64.5 Miles

2277 ft Climbing

Another late start. What is it about me and late starts? It is just plain hard to drag yourself out of the sack for another long day in the saddle, but I had something to look forward to at the end of the day, so I did it. After heating up some oatmeal, I hit the road and started riding in morning mist.

The first town of the day was Coupeville, where there was a McDonalds, so I stopped for a bite of real food: a Bic Mac, a strawberry cream pie (thank you Dale Garcia for my newest craving) and a couple of cookies. I figured I would save the cookies for a snack later, but forget about later. I snarfed all the food down and was still hungry. My appetite is crazy right now.

I passed through an estuary, past a bunch of “Government Property Keep Out” signs (must be something top secret going on there, eh?), made a couple of wrong turns, then finally made it to the ferry terminal to catch the ferry to Port Townsend.

One of my favorite features of Washington State Ferries has always been the Iver’s Clam Chowder they sell on board. This was a smaller ferry, so I was worried they wouldn’t have food service, but they came through for me. One of the two best parts of my day!Back on land again, the route wound down to the water’s edge and picked up another scenic non motorized path for a few miles.

Once off the path, I was riding through beautiful, hilly ranch land that continued pretty much till I reached the

A little over a mile after I crossed the Hood Canal, I was at Kitsap Memorial State Park, where I had originally planned to camp. But Catherine Shewear had offered to bed me down at her place. She met me with her van, and we loaded my bike and gear into the back. We ran around to a couple of junk food restaurants to satisfy our cravings, then stayed up past 2 AM talking.

Granted, there is probably a lot of spectacular scenery along the Pacific Coast, but seeing Catherine and Nadia again will surely be one of my favorite memories of this trip. I remember when Nadia was just 10, and the Miami Dolphin cheerleaders came to Eskan Village. Catherine had bought her red pompons, and she was there to get their autographs, because she wanted to be a cheerleader someday. Nadia is now a beautiful young lady, and she has learned how to dish out Middle Eastern hospitality, just like her mother.

63.6 Miles

2352 ft of Climbing

Rough day. I was wasted and couldn’t get out of bed this morning. And it was cold outside. But my schedule through Astoria, Oregon is pretty inflexible. So I drug myself out of the sack, packed up my gear and hit the road…..around noon.

Between Birch Bay and Bellingham, I passed through miles of small farms, Lake Ferrell State Game Refuge (no shots fired, thankfully), and the Lummi Indian Reservation.

Once through Bellingham, what I though was going to be a leisurely ride along the coast surprised me. I ended up climbing up and down on a Chuckanaut Road, which was built in the late 1800s so commerce could move between Bellingham and the southern cities via land. The road is cut into the side of steep mountains that drop off into the ocean, and must have been a delight (heavy sarcasm) to build. I read some info on the construction, and there was no mention of the number of men and animals who died working on the project, but surely there were many. Now, years later, the trees along the road are so tall and dense that you can barely get glimpses of the ocean, which is way, way, way down below. Along the road is Larrabee State Park, which looks like a popular hiking destination. I observed switchbacks and super steep stairways heading straight down the mountain. As much as I like hiking, my legs were burning from all the climbing, so I took a rain check on that.

Once I got out of the mountains, it was back to rural farmlands and little towns. Passing through Bow, there was a sweets shop that caught my eye. I was craving something…anything…sweet. Coffee, no ice cream and little $6 cookies were all they offered. No joy.

Coming out of Bow, the route took me onto the Padilla Bay Shore Trail, a flood control project that is also a nice, little used, cinder walking and cycling path.

I checked the time, and the day was getting away from me. Once I got back onto pavement, it was a race against the clock to get to a campground for the night. I passed through the edge of Anacortes on my way to Deception Pass. Caught a photo of the bridge, before riding on to the campground, which is at the level of the water. Can’t wait to climb out of here in the morning. I’m betting the grade of the hill out of the campground is 12%.

I shared a hiker/biker campsite with a young fella named Jack, who is hiking the Pacific Northwest Trail, a 1200 mile trail that stretches from Glacier National Park to Cape Alva in Olympic National Park. I’ll add that to the list of things I might do some day when I’ve finished all the things I want to do.

Tomorrow, I’m looking forward to meeting up with Catherine Shewear, a friend who made life in Saudi Arabia better for all of us who took her up on the tours and excursions she planned. She is currently living in Bremerton, and has offered to pick me up and take me to her place for a night indoors. Thank you Catherine!

57.7 Miles

1935 ft Elevation Gain

Once again, I had a hard time getting my act together to start my first ay of riding. I need a crew!

