I spent a very windy rest day in Tallahassee. Aside from a much needed day off the trike, I only needed to get my hair cut and colored. This is actually something I enjoy taking care of. I'm never really sure how it will turn out and am at the mercy of the local stylist that I pick fairly randomly. Hair care on the road is an adventure that requires courage and faith. Over the years I have learned that some stylists are better at color and some are better at cuts. It is very unusual to find a stylist that is good at both. I used to spend a great deal of money and have also found that you don't always get what you pay for where hair styling is concerned. Now I try to keep my expectations low and hope for the best.
Finished product
Tallahassee is a big enough city that I should be able to find a stylists to work on my hair as a walk-in. As with many things while touring, I turned to Google Maps to find salons listed close to my hotel and started walking. Interestingly, the first few salons I walked into only worked on African-American hair. I kept walking and it was too early for some salons as no one was available to do the color. Walking was actually a challenge with the very high winds. After checking into 7 salons, I ended up at a shopping mall getting my hair cut and colored at a Super Cuts. The woman who worked on my hair was very experienced and I was happy with the results and the $55 price. Nice!!
Election humor?
Zef loading up Myrtle and bags
The next morning I got going at a reasonable hour. Today I was headed to a Warm Showers host's home in Monticello. Now that I'm in Florida it appears there are a lot of Warm Shower opportunities. Nef and 00na had generously accepted my request to stay. All the reviews on the Warm Showers website were very positive but I was a bit curious because 00na is spelled with zeros instead of O's. It's natural to speculate what kind of people I was about to meet and this spelling had me imagining someone very new agey that would have colorful crystals, angels, unicorns and lots of purple in the decor. And I really do love seeing how people live. The morning was brutally cold at 28 degrees. I left Tallahassee bundled up with lots of climbing to do taking Miccosukee Rd. Not long after getting back to Hwy 90, a bespectacled, bearded man wearing a weathered leather hat and a brown work coat flagged me down. It was Zef, my Warm Showers host. He was on his way home after a morning trip to Tallahassee and, when he saw the loaded trike, figured there probably wasn't another touring triker heading east on this road. Zef was driving a work van and offered me a ride to the house since it was so cold. Wow, how nice is this! I didn't hesitate to accept and we had the trike loaded in no time.
Monticello isn't very far from Tallahassee and we were at the house in another 20 minutes. Zef and 00na have a really beautiful, elegant home in the country. This property is completely secluded down a dirt road and there are no other houses around. My accommodation for the night was a separate house with 2 bedrooms. Often they have more than one guest cyclist staying but, tonight, I was the only one. This was a very posh stop. The house was beautifully furnished with laundry, full kitchen, wifi and very comfortable. Every stay is a surprise and this was very unexpected. After getting settled, I went to the main house for lunch. I was here so early, they actually fed me lunch! 00na is an artist that works in a special kind of colorful acrylic. I discovered she spells her name with zeros because it is easier than typing capitol O's. Funny, huh? We talked for a while and then I went back to the guest house to do laundry, upload photos, work on the journal and enjoy the rest of the day. Lunch was late enough that I wasn't hungry for dinner and, instead, shared a glass of wine with 00na. Rough day of touring huh!?
Warm Showers guest house in Monticello
00na showing me a frame decorated with acrylics
Very colorful work in progress
Sweet 1958 Nash Metropolitan
In the morning, Zef came by to say goodbye before leaving for the day and then I got a tour of 00na's studio with a chance to sit in a sweet 1958 Nash Metropolitan. Very cool! Again, it was so cold I took my time getting on the road. Even still, it was barely 30 degrees when I pushed off close to 9:30. 00na had recommended riding a back road and it was lovely. Trees provided a canopy of green over the road with cows grazing on idyllic rolling meadows as I rode this 10 mile detour back to Hwy 90. The hwy continued on a hilly route with the biggest hills going through the town of Madison where I stopped for supplies. After the town of Lee, I stopped for pictures of the fabled Suwannee River before turning into Suzanne River State Park to camp for the night. It was going to be a cold evening but not as cold as the last week.
Site at Suzanne River Park
Suwannee River
Live oak canopy
I find getting up on cold mornings to be tortuous. This morning was under 40 degrees and I was grumpy waiting to get water boiling for coffee and oatmeal. I was bundled up eating my breakfast, breaking camp and loading up the trike. The forecast called for the day to be a clear and sunny and I was looking forward to warming up. The miles went through small towns of Live Oak, Wellborn and Lake City over softly rolling hills before riding along the Osceola National Forest. I ended the day at Ocean Pond State Park. The entrance to the park is actually a few miles from Hwy 90 and the campground was surprisingly busy. I got the last primitive tent site for $8. I learned an annual reenactment of the Battle of Olustee (or Battle of Ocean Pond) would take place the next day. This is a big deal. I didn't even realize the Civil War was fought so far south. In fact, the Battle of Olustee was the only battle fought in Florida. In case you are wondering, the Confederate side won this skirmish.
