April 20th

Mi 1367 to 1698, 331 miles

Western Florida’s coastline is a suburban spall. Littered with giant condos and resorts with glimpses of the Gulf. The occasional breeze was nice and welcome. We got a cup of coffee and walked past two giant resorts through a narrow alley for public access to a beautiful white sand beach. The water was tropical shades of blues and shallow. The sand was silky and soft in my fingers. The sun was hot and it felt crowded. We needed to ride so we walked back sipping our coffees and walking close to the shade. We’ve been starting late and finishing late and I’ve been feeling like we’re behind schedule, but I’ve been needing the rest. I decided adjusting our schedule might help us. Get up with the sun, get the miles in early and plan on a relaxing dinner and early evening.

North of Tampa we started to see more forest and Ag land. So grateful! I was tired of looking at pop-up cities and shopping malls! We took a late afternoon nature walk, and we did a fast tour through an animal rescue nature preserve before it closed.

We took the time to take off our boots and wear our flip flops! All the cities and motorcycle noise starts getting to me sometimes. Maybe I’m just over tired, damn cold! It really helped my body to calm down! And we saw manatees!!

Today we turned west and into the sunset, towards home.