CLICK ON THE PHOTO ABOVE TO SEE VIDEO OF TODAY’S RIDE OF EVERGLADES CITY & CHOKOLOSKEE ISLAND
April 7th, 2026
After a fantastic ride of the Loop Road Scenic Drive and seeing the famous American Alligators (some of those things were huge!), I rode to the Miccosukee General Store for a lunch break.
After lunch I rode back to Everglades City, checked in at the Everglades City Motel, dropped off some gear and rode off to get my staged gear at the Parkway Motel & Marina in Chokoloskee Island.
I was going to stay another night at the Parkway Motel & Marina as the room was fantastic. However, they did not have any availability for the night of April 7th. They were, however, very gracious in allowing me to stage some of my gear in their office while I went for a ride today (The Loop Road Scenic Drive).
After picking up my gear, I had a fantastic meal of Mahi-Mahi Cuban fish dinner with a very flavorful and spicy in-house sauce (most certainly had Habanero peppers (one of my favorites) in it.
After dinner, I rode through Everglades City for a brief tour and looked around.
Day 4 was very welcomed and needed relaxed day. I still managed to ride 109 miles today, but it was very chill pace all day.
CLICK ON PHOTO ABOVE FOR THE LONG VERSION VIDEO OF MY RIDE OF LOOP ROAD SCENIC DRIVE
April 7th, 2026
This video is the long video of my 23.6 ride of Loop Road Scenic Drive in the Big Cypress National Preserve just off US Highway 41 with the eastern part of the road roughly 43 miles west of Miami, Florida.
CLICK ON PHOTO ABOVE FOR VIDEO OF MY RIDE ON LOOP ROAD SCENIC DRIVE – SHORT VERSION
April 7th, 2026
This video is the short video of my 23.6 ride of Loop Road Scenic Drive in the Big Cypress National Preserve just off US Highway 41 with the eastern part of the road roughly 43 miles west of Miami, Florida.
Loop Road Scenic Drive – Big Cypress National Preserve
The Loop Road Scenic Drive offers a raw, unfiltered journey into the heart of the Big Cypress National Preserve, stretching across a 24-mile transition from rugged gravel to paved road.
As you navigate this detour off the Tamiami Trail, the landscape transforms into a prehistoric corridor of towering bald cypress trees draped in ghostly Spanish moss and vibrant air plants. The slow pace is mandatory, not just for the sake of your vehicle, but to spot the abundant wildlife that claims the roadside; it is common to see American Alligators basking on the banks, wood storks wading through the dark “blackwater” strands, and even the occasional elusive otter.
It is an immersive experience where the silence of the swamp is broken only by the chorus of cicadas and the splash of a rising gar, providing a stark, beautiful contrast to the manicured environments of nearby South Florida.
This road, scenery and observing the alligators was the highlight of this trip for me personally.
24 Mile Loop Road Scenic Drive – Big Cypress National PreserveLoop Road Scenic Drie in Relation to Miami, FloridaContinue reading →
In this video, I review my successfully completed 2,261 Mile tour of Florida. Florida Loop 2026 launched on April 4th, 2026 and completed on April 11th, 2026. I discuss the trip overall, the good, the bad, and the ugly of this tour. I also discuss some change concerning future tours and other things to think about.
Brief Summary of Florida Loop 2026
Not everything during this trip went smoothly, namely weather, traffric, and errors in route planning on my part. That being said, for the most part, the Florida Loop Tour went as planned and was a successful maiden tour of Bruce, my 2025 Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 Special motorcyle and most of my equipment, camping gear, and riding gear. The only carryover piece of equipment from my previous motorcycle tours was my tent. This tour was not just to travel Florida and check off another state on my quest to ride all 50 states before my expiration, but also a test run of my ’25 Pan America, its configuration, and all of the new gear and equipment.
What’s Coming Up Next?
I will be making additional posts and videos detailing each travel day in more detail to also include riding videos. I also plan to review some of my new camping equipmet and how it faired during this trip. I meant do some of this content and a daily video diary during the trip, but that instantly proved to not be viable due to some extensive travel delays.
Florida Loop 2026 was successfully completed at around 9PM EDT – April 11th, 2026. Total miles = 2,261, so less than the estimated 2,495 miles…..I have failed LOL Just kidding.
I am stil in a bit of travel haze right now. Once that clears, I wil start making blog entries and videos about the trip, Bruce, and my gear.
This trip felt much more like a rat race compared to some of my previous trips. I often found myself pressed for time, exhausted and sometimes pretty frusturated. There are many factors at play but weather, traffic density, and speed limits were the driving factors thowing off planned parts of the trip. Certainly some some things to consider in regards to future trips.
All of that being said, I consider Florida Loop 2026 a success even with some dinge on it LOL.
Full Touring / Alaska 2028 Loadout – What Does This Mean?
My Full Touring / Alaska 2028 Loadout is my touring packing load for extended long distance motorcycle touring / camping trips. For example, I am looking at my Alaska 2028 trip to be 43 days in total with 7 days in Anchorage with my son and wife for a family vacation. This setup is for spending weeks traveling on the motorcycle with significant camping involved.
