Day 34 - Foley AL - Okaloosa Island FL

80 miles












Leaving family again, never easy.


Thank you Shirley and Reese for the home away from home! Seeing Alabama, and exploring your neck of the woods was fun


It was an overcast day when I left. Scattered shower is throughout the area. Within the first 30 minutes I was hit with a little shower, nothing to stop for.


And it was on and off sprinkling all the way to Florida. Once in Florida it didn't rain hard, but it rained weird. By that I mean there were times where the sun was out, there were zero clouds above me, yet it was still raining. Didn't really make sense.


Once I hit Pensacola Beach The riding changed significantly. I was back on the Gulf Coast. And it was beautiful. It was amazing. After a little while down there, there's a section where people / businesses are not allowed to build. It was just nature and wildlife.


It was at this point I pulled off at some roadside parking and checked out the water. A beautiful shade of blue. The plan was to just look at it for a little bit and then continue on riding. But that soon turned into taking off my shoes and putting my feet in the water. And then that turned into taking off my jersey and going for a little swim.


I couldn't really "swim" because the waves were pretty large and riptide is scary. But I was able to enjoy some of the waves.


I stayed there for about an hour and then got back on the bike. From there I went back to civilization. I stopped at a McDonald's to fill up some water, and for the first time in many years I ordered something at McDonald's. I got one McChicken. It took him 10 minutes to get it to me. I don't know if that's normal, but I don't remember it being that long. It was ok


At this point I was back on a bigger highway, and they're really wasn't any shoulder. So I did a little bit of sidewalk riding. For probably about 5 mi. The roads were just in very bad shape, and there were a lot of vehicles flying by. The sidewalks were in even worse shape though. Not even walkable at times. Shrubbery overgrown, trees hanging down, uneven surfaces everywhere. I didn't see a single person on the sidewalk the whole time today.


Made it to my hosts' place at around 1:00ish. They had just gone out for lunch, so I went down to the beach and spent some more time by the water. I went under their patio and waited for them to get back. At which point I fell asleep! And that is how they found me! 


Anyway this is a really nice place and thank you Tyler and Christina!


Anyway, extremely stormy night here. Very glad to be staying inside. Hopefully the storm will dissipate by the morning

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