Days 7 & 8 - Relaxing in the sun

It's already Thursday evening now, and I'm due to head home tomorrow. These two days in Hollywood have indeed been relaxing, and there's been no rain although it always seems to be a threat. I've spent time by the pool, walked down the beach, bought my coffee & pastry at the same shop each morning and had dinner in the same patio restaurant every night. As I said before, I have everything I need right here. Laundry facilities are right down the hall, so I took care of that chore this morning. Plus I've made some changes to my plans. I've been keeping an eye on tropical storm Chantal, which has been downgraded but is due to bring rain to the area Friday morning. I thought about leaving here today to try to stay ahead of it, but I realized I really needed this day to rest.  Now it looks like if I depart late in the morning I may be lucky enough to ride behind the storm.  I don't know if that will mean less rain or not. As always, I'll just have to see how it goes. I did, however, decide to complete my first objective today rather than tomorrow, and I'm glad I did, as it took a good part of the day to drive into Miami and back again.  I finished the final length of US 27 and started the first part of my return route which also begins in Miami. I had to take this shot for the record.

Speaking of my return route, I've made some changes to that plan. So my original idea was to ride US 27 from Fort Wayne, IN to Miami, then take US 41 from Miami to Copper Harbor, MI. As soon as I arrived here I knew that I was not going to ride to the U.P.  That's just too far to ride, especially alone. So I've found another road I can ride from end to end: US 441. This road also begins in Miami (I rode the first portion today) and ends in Tennessee as it meets US 25W in Lake City. Then I'll follow US 25 till it ends at Cincinnati.  I think this is the highway that my parents and grandparents used to take to Florida before I-75 was built.  It runs very close to I-75 all the while I'll be on it.  When it ends, I'll probably hop on I-75 the rest of the way home. I am excited to take 441, though, because that is the main road through the Great Smoky Mountain National Park into Gatlinburg.  And that means great mountain riding.  I may even detour onto the Blue Ridge Parkway for a few miles, just because it's there. 

I need to see my dentist again as soon as I get home. I had some work done about 2 months ago, and after a few weeks that tooth became sensitive to cold.  I returned and he fixed that just before my trip. Now the same tooth seems to be sensitive to pressure, as in chewing.  It also sometimes just feels like an old fashioned toothache, the likes of which I've never felt before. I hope it doesn't progress too rapidly over the next week. 

I got up with the early risers one morning to try for a sunrise picture, but it was too cloudy to witness that event.