SCOOTER DIARIES DAY 6

Scoot, Bob and me hurried out of Huntsville, Tx. This is where Texas has it's death chamber, the busiest one in the world and we did not want to be next. Bit chilly this morning but warmed up nicely. Today was a mix of country roads and highways. The country roads were lovely with the rolling pastures, but neither route had much to photo and I met very few people. Got to get back to meeting the people on this trip.

I arrived at Largo Vista, Tx. about 2pm and John and Laura had left me a key, a fruit plate, and some ham and fine cheese. This is going to be a great B&B. They own their own business and arrived home a little later. I met John and his lovely Ecuadorian wife many years ago when we were both flying helicopters in the Amazon.

So who is the Bob guy? Bob Lubliner is one of those people that you are very lucky to come across once in a lifetime. He lived in Chicago and spent his whole life in the family theater business, from the early vaudeville acts to movie theaters. In the mid-80's he retired and bought a 36 foot Grand Banks boat and a townhouse on the water in South Carolina. The town house was sold quickly when he found living on a boat was to be one of the loves of his life. His greatest gift was in story telling and boy did he have stories to tell. He knew everybody in show business from Hollywood to Italy and all the regular suspects in Chicago. He would often call and just bust out in song, singing something from the 40's. Then he would laugh and say "I can remember all the words to that song, but I can't remember where I live" or something similar. He was only down when politicians did something really stupid. He always had a positive attitude. He ran 4 marathons in his 60's and was still going to the gym a few times a week before he passed away just short of his 92nd birthday. He says it was to exercise, but I say it was to look at the good looking girls and bask in their attention. He was still living on his boat when he went to the Mayo clinic and then to hospice. Even when he was in hospice he was still the great entertainer and maintained a great positive outlook. One night he sent out for martini mixings and real glasses for us all to have a little toddy. My wife Vicki and our friend Deb walked through the door one day and he said, " I never know who is coming through that door, the Doctor or the undertaker, thank goodness it is just two angels." After his "girlfriend" Louise and George, both who cared for him like a father, got back to visit, Bob "slipped over the bar", as his favorite poem says.

Bob loved to travel, so I am taking some of his ashes to put in the Pacific and maybe he will drift back to Hollywood. He is greatly missed by his many friends.

SCOOTER DIARIES DAY 5

Scoot, Bob and me left Lafayette and the Quaid B & B around 7:30 after coffee and great pastries. It was a great weekend with old friends.  Jet cooked Indonesian food and we ate boudin and crayfish, saw some of their local flora and fauna and cleaned the road mud off.  Not to mention the tequila. As I was leaving, Ed said this was the first time he had paid someone to get out of town much less the out of state.  Don't know if that is good or bad.

After getting away from Lafayette, the area became mostly rice fields and crayfish.  They grow in the rice field.  Traveling LA-736 was a nice ride.  I passed a turtle in the road and made a U turn to go back and help it out of the road.  Some one me beat to it.  If I had not gone back to help, my wife Vicki, would have put a bad JU JU on me.  I passed a great frog mural in one small town.  This is a good omen as the logo on our boat was a frog sitting on a fingernail moon, just like in the picture. I stopped in Merryville at Stu's for lunch.  I was pretty sure their hamburger meat was fresh.

At 11:58 I crossed into Texas, just two minutes before the dead line that Ed gave me;"be out of my state by high noon".  Thanks for the miles guys. Somewhere along here we crossed another milestone...1000 miles from home.

Texas roads can be a little intimidating since the speed limit is 70 mph almost everywhere except school zones where it is 90 mph I think.  Once you get comfortable with the local custom of pulling over on the wide shoulder to let people pass it is much more comfortable.  The roads are pretty good, except a stretch where they , for some mysterious reason,  grooved a section of the lane that made it a little rough to ride.

Called it a day in Huntsville.  I lucked up and got what was probably the last room in town.  There is a state wide track and field meet here this week.  Needless to say I had to pay full price for the room.

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Escuela Bilingue los Algrarrobos started in April with 54 students. 29 students are on scholarship. Each month the tuition is $30. There is a $50 charge covering other expenses such as books, uniforms, registration, etc. making the annual total cost $350. Four students do not have sponsors yet. The next 350 miles will be to raise money for the first student, Lilian Ibeth Farias Intriago. Please help us keep her in school.

 

SCOOTER DIARIES DAY 4

Scoot, Bob and I hopped out of Homma around 6:30am under threatening skies, again.  We did a quick tour of the area that wound up beginning a little longer than planned, but a fine policeman got us headed in the right direction again.

One of the things you have to watch out for on long bike trips is getting bored and not paying attention.  On US-190 to Baton Rouge, that is not a problem.  This road is so rough I just hope nothing falls off Scoot or my teeth don't break from the banging we are taking on this road.  It is an old concert road capped with asphalt and the joints are killers.  It is a long straight road, with light traffic today. There were very few exciting things except the Bull Bash and FEMA trailer storage.
Baton Rouge's "Scenic Hwy" was not, unless the big Exxon Refinery is "scenic" because of all the revenue it brings in. We did find a "Gucci" coffee in Dehnam Springs, "founded in 1902". The town not the coffee.

