To Foley, AL

If I could live this Groundhog Day over and over again, like Bill Murray's character in the movie, I don't think I would bike all day in the rain.  I'd watch the 6 AM broadcast of the Buffy musical until I was sick of it.  I'd try all of the thousands of ways to order Waffle House hashbrowns, including the ones that involve Bert's Chili, without fear of getting sick tomorrow.  I'd call a cab and give the cute, sleep-deprived waitress the ride home to Mobile she was fishing for, and then I'd go to the airport and fly to Pittsburgh to meet my new nephew.

But I had tomorrow to think of, and the forecast said that the rain would stop by noon, so off I went.  I got as far as Foley, Alabama, where I knew there were hotels and campgrounds.  But none of the campgrounds allowed tents, and all of the hotels were full!

That didn't leave me with much choice... I headed down a county road and pulled into the first concealed, non-posted property I found, which turned out to be an out-of-season strawberry field.  All I can say is that anyone who can claim nothing is real after being in a strawberry field either hallucinated the field or is a very stubborn existentialist indeed, because strawberry plants are really prickly!  I hope none of them punctured my tent!  The slugs lost no time in exploring the tent.

27.1 mi