On to Dauphin Island today, 60 miles to the east, for a three day mini-vacation. Yippee!!! I needed cash the last several days but every bank I went to charged $5-6 dollars for an ATM transaction. RIP-OFF!!!

Finally went to the Peoples’ Bank . . . just the usual $3.00 charge. Power to the People!!!!

On the way out of town I stopped at the Ocean Springs Vietnam Memorial . . .

Really well done . . . a very solemn space, with many folks walking the paths this early morning

Photos of everyone in the area that died in the conflict . . .

This is a BIG ship building area along the coasts of Mississippi and Alabama . . .

Here is one of the big ones we passed, situated right on the ocean . . . 

. . . mmmmmmmmmmmm . . . looks like not everybody in the ship building industry is happy!!!

Mississippi humor . . . .

On the way out of town there were LOTS of billboards to read as one pedaled along at 15mph. Here is one reason American’s might be so overweight. Pushing deals on soft drinks BEFORE 10:00am!!!!

Here is what riders in the south think a hill is. Interstate or canal overpass!!!! The most elevation gain we have seen in weeks!!!!

Our first view of the ocean . . . hopefully many more to come!!!

Every community seems to have a lighthouse to welcome you. The ride today is basically 60 miles of urban stop light, to stoplight riding. Not so good!!!

Don’t even want to think what might have happened at this intersection!!!!

Another one to add to the list . . . a dead beaver!!!!

Finally went by Gator Dan’s emporium. Everything about or related to gators . . .

. . . swamp boat rides . . .

and the enclosure where Dan wrestles the gators’. Too bad they were not open yet when we passed by!!!!

Yippee . . . another state line crossing!!!!

Two pups came out from the right to REALLY enthusiastically greet me . . . but eventually turned around and went back home without snapping or biting . . . unfortunately there was this one down the road that was chasing something and came up against a car or truck. Too bad. First dead dog we have seen on the trip. Owners REALLY need to keep their dogs penned or chained up in the yard!

Interesting mix of business and religion . . . is the implication that Jesus could/would have been a happy, satisfied customer?

mmmmmmmmmm . . . selling ‘stuff inside’, that sort of narrows it down. Didn’t need any stuff, so I kept on pedaling!!!

. . . another snake for the list. Beautiful specimen!

At about 53 miles, I saw the bridge to Dauphin Is. Hope I don’t get a nose bleed from the change in altitude . . .

. . . brought to you by the Army Corp!

That’s some bump in the middle . . . 5% grade, 90 feet of elevation gain . . .

. . . and it looks like a bridge to NOWHERE!  I thought I could see Russia from it!!!!

. . . over the top and Dauphin Island coming up fast . . .

We are staying right in the yacht harbor for three days. It’s the weekend when we landed here and there is a three day minimum stay so it will be a nice break!!

Our complex . . . ready for high water!

Home sweet home . . . I was the first rider in today.

Nice living room with plenty of room to lay around.

Big kitchen . . . Gina bought groceries for all of our meals. Let’ s get that barbie fired up!!!!

The girls got the room with the king bed, the Jacuzzi tub and the private deck . . .

. . . I got the room with a queen bed and private bath . . .

. . . while Paul, Tom and Tom were in the bunk house!!!

. . . 2:45pm, starting to nache away and drink!!! Some drank more than others. TommyH and Paul had six flats today,  shared between them!!!!

BBQ chicken tonight as Chef Tomas gets things going in the grill area . . .

. . . his ‘recovery’ drink of choice . . . Bud Light on ice.  One beer for each flat !!!!!

Look who showed up just as the barbeque was lit . . . Pete the Pelican. Think theses critters know the routine????

Time for everyone to chill and relax for a few days, and do their own thing . . . Linda brought out her watercolors . . .

. . . and a half hour later, Wholla!!!!

. . . soon it was time for FOOD delivered to  the deck. Denver Tom provided cover from swooping pelicans!!!!

Tators, chicken, corn bread, broccoli, cookies . . . YUM . . . .

Great dinner tonight as we watched the lightning show to the west, from our deck. LOTS of lightning = LOTS of rain. Glad we were tucked into our humble abode for the night. Bubba’s Pamper Peddlers are camping tonight!!!!

We ended the night with a final nightcap, out on our middle veranda, watching the lightning show to the west. What a night for sleeping . . .

Seven hours later, several of us were up sitting there again, drinking . . . coffee, that is,  and watching the sunrise . . .

Nice . . .

View from my window, down the road . . . shotgun homes only one room deep!!!!

8:00am time to eat again . . . breakfast!!!

Enough food again, for second or thirds . . .

. . . I only had one ‘modest’ plate. Got to start cutting back . . . only about 10 days left of riding!!!

Letting things settle a little in the tummy . . . before getting too excited about today’s activities. May involve just lounging around here all day.

Great view from the deck . . . you can see our private pier in the lower right. Our condo yacht should be delivered about 10:00am!!!

