Florida or Bust!

We made it done to Florida with stops in Waynesburg, Pennsylvannia and Savannah, Georgia. It's always a blast (not!) traveling in a vehicle that's jammed packed and four bikes in tow. Once in Savannah it was nice and warm. From Savannah it was on to Orlando for the first part of the trip.

Logan was excited to be out of the car!

A nice beverage to relax with.

The pool at the resort was nice and this end was 35m wide. I waited til kids were done swimming once dark and got my laps with no issues.

Next day was hot! We did Universal which was fun.

Of course with Logan it was all things dinosaurs.

For my long ride I went to outside Orlando where there was a 20 mile long bike trail. I got 18 miles in and flatted. I didn't have the right adapter to fit the CO2 but fortunately this bike store was nearby. A friendly older guy who was riding dropped me off. I fixed the flat, got the right CO2 and was off on my way. 3 miles later I got another flat!! I changed it again and before getting going I noticed something lodged in the tire. I removed it and had no issues from that point forward.

The following day we did Disney's Animal Kingdom.

Straight to Dino-Land!

Did a few rides and bought more souvenirs. Another hot day. We spent the morning and half the afternoon there and were pretty bagged. We went bag to the hotel, rested a bit and I headed out for my last long run. That night we decided to head to Panama City Beach a day earlier as we were all ``Disney`d`` out. It took us 6 hours to get to PCB but once we saw the view from the balcony we knew it was the right move.

11th floor view from the Dunes of Panama.

PCB beaches are pretty sweet. The sand is like powder. The Gulf was warm. Nice!

Next day we ventured in to register for the race. Here`s Peter with his gear - a bargain at $650 haha.

Under the arch leading to the expo, complete with countdown clock to the race. T minus 71:56 and counting.

My poor attempt at a pic of the pro panel with (L-R) Yvonne Van Vlerken (defending champ), Jessica Jacobs (2-time champ), Hawaii Champ Mirinda Carfrae, 5th place Hawaii Tim O`Donnell (Carfrae`s fiancé), and Andrew Starcowycz (defending champ). The other notable buzz at the race is the 2 Princes from Bahrain who are competing. They have caused quite a stir here. They have several security SUVs in tow (all black), special parking, always moving about with full security. Staff reports they spent $12, 000 at the Ironman swag tent!! They will be racing with various security guards who will apparently be doing parts of the race. It should be interesting to see how they do the swim. People are not happy about the preferential treatment!

My bike is racked, bags dropped off and now I`m relaxing at the condo. The weather has been terrible today and the Gulf is unswimmable. It is supposed to clear this evening and be pleasant tomorrow - fingers crossed!!

 

Good night from Panama City Beach.

 

Cheers!!