We checked off one of the milestones today when we crossed "the big muddy", the Mississippi River.  Getting a picture of it required trespassing, but we did not care.

On the west side of the river everything changed.  The road was smooth and the scenery turned into open farm land.  Much more enjoyable for me.

We left 190 and joined LA-741.  This is more my type of ride.  Farm land and flowers.  741 led us into LA-31 which follows Bayou Teche (the Indian word for snake). I wanted to stop and take a picture along the bayou but the long forecast rain came in buckets.  I found refuge in a farmers shed with a kind observer.  I tried to get him to come over for a visit but he said he was not moving.

Back on the highway with light rain, we headed for Lafayette and the home of my good friends Ed and Jet.  Ed witnessed my only motorcycle accident many years ago in Germany.  A BMW hit me on a rolling country road.  The bike went flying and I hit the pavement so hard it cracked my helmet. A few bruises and aches, but that was it. Normally, being young and macho, I did not wear a helmet, but that day I did. Now I don't even like sitting on a bike without a helmet.

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Escuela Bilingue los Algarrobos gets many volunteers.  Our major helper has been an organization out of California called Eco-surf Volunteers started by Sam Bailey.  He arranges trips during college breaks for students to come down and volunteer a half day and learn to surf a half day.  They do everything from maintenance and building a play ground to tutoring students.  They always leave a major donation such as computers or other items that the school needs. It's a wonderful experience for all. Check out their website here

SCOOTER DIARIES DAY 3

Scoot, Bob and me flew out of Fairhope about 6:15.  This is a nice town and I will come back to visit some time when I can stay longer.   I was heavily clothed again today.  Better to be too hot than too cold.


Now, before we go any further we have to talk.  Those of you who have read the diaries in the past know that I am not a writer, speller or grammerist.  I write these at the end of long days on the road and do proof read them once.  I do miss things, you bet.  I like to have these delivered to the reader in real time, because in the past, if they weren't on some peoples' computers by morning, I would get emails and phone calls from around the world, saying "why haven't I got an update". However, in order to upgrade the quality of the posts now that anyone can read them, instead of just friends, I have hired an editor.  The post will still be  out as soon as I can get it written and will be edited the following day.  So, if bad writing bothers you, wait until the following day to read.  Not to worry about the cost of the editor, as my friend Vicki Bennett is going to pay big time.

Back on the road.....
We crossed into Mobile and went in to the first tunnel ever on the scooter. The road surface was old lumpy concrete and I was glad to be through it.  If there is a nice part of Mobile we did not see it.  I was in need of a "Gucci" coffee but all I saw were lots of fast food joints.  On one avenue there must have been 5 hospitals and not a single coffee shop. How does the medical staff survive. We followed US-98 into Mississippi where it turned into a nice four lane highway with light traffic.  When you cross into Mississippi the first and only store for the next 15 miles is a guns and bullet store.

             mobile, alabama
I left US-98 at Lucedale and joined MS-26.  I needed coffee so we pulled into Toms Restaurant on Main St. in Lucedale.  Toms is the typical southern restaurant.  It has what I call "the table".  It is where the nobility of the town sit and hold court every morning.  Don't ever sit at that table, even if no one is there.  The conversation was about the oil spill and illegal immigrants.  A young, loud burley guy at the table said "we should shoot a few of them as they come over the border and the word will get out and they will keep coming."  The wiser, older man said "the best way is to establish a national identy check when you hire them and make the fine very high for hiring illegal workers and the word would get out and the people employing them might quit doing it".  "But", he said, "that ain't going to happen."  The loud guy said "they won't even hire a white boy for 8 or 9 dollars, they give them jobs to the Mexicans".  "The problem" he said "is people like Larry", indicating one of the senior members of the table who had just left, "he won't hire nothing but a Mexican."  I could feel the chill come over the room from were I was sitting.  At the table, you can have an opinion, but no young guy ever criticizes a senior member.

the table

Paid up and hit the road again.  I had changed from the orginal route along the coast in hopes of seeing more diverse scenery.  It did not happen.  Just more miles of timber land, like all of north Florida, southern Georgia and Alabama.  The were very few people living along this road.  I know that because a) there were very few houses and b) every intersection did not have a sign that said "First Freewill Holy Pentacostal Life of Jesus Reformed Bapist Church turn right". There were almost none and in the south that is rare.  The most exciting event was when I came upon these fine citizens picking up litter in the middle of nowhere.

I had no true destination today.  The plan was to go until I was done and stop.  About 11:30 a rain shower came up.  I stopped and put on all the rain gear and then the only moisture for the next 2 hours was a fine mist.  The threat of rain was there, so I called it quits at about 2pm in Hammond, La. and pulled into the Michabelle Inn‎ B&B.  This is a proper B&B.  Though not an original plantation home, it was built in 1907 in plantation style.  The building is very large as are the rooms with 12 foot ceilings.  

                                             god i hope the harley boys don't see this picture
Walked down town to get a few beers for the room before the rain starts for real.  Thought about a couple of these for dinner but passed.

