Sunday Sandstorms

We’ve been thinking hard about this and we really do not know what it is that we have done to upset Aeolus, the Ruler of the Winds in Greek mythology. For the last two days in Rosemary Beach, while it would be true to say that it has been ridiculously cold, it has not really been that windy. But as soon as we set off on the bikes…WHAM. The wind starts blowing and gusting and, you guessed it, it is not a tail wind.

Today, as we made our way steadily in a Westerly direction to Pensacola Beach, our last stop in Florida, the wind was (apparently) blowing from the North at 10-20 mph. We don’t dispute this, but for some reason with a really strong wind blowing from the side, it feels almost as bad as a head wind. It saps your energy, pushes you off balance, and generally makes it feel like your wheels are running through treacle. And when it’s biting cold too, well…need we say more.

Anyway, enough of that. The scenery today was amazing, particularly at the start, coming out of Rosemary Beach through all the little towns, with the beach on one side and the bay on the other; and at the end…well, you’ll have to look at the photos to understand really. It’s like nothing we’ve ever seen on earth before, and in fact it does look rather like what you might expect another planet to look like. For the last 20 miles or so today, we cycled along a peninsular with sand so white and fine that it looked like snow, and where the wind had blown it so much that it had formed itself into drifts and piles, very much like snow. The road ran right through the middle of these sand drifts and for much of the time, the drifts had found their way onto the road, or even across pretty much the whole road in places. And all of it was literally feet from the edge of the Gulf of Mexico. Amazing.

Exhilarated by the experience, but totally exhausted, we retreated to our hotel room as quickly as possible after arriving and ordered room service. Looking forward to a shorter day tomorrow, just over 40 miles into Alabama, we’ll be watching The Weather Channel closely, and praying to Aeolus.

Us x