Monday, January 27, 2014

A Picnic In Old Florida

We enjoyed a nearly perfect day for a ride on the TU250 and the Vulcan this past weekend.  The day dawned crystal clear and cool.  By the time we rolled the bikes out of the garage at 1000, the temperature had risen to 65 degrees and the sun felt warm on our faces and backs.

Our plan was to ride down to Lake Marian where we would picnic along the shoreline near the southern end of the lake.  We had ridden only a few miles when we stopped to watch a pair of eagles playing in the sky.  If you have watched eagles fly you'll agree that they often seem to fly just for the sheer enjoyment of flight.  One bird flew in large lazy circles while the other would climb above the first then swoop down below and steeply pull up and roll on it's back and reach up with it's feet trying to grab the other.  They repeated this maneuver over and over as they called back and forth to one another.

TU 250 & Vulcan along the lake


Eventually they flew out of our sight, so we hopped on our bikes and thumped and chugged our way south down the Canoe Creek Road toward our next planned stop at Camp Hammock along Lake Kissimmee.  We turned southwest onto a gravel road that leads back to the lake.  The road is only about five miles long, but it cuts through a beautiful mix of wooded and open pasture land.  Because the road dead ends at the lake there is very little traffic on it except for the occasional pickup pulling an airboat.  There is so little traffic that the cattle stop grazing and stare at us as we thread our way through the loose gravel and pot holes.

My riding partner led the way and pointed to an eagle sitting on a fence post.  As we neared, it took flight and flew past an old tree that held another eagle.  Both took to the air and flew a big circle around us before re-landing in the old tree.

At the end of the road, we stepped off the bikes and stood at the edge of the lake listening for gators and watching herons and egrets fish the shallow water along the shore.  Rested and content, we climbed back on our bikes and jittered and bounced our way back up the gravel road and onto Canoe Creek.

We eased south for another fifteen or so miles where we turned onto another gravel road where we had planned a stop at a small park on Lake Marian.  The park is seldom used and most of the time when we visit, we are the only people there.  That was true this trip as well.  The park has a little gazebo at the end of a short pier and this is where we planned to have our picnic.  The park was filled with wading birds and osprey as so many of the inland lakes are.  This time there was a special guest waiting for us.  Sitting on the railing around the gazebo was a pelican.  Pelicans are often seen soaring up and down the ocean coast but only rarely around the inland lakes.  We decided to inch our way out the pier toward the gazebo in the hopes of not spooking the pelican and maybe enjoying our picnic at a table within a few feet of him.  This plan worked and we sat within ten feet of the pelican.  What we hadn't expected was the huge insect hatch that was going on.  The hatch made the picnic impossible as we could hardly breath without inhaling the bugs.  Our picnic would have to wait.



Blue Heron


Inland Pelican



Egret


We packed our sandwiches back into the saddle bags on the Vulcan and after taking time for a few pictures, we left the birds and bugs behind as we headed further south.  We stopped at a small retirement community where we sat on the ground near the shore of the lake and enjoyed our picnic in peace.  As we ate, the sun warmed us and we watched hawks and vultures wheeling in the sky.



Limpkin


After lunch, we continued south to Kenansville where we turned north and rode by and through a few ghost towns on our way to Holopaw.  At Holopaw, we turned west, riding through orange groves and pasture land on our way home.



Sandhill Cranes


Although we only rode 100 miles, we were treated to a fine sampling of old Florida.

18 comments:

  1. Nice, another bird watcher, methinks. Thank you for sharing.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. You are right. I enjoy anything that travels through the air and birds have been been a big part of that enjoyment. Nice thing about Florida is the birds are big and it is easy to really watch them fly and to see them move and maneuver as they fly.

      Delete
    2. Anything that Flys? You might enjoy SUN-N-FUN air side ground safety as a volunteer.

