Perry to Carrabelle, fla Jan 29

85.2 miles in 5:50. Today was officially the day to start heading west. US19 north in Perry led to US98 west, which I followed to and along the Gulf shore. Weather was beautiful for most of the day, with high temps in the 80's . Keep in mind I said MOST of the day. US98 was a great road with great shoulders and little traffic. What traffic there was, was 75% logging trucks, triaxles, and motor homes, with very few cars. The trucks were very good about moving over a little, and their wind created a welcome draft when they were headed my direction.
I hooked up with biker my age for a few miles, and it turns out that he was training for a bike race from Banff, Canada to Mexico, along the Continental Divide, in June. That would be quite a grueling race, I would think. It is totally support free also, so they won't have a wife following them in a motor home like I do. Sometimes I feel like such a wimp. Anyhow, the guy might not make it to the race, the way he rides. He was riding along side me, talking, and wouldn't tuck it in when a car came by! We got squeezed by a pick up who couldn't move over because of oncoming traffic, and while he slowed and cussed at my new companion, his boat that he was towing, somehow, miraculously, missed him. The biker was busy talking trash and didn't know there was a boat. I yelled at the guy to watch the boat, and it missed him by inches. I envisioned the boat putting him down, and me running over him, because I had fallen back a little to let him in. Wow! And people wonder why I like riding alone! Anyhow, the guy got bored with me after a few miles and pulled ahead to do his training. Thank God.
Now, about the weather change. I've never seen anything like it. About 20 miles from Carrabelle, the sunny day was swallowed up by a wall of fog that came off the Gulf, and the temperature dropped from 83 degrees to 63 degrees in a matter of ten minutes! I came to the Ochlockonie Bay, and the bridge of about one mile, where visibility was down to .25 mile, and as I rode across the bridge, I couldn't tell if there was a rise in the bridge, and couldn't see the other side. I spent the rest of the trip just hoping vehicles could see me. The Gulf was just to my left, but I could see no water at all, just the fog. By eight o'clock, the fog was gone at the Ho Hum campground, where Pam had set up, very near the water.

The fog was so thick that it was raining from the pine trees!  
When I first got to the campground, it was hot, sunny and had a clear blue sky!  When I was finished setting up, I came out of the motor home and the sky was cloudy and there was a wall of fog rolling in off of the water!  Always an adventure!  Today's trip was awesome!  Driving along 98 was beautiful, tall pines all around, and the Gulf right next to me!

Our campground has a little pier out into the water, so I took a picture of our campground during the fog.