Another great rest day

You do need time to recharge the batteries on a ride like this and today was another ideal spot for a rest day. The summer season has just about finished for this resort and the town is winding down towards winter but it was still a beautiful day for those of us from cooler climes.

My day's sickness meant that my half day in bed when I arrived then an early night meant that I gave myself the chance to recover as well as I could and when I woke at quarter to 7 I had had a full uninterrupted night's sleep. First job was to do the duties so I grabbed the only working washing machine in the complex and had my smalls (and bigs) done by half past and before most other people were out of bed. I then went into breakfast and found a couple of the other riders there already - habits die hard - and I joined them and had some cereal and more and more water and orange juice. I then just walked the beach for about an hour whilst the sun came up and turned the sand and some buildings into a seaside resort that came to life as the sun rose higher. People walking the beach in very assertive manner, joggers and swimmers were all out early and getting the benefit of a warm Atlantic breeze and Ocean.

It seems strange when you come from an island that has no where more than 75 miles from the sea that people here make such a big issue about being at the 'Ocean'. There are some riders here who live 1,000 miles away from the sea and being here today has been a great event for them. That is something I have to be very aware of and not be too nonchalant about seeing the same stretch of water that forms part of the Irish Sea at home.

The morning was taken up doing nothing much except watching my washing dry in the sun and breeze on the balcony. Al followed on and borrowed the washing line then he went onto the beach for a long seat. It turned out to be about 6 hours long. I walked the beach again, paddled and swam in the sea then met up with Johnnie, Connie and Anne for lunch at Molly Darcy's Irish bar where they at least sold a decent pint of Guinness. We later returned there for dinner and then I had American beer; well, they call it beer but it's a bit like Blair's Britain used to be - all froth and no substance - but at least the food was decent and helped the recovery road.

The picture shows the Best Western hotel from the beach with our room bottom right hand corner (washing much in evidence) and if you look four up and three across you can just make out the AbB water containers drying in the sun after their rest day clean out.

After lunch I went back to the room and knocked out some z's whilst trying to find a TV channel without adverts before continuing my day of sloth by going back in the sea for a dip before dinner. If the sea and weather continue to be this warm, when Lynne comes out next week we will be looking for property to buy.

Back to the room after a last walk along the beach to get ready for tomorrow - another 95 miles - but the weather is due to be good to us. we are all busy monitoring the 3 tropical storms out in the Atlantic and seeing if and when they are going to hit us.

Whatever the weather we will continue onto our goal. We have four days of riding then another day off in Savannah, Georgia, then just two more until we finish. Two more riders left the group today and that leaves us with 11 only to finish the trip. By coincidence, we all ended up sitting together at Molly Darcy's for dinner tonight so it seems like we will get on well for the rest of the trip.

Just one more view of North Myrtle Beach as the ocean beats onto the sand outside the balcony window as I type.