We spent a lot of time plotting and planning over the last few months. This was going to be a great motorcycle adventure with the turn-around happening at Fort Walton Beach, Florida. The one thing I can never plan for is the weather. I’ve mentioned it in the last 3 days of blogs and it was time to do something about changing the plan.

You know I’m going to have a great day when the first stop is at Walmart. I have nothing really against that retailer but it’s just not one of the places I shop (ever). I had an urgent need for a 1/4 – 20 bolt. I lost one out of the new fairing and I was afraid there might be damage shortly. Walmart was 1/2 a mile away. I probably have 2,000 bolts at home so out of necessity “Welcome to Walmart”.

The bolts were procured – they’re not the black ones I need to match but it’s what they had. While I was there I thought I’d get some items to make the people around me happier. After 3 days of melting, I might not have been as fragrant as I should have been. I purchased some baby powder and a small bottle of my favorite cologne. That should at least temporarily cover up some of the unpleasantness.

With that out of the way we were off to the first leg of our new route home. I had cut out 500 miles by not going on to the Florida panhandle so we only needed a short day to get us pointed toward the ranch. The place I chose was Wyndham’s Garden Lake Guntersville which was only 110 miles away. It was nice to have a short ride and ended up with a view of Lake Guntersville.

On the way to the lake, the clouds started gathering. Rain was imminent. There is nothing like putting on the rubber suit when the temp is 94 degrees out. The only hope was that the rain would cool things off. NOT. Fortunately we only had to ride through 2 miles of downpour before the sun came back out. We were still wearing the rain suit. Now I know how a boiled cabbage feels.

It’s a good thing the hotel was only 10 miles ahead.

Official check-in time was 3:00 and it was only 1:45 but I took a chance anyway. Our room was ready. I felt very fortunate given that today is July 4. Some noisy neighbors moved in next door.

With all the fishing gear carried into the room next door, I’m afraid these crickets aren’t going to be celebrating July 5.

Total mileage for today: 111 Total trip mileage 730.