Day 51: Quincy to Crawfordville, Florida

Day 51: Quincy to Crawfordville, Florida
Miles: 49.03 ------------ Total Mileage 2,896.80
Theme: 3 F's -- Fog, Flats and "Fore"

Today was a short day of riding and then we get a rest day tomorrow. Kathie, Tex and I rode off together. There was a little fog when we started, but not too much. That quickly changed however as the fog got thicker and thicker as we rode on. It wasn't that warm, but the humidity must have been over 95%. Between the fog and the humidity the air was so thick out it felt like a warm rain! We stopped at one point and I pulled out my blinking light - so that we were more visible. Fortunately Kathie and Tex both had very bright jackets on so that helped the visibility issue. One of the good things about the fog was that you really didn't know the terrain ahead until you got to it. No need to worry about hills, you came upon the hills and then past them before you knew what was happening!

We rode at a good pace this morning. As always people turned and stared at me on my bike as we went through towns. I had a new comment this morning. A guy said "You should hook up a tv to that bike as you are all stretched out and comfortable." We continued riding at a pace of between 16 and 20 miles an hour. We were mainly on country roads but it was hard to see much of the scenery due to the fog. We were focused on making the most of our off day - and the sooner we could start it, the better. It didn't take us long to get to the first sag stop (around mile 17 today). Katherine was there. As soon as we rode in, it seemed that the mosquitos and other bugs just started attacking. Needless to say we did not waste any time at the sag - we were like an Indianapolis 500 pit crew - in and out of pit row ASAP! We couldn't have been there more than 90 seconds.

We continued on down the road. At mile 34 Kathie broke off to go to Wakulla Springs State Park. Tex and I continued on to Crawfordville. We had to stop and get a few things at the Walmart. Before we got there however I had a flat tire. The road we were on was fairly busy and didn't have much of a shoulder, so I rode on for another mile (as there was still some air in the tire) until we got to a small strip mall where it was much safer to change the tire. It didn't take too long especially using the air cartridge. I love those, once you have the new tube in rather than pumping it up with a small hand pump, you use a pressurized cartridge. It fills the tire with air in seconds - literally, and it has much more pressure in the tire than you could get with a small hand pump.

We got back on the bikes and rode for another mile - and arrived at the Walmart. We talked to the Walmart Greeter to see if it would be okay to leave our bikes inside where she was greeting customers. She was interested in our ride and was happy to make sure no one touched our bikes. Tex and I went in the store with our biking garb on helmets and all. At one point Tex looked over at me and noted that everyone was smiling at us. I informed her that they were laughing at us! Here were these two older women in biking shorts and shirts, biking shoes, and topped of with biking helmets. Tex's helmet also has a mirror attached to it!. I think my assessment that they were laughing at us was much closer to reality. We didn't worry about whether they were laughing, we just smiled back! We paid for our purchases and headed to our final destination - The Inn at Wildwood.

We arrived at the Inn shortly after noon (even though we had a flat and stopped to do some shopping). Unfortunately our luggage wasn't there yet as Linda and Carol had to go to Tallahassee to get some groceries and they had to get Lisa's bike fixed. She had a broken spoke and had been riding Carol's bike for the last day and a half. When I checked in at the desk, the woman said "Oh, you have some mail." I had another Tree Mail package from my friend Kelle. As soon as I got to my room I ripped it open to find super cool Easter socks (Susan D you would be jealous of these!), pink marshmallow Peep Bunnies and some Gummy Bunnies! Too much fun. (Kelle - I have so looked forward to getting your little surprises on my rest days. Thanks so much!!!!)

There is a golf course connected with the Inn, so Tex and I went to the club house to get some lunch. We meet up with Lisa, Greta, Eva and Liz who arrived shortly before us. Later Alice and Victoria joined us as well. Not only was the food good but we had plenty of laughs as well! After lunch Victoria and I decided that we would go play golf once we could take a shower and put on clean clothes. Around 2:00 the van and trailer showed up - so we cleaned up and went and played - using rented clubs. We had a great time, didn't take it too seriously, and hit a few good shots (enough to not give up the game totally). There were signs to be careful as there were snakes and alligators so if (I mean when) I hit the ball into the rough, it stayed there! We had a great time. We got back to the Inn, took another shower and then went down to a surprise Margarita party before dinner. Linda and Carol gave us a Margarita party simply to say well done. They noted that the next few days will get busy as we prepare for the end and they just wanted to let us know what a great group we were and to say cheers for a great accomplishment.

Tomorrow is Easter. Some of us are going to church, some going kayaking... Tex and I had some work to do before the morning. I'll tell you about that tomorrow - don't want to spoil the surprise!

And so tomorrow is our last rest day of this trip. We are all talking more about what the trip has meant to us, what we have learned, what we will take back with us. Hard to believe that we have almost completed this journey across the country. I think it will take some time for me to truly grasp all the lessons learned. It has been an amazing journey. Well I better send this off - so I can get some sleep! Have a Happy Easter everyone -