Florida Bound

Day 45
Milton to DeFuniak Springs
 We left the campground early to stop across the street at a Waffle House for breakfast so got a late start on the road but it was a short day so we could afford to waste some time. Our 55 mile ride was in great weather. A very slight headwind but clear, starting in the 60s and ending in the mid 70s.
Not much to see but everyone agrees that we all love the Florida roads and shoulders!
Well, there was the Animal Tree at mile 15... go figure...

Waffle House harassment

the Animal Tree

nice roads!

Day 44
Today we are headed to Florida but had to cross Mobile Bay first before we could start the 85 miles to Milton FL.
We took the 8 AM ferry for the trip across the bay. Saw some interesting rigs in the bay. The bay is only 11 feet deep but the natural gas rigs are drilling down to 20,000 feet to reach the gas deposits that are under a pressure of ten to twenty thousand PSI!
Started our ride at about 9 and headed east into, guess what? Another 15 mph headwind! I got into a paceline with Scott, Mike and Miker and headed east at about 17-20 mph. It was  hard going and was going to be a LONG day. The weather that had started cold but clear and looked to a warm up a bit actually got colder as it became more and more overcast and windier so we were pretty cold for most of the ride.

Crossed into Florida at mile 32 while it was still clear, and I lead the four of us over the line!
Nice to be back!!!!!

We stopped at Nick's Boathouse for Easter Lunch and had some great seafood. So great that even tho were were way ahead of everyone else, about half the riders passed us during our almost two hour stop!
I managed to get a leg cramp near mile 62 so stayed at the last SAG stop for a while to rest and massage my thigh. I rolled in later than my buds but made it just fine.
As soon as I had showered I had a massage with Michelle which helped a great deal. She is leaving us tomorrow morning. I am sorry to see her leave.
The campground is nice with nice facilities.

This is NOT the desert

Home again!

Day 43
We took a rest day on Dauphin Island. It was soggy and cold but it was a well deserved and much appreciated rest day. 10 days in the saddle with the weather we have been having made a lot of us a bit tired. OK, all of us.
I slept late (till 8) then did a load of laundry then at lunchtime  Roland, RO, PW and I headed to Skinner's for some fresh seafood. It's a fish market not a restaurant but they will steam whatever you purchase to whatever degree of spiciness you prefer so I had a pound of jumbo shrimp, corn on the cob and red potatoes, all steamed medium. It was VERY fresh and VERY good!

GREAT seafood!

Relaxing