Ray&#039;s Motorcycle Experience

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Camping Karick Lake

June 1, 2023

We searched for a few months but finally found the camper that fit our needs and budget in early April. Drove about 150 miles to purchase and bring it home. It’s perfect for us and we hope to enjoy it for years to come. Of course we needed to test it and get accustomed to setting up, backing into small spots and generally how to camp and use it. I’ve camped there several times in the past but never with the rig we have now.

We chose to camp at Karick Lake’s north campground which is located near our home, within the Karick Lake Recreation Area, in the Blackwater River State Forest. This campground is located on the north side of Karick Lake a 65 acre lake that has campsites with electricity, water, and electrical hookups. There is a southside version of the campsite just across the lake. Has dump station, restrooms, showers, boat ramp, and pier. It provides fishing, boating, canoeing, picnicking, hiking, bird watching, and wildlife for your pleasure. Does not allow you to use gas powered motors on your boat in the lake.

We camped there for about five days, my brother and sister-in-law were camped next site to us (they are expert campers), we enjoyed the peace and quiet of the area. Did some fishing, a little hiking, played some games, ate very well and just had an awesome time. Learned a little more about camping with a travel trailer like this, made notes of things we needed to add to our inventory and things we didn’t need next time out.

As usual we have a few photos below:

We have a very long tripped planned in May to explore more of the north west United States. This trip will not be taking the motorcycle or camper. Plans are to visit portions of Colorado, Idaho, Montana, and South Dakota. Deciding our route and places to stay is taking some time, but I’m sure we will figure it out soon, so stay tuned. 🙂

Hope you found this interesting. Hit the follow button to see what happens next. Not a “biker” by definition, just an old man that loves to ride motorcycles, travel, and experience new adventures.

Keep the shiny side UP!

Tags:#karicklake
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North Georgia

May 29, 2023

Well January was peaceful and quiet, got in a few motorcycle rides, made plans for some upcoming trips later this spring. Patty had this urge to visit the North Georgia mountains and see one of her forever friends who lives in Jasper, Georgia. So we decided to go in early February. Lydia and John were delightful people and we certainly enjoyed our brief time with them. They live on the side of a mountain, view that is unbelievable. Road up to their home is rather narrow, steep and winding if you’re not accustomed to climbing mountains in an automobile.

Pretty sure those that live there have no issues with the path to their homes but this flat lander sure finds it exhilarating and a tad scary if you’re not the one driving. 🙂 Quite beautiful however!

While there we visited the famous Bigun’s BBQ in Talking Rock, Georgia. Great BBQ, be sure to try the ribs should you happen to be in the area, Highway 515. Purchased some of their BBQ sauce to bring home.

Another special place to visit was Amicalola Falls State Park near Dawsonville, Georgia, very close to the North Georgia Mountains.

A nature lover’s wonderland, it’s only 8 miles from the Appalachian Trail in the Chattahoochee National Forest. The park is named after its most treasured feature, Amicalola Falls, a 729 foot waterfall that’s the third highest waterfall east of the Mississippi River.

Some of our personal photos from the visit to Amicalola Falls Park.

Another stop on this tour of North Georgia was the Panorama Orchards Farm Market store. A family fruit farm established in the 1920’s to produce and market apples. They have more than 20 varieties of apples, as well as peaches, and fall vegetables. A variety of apple related products and baked goods are sold direct to the public here. Sorry, we didn’t have any photos to post on this stop, was raining and we just forgot. You should be able to find it easily, located in East Ellijay, Georgia.

We had many other stops and tons of beautiful scenery as we drove from one location to another in this beautiful mountainous area in North Georgia. Loved it…

On our way home I was able to meet Patty’s daughter and son in law who lived in Mariettta, Ga. Was an absolute pleasure to meet Arin and Chris. Very nice and entertaining couple, really enjoyed our visit with them. We had dinner, found a Buttermilk Sky Pie Shop in Sandy Springs, Ga. Of course could not pass up the opportunity to sample a couple of their delicious pies. Took one complete pie home with me. 🙂

Next day we headed home to plan our next adventure. Did some motorcycle riding while home on days the weather allowed. Started our quest to find a travel trailer or some other accommodating vessel to assist in our travel comfort. The six by twelve motorcycle trailer is not the most comfortable cabin to sleep in though it has sufficed a few times. 🙂

Keep the shiny side UP!

