Day 10: To Destin, Fl: Off-Route
Wednesday February 10, 2010, 53 miles (85 km) - Total so far: 467 miles (752 km)
After updating last night, the wind started to pick up, heavily. I was thinking I might wake up with a tent that had been blown into pieces. When I finally did wake up, the temperature had dropped way down. It was so hard to pack everything up in the freezing cold (I really think it was 32 or less).
We had made plans to stay in Destin for the night, and knew we would be facing winds and cold, so we left rather early. The winds and the cold were both worse than we had expected. I think Carol and the wind were having a power struggle, while I was struggling with the cold. At one point, driving by a big hotel, I saw their digital sign said 9:01, 36F. Was not really that prepared for that. I still managed to enjoy some great beach views as we rode down Front Beach Road/98/30A. Some of these roads have so many different names, its easy to get confused.
After riding down the first island on the beach road and having it take a lot longer than it should have, we ended up getting on 98 away from the beach. It was a bit more direct, cutting out a few miles of riding. After what seemed like forever, we finally found a gas station with a store and grabbed some food to refuel. It finally started warming up when we got back on the road, well after noon. Warm enough to take off my jacket and head cover (balaclava?).
After finally reaching our destination, we were greated by fellow CrazyGuy and CrazyGal, John and Lesa, our hosts for the night. They are just awesome! Great stories of their own tours, warm showers, laundry, a delicious home cooked Indian dinner, and a nice warm pullout couch(I let Carol have the bed)! They offered to bring us to the store to resupply and the use of any tools to work on the bikes. John also printed out directions to Pensacola where we'll be meeting a few more from the group, routing us the scenic way onto an island instead of just riding 98 the whole way. Amazing night.