Dale and I had a hard time saying goodbye to our accomodations for the prior evening. They were the forward and aft cabins on a boat docked in Vancouver Harbor. We both slept like babies, as the waves rocked us throughout the night.My start point was at Vanier Park, on the shore of English Bay and in front of the Vancouver Maritime Museum. I said goodbye to Dale, and headed out. Here’s the fully loaded rig. In a couple of spots, the ACA maps were tough to follow. The little bit below only makes sense when you’re looking at on a map. What you don’t see is that you are climbing bridge approaches and riding on super narrow sections of a bike path. The circled portion was more like a narrow single track mountain bike trail with about a 13% grade. Once I realized that that trail really was the route, I barely had the strength to push the bike up that baby. Most of the day’s riding was in city traffic with stop signs and traffic signals. Once I crossed over into the US, that thankfully changed for the better. Blaine is a cute little town just south of the border. I took a little side trip to see the Peace Arch, which was completed in 1921 and sits on international land at the border of Canada and the US as a symbol of the many years of peace our two countries have enjoyed. ‘This statue, named “The Vigil,” overlooks the harbor in Blaine and honors the loyal families of seamen.

Once outside of Blaine, there was little or no traffic, which was a nice departure from the first part of the day. The road passed through farm land and then followed the coast as it wound its way to Birch Bay, where I camped in a state park. Back when I crossed the border, the border patrol agent told me about a candy and ice cream shop just outside of my campground, so once I had my tent set up, I headed back to treat myself to a few delectable snacks. Okay, I’ll admit that I not only ate two scoops of ice cream and a large cookie, but I also loaded up on cookies and fudge, so I don’t starve tomorrow

After taking a 3 minute pay shower (that was NOT enough time!), I spent some time making a few phone calls and catching up on route planning before turning in. Long day.

Yesterday, I made one more futile pass at shrinking my gear list, then hopped on a scale to see how much I am going to be pushing around for the next month or so. My gear and three days of food weigh 60 lbs, and my bike weighs 37 lbs. Add to that the water in the 4 water bottles, and I am starting out with 103 lbs every morning. That is crazy! Food is overrated. Maybe I’ll stop carrying it once I eat what I’m carrying.

I spent the morning tying up loose ends, so we got a late start on the trip to Vancouver, and the traffic around Portland and Seattle didn’t help. It was horrible.

We finally made it to Vancouver and had a little time to catch a bite to eat and walk around Canada Place, before turning in for the night.

I am both excited and nervous about starting the ride tomorrow. Once I get a few days under my belt, there will be less anxiety–I hope.

If you just received this post out of thin air, back up and read the link above about my upcoming Pacific Coast solo ride from Vancouver, B.C. to Mexico.  It explains how I got to this point, after last year’s transcontinental tour.

Roll the clock forward.  I have been sorting through gear and clothes for a few weeks.  Last week, I packed my panniers and handlebar bag with my final gear choices and went on three rides–fully loaded.  Whoa!  That was a killer in the Arizona heat!  On the first ride, I had to use my granny gear just to get up 4-5% grades, but on my third ride, I was able to do the .4 mile 10-11% hill at the end of Chandler Boulevard without falling over or coming to a complete stop—a sure sign that I am ready for the tour.

Sunday night, I was up all night getting ready for my flight to Portland, Oregon the following morning.  I loaded my handlebar bag and panniers into a large box.  After  disassembling my bike, I wedged the frame and all the parts into a bike case.  Hopping on a plane Monday morning, I was in Portland that afternoon.

Tuesday, I reassembled my bike, hunted down some ultra lite fenders (surely there will be rain on this tour), and had a Performance Bike mechanic check the adjustments on the derailleurs and dropouts.  With just a few more preparations, I will be completely ready for the tour.

I am not including a complete gear list as I will basically be using the same setup I had on the transcontinental tour, last year, with a few improvements.

• Replaced the Costco down quilt with a real sleeping bag
• Added a Spot Tracker Gen3 GPS tracker to enable daily satellite communications with friends and family who worry about me
• Added Tubus front racks and Ortlieb front panniers
• Added a front and rear fender
• Added a seatback water bottle holder to replace the bottle capacity lost when the front racks and panniers are installed.
• Got rid of the orange lunch box that was formerly my racktop bag.
• Added a cooking setup that includes a butane stove, a titanium pot,
• Added to my electronics a larger capacity multi-charger and a higher capacity Anker charging blocker, as well as a Garmin Varia Rear Radar unit, a Spot Gen3 Genand an electric toothbrush
• Added a dress, dress sandals and tennis shoes to my clothing
• Added a Kindle HD Fire and compact keyboard for blogging

Tomorrow morning, we will be loading my bike and gear into the back of my friend Dale Garcia’s pickup truck and heading for Vancouver.  He will ship my bike case back to Phoenix for me along with the gear I weeded out here in Oregon and the tools that were needed to assemble the bike.  I won’t be needing that box in San Diego, as I’ll be renting a car to drive my bike home to Arizona.  We are hoping to have some time in Vancouver to  take the Hop-on-Hop-off tour of the city.  It will be my last day of goofing off before the pedal hits the metal on this ride.

