Ah ha… I seem to have a hitch-hiker this morning!!
I hope he/she jumps off before the engine heats up… Pitter, patter, ouch!
The washing is still damp so first port of call is a launderette. There’s one about 2 miles away so off I trot. When I get there they don’t allow drying on its own so I put them all in the wash again… They weren’t very clean anyway so no problem. It takes about an hour and a half to do then a quick stop at the harley dealers and back on the road.
One thing that surprises me about Florida is the number of trees… They’re blooming everywhere. The other thing, of course, is the dreaded mozzies, it seems they have an extended mozzie season this year so they are still around. Now I am a magnet for mozzie bites so have lathered myself in repellent. The species here also carry dengue fever and malaria along with the super mozzies carrying the zita virus that’s been in the news lately.
I am heading for St Petersburg FL, not Russia, about 260 miles away. I notice I have now done over 7000 miles yay 👍
I’m back on Highway 90 and it is a pretty straight road, in fact it isn’t much different to the interstate except for the speed limit and traffic lights… oh and passing through some of the towns, such as Perry
Looks quite new… and the birds seem to like it.
After a couple of hours I decide to take a right and see if I can find the sea…. I spot a sign for Horseshoe Beach, thats sounds nice. I was expecting to find it after a couple of miles, but 20 miles later I arrive.. it’s really lovely and there are a few islands just of the coast.
Again it appears to be a popular area for holiday homes and I soon discover, after trying a couple of turnings, that there is only 1 road in and out so I have to ride the 20 miles back again. Now it’s getting dark as it is gone 7pm.
It’s a lovely sky though…
I notice it gets dark around 7.20 and is fully dark by 7.45ish.
There really isn’t anywhere to stop. I notice that I need petrol so slow down to conserve fuel until I find a petrol station. There is one up ahead, but when I pull in I see that they only have one grade of fuel and it is the lowest. Petrol here is in 3 grades 87, 91 and 93. Harleys don’t like ethanol and almost all the petrol stations only have fuel with at least 10% ethanol. I was putting an additive into the tank each time, but it didn’t seem to make much difference the engine was still pinking, (struggling because of the weak fuel), even with the 93 grade in. I ask this guy at the petrol station if there is another one around here, he isn’t from here, but he thinks there is one about 7 miles ahead. I decide I have enough fuel for that so am going to look for another station. Of course once I’m back on the road I am kicking myself thinking I should have put a couple of dollars in just to make sure I don’t run out and get stuck… duh!
Sure enough about 7 miles further on is a town called Chiefland.. it is quite a substantial town so I am able to get 93 grade petrol so that’s good. I also think it’s time to stop so check out booking.com and get a hotel for the night. It is a wee bit more expensive than usual, but very clean and the staff are great. Apparently there is a cooked breakfast, in my experience so far that usually means DIY waffles, but will have to wait and see. There is a car wash right next door so I’ll give the bike a go over in the morning, she is full of squashed buggies… yuck! At least I haven’t been bitten yet, maybe the repellent is working.
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