This year some of our members decided to take a round about way to join our friends at the Region A Convention in Eufaula, Alabama. Our ride turned out to be a 1400 mile excursion along the Gulf of Mexico and then up into Alabama and the conventon site.

     September in Florida is still hot and early morning start times are a must.  So, a 6 AM start from Clearwater to Cedar Key was decided on. The ride was cool and the normally heavy traffic was non-existent. It took about 3 hours, which included a necessary break and a fuel stop, to reach our destination. Upon arriving we found that the motel office wasn't yet open, so we waited under a shelter, which overlooked the shoreline and gave us a pretty view of the Gulf of Mexico.  A cool breeze kept the insects away and an occasional hint of grilled seafood enticed our curiosity of what the town had to offer.

     Again with an early wakeup we headed back over the bridge to the mainland and then along the coast to Milton, Florida where we would spend our next few days.  Our route took us though more of the gulf coast towns that were typical of the previous days experiences. Up until we reach the area of Panama City most of our riding was at reasonable cruising speeds, but from from Panama City to Destin the traffic was mostly stop and go which made for pretty uncomfortable riding. Reaching the motel in Milton we unloaded our bags and headed for the swimming pool, which was relaxing but somewhat on the chilly side.  We found that most of the suggested restaurants where within a twenty minute ride from the motel and offered a good selection of foods.   On Saturday morning we headed to Chapter FL1-Q, in Milton for their Zippity Do Dah fun day. This event was set up to help pay for local WWII veterans trip to Washington D.C. for a WWII veterans memorial gathering. The Chapter offered lots of entertaining activities and a ride though the rural countryside.  Also present was the Freedom truck, which had many murals on it honoring American Combat Veterans and responders to the attack of 9/11                                                       

   Having settled in one day early we decided to head out to check out the areas local roadways and attractions. Fortunately we bumped into Jim Jackson of the Region staff, who is familiar with this area of Alabama and had set up two poker runs for this area. The Whiskey Bottle Tombstone Poker run and the Little Grand Canyon of Alabama Poker run . He was gracious enough to give us a detailed route for one of the two runs . We had heard of the "Little Grand Canyon of Alabama" which was one of the runs, so with the information he gave us we headed off to "explore" this novel formation, which is actually called Providence Canyon. The roads were enjoyable to ride and offered lots of hills, curves and great scenery. There must be something in this area about closing attractions during the early part of the week, because when we arrived we found the park closed.  Actually there wasn't any rangers available for tours and information but the park itself was open for viewing and the parking was free for the day. A few of us started down the trail which led to the base of the canyon, but what goes down must come up and we figured that maybe that wasn't the greatest idea,  so we reversed course and joined our friends back at the top.  The park is located on one of the higher hills in the area, so despite the temperature finding it's way to above 90 degrees, a breeze helped keep us cool. By the time we started back to Eufaula, the clock was hovering around lunch time and there on the map was a BBQ place. No way would we pass up such a chance to check out the local quezine .  The restaurant was an old home with a wrap around porch where the tables, chairs, a smoker were located. It was located on the corner of two main roads running through Lumpkin, Georgia.