Decided to leave at 5 pm Sat. 22nd. Sun. morning dawn foggy, was delayed until 8 am. I left Turner Field with 15 mph head wind so I climbed high and had a 15mph tail wind. I made excellent time with the first fuel stop at DeKalb IL.then French Lick in Kentucky. Cumberland in Tennessee. Last stop of the day at Cornelius in northern GA. I had the alternator wire vibrate loose and had to land at Cornelius at night with partial electrical power. The people there were very nice and helped me fix the alt.wire then provided fuel and let me sleep in the FBO Then some locals invited me to a cookout next door. Seems like I always meet the nicest people at airports. Next day dawn clear and I had a tail wind of 15-20 mph. I cruised at 8,500 - 12,000 feet flying around the major airspaces. Hit the gulf in northern Florida and followed the shoreline arriving in Tampa at 12:30pm at friend Kevin Arnott's house (who lives on a private freshwater lake). Stayed the night there then at 7:30 headed to Ray & Carol Marvin's in Englewood on Manitoba Key by flying over the ocean around Tampa airspace. Ray & Carol live on the intercostals side with the bay side only 100 paces away. I spent 4 days there, mostly fishing, catching bullheads and Marian snapper. I had to fight off the egrets and pelicans all the while. Also took Ray's boat out to the bay where I went swimming and seashell picking. The only problem was the Red Tide, which is an algae like micro organism that breaks apart by wave action and causes respiratory problems and kills fish.

Left Ray's going back to Kevin's via the ocean around Tampa, staying at Kevin's for a couple days. While I was there I went water skiing. Also sampled the wildlife at Tampa Bay's best strip club. Left for home Monday morning at 7am and headed out over the gulf straight home due to 30 mile an hour head winds. This course took me across 90 miles of ocean at one point 35 miles off shore. It was at this time that a Coast Guard helicopter suddenly appeared and paced me 500 ft. away. Talk about nervous, I tuned into 121.5 and in a while the helicopter broke off sharply. I've learned since that this means to continue on course. If they would have taken the lead and turned slowly I would have had to follow them. Then when they went to a landing configuration this would be your signal to land. (Got out of that one ok)! After refueling I encountered moderate turbulence over land and had to go high, 50 mph head wind. Landed in GA for fuel and found the lower level air had shifted 40 degrees, now had a tail wind. I took advantage of the situation and flew until after sunset not even knowing which state I was in. Stayed in the FBO (more friendly people), left at 5am before dawn to catch smooth southwest air at 20 knots. Stayed low as the upper air shifted 40 degrees to the north, this was good for ground speed but turbulent. Around Vermillion IL I encountered dust devils and turbulence so bad that I could not see my sectional and my headset kept getting knocked off. My air speed indicator and vertical speed indicator were both swinging wildly. Finally managed to climb high and flew until almost out of gas. Landed for fuel with surface winds 23 knots gusting to 31. Took off into the wind with GPS unit showing 8 mph ground speed. Climbed high to again found a tail wind. This took me to southern WI where the lower level winds were out of the south with upper level winds northerly. Landed at Turner Field in heavy slush at 2:30pm. This was April 1st but was no joke. Added note: I flew around major airspaces at altitude that put me in the way of arriving and departing airline flights. A transponder would have been helpful.