Pensacola, Panama Beach City, Tallahassee, Gainesville, and Daytona Beach, FL

Sunshine State yeaaaa

Pensacola - Hell YEAA

UUUUGGGGHHHHH kiiddd. We made it! My feet have touched the Atlantic ocean. We have officially traversed the great US of A. Allow me to reflect and tell you of these towns in Florida, a very fine state of this union.

Pretty in Pensy

Boom Boom Pow!! We were out of Alabama just like that and into Florida. MMmmm the coast was soo close but knew we needed to pace ourselves and experience that which was present. We headed on into Pensacola and after much needed laundry we headed downtown. We walked the streets and it had a very Sacramento feel to it. Mardi Gras was in full swing so there were Mardi Gras Balls going on so we saw many people dressed up very fancy in Tuxes and dresses. I thought that these balls were interesting because it allows adults to have a Prom type experience still. People really get into it and seems to be an important part of the culture. Some of the Balls are Masquerades while others are just dances or they have musical performances. We ended up filling our bellies in a place called McGuire's Pub which has the signature of people writing their names on dollar bills and stapling them to the ceiling. Supposedly, they have more than a million dollars on the walls. They are still tax liable for that right??

Git me dat money B!

We so happy here

Well they were having a special on drinks where I was getting my whiskey sours for 2 bucks a pop and they were delicious. Needless to say I may have imbibed a mortal sins worth. Anna enjoyed her cider responsibly but I was definitely feeling it. The wait was long and you could order at the bar so that is what Anna and I decided to do. We shared a delicious Shepard's Pie. McGuire's was actually a little ways out of downtown and we walked there so to get back to Maander we stumbled/walked back for a decent walk and found a coffee joint to hang at till I sobered up. Good times and the places were still popping when we were just enjoying our coffee, oh and we succumbed to some delish desert as well. Sleepy at Walmart and then to church the next day to confess my sins.

The church was big and we didn't really meet anyone. Shockingly, the Baptist church was preaching on Romans!! :) it was a solid service and all but afterwards we were pretty quickly on our way. We headed to the beach and spent most of the daylight left there just relaxing and working on our tans. The beaches on the panhandle were absolutely beautiful. The beaches are actually more beautiful than the ones in California no lie. The water was very blue and the water was still pretty cold so I just kinda dunked my feet in.

Sunset and Gulf of Mexico, dat pretty!

Maander it has been fun now
we need to get to bed k?

We drove down the island that is on the Gulf. I don't know exactly what they are called but there is mainland then a channel then island then Gulf. It goes like that for a ways on the coast. We took a very scenic drive down to Panama Beach. It really felt tropical and it was a very easy drive enjoying the sites. We rolled into Panama which was quite touristy. We spent more time on the beach and had lunch there. All of Panama's Walmarts don't allow camping so we stayed at a RV site and got some showers and kinda just enjoyed the weather. It has been very mild and the humidity hasn't been too bad at all. For those people who, "Winter" in warmer climates I have no idea why they are driving to Yuma instead of going to the Emerald Coast. Suppose if you hate humidity that would be a reason.

Itz a hippy thang

From Panama we took the long way around Tate's Hell State Forest, horrible name imo, to Tallahassee. This kept us right up against the Gulf and we saw beautiful scenery for most of the trip. Houses that are literally on the beach were going for 200gs too so yeaa, different from Cali. I won't speak much about Tallahassee. It was didn't have a good vibe to it. We went to the Capitol but for the most part it was meh. Anna and I were not jiving very well during that time (we're cool now though) and we just wanted to get on the road after a nights stay.

White beach and White um Anna!

