Editorial note: This article first appeared in August of 2014
**Day One
Getting the first two pics was simple and quickly accomplished in the first 30 minutes of the ride.
S-teele City, Jackson Co. (16 miles)
A-lford, Jackson Co. (18 miles)
N-ew Hope, Washington Co. (76 miles)
I forgot 79 is under construction at New Hope, with a sea of mud everywhere. I approached the town from the west, coming in on 284 in hopes of finding a city limit sign that was still standing and NOT surrounded by a sea of mud. There was no joy in MudVille, so I pulled into a graveled area to take a break, check my map for the route to my alternate "N" town and suck down some coffee. That's when I spotted the sign for the polling location.
D-e Funiak Springs, Walton Co. (116 miles)
O-wls Head, Walton Co. (133 miles)
L-eonia, Holmes Co. (163 miles)
L-iberty, Walton Co. (179 miles)
A-rgyle, Walton Co. (194 miles)
R-ed Bay, Walton Co. (211 miles)
I was going to get a Mary Ester pic before supper, but as I rode past BBH, I realized that trying to find signs and a safe spot to park the bike for the photo in that 5pm traffic, was a terrible idea. supper break at BBH (275 miles)
Mossy Head, Walton Co. (316 miles) I couldn't get the picture... Standing on the side of 90, trying to figure out how to enable the flash, in the dark, was bad enough. Then, it started pouring down rain and I had to fumble in the dark with the camera back inside the freezer baggie. When I finally did accidently get the flash to fire, it dazzled both me and the camera... I decided I was in the wrong place at the wrong time, to be trying to figure that out, so I stuffed the camera back in my pocket and headed home. home... (382 miles)
**Day Two
Since this was going to be such a short day, I rode the Yamaha. I don't have it set up for an old man's comfort yet, so don't expect to see me riding it in Okaloosa Co. any time soon.
M-arianna, Jackson Co. (404 miles)
C-ottondale, Jackson Co. (419 miles)
Home... (429 miles)
regards,
Joe
