Milton, Florida

Ironically, the Sunshine State greeted me today with the coldest day
of cycling of my entire trip thus far. The sun was shining bright over
the Gulf's white sand beaches, but a strong northerly wind brought
wintery temperatures. As today's route took a northeast tack, the
headwind kept me crawling along at a snail's pace, with the cold, dry
air dessicating my eyes, even though I was wearing sunglasses.
Fighting the headwind, I rode in a tucked position, which prevented me
from enjoying the scenery via more than just occasional glances,
during which I spied grassy sand dunes that separated the beach from
the road, many seagulls gliding in place into the wind, pelicans
diving into the Gulf to catch fish, and the Navy's Blue Angels
practicing their stunts over their home city of Pensacola. Now I'm
holed up in a motel in Milton, Florida for the night, as the forecast
is for sub-freezing temperatures, and I did not bring the camping gear
I'd need to sleep outdoors in such conditions. So I'm taking the
oppurtunity to plan the rest of my trip, by sitting down with a state
road map and Google Maps (on my cellphone), to decide whether to stay
on the Southern Tier route to St. Augustine, or to head down the west
coast of Florida to Tampa, visit my friend Haichuan there, and then
cut across the state to Grandmar's house in Ft. Lauderdale.