Update #1 - Jan 01st, 2003
Belle Isle, FL - 0.0 miles (0.0 kms.)

After two weeks off the road, it is time to get back on the road again. Tomorrow morning, I head out from Belle Isle heading east to Titusville and then south along FL A1A and US 1 to Miami. I'm looking forward to this year since this will be my tenth year on the road. My tenth anniversary will be on March 27th. I hope to be on the West Coast by then.

I hope that this year's encounter with Florida ministers is a lot better than this time last year. The one major difference is the change of weather since last year. Around this time in Central Florida, the temperature was only in the twenties and thirties with strong winds coming from the north. Tomorrow, I will have temperatures in the seventies. I hope that this holds out for a little while so if I have to I could camp out in my tent if needed.

Another thing different from this time last year is that I did not have an informational sheet flyer to hand out. I hope that this shows people that I am not a homeless person and needs to be directed to a shelter. Yes, I do not have a home here on Earth that I can call my own. I tell everybody that my home is in Heaven and I'm just a traveler on this planet.

There is one more important thing about this year is that I now have a set of working lights. The battery system for my headlight failed back in 2001. I couldn't find a replacement battery pack. Now, I will be relying on a Halogen light that uses four AA batteries. It is pretty bright and my new four function tail light has a range of almost a half mile.

From Miami, I will be backtracking to Titusville and then heading north on the northern sections of FL A1A and US 1 to Daytona Beach, St. Augustine, and Jacksonville. After Jacksonville, I will be crossing into Georgia and then crossing the state in the southern section. I'll be crossing back into Florida around Tallehassee and then taking the Gulf Coast route through Apalachicola, Panama City, and Pensacola, FL on the way to New Orleans. Eventually, I'll be making my way along the Southern route to California.

I'll try and post a more positive update next time.