May 13: Monroeville to Andalusia, Alabama
We got an early start this morning to take advantage of the cooler temperatures in the morning. It was in the low 50’s at 7 AM and it got up to the mid-80’s by the time I arrived in Andalusia.
Finding a good route today was much easier. I managed to stay on little-used country roads all day. It was a nice change from the busy truck routes of yesterday.
There was a nice breeze at my back to help me along and to take the edge off of the hot sun. The terrain in this part of southern Alabama is dominated by forests and rivers. The roads I was on wind gently through the forests and descent down to cross the rivers and then climb back up. I must have repeated that pattern of coasting downhill, pedalling across the river valley floor, then pedalling up and out of the river valley about a dozen times today. This is some scenic country, I think, and I found myself stopping often to take pictures. My pictures rarely do the scene justice, but I can’t help trying.
There were a couple photos today that seemed worthy of mentioning. First, there’s this Alabama gas station that I found out in the middle of the Alabama wilderness.
Then, you might be interested to know that I rode through Brooklyn today.
I also rode through Bermuda. Apparently, Bermuda is too small to rate a sign, so I’m afraid I don’t have a picture of its welcome sign.
My friend Marty who rode with me for the first five days of The Dream Tour went to Auburn University which is about 150 miles from where we are now. As I’ve been riding along in the last few days, I’ve seen a number of mailboxes like this one:
Here’s a link to the entire collection of today’s photos: