Sandollar International Grand Tour

Here it was, 31 December 2004.  The weather outside is was just too good to not get something important done before the year ended.  So I did the Sandollar International Grand Tour!

The Sandollar M/C International Grand Tour is a tour that has you visit cities, towns or villages that begin with each letter in the phrase "SANDOLLAR M/C" and take a photo of your 2 or 3 wheeled motorized conveyance with a sign clearly showing the name of the city, town, or village. Example: The city of Rome will work for the letter "R". A great way to spend an afternoon!  Sandollar International Grand Tour

The month of December has been a month of thankfulness for me.  The night of December 4th, 2003, I had a heart attack and had to have open heart surgery to bypass a blocked coronary artery.  Due to a lot of complications I was in the hospital for 25 days, 20 of which were spent in intensive care.  Remembering back to that time and the months of recuperation afterwards has left me very appreciative of my health and the enjoyment I get riding my motorcycle.

In June 2004 I was finally well enough to begin riding again.  At that time I decided to join the Sand Dollar M/C in order to have some riding companions while I was still regaining my strength after my ordeal.  The Sandies were just what I needed, a safety oriented bunch that just love to ride.... and eat.

So here it is on New Year's Eve 2004, in celebration of my year of recovery, my finding the Sandies to ride with, and just enjoying a wonderful day that I almost wasn't here to have, my Sandollar International Grand Tour report!

Clicking on the thumbnail will bring up a MUCH larger picture.

The route

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This is the route I followed on my tour. I started and ended in Shalimar and went around counter-clockwise.

Niceville, FL, 12:45pm

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A quick ride from Shalimar gets me my first picture. I'm on my way!

Mossy Head, FL, 1:15pm

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From Niceville, north on 285, and east on 90 brings me to Mossy Head! The Sandies have traveled this route before.

DeFuniak Springs, FL, 1:28pm

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Continuing east on 90 gets me to DeFuniak Springs. Busy road, parked well off the road. Luckily the ground was firm.

Opp, AL, 2:44pm

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North on 83, 153, 52 gets me to Opp. Spent a lot of time in Opp trying to find a picture. the sign on the city limit coming in didn't have a good place to park. Went to the post office but it didn't have any markings on it to say where I was. I was leaving town on 84 intending on finding the city limit sign on my way out when I saw this neat water tower. Just what I needed.

River Falls, AL, 3:08pm

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Took 84 west from Opp through Andalusia into River Falls. Bonus! Take a picture facing west and you get River Falls......

Andalusia, AL, 3:09pm

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Take a picture facing east and you get Andalusia! This almost feels like cheating.

Libertyville, AL, 3:38pm

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Back into Andalusia to 55 south gets me to Libertyville. This was a target of opportunity. Learned my lesson in Opp to take what you can get. I intended to go to Laurel Hills and Lockhart for my "L's" but couldn't pass up a good spot.

Lockhart, AL, 3:57pm

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Farther south on 55. Had to park in the ditch but the ground was firm.

Auburn, FL, 4:31pm

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Never saw a city limit sign for Auburn. Found the city water plant and this church. They were having a little get together on the other side of the parking lot and must have been perplexed by this armored motorcyclist dashing into the parking lot, snapping a picture and then zipping away.

Crestview, FL, 4:54pm

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Continued down 55 into Crestview. The city limit sign on the north side coming into Crestview is not in a good spot for getting a picture with the bike in it. So I passed through Crestview and got the northbound sign on 85. The bike is way up there in the background.

Shalimar, FL, 6:26pm

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I finished up my tour with this picture later that night as I went out for dinner. If you look closely in the background, the bike is there in the dark.

196.8 Miles

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Statistics from my GPS. Flash obscured some of it. That Maximum Speed is obviously in error. GPS does that sometimes. :)

So that is that. 

    Shalimar, FL

    Auburn, FL

    Niceville, FL

    DeFuniak Springs, FL

    Opp, AL

    Libertyville, AL

    Lockhart, AL

    Andalusia, AL

    River Falls, AL

    Mossy Head, FL

    Crestview, FL

by Bill "The Grump" Jump