Tags:#georgia, #mountains
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Christmas Defuniak Springs

May 23, 2023

An annual event held on the shores around the beautiful round lake in Defuniak Springs, Florida. An event locals especially like to see and visit each and every year. A beautiful display of lights to enjoy and heighten your Christmas spirit. Visitors from around the world have seen this small town display of lights called Christmas Reflections. See quote below from the city of Defuniak Springs own website.

It’s THE event of the year! Bring the entire family any night of the week or come and stay the weekend in the beautiful, historic DeFuniak Springs, Florida! Come see more than 10 million lights reflect off a perfectly round spring-fed lake glowing in holiday splendor! Enjoy a holiday family tradition that is a delight to all ages as we light up Chipley Park with the annual Christmas Reflection displays. A variety of Victorian, animal, and toy soldier cutouts, Santa’s workshop, and the grandfather clock ticking away are among the thousands of decorations that adorn these historic grounds. This event is orchestrated and hosted by the City of DeFuniak Springs. See below for free holiday special events, markets, and the Festival of Trees which complement this season’s light show.

Display is normally opened every year the day after Thanksgiving and continues through New Years day.

Some of our personal photos from this visit are below.

That was our last adventure of the year rounding out 2022 at home with family and friends relaxing, enjoying the peace of Christmas then ringing in the New Year with a bang.

Hope you found this interesting. Hit the follow button to see what happens next. Not a “biker” by definition, just an old man that loves to ride motorcycles and experience new adventures.

Keep the shiny side UP!

Tags:#defuniakspringsflorida, #motorcyclerides, #raysmotoring
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Dollywood Theme Park

May 2, 2023

After our visit last night to Gatlinburg, next adventure was to see Dollywood Theme Park, me the first time ever. Patty had been before but wanted to go again. Let me just say we did not dress warm enough that day, thought we had but there was a wind that never let up so HOT Chocolate was on the list and being able to go inside and see the various shows was great as well.

First stop was the Eagle’s Nest area where they did a bird show and if you know me, Eagles have a special meaning for me, love those proud elegant winged hunters. They had quite a few in the Eagle habitat, seems many were rescues either in a healing process or some maybe to never return to the wild due to age or condition. Click on the photos to get a larger version and better view.

After the bird show we were like little kids, walking around, going to various displays and shows. Finding interesting things to look at, places to eat and of course like I said before, lots of hot chocolate. Hey it was cold, middle of December in Tennessee. We even took the little train ride around the park, shopped in various little shops and just generally had an excellent time. The entire place was already decked out with holiday decorations and spirit.

Next day was a relaxing ride up through Townsend and Cades Cove. It was like a step back in time, country side, flowing rivers, wild animals and old buildings. Just a slow drive through the past is the way I related to it.

That little drive took up most of the morning so we needed to get back to the hotel, we had tickets for the Dolly Parton Stampede show and dinner. Had heard so much about it, and there was certainly no disappointment. Nothing short of a great production, Christmas themed and very well done. Spectacular show for sure. Will post a few photos, had so many it’s hard to choose which are my favorites. The dinner was great as well, highly recommend this if ever in the area.

After our fun filled and exciting days in Tennessee it was time to head back home and prepare for Christmas at or near home. This was a wonderful trip and one that I will remember forever. Great memories for sure!

Hope you found this interesting. Hit the follow button to see what happens next. Not a “biker” by definition, just an old man that loves to ride motorcycles and experience new adventures.

Keep the shiny side UP!

Tags:#dollywood, #gatlinburg
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Tennessee in December

April 29, 2023

Growing up and living in the south all my life, going north in December was something that I was not quite sure would be enjoyable, not being a big fan of cold weather. Below sixty degrees F, I look for warm clothes/warm places immediately. However Patty convinced me it would be a great adventure and worth the pain, so glad she did, it was awesome.

First place we went was Northeast Tennessee to visit my cousin and his lovely wife. We enjoyed several days of visiting which allowed Patty to meet my cousins Larry and Margie for the first time. His brother had also moved to Tennessee recently near where they lived so we were able to see and visit with Ronnie and LeeAnn as well. Had a great time, ate well, slept well, and stayed warm, ALL good. 🙂 Visited Bay’s Mountain and the Planetarium which was near by, my second visit but was a first for Patty.