Today was the only day of the entire ride across the country that the entire group started and ended the route together. I awoke extra early to ride through downtown Palatka and see the sights I missed yesterday. Riding out on my unloaded bike, I looked for all the murals that are part of their downtown restoration project–there were many, but these were my favorites:

The other things that caught my eye, in this historic town, were the individual monuments on the courthouse lawn honoring the Veterans of every war.

Then, at the end of Main Street was a Veterans Park, along the waterfront of the St. John’s River, and next to the park was Memorial Bridge, with 4 life sized bronze statues of World War I Servicemen standing watch on the 4 corners of the bridge. Very patriotic, and you know how I like that.

I got back to the motel by 8:20, and all the guys were already on their bikes, ready to roll. I hurried and loaded up my bike, and pretty quickly we were on the road. It was fun riding together for the first time since we began riding the first day of the tour. Early in today’s route, we cycled along a dedicated bike path for several miles, which made it possible to talk and take photos of each other, without interference from traffic.

With only 33 miles to cover, before we knew it, we were in St. Augustine.

As we pulled into town, Tom R was again surprised, this time by his daughter and son-in-law, who had driven down from Harpers Ferry, West Virginia to cheer him on and be here for the finish. Wow! He has loyal family!

St. Augustine was founded in September 1565 by Don Pedro Menendez de Aviles of Spain and is the longest continually inhabited European-founded city in the US. As we cycled thru town, we passed historic buildings with Spanish architecture, but there was very little time to stop. We were on a mission.

Continuing on to the Mellow Mushroom, we were met by Chris’s girlfriend Linda, who drove down to Florida, and my college roommate Lez’lie, who drove up from Celebration, Florida. They and Tom R’s kids joined us for a tasty celebratory lunch.

Lots of stories, memories and laughs were shared. And then we mounted our bikes for our ride to the beach and wheel dip in the Atlantic Ocean.

We rode a rubber boardwalk through part of the sand, but after that, we had to use all the strength we had to push our heavy bikes through deep sand and then to the water’s edge. We had 3 people taking photos of 9 stray cat cyclists, with wind and the sound of ocean water thrown into the mix. I’m not saying it was complete mayhem, but it was impossible to get everyone’s attention in any one direction at any one time for a photo with all of us looking at one camera.

But who needs a perfect photo? Nothing about the ride was perfect. This is just a bunch of mostly novice bicycle tourists who supported and encouraged each other as we found our way across the country together. None of us will ever forget the once-in-a-lifetime feelings of accomplishment we felt, as we stood together at the ocean’s edge, having just completed an epic self supported transcontinental bike journey together.

I made the right decision when I slept in the wrap around porch, last night. It rained during the night, so the guys in tents had to tear down and put away wet tents, this morning. After enjoying a delicious breakfast mini feast, again prepared from scratch and served up by Mary and Tom, Ed, Tom R, Ken and I finished loading our bikes and were escorted out of the woods by Tom. He and Mary have built their own scenic trail that cuts through neighboring property and shortcuts the longer, sandier route we took to their house.

Our first stop for the day was Payne’s Prairie Preserve–just a mile or so from where we emerged from the Trail. What is normally a Prairie, is now a large lake, due to all the recent rainfall. The 1/2 mile long Alachua Sink, which is in the center of the Prairie and feeds the Floridian Acquifer, is overflowing, right now.

We passed through a historic railroad trestle and barn to a boardwalk that ended where the temporary lake covered the trail, looking for alligators and enjoying the serene, wilderness preserve.

It was perfect quiet, with the only sounds being birds and the rustling of animals in the grass and bush.

We spotted a well camouflaged alligator and water turtle and many varieties of birds.

And sorry, folks, but a WordPress software update has taken my ability to add a caption from my phone away. Grrrr. Those “Where’s Waldo” photos above were an alligator and a turtle. Could you see them? And the graphic telling how gender is determined in alligators grabbed my attention. Eggs laid in sunny open places produce males, and eggs laid in shaded cool places produce females.

Back to our peddling, we followed Gainesville-Hawthorne State Trail Rails to Trails path through 10 miles of forest preserve and rural land, before being dropped out into real cycling civilization again. At Hawthorne, the first town we came to, we were on the hunt for lunch.

A little diner, named for Ed’s wife, jumped out at us, and they served up one of the best little barbecue pork lunch specials I’ve ever had.

