Day 5 - Ponce De Leon --> Pensacola!

I had the best night’s sleep that I have had since I have left phoenix last Friday morning! The bed was comfortable and the air conditioning was cold. So I was under the covers and snoozing all night long. I actually had an appetite this morning and had a bowl of cinnamon toast crunch and a coke. It was fantastic.
It was cold again this morning when so we bundled up in our cold weather gear and head out.

My legs were cooperating when we left the hotel and we made great time to our first stop. We made great time to the first stop of the day around 15 miles. It was a morning with some long flats and some dips in turns. It was a pretty morning in Florida today.



We rolled through Milton, FL which is much larger then most towns we ride through. Like yesterday we entered the town on the historic side of town which has quickly become my favorite side of each town we ride through. It is neat to see all the building and statues that represent how and when the town was founded. About 8 miles before our lunch stopped we crossed paths with another rider going solo across the US. His name was Tony and he was from Britain. Shannon and I talked to him about his adventure so far. He had some interesting things that we could relate to even 5 days into this. He said the first week sucked. All the different pains and getting used to being on the bike for the extended hours. He said after he worked through those issues it was just a mental game which I have heard from my cousin before. So that was encouraging to talk to him and relate to those first week struggles. We shook hands and parted ways wishing each other luck on our rides. Our last 8 miles were interesting for a couple reasons; one was this amazing art work in the front of a horse farm and a small forest fire right off the road.

Lunch was good as usual; I had a turkey and cheese sandwich and some potato chips with relish on the side. This was the first time I ever tried using relish as a dip. It wasn't half bad. Stretched and made sure the bike was ready to roll. Took off what was left of our cold gear as the temperature was a perfect 75 now. We had about 40 miles to our destination for the day. The wind picked up, what’s new right? We put our heads down and pedaled away. We arrived much sooner then we anticipated which is always a good thing. Took a warm shower and put on some clean clothes. We are headed to dinner with Pastor Brian and his wife tonight. They are taking us to a seafood joint on the coast, the only guidelines we gave him were it couldn't be a chain, and we are not dressing up! He said no problem.

Since we arrived sooner then planned, we are all able to update our blogs and send some pictures out. I am running off my phones hotspot so I wasn't able to insert too many photos, so I will try and send more via Face Book tonight off the churches Wi-Fi.

Tomorrow is a rest day for us! I look forward to sleeping in! The Pastor suggested we visit the Naval Aviation Museum. Now for those of you that really know me, you know I have a passion for airplanes and goes way back into my childhood. What the Pastor doesn't know if I spent time on my laptop last night scoping this museum out and had it on the radar and was going to get there one way or another on this rest day! It goes with out saying that I am very excited for tomorrow for multiple reasons!

We are off to dinner in a few minutes! I hope everyone is having a good week so far and your Friday goes by quickly.

Talk to you soon!