After our visit in Kingsport, we were off to Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg. Yes Dollywood was definitely on the agenda as I had never been before. Funny thing happened on the way. Traveling some back roads we saw a sign that said something about Bush Beans. Now I’m pretty sure that most everyone has heard about and or eaten Bush beans so we turned around in pure curiosity to see this place.

After that short unplanned stop which was sorta fun and informational we continued our trip to where we were staying in Pigeon Forge. This area was a whole new adventure and something that I had looked forward to for quite some time. After checking into the hotel, food was next, ate at the Old Mill Pottery House Cafe & Grille, great food and service for sure. Yes is was beginning to get really cold for this southerner but having so much fun it was hardly noticed.

Patty had told me that Gatlinburg would be fully decorated already for Christmas so the decision was to visit that same night. We arrived in Gatlinburg late afternoon say around five or five thirty dressed warmly for the occasion. It was a beautiful evening! Downtown Gatlinburg was fantastic with all the Christmas decorations! If you were not in the Christmas spirit upon arrival, you would be by the time you left. Not sure how else to explain but it was just AWESOME in my opinion.

Great night, fantastic scenery and Christmas spirit full bore. Tomorrow we plan to visit Dollywood Theme Park. See ya there. We had so many more photos but guess it’s not a good idea to post hundreds of them. LOL

Hope you found this interesting. Hit the follow button to see what happens next. Not a “biker” by definition, just an old man that loves to ride motorcycles and experience new adventures.

Keep the shiny side UP!

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Indiana Trip

April 27, 2023

Immediately after our camping excursion in late September of last year Patty and I headed to Evansville, Indiana. It was a class reunion for her. For me it was a new adventure, a place I’d never been before.

Met some of her family, friends, and classmates, plus we enjoyed visiting the museum and other interesting places. Since she grew up there, it was like having my own private tour guide. Especially enjoyed the “West Side Nut Club Fall Festival” in Evansville so much might want to do that again this year.

We were in Evansville maybe four or five days with never a dull moment even though Black Betty was not part of this adventure. After leaving Indiana we traveled down to Tennessee for a visit with my long time best friend, Bud! Did an adventure there experiencing a long standing tradition of Flea Market/garage sales for miles and miles along an area near where he lives, was an absolute blast!

When Patty and I travel we take the scenic route when possible. Freeways are boring, backroads may take longer but are so much more fun. Whether we’re on the motorcycle or not backroads we’ve never traveled are new adventures and memories made.

After our stop in Tennessee, next stop on this trip was Double Springs, Alabama where my brother and sister in law have a house on Smith Lake. Both these stops were new for Patty as she had not been to either place. We spent a few days there, did some tourist things and had a great time.

Pictures say more than words sometime so below is a photo dump, first grouping is in Indiana! Funny thing is sometime you are having so much fun you forget to take photos.

After leaving Indiana headed to my friends house in Tennessee we traveled the Natchez Trace as much as possible, again the scenic route is always best for us. Some scenes on the way below.

Next photos were taken while visiting my brother and sister in law in north Alabama.

All of the above pretty much happened within the first two weeks of October, 2022. Near the end of October we did take another trip over to Gulfport, Mississippi for pure entertainment time at Island View Hotel and Casino. 🙂 During these out of town adventures, when home we did do as much riding as possible, weather was really very nice here for that time of year.

Starting in November we were doing a lot of planning for other trips and also preparing for my family tradition of Thanksgiving at my home. Won’t bore you with the tons of photos taken mostly of family eating, catching up chatter, playing games and just a really satisfying time with about thirty family members. In the busy month of November we did manage to get “Black Betty” another mode of transportation in case we needed to trailer her someplace.

That’s a wrap on our activities through the end of November… December will need to be written about in the next post.

Hope you found this interesting. Hit the follow button to see what happens next. Not a “biker” by definition, just an old man that loves to ride motorcycles and experience new adventures.

Keep the shiny side UP!

