaded with chems, snagged his wheels on some tree tops and it pulled him down and killed him.... I still miss his companionship,, great guy that was always willing to try anything at any time,,, my kinda bro....
Sorry for stealing your thread YZman,,, NOT REALLY :)
Woodsy

 

[woodsy]

Wayyyyyyyyyyy cool on the boat trip Don!!! And just so you know your not missing anything here,, its pouring rain at my house right now as I type this and its suppose to turn to freezing rain later on --- ENJOY THE SUNSHINE BRO!!!
Oh yea,, concerning the comment you made about not being able to afford the down pay on one of those homes inthe gated community even if you sold everything,,,,,,,,,, well,, I need to talk to you about that,,,,,,,,, seems how you abandoned us up here and I didnt know you werent coming back,, well I ahhhhhhhhhhhh,, kinda went ahead and releaved some of that pressure you might have been feeling about leaving the bikes and trailer at behind... Thanks for taking such good care of all your stuff,, the new owner was thrilled with your maintenance abilities and also really appreciated the extra riding gear you had hidden under the shelf in the trailer... Speaking about the trailer,, did the over hang on the side of your house always have a funny lean toward the neighbor on the south side??? I bumped the over hang a little cause I was in a small hurry when removing it but I didnt think I hit it that hard.... Also,, I bumped the gas line that goes into your house too... It was hissing a little,, I could here it when I was strapping your Strom onto the back of the trailer so I went and looked at it.. I did get it to stop hissing (your comment about he gators reminded me to tell you about this so your lucky the gators were there) by wrapping it in some duc tape I had in the back of my car.... I would have shut off the gas but I wasnt sure whether or not you had winterised your house before you left so I thought you might need the heat inside...
Well,, just thought I would let you know that all is normal here and not to worry about anything while your gone... I know how sitting around on vacation can be,,,, its really fun if you have peace of mind knowing that all is well at home but it is pure heck if your sitting there trying to relax and you have to worry about stuff.... Certainly know need to worry when you have friends like my that know where you live and can keep an eye on stuff for you........
Woodsy

 

[YZMAN400]

Hey Scott.....Right back at ya buddy

Oh and thats the Gulf of Mexico back there behind me.

 

[sparkysakitas]

yeah cool on the airboat ride
good story woodsy sounded like good adventure

 

[woodsy]

Thanks for the compliment Sparky..
Don,, you rotten sucker... Hey,, did you happen to look down at your feet when you were taking that picture?? I have slept on those gorgeous gulf beaches many times while biking down there and vividly remember taking a stick and chasing those little, almost transparent, sand crabs all over the place... Trying to keep them away from sleeping bag..... Anyway,, you might want to check your shoes and stuff to make sure your not bringing any crabs back with ya :)
Take that smart guy!!! :laugh:

 

[70 marlin]

YZman while down there have a [U]Bigne for me! Your moms place looks just like where my mom & dad stay except there in Gulf shores AL.

 

[YZMAN400]

Ok a little more touristy stuff...

On friday when we got lost....er....took the scenic route we were on the way to something called Solomans castle. This guy Howard Soloman is one of those starving artist types from what I gather. He has been building his own quirky art for years out of whatever salvaged parts he can find laying around. He throws nothing away (sound familiar)

Anyways aparently he always wanted to live in a castle as a kid. So he built one out in the middle of a swamp and sided it out of aluminum printing plates from the local newspaper.

Here is Howard himself overseaing his domain

I got to talk to him for a little bit and to say that he marches to a differant tune is an understatement. He is a quit guy but obviousely has a flair for creating things out of what most of us throw away. I asked him what posesed him to make all this...And he said its just a hoby that got WAY out of hand...I think we can all relate to that.

Inside the castle is a art galary of all his junk...er...art that he has created over the years. This one is called Evil Kornevil as its made out of a Korn planter.

Guess what these little guys with the swords along the side of his castle are called??????

Why Fencing of cource! :laugh:

 

[woodsy]

WOW Don,, that castle is really neat!! Does the captn live there or is it just a shell that he charges admission to??? Is it something that has been built to sustain those gulf storms that come thru - is it welded together??? Looks like you guys are having a blast while your down there - good for you - sieze the day!!!!

 

[woodsy]

Hey Don,, do they rent spots for parking motorhomes where your mom is at?? If you have time and you dont mind asking,, inquire about cost for doing so if they allow it..
THanks!!
Scott

 

[YZMAN400]

WOW Don,, that castle is really neat!! Does the captn live there or is it just a shell that he charges admission to??? Is it something that has been built to sustain those gulf storms that come thru - is it welded together??? Looks like you guys are having a blast while your down there - good for you - sieze the day!!!!

The lower level is for his displays the upper level is his private residence. He also rents out a room in the lower area for the night. Out back his daughter is building a bed and breakfast. And his lattest project is another hotel type building where the front is built to resemble the alamo.

Everything he builds including his house is all scrap that others have thrown away. Kinda cool. The Ultimate recycler. You woulda had a blast talking to him.

Hey Don,, do they rent spots for parking motorhomes where your mom is at?? If you have time and you dont mind asking,, inquire about cost for doing so if they allow it..

Yes they do. But unless your planning on spending a HUGE :whoa: amount of $$$ on a new rig youd wanna look farther down the road as everything in this lot is HUGE $$$

 

[woodsy]

The Ultimate recycler. You woulda had a blast talking to him.
Yes they do. But unless your planning on spending a HUGE :whoa: amount of $$$ on a new rig youd wanna look farther down the road as everything in this lot is HUGE $$$

Cycler or re-cycler,,,, sounds like my kinda guy for sure...

I helped my neighbor get his motorhome out of the snow (he worked for 2 days with a small front end loader) yesterday and he was telling me about his vacation down to the Florida Keys... He said the least expensive Motel they could find was $360 a night so the next time they went they took this Motorhome down - that was last year.. They got down there and found out that the least expensive parking area for the Motorhome was $185 a night and that was with no hookups... Of course,, you know my style of overnighting it and can imagine the saucer size eyes that got from ol Woodsy...
My wifes grandparents used to Motorhome every year to somewhere down there on the gulf.. They stayed in some county park or something like that very close to the gulf shore for the whole winter - FREE!!! I am sure those days are gone but heyyyyyyyy,, never hurts to inquire about it.. When you coming home Don?? We just picked up another 6 inches of snow so you must be getting ready to head this way.. Thought I would make sure you knew what you are coming home to :laugh:
brrrr Wawawawawoodsy

 

[YZMAN400]

Yea I just rolled in the door. Man was that a nasty drive back from GR. Im not liking this cold weather at all...but Ill adjust and probably be out on ice this weekend. At least my driveway was snowblowed when I got here. Bonus!

 

[INCA]

Who feeds the dogs while you're lost?

YT2

 

[YZMAN400]

Da wife. I left her home. She dont like warm weather anyways. Me and Digger were flying solo on this mission.