Two rings, shed by the Loop Current in 1980 and 1982, were observed for several months by satellite-tracked drifters to migrate across the Gulf of Mexico. The drifter path data have been inverted to obtain estimates of the paths of the centers of the two rings, ring shape, and the swirl velocities. Three drifters were deployed in the 1980 ring, and the analysis of that data set establishes the variability of the above kinematic estimates for one ring. A comparison of the analysis of data from both rings provides some idea on inter-ring variability. Both rings impacted the Mexican continental slope at about 22.8¿N, 95.5¿W. After a brief adjustment period, both rings reestablished and maintained a vortex character for several months in the slope region while migrating slowly to the north. The paths of the centers of the two rings along the slope are virtually identical. The same analysis routine was applied to some simulated drifter data obtained from the Hulburt and Thompson (1980) Gulf of Mexico primitive equation model. In the midgulf, the agreement between the observed rings and the simulated ring is good, although the former showed stronger interaction with the continental slope topography and/or circulation than was seen in the latter. Along the slope, the model ring kinematic characteristics were in extraordinary agreement with the observations. ¿ American Geophysical Union 1988