To be clear, this is way overkill for my Florida Loop 2026 trip. But I am using that trip as my test flight per say for my motorcyle configuation and full touring loadout. Less extensive trips will have reduced loadout accordingly, especially trips that does not involve camping. I would say more than half of the items packed are related to camping.
Let’s look at luggage weight
Right Panier (including weight of panier itself) = 50 Pounds
Left Panier (including weight of panier itself) = 50 Pounds
Top Case (including weight of top case itself) = 28 Pounds
Medic Bag / First Aid Kit (strapped on top of top case) = 9 Pounds
Reax Poseidon Dy Bag (including dry bag weight itself) = 36 Pounds
Florida Loop 2026 is the not so clever name for my upcoming motorcycle touring trip, riding a loop of the state of Florida…. hence the name of the trip .
The trip as planned will be 8 days starting from Douglasville, Georgia to Pensacola, Florida and follow along the gulf and Florida’s west coast to the Everglades and Key West, Florida. Then turn around and roll north following Florida’s east coast (more or less) and some interior back to Douglasville, Georgia.
Planned Miles = 2,495
Camping Nights = 5
Hotel stays = 2
Kickstand up: April 04, 2026
This will be my first touring trip with Bruce, my 2025 Harley-Davidson Pan America 1250 Special.
This was the first touring trip with Dexter, 2005 Harley-Davidson Ultra Classic.
I rode from Beatty, Nevada back to Death Valley coming in from Amargosa Valley and was planning on riding up to Dantes View, however the road to Dantes View was closed.
I then rode down to Furnace Creek and headed to Artists Circle and Badwater, also in Death Valley. From there I rode to Baker, California and stopped at the fantastic The Mad Greek and rode back to Lake Elsinore, California.
DeAndra and I ride Jolene, my former 2004 Honda VTX 1300C, up Palomar Mountain in San Diego County California.
Gemini Description of South Grade Road (S6)
Ascending the western slopes of Palomar Mountain, South Grade Road (S6) is a legendary stretch of asphalt renowned for its relentless complexity and breathtaking vistas. Often referred to as “the tight side,” this historic route gains approximately 3,000 feet in elevation over just seven miles, characterized by a dizzying sequence of 21 hairpin switchbacks. As drivers and cyclists navigate these technical curves, the landscape transitions rapidly from chaparral-covered foothills to dense forests of cedar and fir. The engineering of the road—originally improved in the 1930s to transport the massive 200-inch mirror for the Palomar Observatory—offers sweeping panoramic views of the Pauma Valley below, eventually terminating at the mountaintop plateau where the iconic silver dome sits against the sky.
As I have mentioned in other posts and videos, Alaska 2028 will be my motorcycle touring trip planned to start on June 23, 2028 and end on August 01, 2028 consisting of 11,781 planned miles.
The entire trip is planned to last 40 days including 7 days in Anchorage, AK family vacation where my wife (DeAndra) and son (Tristan) will fly up from Atlanta, GA and meet me in Anchorage.
I will camp for 13 nights, stay in hotels 18 nights, and 7 nights in an Airbnb in Anchorage, AK as part of the family vacation. There will be 4 two night stays during the trip. – 2 nights in Coon Rapids, Minnesota – Short visit with my daughters and grandkids. – 2 nights in Essex, Montana – Ride Glacier National Park / Train Nerd stuff & Laundry – 2 nights in Fairbanks, Alaska – Motorcycle servicing and tires – 2 nights in Kamloops, BC Canada – Motorcycle servicing and tires.
Full Loadout for Alaska (and other long distance tours)
I have been testing my Alaska loadout on Bruce (my ’25 Pan America 1250 Special) and have it complete. The bike is significantly heavier (about 120 pounds of stuff) but is the complete loadout to include clothing, tools, electronics, 6 Mountain house meals, riding gear, and camping gear). When hauling 2 gallons of water and emergency gasoline, this will add an additional 28.7 pounds to the load. I will create an updated packing list and video covering the “final” Alaska Loadout. I will be testing this configuration further during my Florida Loop 2026 – Motorcycle Touring Trip this coming April (4/04/2026 – 4/11/2026).
While this is still a heavy (Bike + packed gear) = about 787 pounds less water and extra gasoline, this is still 61 pounds less than Dexter (’05 HD Ultra Classic) wet not including the huge load I would pack onto Dexter (at least 1100 pounds). So, my total packed weight now is at least 300 pounds less than when I toured with Dexter (likely even more).
Test rides on Bruce with the full load were great with no issue in handling or ride, with the exception of stalling the bike when the engine was cold, resulting in a slow motion drop to the left side as I was engaged in a left turn. I have learned that this engine really needs to be warmed up properly before heading out. I have stalled it other times as well (no load) on a cold engine.
And of course, when testing mounting and dismounting techniques I dropped the bike on the right side while dismounting from the right side and my boot caught the seat. The good news is I was able to pick up the bike without too much effort with the full load on the bike. Of course, I would prefer not to drop the bike at all LOL. Also, I now mount and dismount from the left again doing a bunny hop to get my right leg through the seat (required when the bike has the full load).
Wanderlust Lyfe 