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I passed the first 600 miles and thus the $600 for one month's food for the students of the Escuela Bilingue los Algarrabos.  Now I will  be raising money to cover the $480 a year for the internet coverage for the next 480 miles.  This has has become a wonderful tool for the students and the teachers.  It goes way beyond the classroom.  These young children go home and tell the parents about the internet and the parents get interested.  One of the families of a young girl was interviewed for a video.  When the mother was asked what she liked best about her child going to school she said "every day when she comes home she teachs me to read and write just like she learned at school today". 

SCOOTER DIARIES DAY 2

Scoot, Bob and me advanced out of Apalachicola at sunrise. I had on long underwear, long shirts (plural), riding jacket, leather gloves and heavy socks in hopes of not getting cold. We headed west on US-98 with a full moon in front of us on the horizon and the sun coming up behind. By the time it dawned on me that this would make a great picture, we were into the pine forest tunnel again with no view of the sun or the moon. Close to St. Joe there was some open area but we were in and out of a light fog and the moon was not visible. The fog was interesting as it had a strong aroma of pine but not in the fog less areas.

Rules of the road are no fast food, unless you are dying. The first restaurant was Sharon's in Port St. Joe Beach. Not busy, but there was a construction crew at the table next to me. The boss had just fired 2 guys because they could not make it to work on time. He told me that in these hard times in construction you would think they would show up on time at least some of the time.

Lots of Harleys passed me yesterday on the way to Panama City for a bike weekend. I went through downtown looking for them to show them my logo, "Anyone can ride a Harley across America, but only a real man can ride a Vespa". I guess they heard I was coming and all hid. I saw no sign of any action.


Travelling the panhandle is my least favorite part of Florida. You can run back and forth to the beach from US-98 with all the problems of overbuilt beaches, stay on US-98 and for the most part look at strip malls, or head north and cross in no-mans land. As I was trying to make forward progress, I chose US-98.

Stopped in Ft. Walton Beach at Maas Coffee for a Gucci coffee and to make some phone calls. The big talk was about the oil spill and how the oil companies kept lying about the spill. I have not followed this story, but I guess it went from no leaks to major leaks. I am typing this in a fisherman's bar in Fairhope, Al. and they are very worried. Remember, I believe, that Exxon has never paid a dime in fines from the Valdez incident. They paid to clean up, but no more.

                                              seen lots of crosses but not a bike

The next stop was the Naval Air Museum in Pensacola. Pensacola is my favorite town on the panhandle. I had been to the museum many years ago, but this time it did not excite me. Maybe I have had to much aviation in my life. I greatly prefer the Air Force Museum in Dayton. The layout leads you through history and they have big airplanes.

                                                          nice looking red scooter

Watched the IMAX and then headed out following 98 again to Fairhope, Al. This is all new to me from here, so I was pleasantly surprised when we crossed into Alabama. The landscape changed from pine trees and strip malls to hardwoods and agriculture. I love to ride in this type country. 
 
I was in a hurry to be done with the panhandle of Florida and knew that the interesting person of the day would be waiting in Fairhope, Al. at the Bayside Guesthouse.  That is why there are not many pictures today. I arrived in Fairhope around 3pm.  I had heard nice things about this town and they were all true.  What a pretty spot and super friendly people.  Everyone wanted to be helpful from the people on the main st. to all the staff in various stores I visited.
 
Back at the Bayside Guesthouse, Sandra was done with her massage customers, and we had a long and friendly chat.  She and I had both worked in South East Asia in the 70's, she for the Peace Corp as a training nurse in Malaysia and me in several countries.  When I talked to her on the phone to make a reservation and told her I was riding across America, she said "I rode a motorcycle from Indonesia to England" and I had to hear this story. In fact she had shipped her bike on some of the legs, like Rangoon to Calcutta, but for the most part rode it all the way.  Even through Afghanistan. We had a great time talking about mutual places we had visited and other things that would be boring unless you had been there.  Michael, her musician boyfriend, was bored right off the bat, but she said it had been a long time since she could share her memories with someone who understood.
 

 
After walking down memory lane we talked about Fairhope and why it was so interesting.  It has a long history of being different.  Their cottage was built in 1904 as a rental for those yankees and "even had indoor plumbing" according to the newspaper of the time.  The first librarian here had come from Europe at the turn of the century and was a nudest.  She would read her books on the beach just down the street, naked as a jay bird.

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So, what do the children at the Escuela Bilingue los Algorrobos do after we give them breakfast?  Classes start at 8 and go until 12:30.  Half of the day is in Spanish and the other half is in English.  We have two Ecuadorean teachers and two English speaking teachers.  This year they are from the U.S.  One teacher teaches in both English and Spanish.  We have volunteers that come in and assist teachers with the students.  Quite often these are college students that are out of school for the summer.  We have a small library and computer room.  Last year we received 3 computers from the Eco-surf Volunteers and internet service from the Chili Cook off  competition in Quito.  Many of the students do not have running water, but they are now being connected to the world in the 1st grade via the internet.

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