Sunday the last day of the ride to Florida.

Sunday morning I was on the northeast side of Orlando and my iPhone navigation device which had been so reliable and useful told me that it would be a long but possible 130 miles to my sister Linda's house in St Petersburg, my final destination.

But today was predicted to be hot with a wind from the west. I started with notions to make it. But within the first 10 miles I saw an elaborate and exotic bike path crossing over the road. 

I managed to find my way onto the path and encountered some other Sunday morning cyclists who told be about a train that connected Orlando and Tampa. I was sold. it did not take much to convince me to abandon a long hot ride of 135 miles. My new plan was to take it easy and ride as far as I felt and take the train from there.

I followed some locals into Winter Park on bike paths through some very upscale neighborhoods

to the train station.

.... And got the schedule and booked passage for a late afternoon train. Then heading southwest out of town I passed through the Magic Kingdom and since it was getting hot stopped at one of the grand Disney theme park hotels and stopped in for a swim.

I met some great people and had a fantastic afternoon. I left as an afternoon thunderstorm approached and narrowly arrived at the station just as a huge thunderstorm arrived. minutes later I would have been drenched if not struck by lightning.

But with that narrow escape my luck ran out. the train was delayed and the train was replaced with a bus and I was face with the same problem I had in Europe. They would not accept my bicycle as cargo. But having previously "learned the rules .... I was able to break them properly", and took my bike apart as I had done in Italy and wrapped her in my tarp and sleeping pad and disguised her as a "wheelchair". 

This they reluctantly accepted and I climbed aboard the bus for the a ride through some thunderstorms to Tampa.

We arrived at 8PM and I had a very beautiful cool, moonlight 20 mile ride in the dark across Tampa Bay on the old Gandy Bridge built in 1924 to end my journey at my sister Linda' house in St Petersburg.