Monday and Tuesday relaxing before flying home to Stockbridge

A senior excursion with my sister Jan. 

..... and my sister Linda's house in St. Pete

...... and the view from Linda's front yard.

It was a great trip. I had the opportunity to do some deep thinking and put into perspective my thoughts for retirement. Returning home I was reinvigorated and motivated for continuing my professional working life, but with some specific goals that when completed I would feel satisfied to step back from work. 

Sunday the last day of the ride to Florida.

Sunday morning I was on the northeast side of Orlando and my iPhone navigation device which had been so reliable and useful told me that it would be a long but possible 130 miles to my sister Linda's house in St Petersburg, my final destination.

But today was predicted to be hot with a wind from the west. I started with notions to make it. But within the first 10 miles I saw an elaborate and exotic bike path crossing over the road. 

I managed to find my way onto the path and encountered some other Sunday morning cyclists who told be about a train that connected Orlando and Tampa. I was sold. it did not take much to convince me to abandon a long hot ride of 135 miles. My new plan was to take it easy and ride as far as I felt and take the train from there.

I followed some locals into Winter Park on bike paths through some very upscale neighborhoods

to the train station.

.... And got the schedule and booked passage for a late afternoon train. Then heading southwest out of town I passed through the Magic Kingdom and since it was getting hot stopped at one of the grand Disney theme park hotels and stopped in for a swim.

I met some great people and had a fantastic afternoon. I left as an afternoon thunderstorm approached and narrowly arrived at the station just as a huge thunderstorm arrived. minutes later I would have been drenched if not struck by lightning.

But with that narrow escape my luck ran out. the train was delayed and the train was replaced with a bus and I was face with the same problem I had in Europe. They would not accept my bicycle as cargo. But having previously "learned the rules .... I was able to break them properly", and took my bike apart as I had done in Italy and wrapped her in my tarp and sleeping pad and disguised her as a "wheelchair". 

This they reluctantly accepted and I climbed aboard the bus for the a ride through some thunderstorms to Tampa.

We arrived at 8PM and I had a very beautiful cool, moonlight 20 mile ride in the dark across Tampa Bay on the old Gandy Bridge built in 1924 to end my journey at my sister Linda' house in St Petersburg.

Saturday the east coast of Florida thru Daytona

Saturday morning was a perfect bicycling day, slightly overcast and warm but not hot and with light but steady winds from the northeast which grave me a tailwind and a cool ocean breeze. 

There were long deserted beaches as I headed south from St Augustine toward Daytona.

..... with lots of cyclists out on this Saturday morning, including this 85 year old guy going for a 30 mile ride. It gave me inspiration to think I can ride for 20 more years.

I encountered this organized ride where they graciously gave me nourishment and cold water.

The heat of the day was just starting to build when I got to Daytona beach where I stopped around mid day for a swim, some lunch, a rest and to let the heat of the day pass.

....Daytona with a beach so firm that they allow cars on the beach.

......the water was warm but refreshing...and I kept cool and hung out for a while.

At this point I was as far south as I needed to go and after almost 3 weeks of never being more than a few miles from the Atlantic Ocean, in Daytona I turned west toward Orlando and across Florida toward Tampa and the west coast.

First I passed the epitome of auto America; the Daytona Speedway.

..... where I encountered auto mania with traffic and roads that were 5 and 6 lanes wide funneling the legions of Japanese and Detroit monsters from the obese speedway parking lots to the interstate. I was so glad there was no event scheduled for today.

I did meet up with a group of locals on bicycles who helped me to navigate my way through the madness.

 ... Telling of my journey when dudes like this serve as my guides!

After crossing the interstate and getting on some back roads the landscape turned very rural with cattle ranches ...

Motorcycle bars and clubs ...

..... and a very old looking turtle that I managed to rescue from the middle of the road.

I approached Orlando from the northeast and found it to be strangely empty there was new expensive infrastructure, with a big new international airport that looked deserted, wide brand new highways all set up for development but nothing built.

There looked to be a story here of politics and money that had gone awry. I cannot imagine which political group in Florida could have been involved?????

Having had a nice rest and cool swim during the heat of the day I rode comfortably late into the afternoon and evening as the day cooled down. This is my favorite time of the day to ride. But instead of going on it into Orlando and the Disney scene I stayed short of Orlando at a small motel in Sanford a great town on the St John river and lake Monroe north of the city.

 

Thursday and Friday through Georgia and into Florida

It may be noticed that my last post ended after Beaufort without any pictures. Well I am now suffering from technical difficulties. I have not lost my phone, not dropped it in the water and not smashed the camera lens of the phone. But the Internet connection that has allowed me to move the pictures from my phone/camera to my I-pad where I can type and compose my blog is not working. 