Tags:#motorcyclerides, #raysmotoring
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2022 Closes Out

January 13, 2023

Seems like forever since my last post and that’s a fact! The last half of 2022 was one to remember, much happened that changed my life for the better and made me a much happier person. Some of that change included a lot of riding Black Betty and some traveling adventures with my sweetheart Patty! We did several trips to places I would probably have never gone and we intend to do more this year.

To explain and talk about these adventures in one blog post would be a very long story and many photos. Rather than do that in one post my intention is to break these up into several posts over the next few weeks. Not all of these adventures included “Black Betty” but this coming year you will see more of her. 😎

One of our first adventures was another camping trip to Blackwater River State Park in late September, my favorite place to camp and enjoy the outdoors. Of course we loaded up Black Betty for this trip because it’s an awesome place to ride with great scenery and no traffic!

Following are a few photos taken at the park and some videos riding through the park in the Blackwater Forest area. If you listen closely, in some videos you can hear me chatting with Patty, our helmets have blue tooth sets so we can talk while riding. 🙂

Stay tuned for our next post coming in a few days. We visited Evansville, IN, had never been there before so it was quite interesting for me.

Hope you found this interesting. Hit the follow button to see what happens next. Not a “biker” by definition, just an old man that loves to ride motorcycles.

Keep the shiny side UP!

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Tags:#motorcyclecamping, #motorcyclerides, #raysmotoring, #victorycrossroads8ball
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Introducing Black Betty

August 28, 2022

A Lot has happened since my last post, so let me try to bring everyone up to speed on the latest. As most of you know been searching for a bigger motorcycle, something that would be more in tune with a touring style bike, longer trip capability etc… Been searching for months trying to find the right bike at a price to not break the bank. Hard to find these days as the price of everything has skyrocketed including pre-owned motorcycles.

While talking to some of the Harley Davidson dealers it seems Harley has cut back on production due to scarcity of parts, etc. They have issues getting as many new bikes as they need, therefore used bikes are in high demand so guess what, prices go up! Was talking to one such dealer, Harley Davidson of Panama City Beach here in Florida. Great bunch of guys by the way. 🙂 Made several visits to see their inventory and finally found the nugget that would fit my needs and pocket book. NO, turns out it’s not a Harley Davidson though that was what I had been looking at. They had some really beautiful ones but the price point was more than I wished to spend.

This nugget turned out to be a surprise even to me, Black Betty… a 2014 Victory Cross Roads 8-Ball with a 106 ci engine and a six speed transmission. Hesitated on this several times because as some might know, Victory Motorcycles are no longer manufactured. Production was halted in 2017. Most say it was because Polaris, the manufacturer wanted to focus only on the Indian brand and not compete with themselves. Victory is an American made motorcycle, probably more American than any other brand including Harley. My fear however was that no parts would be available should there be a need. Research tells me that the manufacturer will continue to produce parts for Victory until the year 2027, so there’s that bit of hope.

Little side note, the Suzuki is up for sale. Hate to see it go, has been such a pleasure to ride and enjoy while my leg was getting stronger.

Anyway, fell in love, made the deal, picked up the Victory around the 1st. of July, with only 8,559 miles on the odometer. That’s an average of about one thousand miles per year. Had the bike for a little less than two months, already added another thousand miles to her odometer. Likely would have been more but we have had some serious rain here in the panhandle of Florida. Seems it has rained every day since she came home with me. Also since my last post added a passenger on my motorcycle rides, but we not going to discuss that yet! 🙂

Let me post some photos of this beauty so you’ll understand why I fell in love! What’s the better name, Black Betty or Black Beauty? Or should we just call her VIC or VICKIE?

Since we’ve had so much rain lately my riding partner and I have gotten wet several times. We start by looking at the radar but it seems no matter the weather forecast we attract the rain. By the way we also hooked up blue tooth capability on our new helmets to enable conversation while we ride. Having so much fun riding when we can that until last week had not done any riding video’s on Black Betty. So here we go, finally taped some and posted them on YouTube, a few examples below. These first two are just drive by shorts. 🙂

As you will see in this next video, we are about to get wet once again. Watch until the end to view my riding partner hastily putting on her rain jacket, look in the right rear view mirror. LOL

Next video is fairly common for us lately, yes we do get soaked… but on this day not as much as some previous days. 🙂

And as normal we do pass through the rain showers and start to dry out. Here we were approaching the east side of Defuniak Springs, FL.