      I love my GZ 250. Moded it to 130/90 front tire and 140/90 rear tire. Wish it had the fuel injection like the TU. looks like a direct swap out of the engine or could just install the injection system. Would have to call it a TZ 250. The SR400 is looking good if Yami brings it back to the USA -Dan-

      Delete
    3. I do enjoy aviation and Sun N Fun is always a good time.
      The Suzuki 250s have always been great bikes. They are very reliable and a blast to ride. I have been watching to see if the SR400 makes it back to our shore as well, I'd like one. There is a blog called "Contemplative Motorcycling" that has a few nice articles about the SR400 that you might enjoy reading.

      Delete
    4. If you would like to ride your TU on the field at SUN-N-FUN training day is Monday 4 April, 3 days as novice then we go on through Sunday morning this year. If you are comfortable close up with running aircraft and have a strong desire to do do safety escorts I can get you the email contact of the ground safety bike chairman. It requires some dedication, can be quite exciting, a bit stressful at times, but it's very addictive. I am on my 11th year, there are about 80 bike volunteers. It is a very different perspective of SUN-N-FUN. -Dan-

      Delete
    5. I appreciate the offer. I may take you up on it but prefer not to commit just yet. You should post a story about your adventures on your GZ.

      Delete
  2. Back Road:

    what a nice, relaxing day of meandering . . . Those of us up North would really appreciate some of your warm heat about now

    Oh what fun it would be to be a bird. Sort of like riding, but better. You can make your own twisties

    bob
    Riding the Wet Coast

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Gosh it has been a nasty winter for most of the country. We are pretty fortunate to have such nice weather most of the year. This is some of the best riding as it is usually pretty dry and cool enough to enjoy riding with a couple light layers of clothes. Fly and birds have always fascinated me. How nice it would be to live in the 3D world of a bird!

      Delete
  3. Sounds like the perfect ride on twos wheels - except for the insect hatch that is.

    Beautiful pictures of the birds.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks for the nice words. It was a beautiful day to be out on the bikes. The insect hatch was pretty nasty, but seemed to be happening only at the park. It was much nicer just a few miles down the road.

      Delete
  4. As it happens, a couple of years I was looking out for a TU250 here in the UK but there's precious few of them about. They seemed to me to be an ideal sort of commuter/tourer and economic too. In the end, I ended up buying a Suzuki Inazuma 250 for £3499 and it has been 100% reliable taking me to the south of Spain and back in 2012.

    The important thing, as you do, is to stop, get off the bike and actually get up close to the beautiful world of nature around us. That really is the essence of touring, to take in the view and see things, not just bomb it to one place after another! As I get older, I realize it ever more that I have to slow down and take in the view of this wonderful earth. It might not be there tomorrow - or me!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I like your choice in bikes. The 250 displacement really is a good all around size for many of us and the Inazuma has a little extra punch over the TU while remaining little and agile.
      Your ride to Spain sounds like something we would have enjoyed as well. Have you written a story and posted it anywhere? We'd sure like to read about it.

      Delete
    2. Thank you, Back Road! Sure, I'll get a post together in the coming days on my new blog Motorcycling for Over 50s about my experiences in Spain. It was pretty hot at times. Never ride a bike there without gloves even for a minute. If nothing else happens, the UV light will burn them up from June onwards! See you again.

      Delete
  5. I can't tell you good easing through your post felt. The bugs would have driven me crazy but I didn't let that take anything away from your sharing of this trip. I mentioned in this week's post about my affection for the scooters but you'll remember my short test ride on a friend's TU250 back in November. A local dealer is advertising 4-5 driver's training bikes with roughly 40 miles on each, priced at $3399. Something is telling me that I've enough machines in the 250 size range already. Something ELSE is telling me there's no such thing. :)

    I'd like to know more about that Spanish trip as well.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hi Coop, It was a great day to get out. We have had a few bits of life that have kept us off the bikes lately so the day was a real treat. Funny thing, We don't need another TU, but if I found a good one at the right price, I might be very tempted. Many times we have wished we were both riding one! They just suit us perfectly. There is always room for one more...

      Delete
  6. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Great Stuff! I really enjoy your blogs, you really are a great writer! Keep them coming!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thank you for your kind words. Wiil keep the blog going, it is a nice way to share rides and highlight the areas we travel.

      Delete