Dauphin Island to Milton April 22 2012



After our rest day we were ready for any thing. So we started the day off with a 40 minute ferry ride, and what a ride it was. The wind was howling down out of the north at 40 mph and the ferry was not going to go but when the ferry master hear that we would have a 90 mile sag and it would take two trips to get us around Mobil Bay he decided to go.

The waves were crashing over the deck of the ferry and everyone was hanging on for dear life. Bikes were sliding around and the riders were all huddled in the shelter of the wheel house. The only ones to brave the upper deck were Ken Liam and I. Ken and Liam told stories of working in off shore oil facilities and I told stories of fishing out of Prince Rupert.

After the ferry ride we had an 88 mile ride where the wind was howling at 40 mph from North which was our left hand side. It was almost impossible to hold a straight line. The first part of the ride was along the coast line and there were no trees for shelter. After about 20 miles we got into a lot of resort areas where on the ocean side there were lots of high rise condos and commercial on the other side. This lasted for approximately 20 more miles before we turned NE so the wind was now almost in our face. This was not a day to tarry. I kept grinding away as best I could. Sometimes it was only at 8-9 mph when there was a really strong gust and sometimes it was at 20 mph if there was lull. With five miles to go I got a flat. This was only my second one of the3 trip so I shouldn’t complain.  I was glad to get into camp as this may have been the toughest day we have had.

When I got in I checked out supper and it was the dreaded frozen meat balls in Ragu sauce. These are the really cheap ones which are spongy and make Spam tasty.  So Don and I quickly organized Web to drive the Canadian’s and Ken out for supper. We went to Texas Roadhouse which is a steak house. I had the 16 oz New York. It was perfect. Eating of a real plate with real cutlery and a real piece of meat was wonderful. 

Tomorrow is only 52 miles however the wind is still forecast to howl at us out of the North.

Terry