. . . look down from the deck and there is our pool!!!

Our steeds enjoying several days off . . . guaranteed no flats for the next several days!!!!

I thought this may have  been modern art next store . . .

. . . but it’s a building lot for sale. A foundation on stilts looking for a buyer!!!

Thanks Greg for this info . . . got to watch out for all those gray hairs in FL driving their old Cadillac’s and Buicks’ !!!!

It started raining on and off for most of the day  . . .  as we explored the island. Tomorrow the bird sanctuary!!!

We didn’t go hungry tonight  . . . nice steak fry . . .

With all the fixins’ . . . we are hoping for dryer weather tomorrow!!!

Woke to a BEAUTUFUL day . . . but by the time we left for the ferry to transport us off Dauphin Is, it was overcast!!! What happed to the week of upcoming  sun!!

East meets west as Gina and Tom discuss the last several weeks journey with Julie and Mark, from the UK. We have been hopscotching with them since TX. They spent three days in NOLA and had a GREAT time. The fella next to Gina is also from the UK. Julie has been corresponding with him on CGOAB and now just met him in person!!!

Pennsylvania and Virginia meet Wisconsin and Colorado!!!

The literature said there was a restroom on the ferry . . . that is going to be one BIG first step for anyone who needs to use it on the 4 mile trip!!!!

. . . more bicycles than cars on this first 8:00am ferry!!!

A final bird watcher . . . with one big lens!!!

Close up of the natural gas rig we saw yesterday from shore. It’s being visited by a resupply ship.

Mobile Bay only averages ten feet deep so to get the ocean going ships in and out of port there is a channel that is constantly be dredged. 400 feet wide and 75 feet deep. You can see the red and green buoys marking the channel as we crossed it.

Pete the Pelican, and his family, flew over from the condo to greet us on the mainland at Ft. Morgan. Sorry gang, no more handouts!!!

Time to roll off an hit the trail again after three days’ of R&R on Dauphin Is.

We no more got rolling and of course it started raining. I tied up with Paul and TommyH, who had enough sense to get out of the rain, and were enjoying a beignet. I had a cream cheese Danish!!!

We hit the ocean again at Gulf Shores . . . here there were some nice dune areas . . .

. . .but the ride really ended up being about 50 miles of condo development stretching from Gulf Shores to Pensacola, FL

Another sweeping bridge as we enter Florida . . . thought I saw Anita Bryant at the ‘Welcome Center’ handing out Orange Julius’s!!!!

A highlight for me was a stop at the Naval Aviation Museum on the Pensacola Navy Airbase . . .

. . . really well done. ‘Smithsonian grade’ level of presentation . . .

. . . hard to believe this amphibious plane ever got off the water!!!

. . . or this more modern WWII vintage PBY, used to find Rusky submarines.

Great dioramas and cutaways on the models . . .

A mockup of the atomic bomb the Navy helped deliver to Japan. Hard to believe something only 10’ tall could do that much damage.

The Maries are part of the Navy so of course they had to have a retired version of ‘Marine One’. You see this most of the time ferrying the President from the South Lawn of the White House, to Air Force One based out of Andrews Air Force base.

Nice digs, and although it is usually a short ride, it  looks like their might be time for a cocktail . . . especially if you have a had a bad day at work.

. . . ‘Tricky Dick’ had sort of a thousand yard stare . . . may have had one to many as they circled Washington!!!!

I felt like I was in Madame Toussaint’s Wax Museum!!! Creepy!!!!

Speaking of President’s, here is the plane ‘W’ landed on the aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln when he made the great announcement on Abe’s deck of “MISSION ACCOMPLISHED’, in Iraq.

. . . just wanted to be one of the boys!!!!!

….speaking of boys, here is a ‘Squadron Car’ some of the navy staff passed down from one generation of flyboys to another as they rotated through Pensacola. The Navy does not provide transportation to those in training or on deployments, so many times a hat was passed for funds and whatever the gang could gather was used to by a ‘party car’ used to get around town. Some were ‘redecorated’, so to speak. Notice the refueling tube coming out of the roof on this model!!!!  In the movie ‘Top Gun’, Tom Cruise had a fast motor bike to get around town . . . this model was probably closer to the truth for the fly boys!!!!

We woke to a beautiful day in Pensacola . . . blue sky, but only 58 degrees!!!! Needed a ‘light wrap’ on the way to breakfast.

. . . and right next to us was a 24 hour ‘Whataburger’ that served breakfast. Denver Tom and I were in our booth by 6:15am, drinking coffee!!!

Denver Tom ended his ride with us in Pensacola. He needs to get back to Denver for some social obligations. There were hugs all around, and then it was time for us to roll out down Pensacola Blvd. We got separated at the first stoplight with Gina and I in the lead. We would eventually tie up with the rest 20 miles down the road in Milton. We came across Sadie, a starving artist, who is working, waving an oil change sign on the side of the road. We have seen folks doing this, for a variety of businesses, all across the US. Most are listening to iPods, or talking on the phone but Sadie was the first one to reading a book while she was shaking the sign. The job pays $8.00/hour and she is working to save some cash in order to remodel her house and studio!!!!