Thats blue

A real seagull
apparently in Cali they are, "Gulls"

We left the Capitol for Gainesville which we heard was a cool college town. That is the home of the University of Florida, the Gators Football champs over and over. They are very proud of their school it is huge and their team is very good. We may have been frequenting places that weren't so collegy but it didn't have the typical college town feel we were used to. It mainly felt like just a normal biggish town that really liked Alligators. It was hilarious to see that the big thing there is to ride around town on a scooter. Not a motorcycle or moped or a vespa. A new scooter. The college kids were zipping around all over on them. We went for a walk on campus and just saw rows upon rows of scooters. We visited the stadium where the Gators play and there were many kids working out on the benches doing plyometrics.

In Tallahassee we met a guy with a very nice bus who informed us of Winterjam in Daytona which is a big VW car show there. We had planned on leaving on Thursday to get there for when the events began. The first thing was a welcome party at a Winghouse. Well before we left Gainesville I wanted to get the oil changed, valves adjusted and a good look over by a knowledgeable VW shop. I found a reputable shop named Hugo's and I talked to Hugo. Well he could do everything I was looking for but he couldn't get to it till the next day. Well we didn't plan on it but we decided we would stay another day in Gainesville. We went to the mall and then went on a hike in a neighboring park reserve. It was a good hike that didn't have particularly spectacular views we may have seen in Humboldt but very nice. After getting out of the desert and into foresty type places from Texas eastward they foliage is much denser and skinnier than in California. California has the massive trees that reach so high and navigating among them isn't too bad. Here it is super dense skinny trees that get up to maybe 30ft and there is a ton of foliage all around almost impossible to pass unless someone has already burned a path.

Itz a backwoods kinda thang

I told her that wasn't the right direction

Young Cardinal

Hugo's work took most of the day on Friday. Anna was a bit annoyed but he did a great job and he also explained some things to me that were very helpful for the road. He took a look at my old distributor and confirmed that the points were completely fried. He showed me how to switch them out some tricks of the trade and some adjustment I may choose to make to the carburetor. We got to Daytona and headed to Walmart to turn in for the night.

Another Adventurewagen!
The interior was kinda lame though
Plus Sgt. Peppers lonely heart club!! Cool

Daytona is famous for it's racetrack and for bike week. Because of this there is a huge amount of motorcycles in the area and white trash, apparently bike week will be there next week so people may be coming down early. The beach area is very developed and had the 50s vibe that isn't so charming to myself particularly. The beaches were great and this was the moment I was able to put my feet in the Atlantic ocean for the first time. I claimed victory when I did that. If Maander bites the dust from here on out I won't fret too bad. I made it across the country in a VW!

Me claiming victory!

A Fridolin. They're old Mail trucks

It was Saturday so we went on over to the area where WinterJam was occurring and registered. The price was a bit steep and I didn't know how it would compete with my typical car show I go to, Bug-o-Rama. Saturday was just a precursor to Sunday and not as big. We talked to the guy we met in Tallahassee and saw what they had. We headed to a mall after and saw the movie Hall Pass which was solidly funny but nothing amazing.

Daytona Beach promenade

Today is Sunday and we are done with WinterJam. It didn't live up to the price tag. I paid 5 bucks more for this show and it didn't have the quality of VWs as compared to my home show and no drag strip. The best part of it was that I was able to see a Fridolin which I have never seen in real life before. We went to the beach at about 12 and stayed till 3 and got some sun.

Probably the most rare thing at the show

We are now almost to Orlando. Apparently, Orlando is experiencing record high temperatures for this time of year and because of this Maander has gotten hotter than I would like. We are about 20 miles out at a Starbucks and giving him a break. 87 degrees is predicted for tomorrow and I don't know about the humidity. Turns out humidity sucks!! We are spoiled in California in that regard. I am becoming more and more convinced why California really is that great of a place and subsequently so expensive.

We finally get to go to a 24 hour fitness since Fort Worth here in Orlando! I am excited to get back on the treadmill, stair climber and bike! I think I have maintained my weight maybe gained a lb or two but plan on getting back on the wagon here. Down in Miami they have a bunch of 24s too so we will utilize them extensively. I am having a battle in my head whether to drop the cash for Disney World and all those places, possibly Cirque du Soliel. You will find out next blog :) Peace