Today started off slowly. I figured I had about 40 miles to cover, so I was taking my time in the morning. I crawled out of my tent some time around 10:00 am and sluggishly packed my panniers. I had breakfast consisting of dry Cheerios and an apple. I managed to get my butt on the saddle around 11:00 and stopped less than an hour later at a library to update this here blog. I've been pretty lazy with it, I admit. Typing all this on my iPhone gets pretty agitating (anyone want to buy me a tablet?). I spent a good 2 1/2 hours there goofing off. About a mile down the road from there, I stopped for lunch and met a guy who had bikes the US after he graduated college. We had a nice chat for a while but I decided I shod really get on the road and be somewhat productive with my day. I quickly crossed over a bridge to get to the barrier island I would be staying on for the night.
Actually, that's a lie. This was the bridge.
There were beautiful condos and hotels along the way. I found I liked this one a lot because it reminded me of a cruise ship.
Shortly after this photo was take , I ran into Peter and Jerry. They must have know who I was because they yelled out "New Jersey!" from across the street. I waited for the traffic to pass and cross over to talk to them. Jerry was the guy I was staying with for the night, and Peter was his guest the night before. They were heading for the bridge that I had just crossed about 5 miles earlier. After chatting for a moment and realizing I had only done 21 miles, with only a mile to go until I reached my destination, I decided to travel with them to the bridge. Peter is a maniac. He likes to ride in the street. I stayed safely on the shoulder with Jerry behind me. After leaving Peter at the bridge, Jerry and I made our way to his condo. We crushed the miles on the way back and passed the the Florida-Alabama border. Jerry was nice enough to take my picture.
I showered and we chatted for a while. Jerry treated me to a fish burrito (excellent!) and we took our food to go to visit Scott, another warmshowers host. We conversed for a while and took a walk down to the bay, which was absolutely beautiful. After Jerry and I made our way back to his condo, we shared some more stories and called it a night around 10.
Jerry used to be an avid white water kayaker and he showed me some videos of the rapids that he and his friends had traversed in Alabama. Most notable was Little River, a river that looks like it was taken right out of the Adirondacks. I'll have to get myself a kayak when I get to Oregon and explore the north western waterways.
It was a short day, but a lot of fun! Off to Gulfport, MS tomorrow!
No comments:
Post a Comment