We woke this morning to the sound of thunder. There was a line of storms moving across Tampa Bay and I-75, so we took our time packing the bikes and having breakfast.

We left about 7:15 a.m. after the major cells had passed.

We rode through a little rain on the Howard Frankland bridge. We watched it approach over the bay and it was interesting to see the eastern edge as we emerged from the rain while we were on the top of the “hump.” Farther north the rain was much heavier. We stopped at a rest area and put on the rain gear. We rode through two stretches of heavy rain and 24 miles later stopped at a rest area to shed the rain gear. The rest of the morning was clear and warm.

We stopped for coffee at a rest area just before our first gas stop. A few hours later we stopped for a picnic lunch at a rest area. Beth had 12 missed calls and a ton of emails on her phone. She spent a good bit of lunch time responding to the inquiries.

The rest area has a memorial plaque for Gold Star families.

The afternoon was HOT. The air temperature registered 97-98 degrees on our bikes all afternoon. We were glad to reach our destination by 3:30 p.m. We got a large salad at Walmart for dinner. At the hotel we showered, did some hand laundry, and took a dip in the pool. Our room has a kitchenette, which made fixing dinner easy.

Here is the animation of our route today. I’m still working on learning the processes and software needed to create these maps. Today I learned how to put labels for each of our stops on the map

Finally, here are some flowers. The myrtle is in bloom and very impressive.

Tomorrow we have a short ride to Maggie Valley. We’ll stop in Bryson City to pick up some beer on our way to our hotel. Our son, Drew, who lives in Philadelphia, is riding down to meet us. Together we’ll attend a concert of the Tesla String Quartet in Waynesville. We are looking forward to the concert and seeing our other son, Ross, who plays in the quartet.