Day 30 - Tuesday 10/20

Miles: 98.2
Final Destination: Mount Dora, FL
Left St Augustine and road parallel to the coast for about an hour before I turned inland. Goodbye Atlantic Ocean...hello Gulf of Mexico (soon). The first thing that I noticed almost immediately is that inland Florida is full of horse farms and beef cattle ranches. Who knew! There were "Beef: It's what's for dinner" signs and banners everywhere. It seemed so strange to see cattle grazing among palm fronds! (pictured).
Another thing I did not expect in Florida was hills! It was rolling hills for most of the day and even saw a sign that I had not seen in over 1,000 miles, a warning for trucks of a steep hill (pictured). I actually got up to 38 miles and hour down that one! But all bikers know the saying, "What goes down, must go up" and it was the first time since Pennsylvania I got up out of my saddle and stood up to climb a hill. It felt good!
Another inportant milestone today...I reached 2,000 miles since leaving Maine (pictured). Not bad for a little Connecticutian!
I decided to go a little further than planned today because my legs felt so good and almost did a century (100 miles in a day) 98.2 is close enough so between you and me I did a century.
On to Disney World manyana.
Til Tomorrow...
Also pictured:
- Bullet holes in road signs. I don;t think there had been one road sign without them since entering Virginia. Crazy's south of the mason-Dixon.
- A local baptist church. Hmmm, do you think it was built in the 60's?

Rest Day in St Augustine

Miles: 0
Took a day of rest in the oldest city in the US...St Augustine! Spent the morning doing laundry, organizing and visiting with Christa (Brian's wife) and their two darling little girls (Caitlyn and Kalea (spellng?)). I am so staved for my three wonderful children that I just wanted to interact with them constantly. Had great conversations with Caitlyn, she expresses herself extremely well for a 4 year old.
In the afternoon I went with Brian to see the house that they are building (pictured). It is beautiful and in a development that is more like a vacation destination than a permanent settlement. It boasts pools, water slides, boche courts, soccer fields, and even an outdoor movie theater!
When we returned to St Augustine I convinced Brian to take one of those touristy tour with me (pictured waiting for the trolley studying our maps). It was a very informative tour. Whether you like it or not, the best way to get to know a new place is to take one of these cheezy tours...they tell you the essentials.
This one was great. So much to see and absorb. St Augustine is really amazing. (various pictures). St Augustine was developed by Henry Flagler in the late 19th century and his buildings, churches, etc are all over. He was a partner with Rockefeller in Standard Oil and was endlessly wealthy. To give an example, his daughter died and he wanted a church built in her honor but he insisted that it be completed before the first anniversary of her death. He brought in thousands of laborers who worked 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. It was completed in 321 day and is quite an amazing edifice complete with Tiffany stained glass windows!
Well after our tour Brian and Christa took me out to a spanish feast for dinner (pictured). It was delicious and again thank you so much!
Afterward we walked the ancient streets while eating ice cream. The things dreams are made of...
Til Tomorrow...
Also pictured:
- Me posing as a spanish conquistidor (Factoid: the average height of men in the 16th century in St Augustine was 4'9''. You can see the evidence of this in the door heights and window levels...Wow!

Day 29 - Monday 10/18

A beautiful moring to ride! Mid-60's, sunny, quiet. Made my way out of amelia Island through the parks. Had to take a ferry across the river to the mainland when I got to the proverbial "end of the road."
I had to stop and get something at CVS and while I was waiting in line there was a gentleman that looked in his 60's checking out ahead of me. The woman told him that his total was "1929" and he looked at her with a smile and pounded his chest and said, "That gets me right here." The girl behind the counter did not know what he was referring to so I piped in, "That was the year of the crash and the start of the great depression, right?" The man and I talked for a while outside and it turns out that he was 96 years old! He was 15 when the crash happened! He was in the Navy and fought in WWII, Korea and Vietnam! What and intersting man. As he was leaving he told me that he was headed out tonight to got dancing! He was a very affable and down to earth man. That's how I want to be when I am his age!
Rode next to the ocean for much of the day (Pictured). Had my ipod playing some of my favorite beach music...it was idyllic. Stopped for a rest and a slurpee (that's what they called them in Pittsburgh anyway...pictured) at a roadside store. It was refreshing and re-energizing. After that it was on to St Augustine (pictured)
I miscalculated how far St Augustine and Brian and Christa's house was so I had a 90+ mile day, my longest so far. Brian came out to greet me about 6 miles from their house on his bike. We rode together and talked the last 45 minutes or so. Thanks Brian!
After spending some time catching up, Brian and I headed out to watch Monday Night Football and get some wings. Nothing like that combo!
I am a day ahead of schedule, so I am going to stay here two nights and visit St Augustine tomorrow, billed as America's oldest city.
Til Tomorrow...

Day 28 – Sunday 10/17

Well, today started out COLD! I think I heard it was 48 degrees when I started biking. As you can see, there was a little frost on the side of the road (pictured).
I was biking on the north end of the Okefenokee Swamp all morning (pictured). It was literally 24 miles of straight road. As far as the eye could see (pictured)...a little boring.
I made it to a little town of St. George just in time to worship at a Baptist church (pictured). It was wonderful to be in the Lord’s presence once again. I felt kind of strange being at church in my spandex bike shorts. Maybe I will bring that fashion trend back the SWHCC with me.
I entered my 13th and final state today...Florida! (pictured) Now Florida is a long state so the next 6 days will be getting from here to Naples...whew!
I decided to take a rest day in St. Augustine just south of San Fernandina where I am staying tonight. Some good friends, Brian and Christa, just moved there with their two kids this year from CT and I will stay with them and see what the city has to offer.
The campground I am staying in tonight Fort Clinch) is apparently very highly rated and coveted (you have to make your reservations almost a year in advance!). The park ranger told me he was giving me a very nice site right on the water since I was only staying one night and what a site it is! It overlooks the water (picture) and people kept coming over and asking how I, with a little single tent, got such a prized site! Thank you, Lord.
Well, I enjoyed the sunset (pictured) and settled into my “prized” campsite for the night.
Til Tomorrow...
Also Pictured:
- I had a little Armadillo wandering in and out of my camp all night. Such strange looking animals!

Day 27 - Saturday 10/17

Miles: 66.6
Final Destination: Folkston, GA
Well, there’s another city that we need to visit again. I know I just touched the tip of the iceburg of what Savannah has to offer.
Today, my brother in law Ben took me outside the city to roads more appropriate for a bike. As I was getting ready to get on the bike I went in and bought some water as Ben took a quick ride on my bike. When I came out and was walking up toward him, he tossed me his car keys and said, “I’ll see you in Florida.” I think he wishes he was going with me.
I rode for a few miles with a man from Poland who was biking from New York to Jacksonville, FL and then west to Phoenix, AZ where he was boarding a jet to Hawaii. He was on holiday and was seeing a part of America he had never seen. We talked about touring and camping and how nice people are in general.
I met another biker (TC) a little further down the road. She was a local and was doing her daily 40 miles over and back again on the Jekyll Island bridge (pictured). Thanks for taking the picture, TC!
I met my parents at a McDonalds just off I-95 as they were headed to Florida (pictured). It was wonderful to see them and spend some time with family.
Til Tomorrow...

Also Pictured:
- Another old little outcropping of God's family along the road