From there, we hightailed it to Palatka, with only one stop along the way. As we were riding along, I noticed a couple of people standing up ahead with signs, and mentioned to Ed that it seemed like a funny place For high school kids to be holding a car wash. And that’s because it wasn’t a car wash. A couple of Tom R’s relatives were holding the signs and cheering us on. He was completely surprised. He rides with a GPS tracking device, so his family and friends can follow his location, and these family members, who live nearby, figured out where we were and were waiting for us. Tom was in another world for the rest of the day.

Arriving early in Palatka, I finally had time to find a place to get a mani-pedi for my neglected nails, but I have priorities. I first had to try one of the famous milkshakes at Angels Diner. Eric and Erwin were already in the diner eating when we arrived. It a good to see them, after a couple of days of them being off the route. And let me just say that my Strawberry and Blueberry milkshake was delish!

On my way to the nail salon, I passed a historic train station that still operates as an Amtrak passenger depot.

Then it was back to the hotel for another uninspiring dinner at a motel restaurant. What was inspiring was the breathtaking view from my room of the St. Johns River and Memorial Bridge. The bridge has statues at its 4 corners that I will include in my post tomorrow, when I get to the other side and photograph the statues there.

Tomorrow, we finish the ride. Dinner conversation tonight was all about our memories of the places we’ve been and the people we’ve encountered along the way.

The group split up today.  Erwin and Eric had already ridden ahead to Ginnie Springs to scuba dive in some spring fed underwater caves. Tim R, Ed and I decided to kayak down the Ichetucknee River, before riding the day’s route, and the rest of the group just did what we normally do—they rode the day’s route.  

Tom R, Ed and I got up extra early, packed our gear and loaded up our bikes, before renting kayaks and catching the shuttle to the North End Launch, we put in just past the Headwaters of the river. 

For most of our float, we had the entire 6-mile long pristine river to ourselves. 

The water was crystal-clear, glassy smooth and serene, but the current, created by the 9 named springs and who knows how many unnamed springs that feed the river (over 212 million gallons of water flow per day), was deceivingly quick. 

As we floated along, we saw various wildlife:  fish, birds, turtles and wild pigs, but thankfully no alligators or snakes.  The water temperature was 72 degrees, but the air was was chilly and the skies were overcast, so none of us were willing to swim, but it sure was tempting.  

At the end of the float, our shuttle driver loaded up the kayaks and dropped us at the campground, where we changed into our cycling clothes and hit the road. 

The riding conditions were the same as yesterday, hilly, a little overcast and a headwind, so we started our one mile riding rotation again. 
It was lunchtime when we arrived Fort White, 7 miles into our ride, and we weren’t expecting any other services on our route, so we stopped to eat at the one and only open eatery in the town—a Subway sandwich shop.  

After lunch, we went to work knocking off the miles to Gainesville. Once in town, the traffic was a little scarey and the shoulder disappeared from the road we’d been riding on, so we picked a longer safer route to get us to our final destination, the home of a couple of ACA members who enjoy hosting ACA tour groups and Warm Showers cyclists.  

Tom and Mary, our amazing hosts, have a beautiful home in a secluded area near Florida State University.  They posted signs along the route to guide us from where Google Maps dumped us off to their home, which is in a large wooded area.  When we arrived, there was vast space for us to either set up our tents in their yard or cowboy camp on their wrap around screened porch.  And which of those do you think I did?  Cowboy camped, of course.  

They guided us to refreshing beverages, hors d’oeuvres, clean towels, warm showers and their laundry room.  After entertaining us with stories of many of their world-wide cycling adventures, we sat down for dinner, and this is where Martha made our day. She laid out a spread of super healthy hot food that was to die for—more vegetables than we have eaten in weeks, all in one meal. 

Then came the dinner time entertainment—-their cat. Tom has trained him to jump through a hoop, sit and roll over. It’s possible that Tom has too much free time on his hands, now that he’s retired.  

Our hosts had wood stacked up for a campfire, but this group is dominated by early-to-bed folks, so we didn’t get to take them up on that plan.  We turned in early.  While I laid in my sleeping bag and thought back on Tom and Mary’s hospitality and generosity, I was once again amazed.  I need to be better. I need to do better.  

Counting down, we only have 2 more days to go. 

Today was a great day for the team, because it was one of the few days there actually was a team. The weather drove 4 of us together. It was cold, overcast, and there was a 15-20 mph headwind all day long.  Ed and I planned to ride together. Tom R lost his riding partner, yesterday, when Joe left the group, so I asked him to join us, and he did. And then, once we caught up to Neal, about 9 miles into the ride, we asked him if he would like to join us too, and he did.  Initially, it was all about survival, but later it was just plain fun riding together. 

