This video is part 3 of 4 of Day 1 of 2 of the maiden voyage of Scarlett, my 2006 Honda VTX 1300C from DeLand, Florida to Douglasville, Georgia. This video is shorter (for my videos anyways) running for 15minutes and 39 seconds and covers the ride from the rural area west of Green Cove Springs, Florida to Lawtey, Florida via 2 lane highways and county roads.
Scarlett Homecoming Motorcycle Trip from DeLand, Florida to Douglasville, Georgia continues with my ride from Palatka, Florida to Grandin, Florida and finally the rural area near Green Cove Springs, Florida. Late in this video I encountered my first rain, which would be often throughout the remainder of the day.
This video covers a portion of my Florida Loop 2026 Day 8 21 mile ride from Glen St Mary to John M Bethea State Forest on Florida State Route 2, just south of Georgia.
This video covers a portion of my my Florida Loop 2026 Day 8 68 mile ride from Palatka, Florida to Glen St. Mary, Florida.
Day 8 was the final day for Florida Loop 2026 starting in Palatka, Florida and ending at my home in Douglasville, Georgia (arriving shortly after sunset). The weather for day 8 was fantastic riding weather and the best weather I had during this trip. Also, the motorcycle riding on day 8 was great with low traffic volumes (until I entered the Atlanta Metropolitan Blob that is LOL) and the scenery was fantastic in several areas.
On Day 8 I also discovered that there are rural, low traffic and virtually people free areas of Georgia. I rolled into Georgia on GA Highway 94 just south of Fargo, Georgia in a heavily forested area and virtually almost no traffic, it was fantastic after many days of rain and at times heavy traffic in Florida.
There will be more Day 8 riding videos posted soon, along with my summary of Florida Loop 2026.
In this video I am departing Daytona Beach, Florida and headed to Palatka, Florida where I stayed at the Holiday Inn Express in Palatka, Florida for the night.
Day 7 Total Miles from Dupuis Campground to Palatka, Florida = 273 Slow Miles 🙂
The original plan for Day 7 was to ride from Dupuis Campground near Indiantown, Florida, ride east to the coast, and then ride north on Florida A1A to Daytona Beach. In Daytona Beach I would ride the Ormond Scenic Loop and then proceed to Ocean Pond Campground near Lake City, Florida in the Osceola Wildlife Management Area and camp for the night. While the weather was fantastic today for camping (a rare occurrence on this trip) I grossly underestimated the time it would take to ride north from Stuart, Florida to Daytona Beach.
While I accomplished most of my goals for the day from Palatka, Florida, Ocean Pond Campground would have been about another 1.5 ride in the dark in area and roads I am not familiar with. While I can and have ridden plenty at night, I prefer not to as the potential road hazards and wildlife risk increase exponentially, plus, you can’t see anything at night.
It had been a long day waking up at camp just before sunrise and instead decided to cut the route short for today and stay at the Holiday Inn Express and make up the 74 or so miles on Day 8.
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In Daytona Beach, I ride a portion of the fairly short but highly scenic Ormond Loop with tree tunnels, palm trees, and curvy roads.
Ormond Scenic Loop and Trail (OSLT) is a 34 mile double loop of roadways traversing some of the most beautiful and diverse natural scenery remaining in all of coastal central Florida. There is ready access to the Atlantic Ocean, North Peninsula, Bulow Creek and Tomoka State Parks. The roadway view includes vistas of rivers, creeks, marshes, dunes, and beaches.
For more information on the Ormond Loop Scenic Loop, Click Here
I continue the ride on Day 7, Florida Loop 2026 from Fort Cocoa Beach, Florida to Daytona Beach, Florida on Florida Highway A1A.
Daytona Beach was fairly busy with traffic and people (both tourists and people attending some kind of convetions, I didnt stick around to find out what LOL).
Florida Loop 2026 Day 7 Part 3 – April 10th, 2026
I continue the ride on Day 7, Florida Loop 2026 from Fort Pierce, Florida to Cocoa Beach, Florida on Florida Highway A1A.
In Cocoa Beach, I was able to briefly view the Blue Angles putting on a show along the beach, such impressive skilled flying.
I continue the ride on Day 7, Florida Loop 2026 from Stuart, Florida to Fort Pierce, Florida on Florida Highway A1A.
Even though I am riding along the cost, sadly, the Atlantic is not viewable for much of Florida A1A. Regardless, the ride was a relaxing and mild ride up the coast.
I will be flying out of Atlanta Georgia tomorrow May 8th, 2026 to Orlando, Florida and then catching an Uber (or Lyft) to Deland, Florida where I will spend the night in a hotel. The next morning on Saturday May 9th, 2026, I will be picking up Scarlett, my new to me 2006 Honda VTX 1300S from RC Hill Honda in Deland, Florida.
The plan is to ride Scarlett home from Deland (with a 40 mile detour through Daytona and ride the Ormond Loop again, becuse I am here) to Douglasville, Georgia for a planned distance of 488 miles (just shy of 500 miles) and arrive home sometime in the evening (hopefully not too far past sunset).
Because this is the southeast, of course there is rain forecasted pretty much for the entire ride home. Depending on the weather forecast source, forecasted rain is either going to be an all day, all trip affair or it will be scattered with showers and thunderstorms. If there are scattered showers and thunderstorms I feel I can deal with that much better than an all day, all trip rain event. I am not sure I have room to pack any rain gear (pants and jacket) but I will try. My Revit jacket does a pretty good job with the rain as is even though it is not really a waterproof jacket (I did not use any rain gear during Florida Loop 2026, the RevIT pants and jacket was good enough). However, on this trip, I will be wearing Cycle Gear Ironman Riding jeans which will get soaked if it is an all-day rain event, yuck. I will see if I have room to pack rain pants and if not, will just deal with it.
I am more concerned with slow travel due to rain. Scarlett has Michelin Commander tires installed (which are great) and the tread looks good. However, I have not yet inspected these tires in person and will do so Saturday morning. Worst case scenario is I will have to get new tires (I don’t think so) on Saturday morning, which of course will also delay me.
This is also a new to me bike. Even though I have owned two VTX 1300’s in the past, it has been 9 years since I have ridden one. Plus, each bike is always a bit different. I will not be riding Scarlett hard on this trip home and if the rain is prevalent with reduced visibility, I will be riding even slower. I also don’t want to ride this bike much in the dark on the maiden voyage, especially if it is raining due to low visibility and safety concerns.
If my rate of travel is slower than expected due to weather, the bike, ergonomic issues, etc. I have three locations in Georgia picked out to stop for Saturday and then resume the trip home on Sunday May 10th, 2026. The three contingency stops are Douglas (not Douglasville), Perry, and Griffin. I would like to get home Saturday night, but I am not going to push it past where I feel comfortable or if I feel safety is being compromised. Better to arrive a day later without any incident. Well worth the Hotel fee.
Wanderlust Lyfe 