We rolled across several large bridges on our way out of Pensacola that had some great views . . . wonder if there were any gators down there?????

mmmmmm . . . it was a little dicey getting out of town during rush hour . . . hope we didn’t make a wrong turn somewhere!!!!

Another one for the list . . . Rocky actually look ‘peaceful’ . . .

After 20 miles we came to Milton, where we would pick up a PAVED state trail for the next 9 miles . . .as we rolled up to it Gina spotted a bike store right off the trail . . . guess which way we went!!!!

The diva and her carriage!!!!! Holds four!

Gina has been having problems with her front wheel, so asked the boys to take a look at it . . . soon the rest of our gang joined us. Gina is holding a ‘water bottle’ shaped container that has a tool kit inside . . . (Brian, check that x-mas stocking hanging from the mantle in a couple of months!)

Here was a great ‘local product’, a bike made out of bamboo that had been grown locally . . .

OK, so before we left the bike shop  . . . we filled the queen’s carriage with a few of her serfs . . .

Nice trail riding for 8 miles . . .

. . . and here was a good way to track ridership on the trail rather than using the standard rubber air tube counter stretch across the path . . . an electronic eye system.

Neat house along the trail painted with a map of the gulf area . . .

For Gina . . . (our little groups, inside joke)

mmmmmmmmm . . .Bob’s Riverside Canoe Rental, if it says Spring Green on the sign ahead we did make a wrong turn!!!!

We turned off the Highway 131 onto Indian Ford Road and were immediately presented with this little piece of art evidently done by one of the locals . . .

. . .but it was sweet riding today . . . even a little elevation today . . . Hey, what happened to that shoulder?????

. . .much of the afternoon was spent riding through the Blackwater State Park and Forest . . . peaceful, very little traffic, 72 degree temps, no wind and BLUE SKY. Made one almost forget about the two weeks of rain we had!!!!

Nice name. I’d like to live on this road . . . and it’s a dead end!!!

Now this guy either REALLY like fences, is a mason himself, or has an unemployed son-in-law that needed something to do!!!

mmmmmm . . . wonder if they have ‘raw milk’ sale issues like we have in WI between the Amish farmers and our Department of Ag????

Now here was a sweet little one room getaway . . .

Down the road was the site of a future G.I. Joe Theme Park. Not sure how long this has been in the planning stage but the front wheels on the truck were flat. No evidence of earthmoving . . . but of course a GI Joe doll theme park could be a ‘REALLY’ small affair!!!

We rolled across this State Forest bridge on the right. Wire mesh deck but you can see the concrete inserts where tires are supposed to ride. Sort of tricky on a bike . . .

. . . next to it was the ‘new bridge’, that had not yet been completed. Don’t want people to drive across it yet? . . . use a blown down tree to block it!!!!!

We rolled into Crestview, our home for the night. I saw this near a school . . . not sure what happened but something not good. Many of the messages were from Melissa’s Day care. People REALLY need to pay attention when they are driving . . .

We are staying at the Quality Inn and everyone was in the pool by 2:30pm. Nice afternoon of floating around!! Next door is a Hooter’s and a Cracker Barrel. About a block away is El  Rhumba, a Mexican Restaurant. Not sure which one we will go to!!!!

UPDATE: All across the US we have had a girls room, with three in it, and a boys room, with three in it. Since NOLA, when Dan and Margie left the ride because of family obligation, Gina and Linda having been sharing a double. Denver Tom joined us in Austin and after Dan left, we went two to a room, too. Last night was the last night of us each having our own bed EVERYNIGHT because Tom left to go back to Denver. Beginning tonight, and for the rest of the trip, it would be three boys back in one room. It didn’t take long . . . about an hour and a half for us to realize how nice it was to each have a bed instead of one sleeping on the floor every night. Here is a view of our Quality Inn room with our bikes, our gear and us in it!!!

Here was TommyH’s ‘personal sleeping space’ for the night, currently occupied by his gear and Paul’s bike.!!!!

. . . and  a half hour later, here was TommyH new ‘personal sleeping space’. We decided to get two rooms every night with whomever was supposed to sleep on the floor that night rotating to the single room.  My turn tomorrow night. Nice!!!! To celebrate our decision, let’s eat!

We chose La Rhumba where we found the margaritas were as big as your head  and only half price . . . Sara delivered our drinks and set them on the table behind Gina and Tom. I asked her to pick them up again so I could get this shot . . .

. . . after she set them back down to serve, the tray tipped over and onto the floor the ingredient’s and two of the glasses went . . . I left her a BIG tip!!!!

More margaritas were delivered as well as our dishes. Three of us had the Vera Cruz Shrimp . . . and one had chicken mole.  YUM!!!!

By the time I left, not a bite left!!!!     zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz . . .