Pa to Fl ride report

coreride

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Just returned home from a 2200 mile trip from PA to FL and thought I would share a bit. No real point to my trip other then the ride itself and seeking some warmer weather. Started out on Friday leaving my place in PA about an hour west of Philly. The weather really sucked with heavy fog and light rain for about two hours. Once I got out of that the temps went up as I headed south and the sun came out.

Took Rt 1 down to Baltimore around DC to 301. Nice casual scenic ride down to east of Richmond VA. Spent the weekend with friends and family in VA. And just a side note, if your doing a multi-day moto trip, do not spend the days before you leave doing hard labor yard work. Made me sore before I even hit the road.

Hit the road again Monday morning with perfect weather heading thru Williamsburg Va to Rt 17 and the James river bridge. Followed 17 all the way thru NC with detour to Carolina Beach NC to camp out for the night. Very few people camping had the place to myself it seemed. Was sitting in camp after dark with deer and raccoons walking around and thru my campsite. During the night the raccoons wrecked havoc on the campground. Could hear them throwing trash cans around all over the place. I had left my helmet on a picnic table in a bag to stay dry and during the night the raccoons took it out of the bag and played soccer with it. No damage done other then some dirty paw prints.

Tuesday I packed up camp and headed back to 17 to continue south heading into South Carolina. Nothing but clear sunny skies and perfect 70 to low 80s temps. Made a stop for some great bbq lunch in middle of no where. Rode down thru Myrtle Beach and then into Charleston SC. Just north of the Georgia state line I hit the slap on 95 to burn up some miles. Made it to a place called Jekyll Island GA. Nice oceanfront and very relaxing little place. Camped in the campground here buried among the permanent rvs. After the sun went down here it sounded like it was raining but soon found out it was the sound of beetles falling from the trees. Was strange to say the least.

Packed up in the am and hit the road with thunderstorms popping up and moving thru the state. Took secondary roads south down into Florida west of Jacksonville and then headed west towards Tallahassee. Florida has a lot of long straight flat roads and more snakes then I could count. Also had a close call with huge turkey crossing the road. Scared me and the turkey both pretty good. With starting to ride thru rain showers I made it as far west as Interstate 75 before I turned north back up into Georgia.

Once into Georgia I started heading northeast thru the state. I don’t think they have police in GA or SC I never saw a single one. My average speeds were shall I say a little higher then normal. But I had gotten out of the rain and I was in a groove just enjoying the wind and the miles flying by. I hit I-95 again just south of Savanna and once north of Savanna into South Carolina I crashed out at a cheap hotel for the night.

At this point my body was starting to feel all the riding and I was ready to head home to my wonderful wife and cat. Thursday am I packed the bike back up cleaned it off lubed the chain and hit the Interstate north. I-95 all the way thru South and North Carolina. Made a stop just east of Richmond VA to see a friend and take a break from the buzz of 80 plus for hours on end. As the sun was setting I started my last push to make it home Thurs night. The last hour of my ride was so foggy I couldn’t believe it. Visor was fogged so bad had to not use it and speed were around 30 mph as that’s as far as I could see. Just at 700 miles later I made it into the garage at home.

Felt like an epic trip. Was the farthest trip I have taken and the most miles in a day which I increased each day. I’m already thinking about where to go on my next ride.
 

Motogiro

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Thank you for the report! I'm getting ready to take my first camping trip on my SV It will just be a 2 day trip with an overnight campout.

Like that shot on the water!
 

mnuttall87

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This is awesome and inspiring man -- liking the photos. Definitely post more from the trip if you have them!!

I want to go on an impromptu trip out to Shenandoah on the bike and do some camping or something, sounds like a good idea.

The saddlebags on your bike look really nice for this sort of trip.
 

yamihoe

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nice! :thumbup: I grew up in Mechanicsburg PA... sooo much shenanigans went down on 81 lol
yes there are cops here in GA, TONS of them...they are all dbags too.
Great trip!
 

Norbert

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40999d1332529476-pa-fl-ride-report-2012-03-19_18-58-39_567.jpg


nice pic! :)
 

coreride

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I really enjoyed the trip. The bike ran perfect and the bags stayed in place well. I wish i could of had just a bit more space but dont you always. Heres a few more of the pics I wish I had taken more is the only downer.
 
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