KNOCK ON WOOD!

Thanks to a series of contacts starting from my Sunday evening news spot in Panama City, I have been accommodated and will continue to be hooked up for most of my remaining time along the Gulf.  Jeff Ellis, the local tri-athlete who saw me on the news, and his wife hosted me for an evening in Seagrove, FL and took very good care of me. Before even setting foot in his beautiful beach bungalow, Jeff had welcomed me warmly and offered me cold water and a beer.  After a much needed shower, we sat around talking, watching the news, and eating every snack he could find in his cupboard (chips&salsa, pretzels, powerbar, chocolate covered prunes). After his wife got home, we had an awesome dinner and talked all about their lives and my experiences in West Africa.  It was an early evening as I had a decent ride ahead of me the next morning, and I slept like a baby.

The next morning, Jeff continuing in his hospitable fashion, offered me cereal, a BLT, and a power smoothie for breakfast. Being a competitive cyclist, Jeff planned to ride with me about half way to Pensacola. This was a nice change of pace as I haven't had any company on the road since starting in Key West. About six miles down the road we stopped at his friend's bike shop, Big Daddy Cycling, and they gave me a free bike tune up.  After cycling 37 miles that morning, Jeff turned back at the Destin Bridge and I pedaled on. In Fort Walton, I was treated to a very nice lunch by Linda Swaney and her husband Joe. Jeff had met Linda on the side of the road only a few days earlier while she was cycling and training for her upcoming cross country bike ride. A retiring soldier of 23 years, as a present to herself she's finally going on a bicycle tour of the US like she's always wanted to, while her husband provides support from the car. Check out her journey at www.crazyguyonabike.com/globetrotter. Joe was kind enough to "stalk" me after lunch at several spots down the highway to take pictures with his really nice camera. You can see these on my website and album that I will be linking.  After our lunch I finished my day by reaching Pensacola around rush hour, completing a 75 miles day. I am being hosted here by Christian Wagley, a friend of Jeff's, and a local environmental scientist working with Sustainable Town Concepts toward a greener world. He did a nearly 2,000 mile bike ride from Florida to Maryland and knew how great it was when kind people gave him a roof over his head. So he's been kind enough to spare his couch for two nights until I continue on to Mobile, Alabama tomorrow and finally leave the seemingly never-ending state of Florida.

In Mobile I've been connected with Jeff Ellis' brother, James, who is the president of the MDi Media Group which does a lot of public relations work. James has gone above and beyond by gaining media interest in more than one outlet around Mobile, connecting me with two of his coworkers who are going to work with me to develop media and press release packages that I can use along my route, as well as accommodating me with a hotel room for a night or two then his home if need be. Once I'm done in Mobile, James has gone even further and contacted a friend of his in the PR world, Elaine Stevens, who will be comp-ing me a hotel room at the IP Casino-Resort-Spa in Biloxi, MS. It is at this point that I am almost in disbelief at the kindness of strangers. I am excited about these coming days and will definitely keep you posted on how it all goes. Hopefully some more media links to come. Thanks for reading and I'll talk to you next from Mobile!