Port St. Joe, Fl. (Pop. 3,357)

What a horrible day! Now that I have your attention, let me say that it was nearly perfect riding weather. I left this morning to a crisp 52 degrees and when I arrived, it is a very pleasant 72 degrees. The skys were clear and there was only a slight breeze in my face. When I say slight, I mean like 3 mph; very slight. I followed US 98 all day so it was rather boring in that sense, but as you will see from the pictures, a lot of the day was along the coast, not yet technically the Gulf of Mexico, but it is for all I know. I guess these are a lot of bays and sounds, but sure looks like the Gulf to me. I pealed off my coat at about 10 miles and then took off my undershirt around 25 miles. I rode the last 15 miles in short sleeves. We are parked in a local water front park and the air is cool, and very pleasant outside.

After I left this morning, Dana stayed behind for a while. She noticed several older men looking at the PLUM and finally one of them approached her and said that we have a very cool bus. I am truely believing we are trendsetters of the newly retired crowd. Until someone proves me different, I will believe.

As you notice on the map, we have hit the bottom of the panhandle and will be heading to Panama City tomorrow. It will be a shorter ride, but it just makes sense to land there tomorrow. After tomorrow we should have two more days in Florida and then on to Alabama for several days. I have officially now ridden over 10% of the way to the west coast. I am eating the elephant, one small bite at a time.

I was a bit hungry this evening, so we found a BBQ place and way too much to eat. I had smoked baby back ribs, some smoked brisket, and smoked pulled chicken. For sides, I had collard greens, and smoked mac and cheese, with a cold IPA to complete the meal. We waddled back to the PLUM.

I called a church this morning to see if we could snag a spot to park for the night. I was told he would need to check with the deacons since there was a liability issue with us parking on their grounds, but he would call me back. So far no call; I gave up on waiting for an answer. As I was entering the town, I saw a Dollar General with a nice parking lot. I stopped in and explained what we were doing and if we could park in the lot for the night. The manager said she couldn't see why not. We will take a shot at it and hope we don't get chased off. If we do, I spotted a church with a huge parking lot and we will go there if we have to. If that fails, we will just keep driving around taking turns sleeping in the back. Just kidding!

One more day in the southern crawl. This trip is a lot like the brisket I had tonight; low and slow. We have seen some interesting small Florida towns. That in itself is an experience in itself. At one point in today's ride someone coming from the other direction beeped their horn a number of times and stuck their hand out the window with a thumbs up. They were pulling a camper with bikes on the back. My kind of friends. Other than them, the only person to honk at me has been Dana as she passes me on the road.

Be well friends.Weiterlesen