I am getting error messages about not being able to "download from the server"  and my device not being able to connect even though I am at a Starbucks and I know that I have Internet. My device helpfully offers to repair itself but when I optimistically hit the "repair" icon ..... nothing gets fixed.

So I have been taking some great photos but can't put them on the blog. Maybe if I run into someone young, friendly and helpful I will get it fixed, but for now no more pictures. 

I will be able to go back and redo the blog when fixed. But since the purpose of the blog is primarily for me to document the trip for myself so when I am old and decrepitly disabled some day I can look back at the good old days, I will continue as in a journal. No problem. After all I really don't expect that anyone will be reading this.

With that confession being said I will briefly summarize here the next 2 days so that I can get caught up and back on the road.

......THURSDAY ~~ After a great breakfast at a Denny's restaurant ..... a place i had previously avoided because of past racist accusations ...... I had my impressions changed by a very racially diverse and very congenial group .....

 

I rode some lovely back country roads through rural Georgia. Usually managing not to get lost or delayed except for signs like this ......

I encountered a great old antiques store which in Dixie is called "a store to sell dead people's stuff"...

..followed by the historical town of Midway where 2 of Georgia's 3 signers of the Declaration of Independence hailed from ...... towns such as Freedman Grove and Kingsland, and Riceboro which document the history of the area. Georgia like NY is great on posting historical markers.

I road along the Old Sudbury Road opened built in the 1760's to connect the town of Sudbury the leading port of that era when rice made this area the wealthiest of all of the North American colonies.

The road at this time was close to and parallel to I95 which made it a local road and very lightly travelled. .... 

There were some great stories and encounters from the day including a visit to the "smallest church in America" ....

a Canadian through rider ...both of us gratified to see another intrepid lom

Nely sole out on the road and we were able to trade some stories and road and route conditions since we were passing in opposite directions. 

.. an elderly researcher with his team doing an excavation of an old rice mill frown on I learned that this area of Georgia had once been the richest of the British colonies not from cotton but from rice..... 

Also ther were many old relics from the days when this road was the main north south route from Fl to NY and north .....

........sone huge paper mills and factories in Brunswick GA ......

And many small creeks with fishing shacks ...

...... culminating in a late welcomed night in the Stardust Motel in Woodbine GA 

.......and that night I had a delicious dinner at Captain Stan's the only restaurant that featured live music, BBQ and "fish caught right here today" ....

The little town of Woodbine GA was my savior, a tiny GA town about 10 miles from the FL state line that I finally arrived at at dusk after about 20 miles of this in very rural GA .....

......and which saved me from starvation and a night out with unknown critters and insects reminiscent of Nick's hobo style.

FRIDAY ~~ I left the Stardust and GA for FL early. Nothing was open in Woodbine. I peddled down the road looking for and expecting to find a breakfast spot a few miles down the road........ but hear another lesson and reminder of a cycle touring fundamental axiom.....YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT TO EXPECT AND WHAT YOU EXPECT TO FIND YOU WILL DEFINITELY NOT FIND. ..... I found nothing ..... just more of this .....

........ for 25 miles and well into Florida  .....

...... finally .......

..... my saviors and a huge late breakfast.

The Florida roads were terrific with marked bike lanes and wide smooth shoulders and NO RUMBLE strips. I approached Jacksonville, a big city with caution and bypassed to the east.

 I had heard of a ferry that crossed the St Johns river. Loving ferries and knowing that the roads to the ferry and after we're usually the most scenic and lightly travelle I planned my route to include this crossing of the river. 

I was not disappointed and I went trough Yule to Fernadina Beach...... then along A1A and Amelia Island and the Little Talbot Island wild life refuge and state park and some beautiful,beaches to the ferry...... my 8th of the trip....the shortest at only 15 minutes.

......and on the south side of the ferry a great fish restaurante for lunch .....

After the bypass ofJacksonville I headed south along the coast passing some of the most highest end real estate yet in Ponte Verde. Some of these homes were too big to even fit into the view of my camera. 

.....a great bike path with beautiful beaches ....

......and manicured golf courses.

Notable for well trained dogs some notable encounters of the day were ...... a dog Louie riding in his  owners backpack ...

.... and another who had an easy relaxing way to exercise his dog ...

.....some folks setting up for a 1,000+ person century cycling event to be held the next day on the bike path I was on and who begged me to stay and be a celebrity rider in the event......

Late I enterred and passed through the old historic city of St Augustin 

..... before a welcome comfortable night at a Comfort Inn in St Augustine Beach.