Editorial Note: This article was first published in July 2005.
By Doug M.
We, my best friend and wife of 35 years and I, decided after a couple of recent incidents including a blowout at 60 miles an hour, a loss of power to the headlight at night and the failure of the final drive coupling on our 23 year old V45 Magna, that it might be in our best interest not to stray too far from our home territory, thus the Grand Tour (A short version). Waking up to a beautiful Saturday morning, having survived Friday the 13th, we agreed this was the day to go. We headed out of Niceville about 8:30 AM and headed North on Hwy 285 for our first letter in Mossy Head, then proceeded East on Hwy 90 to pick up D,A,and C in Defuniak Springs, Argyle and Caryville. After back tracking to Westville we found 181 North and Headed for Leonia and a quick stop at the local gas station (yep, they’re still as friendly as ever) we picked up our first L. Leaving Leonia we headed for Samson (S) on our way to the Piney Grove Superstore, about five miles north of Sampson, for a much needed lunch and butt break. An iron butt we ain't. After an enjoyable deli lunch with good company we proceeded north on Hwy 87 toward New Brockton to collect a much need N. Successful in our quest, we headed west on Hwy 84 to the city of opportunity, Opp , and our O. Continuing west on Hwy 84, we snatched up our second A then made a quick right turn onto Hwy 29 followed by a quick left turn onto CR 82 (ok, there were a few miles between turns) on our way to Red Level.
After catching a few curious looks from passing citizens we decided to depart the grassy knoll at the Red Level welcome sign in quest of our second L, and our final letter . Lockhart Alabama gave us just what we needed and we headed for home.
The weather was great, the people were friendly, the country side looked and smelled fresh, creating an all around excellent experience covering 257 miles.