This week we set out on a 2-day shakedown cruise in anticipation of our planned rides to Williamsburg and Alaska.

Our lunch stop was at a park on US-19 at Gulf Hammock. I’ve passed this park with the steam locomotive many times, but never took the time to stop. The locomotive was one of five owned by a lumber company that operated in the area from 1905 to about 1940.

We setup our chairs facing the creek at the back of the property and ate our lunch.

Our destination was “Hippie Hollow” at the home of Bunk-a-Bikerand host, Loraine.

Loraine has a large property with places for 4 or 5 RVs and lots of tents. There’s a bunkhuose and shelter fully equipped for preparing meals and relaxing.

It was threatening rain when we arrived, so we setup the tent under the RV canopy.

On day 2 we rode down to the Gulf Coast and along the shore on US-98. This part of the coast is much less commercial than other parts of Florida.

We stopped for lunch in a church parking lot in Carrabelle, FL.

As you can see, Beth pulled the trailer with her trike. She said she felt very comfortable pulling it and could hardly tell it was behind her.

Our afternoon rest stop was in Cross City. We have stopped at the Sun Stop Market several times. This might be the last time we stop there. The tables weren’t clean, the trash receptacles were overflowing, and they now sell only 87 octane gas. (The Harley needs 91 octane.) When we first started stopping here the store was clean and cheerful. That’s no longer the case.

We arrived home around 7:30 p.m. and quickly unloaded our gear. I have a relatively short to-do list to get ready for next week’s trip to Williamsburg, VA. The most important thing we forgot to take with us is mosquito repellant – not bad for our fist time out in almost a year.

Look for new posts as we attend a wedding and Shark Week XIII.