St. Augustine - We made it! - April 28

The final day was a short 38 mile ride to St. Augustine.  Our riding group is now considerably stronger, and we only required two and half hours to reach St. Augustine.

We spent an hour wandering around in the "old" St. Augustine, and then gathered for lunch, before heading out for the "wheel dipping" in the Atlantic Ocean.  With all of the pomp and picture taking, the "dipping" took up most of the afternoon.

That evening, the group had dinner at the Sunset Grill across the street from our hotel.  I think that most of us were still in state of disbelief that we had finally completed our journey.

High Springs, FL - rest day at the O'Leno State Park

Did very little today, and just recuperated for the final two days of our tour.  Went on a short hike in the park, took a nap ...

A view of the Suwannee River, on the route to High Springs.

 

In the morning we went on a short hike with the O'Leno Park ranger..

Tallahasee to Madison, FL

Another great cycling day.  Today was a fairly short 50 mile ride, and we took time to explore some sights along the way.

In Monticello we stopped at a great little bakery with excellent scones and cinnamon rolls.  Jim insists, that though the cinnamon rolls were good, they do not surpass the ones we enjoyed in Alpine, TX.  Nonetheless , he shared a second roll with me.

We later visited the memorial to Ray Charles in his hometown of Greeville, FL. Later in the day, after dinner, Bubba arranged for us to meet with Ms. Pritchard.   She had been a childhood friend of Ray Charles, and she shared her childhood memories with us.  Ms. Pritchard's life is as remarkable as Charles.  She came from a poor family, but managed to raise 5 children, and then go on to teach school for 38 years -- and serve as both myor and councilwoman in Greenville. 

A dining room at the bakery in Monticello.  Interestingly, the bakery offered a large number of products for bee keepers.

Our riding group stopped every 10 miles for 2 or 3 minutes.  At one of these "butt breaks", we came across a large number of nesting egrets.  Though difficult to dicern in this photo, there were scores of birds at this location, a hundred fee or so from the highway.

Me jamming with Ray.

DeFuniak, Milton, and Tallahassee, FL

Two more beautiful days for biking with light tailwinds and highs in the 80's. 

Milton was our last tent camping day.  From here on out, we will be spending the overnights in cabins, public places (e.g. gyms), or motels. 

It's been a great tour, but I think most folks are looking forward to an end.  Also, most are reflecting on their experiences, and how these experiences may alter their future dreams and aspirations. 

Milton to DeFuniak Springs, FL - April 21

We had a perfect day for biking: good weather, good road, and gently rolling hills.  

Also memorable were the meals.  Waffle House for breakfast, great country cafe for lunch, and another fabulous dinner by Ann (steak, spiced shrimp, and spinach ravioli. 

After dinner we had a campfire and entertainment. Jim Hubbard, a resident of thr RV park where we camped, did a couple of hours of c & w.  He had a very good voice.  The riders are very much into c & w. The couples danced. And the single women danced with each other. One of the riders is a dance instructor. She led folks in the electric glide.

At one point tHubbard did a song about a person that was a cancer survivor. Bubba asked all of the cancer survivors to come forward. They all joined hands and sang along. At the end, they did a group hug.  It was pretty touching. -- I think that there were 8 - 10 people who participated. A pretty big portion of our group. 

These are wildflowers that prevalent along the roadsides in this part of Florida. 

Daulphin Island, AL to Milton, FL - Easter Day, April 20

This was a challenging day with a 85 mile ride. Our route started with a one hour ferry ride at 8:00, so we didn't start the ride until 9:00. 

The day began with a a beautiful sunny morning.  However by noon, a cold front moved in and we had cooler temps and a strong north east head wind.  Everyone agreed that it was one of our more difficult days. 

To celebrate Easter, the Wolf Pack had placed inflatable bunnies and chocolate eggs by our tents. Unfortunately, the raccoons discovered the chocolate eggs before we did!  My bunny was my traveling companion for the rest of day.

The ferry ride was quite interesting and afforded views of the many oil rigs close to shore. 

Our route took us through Pensacola, past many of the old bay side homes. We originally had planned to eat at "Nicks Boathouse", but found it very crowded due to Easter.  We ended up eating at an open air food court down the road.  Food was served from 4 kitchens housed in Airstream trailers, each with a different food venue.  We all thoroughly  enjoyed the stop, and it got us back to the ride fairly quickly.

Dauphine Island, AL - rest day

It's been 10 days since our last rest day. Everyone was looking forward to this, especially after the long wet ride on the previous day.

I visited Fort Gaines in the morning. This was a strategic base for the Confederacy.  It is now a privately supported museum, and quite interesting. 

Spent the afternoon cleaning up the bike, taking a nap, getting a massage, and enjoying a couple beers. This morning, the skies had cleared, though we still had a very strong north wind.  By afternoon, things began to dry out from the storms of the prior 2 days.

I feel well rested and ready for tomorrow's 84 mile into Florida.