So the 4 of us rode together and took turns breaking the wind for a mile at a time, and by doing that, we only had to be beat up by the wind one mile out of 4, and the miles flew by.  Those windy miles would have otherwise been painful, let me tell you. At the end of the day, we smacked hands and announced in unison, “Best day of the ride”.   

The ride took us past the local prison and into a town named Mayo, where we stopped at a convenience market for a snack. I can’t remember what I had for my official snack, but my unofficial snack was boiled peanuts. They have been for sale in the markets and roadside stands since Alabama, and I hadn’t tried them yet, so today was the day.  

I asked the ladies at the counter how much it would cost me to sample the boiled peanuts, and they were so excited I wanted to try them, this was a freebie. One came over to train me on how you open the shell and squeeze the nut out, and she made sure I tried both the regular and Cajun peanuts. If you’re wondering what they tasted like, think salty pinto bean. They had the same consistency too. 

About 5 miles later, we arrived at the city center of Mayo, and it was much more of a town than we previously thought.  I pulled over, because the only Veterans Day festivity we were going to see, today, was going on in front of the Lafayette County courthouse.  

The “festivities” consisted of 3 Veterans, standing in front of the monument that is in front of the courthouse with some silk flowers, talking to other Veterans and people who stopped by between 8 and 11 AM.  As one who participates in and sometimes speaks at Veterans Day festivities, every year, it sure made me appreciate all the effort that goes into the Phoenix Veterans Day Parade and the various events held by other cities and in cemeteries around the Phoenix area.  

While I was stopped at the Veterans Day “gathering”, I’ll call it, the 3 guys noticed 4 bikes we had passed just prior to the courthouse. They were parked in front of the Great Southern Biscuit Company.  We had to stop—again.  

We had our second breakfast, and it was amazing.  When the waitress asked if she could bring us anything else, I told her to bring me the chef, so I could ask him how he made the eggs so fluffy and light.  He really knew how to cook!  

Back on the road, we passed more interesting Mayo stuff. 

 

A few hours later, when we arrived Branford, we were so wasted from fighting the headwinds, we stopped at yet another convenience store for an afternoon snack.  At this point, any excuse to stop would do.

 

Finally, we arrived at Ichetucknee Family Canoe and Cabins.  

After setting up our tents, showering and winding down a bit, I went to the campground office to inquire about the state park across the street.  The lady at the counter told me about beautiful springs, perfectly clear 72 degree water, and a boardwalk that was within a 1/4 mile walk. Say no more. She had my attention.  I walked back and got the guys to walk over to Itchetucknee Springs State Park with me. 

Wow!  We could not believe how beautiful the springs and pools of water at the Blue Hole and Headwaters were.  Tom C asked why we hadn’t gone over there a couple of hours earlier.  (Answer:  Because we were exhausted from a long hard ride.)  

While we were at the park, we received a meaaage from Ken that our dinner had arrived the campground. A local chef brought us barbecued chicken and ribs, red beans and rice, and veggies. Neal and I raced over to the campground store for dessert, and due to no WiFi, we all turned in early.  You know, there’s something really nice about going to bed early. 

Counting down, we only have 3 more days to go. 

I don’t know what to say about today.  I woke up early, packed up my tent and gear, and waited for Ed to finish packing and loading his bike—a first for me.  Yep. I’m upping my game, as we count down the last 5 days to the finish line.  Ed and I rode together all day, and somehow, I was able to keep up with him. 

The entire group was pedal to the metal, today, to cover our longest remaining daily distance—66 miles—while battling 15 – 20 mph headwinds. We cycled over mostly level and straight roads that passed through civilization only once, early in the day. 

And did we stop at the convenience store in that little patch of civilization?  You don’t even have to ask. Of course we did.  Tom C and Erwin had already scoped it out and messaged us with news of fresh donuts.  But these weren’t just ordinary donuts. They were maple frosted donuts with bacon on them—something else I had never tried before.  Hmm hmm hmm.  They were delicious!  I was so busy devouring 2 of them, that I forgot to snap a photo of them, and they were truly photo worthy. 
After buying an extra bottle of Gatorade to hold me over, in case I downed all 4 of my 23 oz water bottles, we were back on the road.  The scenery was the same tall trees we have been seeing the last few days, when we haven’t been riding next to beaches, interspersed with river and swamp crossings.  

Before lunch, we started taking turns drafting  off of each other for 2 miles at a time, and it made the rest of the day fly by. 

As we set up our tents at the Perry KOA, I asked around to see if anyone had taken photos of things I had seen.  We all had the same photos, even though we didn’t ride together. 

Tomorrow will be a 60 mile day, followed by 3 shorter days that will take us into St. Augustine and to the Atlantic Ocean. 

