Mel's Diner serves it up...

Woke up at 6am for some unknown reason and since it was Sunday decided to roll out and go for a ride. First I had to unload the motorcycle from the bed of the pickup truck. I finally have both vehicles located in the same city. This took a little more work than I thought. The pickup had been parked at dad's house for the last 4 weeks almost, and in those 4 weeks the farthest it moved was from one side of the driveway to the other. Which means when it came time to start it, the battery was dead. And not just weak and tired, but totally toasted. Not even a click or weak buzz, but to steal a phrase from Bones on Enterprise "he's DEAD Jim!!!". So a trip to the auto store and $80 later we are cranked and rolling. Back to this morning, I unloaded the bike, parked the truck and hopped on the road. Filled up the gas tank and pointed the bike west. It was a little cool this morning and I had to hunker down behind the windscreen for a little protection, but after 30 minutes the sun took hold and started to work its magic. I made my was over to Bradenton and then across to Anna Marie Island. Headed south and curved around to the downtown Sarasota area. Out on the island there were a TON of bicyclist out and they were not having a good morning of it. There was a huge wind out today straight from the east and it was gusting and blowing hard, which means on the north south route they were riding there was no hope of a tailwind on any part of their ride. The whole time I was keeping an eye peeled for a breakfast spot. My stomach was getting grumpy and I was looking for someplace that was not national chain. I was just about to hang up hope and head for the cracker barrel when I passed Mel's Dinner in Bradenton. It was busy but not overly packed. Ordered up a plate of chopped sirloin with two eggs over easy and some hashbrowns. When you need a little protien you cant miss with this combo. it was served up hot and fresh, the only downer was a lack of seasoning in the preparation. That doesnt suprise me int his area as it is a huge retirement population and they tend to not like the extra season or spice that they younger crowd likes. After packing it all down and finishing it off with a glass of moo juice I loaded up and headed east out of town. Rolled back home on another route and was back in the house by noon. 198 miles, some nice scenery and a good breakfast and only 4.2 gallons of distilled dinosaur burned up in the process. On a side note I had the oil changed and service done on the Honda on Saturday in Lakeland and the bike seems a lot smoother and happier with the new vital fluids.