Week 34 :: TandemWOW

Week 34

16 Feb 2020
Mark

Day 232

Saturday 15th February 2020

Newport to Cross City.

In spite of the fact we are in Florida - it still very cold at night - so it was a freezing night in the tent. We also lost one hour of sleep - having passed through another time change.

Pat came over to say hello and kindly brought us fruit for breakfast. We used his microwave (in his RV) to make porridge (oatmeal) and we were set for the day’s ride. Pat explained that he was a snow migrant - he and his wife travelled south in their RV for the winter months - avoiding the snow in the north.

We rode through the Aucilla Wildlife Management Area all morning into a headwind. The road was quiet and close to the coast - so forest with swamps. It’s lovely scenery. We saw the occasional bird of prey and heron flying out of the trees.

We stopped for a coffee at a shop selling fishing bait and hunting equipment- clothes here are all camouflaged! There were lots of stuffed animals on the walls.

We carried through Perry passing every possible denomination of church (which continue to warn us about the devil - who apparently is very active here) and headed south. We are now in the peninsula heading down to Miami.

We stopped in Cross City. There is a craft fair and we got the last room in town. Apparently the last occupants of the room checked out today having lived in the room for 6 months. There is a strong smell of disinfectant, the toilet doesn’t flush (without taking the cistern apart- we are experts as it’s not the first time) - and people are partying in the room next door - singing along to Elvis- well he was the King. We have sought sanctuary in an Mexican restaurant.

Day 233

Sunday 16th February 2020

Cross City to Floral City.

We were woken in the night by incredibly loud knocking on the door next to ours and an argument about being let into the room. The participants were intoxicated (not sure whether they were drunk or on drugs). Anyway, it quietened down eventually but it was pretty grim.

We debated whether it was the worse place we’d stayed - there’s lots of competition for the top slot - but last night is up there with the feral dogs taser place (Georgia) and some of the places we stayed in India and Myanmar - it was definitely worse than the black sheet - mirrors on ceiling karaoke place in Thailand - so last night was grim - particularly knowing that people live full time in some of the rooms.

We set off in search of food - ended up eating in the Dixie (my nickname in the army) cafe which was full of an array of characters including cowboys (though using the word boy is not accurate - more cowgrandad ), hunters and the usual stuffed animals - no wonder there are more taxidermist shops than cafes in this area.

We passed numerous churches warning us about sin and rode through Goethe State Forest spotting a woodpecker and vultures. We crossed the Suwannee River (as in the song), and picked up a great bike trail.

We stopped at the Blue Gator Tiki Bar & Restaurant at the edge of a river which had live music - and great food.

We followed the cycle trail again and met Wes who is part of the USA rowing team and was training on his bike. We rode a few miles with him chatting about rowing and cycling.

We met a grumpy women at a motel who had no rooms - so we cycled in search of a bed and breakfast - google maps took us up a sandy track which was unrideable - we dodged the neighbours dogs and finally arrived at a lovely ranch with a hot tub - perfect.