Today was a short day that took forever.  Once again, I got a late start, due to the “B” word. I went back for one more look at the Vietnam Memorial sculpture, and a chain gang was at work on the landscaping of the park.  Their prison guard headed over to guard my bike, I’m thinking to prevent one of them from jumping on it and escaping.  

Riding by the bike shop, again, I stopped to enjoy more of the bike art before riding through the little downtown area and heading for the Apalachicola Bay Bridge.  

The sky was overcast and a little hazy, but there were still amazing views of the islands next to the 4.1 mile long bridge and further out in the Gulf. 

In the last mile of the bridge, I noticed a cell phone lying face down on the shoulder and circled back to pick it up. When I reached Eastpoint, the town at the end of the bridge, I stopped to figure out how to get a hold of the owner of the phone—a Samsung Galaxy, which is a brand I am completely unfamiliar with.  I was able to pull up favorites, in the list of contacts, and dialed one of them.  Mystery solved.  The uncle of the owner of the phone answered my call and told me his nephew works on a fishing boat and stops by his uncle’s store every day on his way home from work.  

He gave me directions to his store, and called ahead to tell his employees to give me a sandwich, drink and some chips when I came in with the phone.  Darn it.  I had just filled my water bottles and wasn’t hungry, but it was a really nice gesture.  

Back on the route, it was cold and there was a little bit of a headwind as I rode 33 miles along a coastline that cut thru a few little fishing and tourist towns. I had wasted so much time during the morning, I didn’t really have time to stop for lunch. 

In the afternoon, the wind picked up even more, it got even colder and then it sprinkled rain for a little over an hour.  I passed up a stop at a World War II Museum, because I was worried about the weather getting worse.  I did stop to snap a few photos along the way, though.  

The road turned inland for the last 10 miles, and when I came to this sign, I have to tell you that I had a dilemma. Our campground was in Sopchoppy, but I could really go for a Panacea, right now. Aargh. I went the direction of Sopchoppy. 

I arrived camp to the news that we have lost another rider from our group.  Joe, the oldest guy on the tour and one of the 2 strongest cyclists, has decided to leave the group and finish the last 265 miles on his own. All of us are aware of some aggravating factors that could have influenced him. We will miss his kindness, jovial attitude, sense of humor, appreciation for all sunrises and sunsets, and great stories and photos.  

And then there were 9. 

Sleep and keeping up with the blog are competing for this girl’s time, lately. I sit down after dinner to sort through photos, but start dozing off before the blogging even begins. So today, I had to catch up before leaving our cheap motel, which meant a late start on a 60 mile day. 

Just outside of Panama City were miles and miles of Tyndall Air Force Base. There were signs and buildings for various military organizations and functions on both sides of the road, but my favorites were these. 

Do you even need the words “Keep Out” on that “Explosive Disposal Range” sign?  And I actually saw the drones before I saw the drone sign and pulled over to take a photo through the chain links fence (no signs were posted prohibiting it).  

They are BQM-167 Skeeters, aerial target drones that are land-launched  from a rail system, using a rocket assisted takeoff, and recovered on land or sea using a parachute system. Pretty wild, eh? 

I was standing there looking at 3 of the Air Force’s inventory of 37, when a loud jet engine sound started to ramp up from a hanger about 75 feet behind the closest drone in my photo. When it got really loud, there was a loud blast that instantly produced a bunch of smoke, and bam!  A drone blasted out of the smoke.  What are the chances of a person from Phoenix, Arizona stopping at a random facility on an obscure rural road at the exact moment a drone is launched by a rocket?  
That stop wasn’t even on my radar for the day. My real objective was a swim and some lounging on Beacon Hill Beach, a stretch of pristine white sand with temperate ocean water in the town of Mexico Beach.  Like yestersay, there were no people on the beach, so changing into my swimsuit was possible by crouching down and ducking behind my bike.  Little did I know that just a few blocks down the road was a changing facility with a shower. But I’m hard core.  Finding and using that would have been too easy for me. Lol. 

Did you catch the Eastern Time Zone sign?  We’re in it now. And what about the Inmates Working sign?  Yep. They were working on the landscape along the road as I changed my clothes on the beach.  
I swam and sat on the beach for almost 2 hours, then got back on the road. There was no way I was going to risk riding in the dark again. 

No sooner had I started riding again, when I came across the Beacon Hill Veteran’s Memorial Park.  I pulled in to look see the monument, and instead found one of the men who has been instrumental in building the park. They don’t have a monument yet, but they’re working on it. Right now, the park is the monument. 

Today’s route was generally scenic, flat and easy, passing thru two types of terrain:  along the beach or on pine tree lines roads.  After all the miles I have covered, over the past 2 months, an easy day, every once in a while, is appreciated. 

