Panama City Beach

On Sunday, I woke up at 7 am and the sky looked stormy to the south and west of Atlanta.  The guys wanted to go out for breakfast but I had a little over 300 miles to ride and wanted to get going.  By 9 am I was on the road leaving my friends apartment and heading towards I-85 south.  I hadn't put on rain gear and within 5 minutes of entering the highway the sky opens up, light rain at first but I could see black sky ahead and knew worse was coming up.  I quickly pull off the highway and head to the first McDonald's I see for breakfast.  Soon there was torrential rain but 15 minutes later it had stopped.  I get back on the road and take I-185 towards Columbus.   The road was pretty much empty and I had the chance to take a few pictures of my new helmet.  I love taking these shots.

After Columbus I took route 431 south towards Eufaula and enter Alabama, another state scratched off my list of ridden states.  The road was good but a bit monotonous, not much to see on either side until I get to Eufaula.  As I approach Eufaula I see a VFW and a memorial with a Bell UH-1 Iroquois (Huey).  I love military equipment and had to stop to get a photo of my Super Tenere next to the Huey.

Next I enter Eufaula and start seeing some beautiful old homes.   I stop a few times to take photos and then stop for a quick lunch.  The bike needed gas too, a quick stop for gas and I was on my way south again.

A few miles down the road I start seeing lots of white, many white fields.  I had never seen cotton fields, pretty amazing to see white fields.

The next town I pass through, Dothan, seems to be struggling a bit, lots of boarded up homes, old cars and run down gas stations.  I stop at a Kangaroo Express for a bottle of water and an old guy pulls in on a beat up Kawasaki cruiser. We start chatting and he tells me he's down on luck, bike has problems and he has no money for food. I gave him a few bucks for food, he thanked me a lot and then went inside and I saw him buy food. We chatted on the way out and then parted ways. Made me sad.  Paying forward I guess.

Soon I was leaving Alabama and entering Florida but as I'm about to enter Florida I see the visitor center for Alabama on the north going side of the road and another Huey.  I quickly turn around and snap a few more photos of the bike and the Huey.

 

I turn around again and head south entering Florida and take a photo of the sign even though the sign said "Emergency Stopping Only", I'm a rebel.

I arrive in Panama City Beach and start looking for a campsite.  Lots of motels but soon I find Campers Inn, a nice little campsite on the opposite side of the main road that runs along the beach, perfect location.  I quickly setup my tent, put on a bathing suit and head to the beach with my camera.  The temperature was in the low 90's and the sun was about to set.  The beach is stunning, beautiful white sand and the water of the gulf always warm.  

I can't take sunset over water pictures in New Jersey so whenever I visit Florida I try to take as many photos as I can.  I was lucky on this day, stunning sky and sunset.

Took a few photos of the stunning sunset and then noticed people pointing at the water.   I get closer to the water and then realize what the commotion is all about.  There are stingrays swimming around close to shore.  I chat with a few people and I'm told the stingrays love to feed late in the afternoon.

I get back in the water and try to take a few more photos but it was getting dark fast.  I tried using the flash to see if it would cut through the water and managed to get a few more photos.  It was an amazing feeling knowing the stingrays were swimming all around me but don't come close to me.

I head back to the campsite, take a quick shower and then head out for dinner at a nearby place.  Two fish tacos and a beer later and I was heading back to the campsite.  Didn't even bother getting the sleeping bag out, put the self inflating mat inside the tent and laid on it.  I was quickly asleep like a baby.  

Tomorrow I will ride along the coast past Pensacola and eventually Mobile, Alabama.

Day 3 - Cable - East Grand Forks

Had a great time last night chatting about rides and motorcycles, had a good sleep and today had the best breakfast so far on this trip, but I have a place to go and there's no wasting time. Nancy prepared a breakfast for a king, had eggs, bacon, toast, melon and wild rice pancakes with juice, wow, thanks Nancy.

We had just finished breakfast when out the back window I spot a fox in the backyard.  I quickly grabbed my camera from the bike and snapped a few shots while Nancy threw cakes out the back sliding door to the little fox, apparently they like Nancy's cakes too.

Four of Nancy's cats, all very friendly, they actually came to me and let me pet them.

Erik was a good host but it's time to head out.  I will use Erik's photo (without his permission but I suspect he won't mind).

I left Cable, Wisconsin and headed north into the Chequamegon national Forest taking County Hwy N towards County Road 27 and eventually Highway 2 towards Duluth.  The forest roads were beautiful and I encountered no traffic on the road.

Passed Duluth without stopping but pulled over a little later, now in Minnesota when this big fighter jet caught my eye.  It was a monument dedicated to two pilots who died on the crash of the F-101.  I have always wanted to be a fighter jet pilot but life didn't turn out that way, now I ride motorcycles, you get the same freedom as flying but only in two dimensions.

Right next to the fighter was this gigantic locomotive, I think it's appropriate to park one locomotive next to another, mine only has two wheels though.

My next stop was at the first dam of the mighty Mississippi River.  The river starts just a few miles further up but it was out of my way and I decided not to visit the lake where the Mississippi begins it's journey to the Gulf coast.

I continued west on Highway 2 and saw lots of this on the Chippewa National Forest,

and a few threatening clouds but didn't run into rain until much later,

and a really big fish, now this trip is starting to get weird, pink elephants, huge fish, what next?

After a while I felt like stopping to take a break and found this secluded place where I could park my bike on the railroad, why? Because I could, there was no one around and I could hear a train coming for miles if there was one but I never saw one.

Further down the road I pulled into the town of Bemidji when I saw a sign for Paul Bunyan.  I had encountered another giant Paul Bunyan and Babe out in California in 2010.  I walked around and saw the poor Indian guy hiding behind the trees, maybe he is hiding from Paul, he is actually facing Paul on the opposite side of the street.

A little later I saw this dilapidated church and a few rusting old cars next to it, I couldn't resist and turned around to take a picture with the old cars.

I continued west but after running through a rain storm I decided to call it quits and found a nice camp site in East Grand Forks.  I setup the tent, put a few things away and proceeded to walk across the bridge to Grand Forks where I could hear music playing.

The Red river separates Minnesota from North Dakota, Grand Forks is on the Dakota side. This is looking into East Grand Forks.

And this is the Bridge I walked to get to the music on the other side, not a lot of traffic in these little towns.

There was a Blues Concert going on and the place by the water was packed, I stayed listening to the music and then wondered around town admiring the old but still magnificent buildings.

This place caught my eye, thought about my wife, I'm sure I could find something she would like but the place was closed, damn it.

Found a railway track going right through the middle of town, decided to have some fun and take pictures, seemed like there would be no trains coming through.

This building was built in 1891 and looks brand new.

Walked back across the river, it was time to leave the music and return to camp, I still had to eat something and get ready to hit the bed.

A slower way of traveling if you willing to pedal, a beautiful yellow and black Schwinn.

East Grand Forks is a cute little town with a few restaurants by the water.  Saw lots of these animal statues along the water front.

I return to the campsite, take a quick shower and go straight to bed, it was late and I want to get up early and cover some mileage tomorrow across North Dakota.  I will leave you with some nice pictures of the sunset I saw over the Red River.

334 miles for the day, not a very long day, had time to do some sight seeing and smell the roses.

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To be continued.....