Last night was our final camping night. As we are under budget, Dave has decided that it is Motels and eating out from now on. Farewell to a damp, smelly,hot, humid, bug ridden tent and sleeping bag. No more lying, listening to frogs, ducks, birds, snorers, tent zips going ziiiipppp, ziiipppp, ziiipppp and assorted other noises, all night long. No more rolling up a dew drenched tent at an ungodly morning hour. No more crawling out a tent backwards, fumbling for torch, stumbling, getting lost enroute to the toilet. No more gazing at the wondrous stars in a blackened night sky as I stagger back to my tent. I shall miss it, it has been my sanctuary, my own private space. I didn't sleep well, my mind kept going over aspects of our journey so I was tired when I set out at 7.00 am. Immediately I heard a 'whining' noise coming from Spike, that's what I get for cleaning him yesterday. My nephew, bike specialist, Matt says 'if there is a noise coming from the bike, something is wrong'. I thought it was the cranks, so stopped and gave them a good lube. Whine, whine continued. I couldn't stand it, so eventually found a shady spot, turned Spike over and lubed the cranks again. All quiet, sorted, great. Very hot and humid again today but some relief from clouds and tree shade. We travelled Hwy 90, all day, passing through Ponce de Leon, Westville, Coryville, Bonifey, Chipley, Cottondale then eventually Marianna. The Motel has a swimming pool which was fantastic after such a hot cycle. For much of the ride we were back in rolling hill countryside but the last 10 miles was along a busy road, with no hard shoulder, which I didn't enjoy. In 1513, Spaniard Ponce de Leon landed in Florida and named it such. He landed during Spains 'Feast of Flowers' and called the land Florida meaning 'flowery'. He also intoduced oranges; all ships had to carry orange seeds and trees as a protection against scurvy and other diseases. Centuries later oranges blossomed into Florida's leading agricultural staple. Just thought you might be missing the history lesson..... still loving this journey......