The signs leading into Apalachicola mentioned a Three Man Detail Monument in town, and I arrived town with enough time to ride out to see what that meant.  The bronze sculpture was installed in 2008 to honor Floridians who served in Vietnam and is made from the same mold as the sculpture in front of The Vietnam War Memorial in Washington D.C.  Being alone there in that memorial park with the sculpture of the three infantrymen was very moving—a quiet moment that would never be possible at the original sculpture in Washington D.C.  

On my way to our motel, I passed this bike shop that is only open Saturdays. 

Our dinner at the Seafood Grill was delicious, but afterwards, Eric was looking for someone to try raw oysters with him at the oyster bar Tom C and Erwin went to before dinner.  I have never tried raw oysters, so I joined him. We agreed that we would order a dozen oysters baked in butter and Parmesan cheese, and ask that they give us 2 raw ones so we could try them out. 

So we walked into the oyster bar and sat at the counter.  When we told the guy behind the bar what we wanted, he ascertained that we had never eaten raw oysters before and immediately started shucking 2 of them for us. 

He and a couple of the customers proceeded to give us a lesson—well actually 3 different lessons—on how you eat a raw oyster. It was hilarious, but the moment of truth came when we had to down those oysters.  

Sorry, you raw oyster lovers. I can’t fake it. I don’t like them raw. To you they may be a delicacy, but to me they are too salty, too slimey and just plain gross.  Once the guy behind the bar figured out that Eric thought they were okay, he shucked a few more for him, while we waited for our baked oysters.  And the staff and customers entertained us with their advice on how make the slimey little things edible so you can swallow them.  

The baked oysters were delicious, but you can buy a lot of other tastey things for $14—like 4 pints of Ben & Jerry’s New York Super Fudge Chunk ice cream. 

Before leaving Henderson Beach State Park, Ed and I decided to take the boardwalk down to the beach to see it in the daylight.

Apparently Highway 98 used to parallel the beach, where we were walking, but they rerouted it to save protected bird species nesting there.

The seashore was quiet and beautiful, with fine, white sand, and no people. Very nice.  Once I got that pesky sand off my feet, we hit the road for destination:  Panama City. 

Early on in the day, we came across Point Washington State Forest. In Arizona, the only naturally occurring pine trees are above 4200 feet elevation, but here, they are at sea level. I am assuming that is because of the frequent and abundant rainfall. 

For a good part of the day, the route passed through scenic little beach towns, my favorites being Grayson Beach, Water Color and Seaside. 

We stopped in Seaside to eat lunch at a food truck mall that was all vintage Airstream trailers. 

Our 50ish mile ride was lengthened into the 60s, due to a bridge closure detour that added over 5 miles, and then an unmarked turn in the detour that added a couple more.  

Ed dropped me after lunch, so I ended up riding the first part of the afternoon with Ken.  We stopped at what appeared to be an abandoned restaurant that claimed to have live alligators. I noticed an enclosure, so was compelled to explore (Ken rolled his eyes—one of his classic moves.)  There were probably 15 alligators playing dead, in that enclosure.  I did my best to not fall over the 3 barriers of fencing, as I took photos.  

A few miles later, we stopped for shaved ice, which takes forever to eat, because you get a head freeze, then he Ken wanted to get some ice cream. I had plans to swim up ahead, so decided to move on. 

I had picked out a beach to stop and relax on in Panama City, before the road turned inland.  After picking up a cheap beach towel at one of the shops, I found a changing room for my costume change, then hit the beach.  Again, more fine white sand, very few people, etc.  

Forget California. These beaches are awesome, and the water is much more comfortable—probably 78 degrees. 

The manta rays are currently migrating, so they were swimming in geese-like formations along the shore. Some of the youngsters chased waves in so they could jump the crests as they broke.  Fun to watch. 

I also got a kick out of these little birds who ran out after waves to dig for ???  I never knew what they were pulling out of the ground. 

But then, my leisure time was over, and I had to change back into my cycling kit and start peddling again. While close to the beach, in the Panama City tourist zone, there were all kinds of tourist attractions. 

Once the route angled away from the beach, it turned treacherous. The bike lane disappeared and I was hugging the curb in rush-hour traffic for 15 exceedingly long miles, during which the sun set.  

It was the scariest section of road I’ve been on since the windy descent outside of San Diego.  I just gripped those handlebars (white knuckles the entire way) and kept going, having faith that everyone would see and pull around me.  When I safely arrived our motel, I felt like kissing the ground.  

Today was another day in paradise. I got a late start, because I didn’t have time, yesterday, to see the sights on NAS Pensacola. After catching up on my blog and loading up my bike, I headed over to the Pensacola Lighthouse. 

