Written and Photography by: Mark Hendrix

Carlos, Ernesto and I left Rick Case on Friday Oct 12th on our way to Tampa for the Saturday AM start of the Coast2Coast III trip across the state to benefit Leukemia. We took a slight detour to pick up Doug Johnson at his Warehouse. We headed out across Alligator Alley and got off @ SR 29 and headed north to immokolee. WE caught up w/ SR 82 and headed west with another slight detour at Doug Johnson new house in Leheigh Acres. By now we were hungry so Doug led us to Maine’s Seafood. We hooked up with I-75 north and away we went. We split up at I-275 because Carlos, Ernesto and I wanted to go over the skyway bridge and Doug had another house to check out in Tampa. It was quite a sight as we headed over the highest bridge I had been on with my bike. Carlos peeled off as we got into ST. Pete and Ernesto and I continued into Tampa to the Red Roof Inn. There we met Jeff Joffe and his wife Hanna.There was quite a scene at the hotel with bikes and antique cars everywhere.

Saturday morning we awoke to a cool 65″ perfect day. We left the starting point @ 9am with Doug, Jeff, Hanna, Carlos, Ernesto and me. It wasn’t long before we hooked up with another group that helped to lead us through some of the most beautiful scenic roads in Florida. Moss covered trees, the smell of fireplaces burning and what turned out to be a gorgeous day. We split off from the group to get some lunch @ Sonny’s BBQ. We had a litle excitement when my bike wouldn’t start but Carlos and Doug came to the rescue and push started my ST and off we went. We arrived in Daytona beach to finish the run, then checked into the hotel, to relax.

Sunday morning we stopped at the Cracker Barrel for breakfast, then headed home. I peeled of in Sebastian to spend the day with my 84 year old Father-in-law who was in the hospital with pneumonia. The rest of the group headed on south to home. Another great ride to talk about for a long time.