Quick update

Yesterday I travelled 454k from Pensecola to Perry Florida, and today I made it to Sarasota. The drive along the beach highways as they are sometimes called is not as exciting s the name suggests. Unlike along the Mississippi and the Louisiana coastline roads where there are long stretches where you can actually see the beaches, the sililarly named roads in Florida are either a fair distance from the water's edge, or when they are close offer very few views of the beaches. You can sometimes spot the tops of beach umbrellas between or under the condominiums and other buildings that are built side by each along the coastline.

The weather has been hot and muggy. Today there were a series of thundershowers; one that forced me to take cover for an hour under a building in a town called Treasure Island, and a second that started the moment I parked my bike at the Golden Host Hotel in Sarosota where I'm staying this evening. Just as I was unloading the bike a VERY LOUD thunderclap surprised the hell out of me. I must have jumped three feet straight up. Boy, that was close!

On the food front, it's still rather dismal. I had a decent grilled shrimp lunch at Po Folks in Panama City yesterday, and a pretty good grilled grouper with mediteranean sauce (stuffed pimento olives, capers, tomatoes, garlic, shallots, olive oil and white wine) at a place called Barnacle Bill's in Sarasota this evening.

Tomorrow I ride down to Naples where I'll spend the night before heading for Key Largo where I'll be meeting up with Jane. I'm looking forward to that and to our 6 days together in the Keys.