Daytona Beach Bike Week 2009

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It's a few minutes before sunrise (6:20 a.m.) and I'm still in my sleeping bag because the temperature in my tent is 46 degrees.
This was the coldest night I've spent in a tent in years and I don't care to do it again.
The cold woke me up several times, but I managed to sleep surprisingly well thanks to my new air mattress - a Christmas gift from Steve & Nicky.
I retired early at 8:30 because I was worn out from the ride. Riding 550 miles in the East is like doing 750 miles on Western highways.
Time to get moving and find breakfast.
I had a hearty breakfast of sausage, eggs and hash browns at the campground dining hall, strolled back to my tent and suited up for a ride.
My destination? Flagler Beach. All I wanted to do was sit on a bench and stare out at the ocean on this cloudless beautiful morning.
I got there about 8:30, parked and soaked up a little sun.
Two hours later, I decided my shopping was done.
I rode down A1A to Daytona Beach and turned right on Main Street to sample the freak show.
Wall-to-wall bikes on both sidewalks all the way up to the Boot Hill Saloon.
I didn't feel like paying $5 for off-street parking, so I kept on going across the bridge to the BMW store.
Nice dealership. Always fun to visit. I bought a new cap and a t-shirt, then bought some lunch at Wendy's near the speedway.
On the way back to the campground, I stopped at a Home Depot to buy 250 feet of fluorescent green masonry twine. I needed about 5 feet of it to attach to a sidestand pad that I use to keep my pointy sidestand from plunging into loose soil and sand. Now I can reel it in from the saddle and stash it in my tankbag.
While chatting with Memphis BMW friend Tim at his BBQ stand, I noticed a couple on Harleys. The woman, wearing one of those toy plastic German helmets, had stalled her engine. Apparently, her electric starter wasn't working, and she was trying to kick-start it.
In flip-flops.
Her Mensa-member husband/boyfriend finally got off of his bike and started it for her and they rode off exhibiting a degree of confidence that probably far overreached their skill level.
Whatever.
It's pretty laborious typing this with my thumbs on my Treo 700p smartphone.
I saw a guy in here last night using the free Wifi with his Acer 9" mini laptop and was immediately overcome with mini envy.
Just wait until my bright red Dell Inspiron Mini 9 arrives. Then my thumbs can retire to the space bar at the bottom of the keyboard.
I think I'll go back to Flagler Beach this afternoon for some ice cream and to stare at the ocean.

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Photos

An Arkie at Flagler
My '03 K1200GT's first visit to the Atlantic coast.

Nice hat
New hat and t-shirt from the Daytona BMW dealership.

Thank's!
I've seen apostrophes misused in a lot of ways, but this is a new one for me.
It's the last thing you see leaving the Holiday Travel Park where the BMW riders are gathered.