Florida Myth-Direction, day 2

It's cold in Florida. We started the day trying to decide to have frog legs or soft shelled crabs and eggs for breaksfast. Being true southerners country ham was selected. Hey, it's vacation = no diet thangy! Next, here's a shot of Murf grinning beside his premo Heritage Classic: He is standing in front of the USS Alabama which is docked in Mobile Bay for display purposes. Did I mention it's cold down here? After a great ride yesterday we decided to set off on our coastal ride adventure.

We headed south and stopped in a town called Foley, Alabama. As we drank coffee perched on a picnic table admiring our bikes and feeling good, a dude approached and struck up a conversation. After tales of rides past he finally recommended a route that was scenic and full of neat stops where we could dine, purchase trinkets, get patches, etc. So off we go lickety-split headed for the ocean. We found it.

Here's a picture of lardass...uh, uh, myself astride the mighty 1200C Sportster: Note the sandy beach and blue sky in the background. The ocean is back there somewhere. Soon after this shot was taken we pulled over and made a decision; it was wayyyyy too cold to be riding beside the ocean. Besides, you can't see the ocean because of all the damn building projects.

We laughed at our mistake and backtracked to the original route. No more route advice was now our motto of the day. As we crossed the Florida state line, Murf wanted a picture of the sign. As I pulled off the road and put my feet out to stop the sand gave way and down I went. Nothing was hurt but my pride. What an idiot! Travel over 400 miles without incident and then something stupid like this has to happen. Did I mention that it's really, really cold here? Several people stopped, a dude coming back from Daytona on a Street-Glide, a nice looking lady in a van that offered us a beer for some reason (no we didn't take it - it's cold down here) and another fellow in a pick up. We picked up the bike amazed that it's unharmed and continued our journey.

Then we got on Interstate 10. I HATE this #$';&XXX road!!!! It's old, full of weird grooves, the supreme pot hole demon from lower hell has had a field day, every one speeds and even on Sunday trucks were everwhere. This was miles and miles of anxiety attacks and wind blowing me left and right. There was some mighty praying going on every time we crossed a bridge and Florida has plenty of them. You realize it's cold here, right? If this is normal wind for this area the next time a hurricane comes through I am going NORTH of the Mason-Dixon line instead of staying in Tupelo thinking I am safe.

After several hundred miles of ridiculous attempts at heading further east, we gave up and stopped at a Holiday Express somewhere east of Milton, Florida. This post is actually being finished at 3:30AM. My body core temperature has just returned to normal. And my fingers are working again. After double the normal meds taken throughout the night my anxiety is slip sliding away. I can look out the window and see that damned I-1O. But, we almost have to travel it since we lost so much time.

Two people just walked across the parking lot. You can see their icy breath as they converse. Murf is sleeping soundly I guess. He's taken all this in stride. The laughter has helped us survive a great friendship all these years (33 years). God willing, Monday will be a better day,lol.

"O, wind, if winter comes, can spring be far behind?"
~Percy Bysshe Shelley (Percy never owned a Harley)