Panhandle Old Guys

[Jaxxzenn]

gots to get me truck worked on....weather looks perfect though for a yank like me

[Vico1]

Originally Posted by ineptizoid

What's the word? THUNDERBIRD!

You really gotta be old to remember that shit

Crap! I remember that.

[ineptizoid]

Originally Posted by Vico1

Crap! I remember that.

Well of course ya do! Yer the one who certifies the Certified Old-Timers, after all

And I know what I'm talkin about 'cuz I've been certified

[ineptizoid]

Well seein as how I'm a Certified Old-Timer, sometimes (OK, a lot of times) I find myself reminiscing about good times back in the day. And this weekend I've been reminiscing about an event that from 2006-2009 was held on MLK weekend at the Crawfordville YMCA Camp (Camp Indian Springs), called Tour de Apalachicola. It was a KLR event, more or less, eating up a lotta bandwidth on the KLR forums, and the vast majority of bikes were KLRs--but make no mistake, everybody was welcome at TdA. Some gazoonie even brought his nanner-puddin yeller DRZ out there one year, and the KLRistas just stared in wild wonder


We had an "insider," Gerald, who goes by SugarSand here on ADV, and he was the Founder of the Feast, so to speak, by arranging for us to use the facilities all weekend long. Cabins, hot showers, chow hall, we had full use of the place. Here's Gerald with one of his super-friendly Dalmations, they ran around greeting everybody like it was their job


The chow hall doubled as a garage in the evenings, worklights were set up so that random KLRistas could check their valves, replace their doohickies etc. while other random KLRistas drank beer/observed/offered helpful advice & witty commentary. More entertaining than a movie, and cheaper, too. Cheap is important when ya ride a KLR


The chow hall was set up to accommodate about 100 people; we never lacked for space, or food--Gerald would get some chili going in these big stock pots, and we'd start throwing meat/beans/peppers/etc. in there; it always turned out good! And in the morning, there were donuts/coffee to get ya goin. TreeMan's face is positively lit up with excitement, that's how good the coffee was


Naturally we gave the Family Coastal Seafood Restaurant plenty of business for lunch; I had never been to the Family Coastal until TdA, and I sure am glad it was on the itinerary every year. The best fried mullet I've ever had in my life, and I ain't lyin!


Remember when gas was under $2/gallon? Sure ya do, it wasn't even that long ago


Tate's Hell was always on the itinerary too, some of these gazoonies (ahem JP) are guilty of wheelying thru Tate's Hell with wild abandon, which really wasn't as bad as it sounds, because Swampy was never there


None of these guys cared what ya rode--I mean, c'mon, KLRistas are not exactly the most discriminating people on the planet, just sayin'. Here JP lectures the KLRistas on the finer points of Ridin Red


More KLRs than you can shake a stick at. The value of all these bikes combined is close to ten thousand dollars!! That's a lotta money to a KLRista, ya know


Back in the cabins after a hard day of having fun, many beers are consumed and many stories, some of them true, are told


If this event was still going on I'd prolly be out there right now. Alas, the TdA rallies at the YMCA camp are nothing but memories now, but I'm glad I got to be a part of it. What does Dr. Seuss say about this: Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened. Amen, brother.

Gerald, if yer reading this, thank you for opening the camp up for us those four years; I sure had some great times out there and I ain't the only one by a long shot!

[Dr.Z]

Inept... even though it's no longer held at the Y... there's a TdA happening sometime in February and Ed & Bernice's Fish Camp near Tally.

I went a couple of years ago and had a ball.

[ineptizoid]

Originally Posted by Dr.Z

Inept... even though it's no longer held at the Y... there's a TdA happening sometime in February and Ed & Bernice's Fish Camp near Tally.

I went a couple of years ago and got attacked by voracious mutant fire ants.

Fixt

Yeah, I know the event is now held at Ed & Bernice's, but somehow it ain't quite the same, and I kinda lost the fire to attend. I might have thought about going out there this year (last weekend of Feb.) just to see what it's like at the fish camp, but TreeMan's shindig is the first weekend of March and it takes precedence.

[Dr.Z]

Originally Posted by ineptizoid

Fixt

Yeah, I know the event is now held at Ed & Bernice's, but somehow it ain't quite the same, and I kinda don't want to be eaten up by fire ants.

Fix't.

[ineptizoid]

I don't reckon the fire ants will be so bad in February--but ya never know. If there's a cold front coming thru there could very well be subfreezing temps out there at night...and fire ants, like yers truly, don't do well in the cold!

[Buzztail]

Still say this FF is an inmate

[Mugwest]

Originally Posted by Buzztail

Still say this FF is an inmate

Izzat Gabby Johnson? (see a certain inept one's avatar)

[ineptizoid]

Originally Posted by Buzztail

Still say this FF is an inmate

I like the hat

[Dr.Z]

Originally Posted by Buzztail

Still say this FF is an inmate

Hey, that's KNYBanjo with his winter beard and my Grand Poobah hat.

How the fuck did he get a hold of my hat?

[ineptizoid]

Just got back from hearing Benka Pulko's stories at our local BMW dlrship. Wow, that girl's got some guts! Sure did enjoy seeing her pics and hearing about her adventures. Was also good to see some FFs I haven't seen in a long while...I woulda taken some pics, but I forgot my camera

[Buzztail]

Shoulda used your cel... oh nevermind

[ineptizoid]

Originally Posted by Buzztail

Shoulda used your cel... oh nevermind

Hey my cellphone actually does take pics, ya know! But they're really crappy pics and I can't afford to upload them to the interwebzz on the PoserMobile Network