Ok so if you’ve viewed the videos and photos, tell me what you would name her? Keep in mind she’s a blacked out 8-ball with minimum amount of chrome.

Hope you found this interesting. Hit the follow button to see what happens next. Not a “biker” by definition, just an old man that loves to ride motorcycles.

Please leave comments, suggestions and hit the like button. Feel free to share this on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram or any other desired location. Subscribe to my YouTube channel, link below. Thank you so much for your time.

Keep the shiny side UP!

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Tags:#defuniakspringsflorida, #motorcyclerides, #motorcyclevideo, #raysmotoring, #samsonalabama, #victorycrossroads8ball, #victorymotorcycles
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Camping/Kayaking

May 26, 2022

My brother and I have a tradition of at least once a year camping at Blackwater River State Park. Love that place and our most favored thing about these camping trips is the eleven mile kayak trek down Blackwater River.

We have missed the last two years due to circumstances, one of which was due to my not being able to walk very well. See previous posts if you’re not familiar why that was? Actually the last time we camped here, it was just too cold to get in the river.

This camp time included some friends of ours, Pam and Richard Anderson. They love camping almost as much as my brother and sister-in-law, camp with them on many occasions. Pam and Richard brought some new toys with them to test. Electric powered bicycles! Of course this conjured up many conversations about the future and electric powered vehicles of all types.

They were actually testing their bicycles for a future planned camping excursion out west where a lot of bicycle riding would be beneficial.

First let me post a few of the photos taken with my phone around the campsite, floating down the river on kayaks, etc.

Monday was devoted to the Kayak trip and of course eating. They sure knew how to eat while camping. In fact, not sure why I brought any food as we never used any of it. Will say this trip down the river was much better than our last one since we wised up about the fact that no matter how smart you think you are, SUNBURN is very much a reality. Sunscreen this time, worked great and no pain afterwards.

Most of my motorcycle rides, ones video taped were all done on Tuesday while out trying to find our friends on the electric bicycles. They left ahead of me and plan was for me to catch up, follow and even do video of them riding. I said plan…. gave them about 10 minutes head start, took off and about a mile down the road realized that my phone wasn’t with me. Was wearing blue tooth helmet and wanted to listen to music and monitor phone calls while out searching for them so had to return for it…. see video below.

After retrieving the phone, next video is me listening to music (no, you can’t hear it on video) while beginning my search for the elusive electric bicycles.

This next video is to let you know that even I can sometimes miss a gear, especially on this sensitive shifter they put on the Suzuki. Still out searching the back roads for those bicycles. Just a mile or so from the park there is a four way stop, my decision was, which way to go first, only three options. 🙂

After running a few miles down two of the options, tried to find them on my phone tracker, no signal, so tried southern route toward the camp road entrance off highway 90 just to be sure they didn’t go that way. Next video is a stop on the river bridge which is really on the way out of the park area back to civilization.

Next video is going back into the campground to ensure that they had not returned while I was out searching. No they had not returned but was able to finally find their location on the tracker.

After locating them on the tracker, headed in that direction and finally found them…. next is a short video. Most times my videos are three minutes long (setting on that cheap camera) but battery was getting low so cut this one a little short.

This next video is after finding them and turning around we stopped for a chat about the bicycles. Was curious how they felt about them and questions of how long before recharging, what distance and or speed can be maintained, etc. In this video, you cannot hear much of what they are saying only me since the mic was on my helmet only. Another short video, quick chat in the middle of the road and on our way.

Long story short, they decided that about 35-40 miles would be the distance on one charge. Charging takes approximately six hours. They averaged a speed of 13-15 mph that day just taking it easy pedaling with the battery assisting. Bicycles set at highest mode could probably reach 35-40 mph if needed. Should they run out of battery power they can be manually pedaled like a normal bicycle.

There was a lot more video taken that day but most of those roads you have seen in the past and felt no need to repeat those scenes. Rode each day while there but not with camera mounted helmet.

Hope you found this interesting. Hit the follow button to see what happens next. Not a “biker” by definition, just an old man that loves to ride motorcycles.

Keep the shiny side UP!