Days 173 - 176 Pensacola - Perry - Lake Wales - Florida City
It was raining in the morning when I was about to get on the road in Pensacola. I attached the waterproof liner in my trousers - which turned out to be a mistake. No rain the whole day. I'm starting to believe that the waterproof liner is like an umbrella. Whenever you have it installed it won't rain. But leave it of and you'll definitely get wet.
I've read a lot of discussions about best gear available. For me the best choice seems to be (based on my experience so far) some sort of easily vented trousers with detachable thermal liner and and a jacket equipped similarly. When it rains it's easy to wear external rain gear on top. Change of temperature isn't usually so dramatic during the day so installing thermal liners for the whole day isn't a problem.
Back to the point. I followed the coast from Pensacola as much as possible. I even paid $1 toll to get to Pensacola beach. It was worth seeing. A bit wet sand felt and looked like snow.
Trip to Perry was truly uneventful. I stayed on highway 98 because it followed the coast. Hotels, casinos, beaches, some preservation areas. Flat, straight roads. All of a sudden I ended up in Perry. I had booked a motel there for the night and on my way to dinner the sky turned weird. I was sure it was going to rain a lot. But I didn't notice a single drop of rain.
Tuesday was quite similar day except for the views. No hotels, casinos or beaches. Mainly low forests, fields, swamp. And flat, straight roads. My goal was to get to Lake Wales where my host Mike was already waiting for me with his family and winter bird Steve.
Snow bird Steve is a retired engineer/traveler/biker from Pensylvania. He spends summers in Florida like other snow birds i.e. retired people that follow the warm weather. He stays in a camper on Mike's backyard.
Mike is a book editor, author and vintage motorcycle enthusiast. As soon as I met him I felt he took me as part of the family. His wife Andrea and teenaged kids Jacob and Tess were so great people. I ended up staying two nights on their foldable sofa. The evenings we talked about almost all the possible things in the world. Jacob explained me some rules of baseball and Tess showed me her skeths book. She really has skills in drawing.
On Wednesday we did some fun riding to canal nearby just to see birds and fishermen with their boats. I walked to the lake shore with Steve and in the afternoon we rode to get some ice cream nearby. I really enjoyed having a day of chilling, light riding and long discussions with Mike and Steve.
Everything comes to an end and on Thursday morning it was time to say goodbye. Mike and Steve rode with me for a while before I turned to bigger road and headed south to get to Florida City. I had booked a room there to be able to get an early start to Key West on Friday morning.
I've read a lot of discussions about best gear available. For me the best choice seems to be (based on my experience so far) some sort of easily vented trousers with detachable thermal liner and and a jacket equipped similarly. When it rains it's easy to wear external rain gear on top. Change of temperature isn't usually so dramatic during the day so installing thermal liners for the whole day isn't a problem.
Back to the point. I followed the coast from Pensacola as much as possible. I even paid $1 toll to get to Pensacola beach. It was worth seeing. A bit wet sand felt and looked like snow.
Trip to Perry was truly uneventful. I stayed on highway 98 because it followed the coast. Hotels, casinos, beaches, some preservation areas. Flat, straight roads. All of a sudden I ended up in Perry. I had booked a motel there for the night and on my way to dinner the sky turned weird. I was sure it was going to rain a lot. But I didn't notice a single drop of rain.
Tuesday was quite similar day except for the views. No hotels, casinos or beaches. Mainly low forests, fields, swamp. And flat, straight roads. My goal was to get to Lake Wales where my host Mike was already waiting for me with his family and winter bird Steve.
Snow bird Steve is a retired engineer/traveler/biker from Pensylvania. He spends summers in Florida like other snow birds i.e. retired people that follow the warm weather. He stays in a camper on Mike's backyard.
Mike is a book editor, author and vintage motorcycle enthusiast. As soon as I met him I felt he took me as part of the family. His wife Andrea and teenaged kids Jacob and Tess were so great people. I ended up staying two nights on their foldable sofa. The evenings we talked about almost all the possible things in the world. Jacob explained me some rules of baseball and Tess showed me her skeths book. She really has skills in drawing.
On Wednesday we did some fun riding to canal nearby just to see birds and fishermen with their boats. I walked to the lake shore with Steve and in the afternoon we rode to get some ice cream nearby. I really enjoyed having a day of chilling, light riding and long discussions with Mike and Steve.
Everything comes to an end and on Thursday morning it was time to say goodbye. Mike and Steve rode with me for a while before I turned to bigger road and headed south to get to Florida City. I had booked a room there to be able to get an early start to Key West on Friday morning.
I'm glad you got to see Opal Beach and the Emerald Coast with good weather. It looks like Florida treated you fairly well all the way around. I'm very glad we could spend an evening with you on your adventure!
VastaaPoistaIt was great meeting you and have a chance to spend the evening and night in your home. Florida was nice and beautiful especially at the coast.
PoistaI managed to watch the next episodes of Harley and the Davidsons. Thank you for introducing that to me. I really enjoyed it.
Have a safe trip to Seattle. Maybe we'll meet there some day. Northern USA is on my bucket list.