Primitive site at Ocean Pond
Delicious dinner
Reenactment actors
Debbie on the Jackson Baldwin trail
The next morning was significantly warmer and my morning routine was much easier in 50 degree temps. Wow, did that feel good. I made my way back to Hwy 90 to find a road that was crowded with vehicles going to the grounds of the battle. Trucks went by that had cannons and horses. Many people were walking along the road in costume. Some were in military uniforms for both sides of the Civil War and some were dressed as everyday folk, slaves, crafts people, servants and southern belles. I really enjoyed the scene and slowly rode through. There were also lots of police attempting to keep traffic moving. The rest of the ride was fairly flat through the small towns of Sanderson and MacClenny before turning off Hwy 90 to take the Jackson Baldwin rail trail. A few miles later I met up with trikers Debbie and David who are also Warm Showers hosts to escort me to their home about 20 miles east of Jacksonville. This is a really nice trail and it was fantastic to be riding with fellow trikers. They took me on a detour on a raised path over everglades before we headed to their home. Warm Showers is a really amazing website and this couple made me feel very comfortable. I had my own room and we all gabbed the night away talking about touring.
Trikers Debbie and David
Jackson Baldwin trail with Debbie and David
Dave escorting me into Jacksonville
In the morning, David rode with me into Jacksonville across the Acosta Bridge before turning to go back home. That was very nice of David to make sure I made into this big city on a more comfortable route. I was very thankful we did this ride on Sunday because some of the roads I took to get through Jacksonville would have been awful in busy traffic. I took an alternate, and less busy, Hwy 90 to Hwy 116 continuing south east to the coast. I think most cyclists go north of Jacksonville and take a ferry across the St. John's River. Unfortunately, the ferry wasn't running and has been closed for maintenance and so I had to ride right through very busy Jacksonville on less than cycling friendly roads. My destination was Hanna Park which is on the Atlantic Ocean. It is a beautiful park and I could hear the ocean waves crashing from my camp site.
View from the Acosta Bridge in Jacksonville
Beautiful Hanna Park
First view of the Atlantic Ocean
Time to toast
Wow, did it feel good to be at the Atlantic Ocean. Today is my 57th birthday and I just rode my tricycle across the US. Woohoo!! I bought a bottle of Maker's Mark Kentucky Bourbon to celebrate and quietly toast my birthday and satisfying achievement.
Arriving at the Atlantic
Another delicious camp meal
Running pink ribbon
The next morning I got packed up to head south for another monumental destination for this tour. I took the A1A through lots of very upscale beach communities. There were no stores or cafes or any commerce. I was really looking forward to stopping for a cup of coffee but that didn't happen. Mile after mile was one gated community after another. Every car on the road was new, German and expensive. No one said hello. A big run raising money for Breast cancer had taken place the day before and there were pink stenciled signs in the road to give runners and walkers proper direction. I rode through Atlantic, Neptune, Jacksonville and Ponte Vedra Beaches before I found a gas station to stop at. I was hungry and really needed to pee. I used a table outside to make my lunch and take a rest. From here I rode along desolate beach dunes through the Guana River Marsh Aquatic Preserve on a thin piece of land separating the Atlantic Ocean and the Guana River. I was still on the A1A and didn't see any civilization until reaching Vilano Beach. Here I a turned to cross the Francis and Mary Usina Bridge into St Augustine.
Marshland on the A1A
Big moment to reach the end of the Southern Tier
Crossing the bridge into St. Augustine
St. Augustine is known for many things including being the oldest town in the US. It is also the end of the Southern Tier bicycle route across the country. Lots of cyclists start and end bike trips here. Knowing how many people had cycled here made this a very special day. I got many honks from people driving by who knew why I was here. People yelled out lots of enthusiastic woohoos and offered big thumbs up out the car windows as they drove passed. I took some pictures at a city sign and then went into town in search of a motel. Google had shown me a couple of cheaper options and I started my way north of the historic area to check them out. The first motel I went to had vacancies but the rooms wouldn't be ready until 7 pm. 7 pm? The owner explained that the rooms weren't yet clean and he couldn't rent them out. I asked what is special about 7 pm. Really nothing and, in fact, there was no telling when the rooms might be cleaned. For some reason the housekeepers hadn't shown up for work today. He recommended another motel that was close by. This motel was run down and also didn't have any clean rooms available. Hhhmmm.... At the 3rd motel I got a room and the story. Apparently, Florida has laws allowing motel owners to pay their housekeepers just $3 for each room cleaned. What? Housekeepers need to clean 3 rooms in an hour to earn just $9. Can a room be cleaned and sheets changed in 20 minutes? Wow and that is assuming there are enough rooms to clean to make a decent amount of money in a day. 10 rooms cleaned would only get a housekeeper $30. It was no wonder the housekeepers didn't show up for work. I ended up at a Knight's Inn getting a well used room for $60. St. Augustine is a very touristic town and $60 for a room is cheap here. The receptionist also decided to tell me stories about being held up at knifepoint or having a gun pulled on her. I really didn't feel safe even after she told me these stories took place in other hotels that weren't even in St. Augustine. Very weird! Even still, I booked in for 2 nights.
I have been in touch with a cycling friend I know from Portland. Patty just happen to be in town visiting her daughter and we will get together to do some sight seeing while getting caught up. I was looking forward to being with a friend.
I love to see the pictures you post on the blogs.
ReplyDeletevalet parking gatwick