Mobile, Alabama to Apalachicola, Florida

Our stay in Alabama has been all too short. Bob was telling us last night what a lot there is to see and do in and around Mobile.

Arriving late yesterday and aiming to get to our next stop, Apalachicola in Florida, in time to see at least part of Chelsea's attempt to win the Champions' League for the first time, meant we only had time for a quick drive around the old town of Mobile before setting off on the 200 mile drive across Alabama to the Florida Panhandle coast.

Some photos of the Old Town, starting with the bar, Spot of Tea, where we had our celebration drink last night. The next is of Noja, where we had our evening meal with Bob and Thelma.

Some of Mobile's old buildings and the lovely tree-lined streets and squares.

As we drove out of Mobile, we went past the battleship Alabama, which is now a floating museum.

I love these huge American motorbikes. Many of them should be considered works of art for the way they are detailed and personalised.

Leaving Alabama and crossing into Florida.

The wonderful turquoise colour of the Gulf waters.

Great roads, bridges and coastline along our route by the Gulf of Mexico coast.

Just before we reached Apalachicola, we crossed from Central to Eastern time, which means we are now only 5 hours behind BST.

We checked into our motel, the Best Western in Apalachicola, just in time to see the second half of the Chelsea v Bayern Munich match. What an incredible game it was. The Chelsea victory was a fantastic result and made up for losing on penalties against Manchester United in Moscow in 2008.

While Wendy did her 'washer-woman' bit, doing all my laundry, I went and filled the car up with diesel. In the evening, we drove down to the centre of the town to have a drink and dinner at Boss Oyster, a restaurant specialising in oysters. It was on the water's edge and we watched the pelicans diving into the water catching fish. It was an idyllic scene.

Not long after, we heard from Bob & Thelma that they were checking into the hotel. They had driven a different route from Mobile, which had taken them a couple of hours longer than us. They came down and joined us for an excellent seafood meal. My jumbo shrimp were perfect!

We now have only four days of driving left, with possibly two rest days, one in central Florida and one at the Kennedy Space Centre. From there it's just a day's drive to our finish in Savannah, Georgia.