I didn't sleep particularly well last night anticipating the first time I'd be riding alone on a route I developed using Google Maps through a city I had never been in and finally having to rendevous with the tour group. The worry was for nothing. I ate a hearty breakfast at the MainStay and headed out at 8:00 am instead of my anticipated departure time of 9:00 am. It was easy following the Google maps I'd printed at home prior to leaving. Traffic was light and drivers very courteous. The bike and trailer performed very well (knock on wood!). The only hitch today was that my primary route ended up trying to take me through the Naval Air Station. When I saw that it headed directly to the base entrance I knew they wouldn't let me ride through and out the other side of the base - but I stopped and asked, then turned around and headed back to another route that I'd found last night while looking at the maps. I was originally going to take the other route but had made good time riding through Pensacola and since I'd left early figured I'd take the long (and by appearances more scenic too) route. The conversation with the base gate guard was short then I was back on my way to the alternate route (all total this only cost me 3 miles). Most the rest of today's ride was along a beach "strand" and, aside from the beach-front condos and resorts, was very scenic with wide views of the Gulf of Mexico. I made excellent time and met the group in Gulf Shores shortly after they had arrived at 1:00 pm. We're staying at a Microtel Inn and Suites in Gulf Shores, AL. We walked to an open-air seafood restaurant about a mile or so away for dinner. The place is named "Lulu's". It is owned by Jimmy Buffet's sister Luci. The food was great as was the service and there was live music. The waitress said Jimmy Buffet performs there several times a year. The place had a huge parking lot but hardly anyone was there tonight; off season and the middle of the week. We were told that during the summer reservations are required several weeks in advance. It poured rain while we were eating so we called a taxi to bring us back to the hotel. I've really enjoyed catching up with everyone from the last 13 days and am really happy to be back. These folks are the BEST. Susi is the SUPER BEST for allowing me to return to finish the trip. Tomorrow I'll backtrack with the group to Pensacola, FL and then on to Milton, FL where we'll be camping at a KOA tomorrow night. We'll see tomorrow how well my backside does with a different seat than I have been riding with. When I called Susi after dinner she said my "real" bike and the rest of my gear were delivered to our home this afternoon and everything appeared to be OK. Thanks to Susi's cousin Barbara for doing all that for me.
In case anyone is interested, here are a couple of links related to our tour. The first is a link to Vicky's SPOT transducer that will tell you where we are at any given time. The second is a link to Adrian's blog - very witty with cool links courtesy of his friend Frank.
http://share.findmespot.com/shared/faces/viewspots.jsp?glId=01cZnE995po2jr84o8plvFz0Tt6f1W4po
http://aaa-ss.tumblr.com/
Photos from today's ride:
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| Backwards from Florida to Alabama |
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| One of the bridges over a Coastal Waterways channel. |
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