FLORIDA REPORT 3--SOME RIDES

I've been waiting for a let-up in your crap weather before I post anything more from Florida, but the weather witch isn't giving you many breaks back there in northeast Iowa. But on the bright side, Irv may be able to unload a few snowmobiles now! So I thought I might try to catch you up on some of the rides we've done so far.  At this posting, we've put on a little over 1,200 miles on the trike so far.

The first ride I took alone was over to Ft. Walton where I joined the GWRRA chapter over there for their meeting and ride afterwards.  It was kind of fun being able to follow along instead of leading.  I talked to their ride planner and he said he was getting tired of planning their once a month ride.  I said "How would you like to do that every Wednesday plus about a dozen other special rides?!"  Our ride went about 130 miles round trip to Milton, FL, where Boo Weekly and Bubba Watson (pro golfers) attended high school.  We visited a train museum there.

We have done a number of local rides in the area on our own, but none yet with the local Panama City chapter.  We've ridden through Panama City and areas to the east that were devastated by hurricane Michael back in October.  I think we are done riding in that direction, because I am really getting depressed looking at all of the damage.  I can't imagine living there and having to go to work and look at that every day.  Hopefully you guys aren't getting too depressed looking at all the snow!

One of the more interesting rides we have done was over to East Point, FL (about 250 miles round trip).  There we visited a facility that showcased the animals and the features of an estuary.  An estuary is where fresh water from a river flows into a bay of salt water in the ocean.  Many types of animals (especially oysters) live in these areas.

AN OYSTER BOAT

A FLIGHT OF PELICANS

A WHALE'S BACK BONE

There also was a long boardwalk that went out into the bay for further observation and also displays of some of the live animals and fish, but the hurricane destroyed most of the boardwalk and took out the equipment used to keep the animals and fish alive.  They all had to be set free!

Our most recent ride was to Falling Waters State Park near Chipley, FL.  Florida had done a great job with their state parks, particularly in the panhandle.  This park has a huge waterfall (700 ft.) that flows into a huge sink hole.  The whole park has several huge sink holes, but I doubt if we could turn the sink holes in Allamakee County into tourist attractions!  Here's a short video of the falls.

I know in your area, if you can't run a snowblower, you ain't crap!

HI'YA, CHUCKLES!

If you ain't a roofer or a dump truck driver down here, you ain't crap!

THE ROOF ON THE CONDO NEXT TO US

Hopefully by the next post, your weather will have improved, and congrats to the girls' basketball team for making the state tournament!