 

The tower is under reconstruction, so I couldn’t climb the 177 steps to the top, where word has it there’s one of the best views of the gulf, so I headed to my next stop. 

The National Naval Aviation Museum is an unbelievable surprise. Though it is limited to Navy and Coast Guard aircraft, it is way cooler, in my opinion, than the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum. 

I could not believe how many aircraft were on display. You could walk up to those on the ground and touch them, and in many cases climb into a cockpit. 

I was really touched by the displays on Vietnam War POWs, and remembered how when the POWs were released, back in 1973, I watched as each one walked off the plane—hoping that somehow my brother had been mistakenly identified as KIA and was still alive.  

Another thing I was fortunate to see was the actual Skylab II Command Module that is currently on loan from the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum.  

My last stop was the Barrancas National Cemetery, established in 1787 when Fort Barrancas was built.  

When I finally started my ride for the day, it was almost noon, and I was under the gun to cover over 60 miles.  As I cycled along the waterfront before crossing the Pensacola Bay Bridge aka the 3-Mile Bridge, a gentleman named Jack Thompson , who was cycling in the other side of the road, chased me down to inquire about the tour and to tell me about overcoming his own challenges.  We had an inspiring conversation, but I had to push on. 

As I turned the corner on the other side of the bridge, I stopped to check the route, and up rode Ed, who had been stopped at a bike shop getting a couple of spokes replaced and his wheels trued. We were both hungry, so we stopped and grabbed a burger before riding out again. 

We had planned to ride the length of scenic Santa Rosa Island, but text messages from a couple of the guys who were ahead of us warned that the road was closed due to damage from Hurricane Nate, requiring them to turn back and travel 15 unnecessary miles.  Glad to have that info, we pressed on using an alternate route, which happened to be a straight flat road that almost felt like it had a tailwind.  

We passed thru a portion of Gulf Islands National Seashore’s miles and miles of untouched beaches as we rode eastward across one of it’s many barrier islands on our way to Destin.  

Along the way, we passed thru many scenic beach towns, any one of which I would have loved to have stopped in for a week of two of relaxation.  The sun was starting to drop from the sky when I got to Destin. 

I made it to our campground just in time to capture the sunset. 

At Henderson Beach State Park, we enjoyed a huge campsite, nice modern showers, and a boardwalk to the ocean. I walked  out to the beach in the dark after dinner, while most of the group slept. It was only 7 PM!

Tom R provided these photos, taken while there was daylight. 

After a long restful night, I woke up with a plan to get to church.  Yes indeed, there is a chapel at NAS Pensacola with services for military members. Being from a state that does not play the Daylight Savings Time game, I forgot to roll the time back on my watch, which is what I refer to for time, when not riding my bike.  As a result, I arrived for church over an hour early.  Duh!  I passed the time by riding my bike over to a nearby waterfront path with historical markers sprinkled along it.  My top 3 are below. 

I headed over to church, thinking it was in this beautiful All Saints Chapel, but learned it was across the street in a smaller little chapel beside the chaplains office.  

There or so many denominations on the post, that they can only give each 2 hours of chapel space on Sunday. Sacrament Meeting was one hour, and Sunday School and Relief Society were half hour each.  I enjoyed talking to the Military Relations missionary couple and scheming mentally on how I can pull that type of mission off in my future. 

After church, I rode my bike over to Corry Station to pick up some trail mix and cereal at the commissary.  Lately, the morning pickings have not been reliably healthy, and I need healthy food to fuel me, so I am keeping my own stash.  

On the way back to the post where I’m camping, I stopped at a seafood restaurant recommended by one of the bachelors who live in the RV park–Shrimp Basket.  The shrimp, catfish and side dishes were amazing for one third of the price of my lunch at Lulu’s. Lesson learned. No more expensive seafood on this trip. 

It started getting dark before 5 PM, with last night’s rolling the time back an hour, and I didn’t have my bike light with me. 

I had to race to get back to camp before it was completely dark. Just barely made it. 

I don’t have a lot of experience with camping in military camp grounds, but there seems to be a phenomen, at least in this one. There are 4 or 5 divorced retired men who live in tents. Heck, it only costs $7 a day, and that includes access to a clean shower and bathroom, laundry, a computer and printer, wifi, cable TV in the community center and a laundromat.  What more do you need?  They’re all very nice and helpful. One of them ran us to the Shopette, yesterday, to pick up ice, water and a little food to survive on until we could figure out how we were  going to get to eat.  They specialize in restaurant and directional advice.  Here are 3 of their setups. 

The top guy has been living here in an Army GP Small tent for 10 years. He puts the gear in storage and visits his family and kids to escape the summer heat. These guys can stay 90 days at a time, then have to move out for a 2 weeks before they can move back in.