Day 53: Crawfordville to Perry, Florida

Day 53: Crawfordville to Perry, Florida
Miles: 53.21 ------------ Total Mileage 2,950.01
Theme: Half a Rest Day?

It feels good to get back on the bikes - I feel like I missing something if I haven't ridden during the day. And yesterday - our rest day, I didn't ride Ms. B (my bike) at all. So getting on the saddle and starting down the road was a good thing.

At breakfast Marge said "On 4 more days until rests days." It will be weird to get back to normal life. No longer will my bike be allowed to be next to my bed each night. No longer can I sit in the driveway in a plastic chair and wait for a fabulous dinner to be served up. Well I guess I could try waiting in the plastic chair in the driveway - but I have a sneaking suspicion that I will be sadly disappointed! And certainly I can't eat whatever I want during the day and not gain a pound! Ah - there is much I will miss when this trip ends, but it will be good to get back to my regular life too. I think we are all starting to wrap our minds around getting back home and out of the "Biking Bubble." As Kathie, Tex and I rode today we shared some of the highlights and lowest points we experienced on the trip. It was fun to share what stuck out for each of us.

We rode just over 53 miles today. Tex lead off from the hotel and she was like a cannon ball shot from a cannon. Nothing was holding her back. She must have eaten something different than I did this morning -- or she could be doping. I hope she does get caught when they do the random urine test! The riding was flat and straight - and it seemed like a very short day! We did see a snake on the side of the road. It was quite colorful and reminded me of a coral snake. On further reading on snakes in Florida it very well could have been a Scarlet Snake. In either case it was dead and wasn't going anywhere. We also saw a turtle - it was crossing the road. Sure hope he made it to the other side okay.

It was humid out, but fortunately it wasn't too hot when we started. There were some magnificent thunder clouds in the sky. I loved seeing the sun peaking through or backlighting the clouds. According to the news there is a chance of scattered thunder showers, but we have been lucky with weather so far, so I am holding my hat on that. Young Pup (Lisa) was doing Sag today. She had the Easter Bonnets in the Sag wagon and assured us she would wear one of them at the Sag stops. Unfortunately Kathie, Tex and I didn't get to see her in the bonnet as we were first there and she always put it on after the 1st group went through) but others took photos of her.

Just like the other day when we rode, we didn't spend much time at the Sag stop due to the bugs. We got in, refilled our water bottles and headed out again. Shortly after the first Sag we were riding along and a big bird crossed right in front of us. I was going to ride on but I noticed it stopped in the trees. I warned Kathie and Tex that I was going to turn around and look at it. I found it sitting in a tree. It wasn't a hawk like I first thought but rather it was a beautiful Barred Owl. I called Tex and Kathie back to look at it, but just when Tex got there a logging truck came by and scared the owl away. I did get a decent photo of it though. Seeing the bird was simply a beautiful gift that the day brought.
It made my day!

We stopped down the road a bit to use the restroom at a gas station. The woman working in the store was very friendly. I always like to ask if they mind if I use the restroom before using it - especially if I don't plan on buying anything. She said yes and I thanked her and warned her that more bikers might be stopping in. She was happy to have as many come in as wanted! The bathroom didn't have your normal men/women sign on the door. Instead it had a painting of a doe and a buck. Tex had to think a minute before she knew which door to open. She got it right thankfully - but come to think of it, maybe she knew because she saw which one I came out of!

As I waited outside for Tex and Kathie I got into a conversation with a fellow outside. He told me that he used to work for the antenna company - and he was up on a 60 foot antenna when his safety line broke and he fell off (and the antenna came down too). He said he shattered his arm and is now on disability. He lifted his arm up and you could see the scars and the disfigurement. He lives off of his disability but doesn't get much so the convenience type stores in the area save their aluminum cans for him and he comes and collects them every week - and then gets the money from that. Between that and fishing, he gets by.

We pushed off once again and quickly came to the 2nd (and last) Sag stop for the day. As we were just about heading out, Carol (our guide) came into the Sag. Due to people having issues with their bikes - and Carol giving parts of her bike so others could keep riding, she hadn't had an opportunity to ride in a week. Kathy, Tex and I pushed off - and then realized - that was rude to just leave Carol there. I turned around and asked her to join us. And so she did. Now as I mentioned earlier, the ride was very straight and flat today. Turns out Carol has a boom box type thing on the back of her bike. She had that going so the 4 of us were cranking to the likes of Carol King. I don't think I will ever be able to hear the song "Where you Lead" and not think of riding the straight flat roads of Florida.

We quickly got to our destination city - Perry Florida. It was about 11:15. Heck it feels like we are getting a bonus of a half a rest day today! Linda had told us about several of the dining options as we have dinner on our own this evening. Kathie, Tex, and I had decided on Mama's Italian - and Young Pup was going to join us as soon as she was done with Sag duties. Greta decided to join us as well and Alice rode in just as we were leaving, so she joined us a few minutes later as well. Later Liz and Eva came in, then Linda and Carol, followed by Katherine and Marge. Katherine shared that when they got to the Hampton Inn the woman behind the desk told her that their room wasn't ready yet - but she could get them a different room if they liked. Katherine and Marge immediately replied "No." They were thrilled that they made it in early enough for the first time that their room wasn't ready. They weren't going to let that pleasure be taken away from them!

Mama's Italian had fabulous food. I had the lasagna. All of us liked what we had so much that we decided to order pizza for the evening. Turns out that the Hampton Inn where we are staying has a Happy Hour from 5:30 to 8:00 and they serve wine, beer and other drinks, along with fresh strawberries with chocolate to dip them in. They also have cookies. So we will order our pizza and have that with the wine or beer - with the strawberries and cookies for dessert. Should be a fun night tonight!