Wilderness Wandering

May 13 to May 16 The End

Tuesday 

We left Alabama and arrived in the Florida panhandle. There are a lot of huge bridges over large bodies of water in the region. 

We stopped in Mossy Head. All there seemed to be was a little store and a little restaurant. The store had a sign advertising peaches and boiled peanuts.  I went into the little store and bought some fabulous peaches and asked the woman what are boiled peanuts? 

She took me outside where she makes them and had me try them. Boiled peanuts are peanuts in the shell that are boiled in salt water. They are served hot.  You crack the shell a little and suck the shell and drink the salty water. Then you peel the shell off and eat the peanuts. They taste quite like potatoes! Yum. 

Tim went into the restaurant and got a diet Dr. Pepper, a bag of potato chips and their homemade cinnamon sugar pecans. The husband of the owner of the restaurant waited on us. He was a nice guy. 

DeFuniak Springs was our stop for the night. I saw that the oldest circulating library in FL was located there. I went to check it out. It was adorable! A cute little old building and very sweet librarians.  Of course all librarians are sweet.  

They were very proud to tell me they have a first edition signed copy of To Kill a Mockingbird, my favorite book! She showed it to me. She also showed me her favorite thing, which was an old polyphon which plays music from metal discs. It was a German invention. 

The city was called DeFuniak Springs after the last name of the Chief Engineer of the railroad and the city being centered around a beautiful little spring fed lake. The lake is said to be one of only two natural lakes in the world that are perfect circles!

We walked around the lake and the lake is surrounded by amazing Victorian homes that range in size from cottages to mansions. We fell in love with the neighborhood!

The city was famous from 1885 to 1927 for their Chataqua campus, which was also on the lake.  Chataqua was an adult education and social movement. Their lecture hall could seat 4000 people!

We drove to Bass Haven RV Park outside DeFuniak Springs. It’s kind of charming. The owner Jimmy is blind. We had a nice shady pull through site with a view of the lake. The bathrooms had clean showers. We ate a simple supper at our picnic table by the lake. 

I think we could definitely spend a month in the winter in this area. 

Wednesday

I walked around DeFuniak Springs Lake again and then headed to Chipley, FL and visited Falling Waters State Park. It has the highest waterfall in FL at 73 feet! 

Next,  in Chipley, I stopped to look at a beautiful Victorian house that is used as the VC for the town. It had sort of a sad history, but it was lovely and had a wonderful porch. It was built on the corner where a Civil War battle The Battle of Mariana took place. 

I found the perfect lunch spot for us on the Chattahoochee River at Chattahoochee Landing.  It was 1/2 mile off the highway on the river, shady and breezy.

Today was the anniversary of our first date, which we celebrate since we aren’t married. 

We celebrated at Black Radish in Tallahassee.  Anna, the bar manager waited on us. Matt, the chef and part owner spent some time talking with us. Matt just got engaged.  Both great people. The food was FABULOUS!!

On my way back to the van, I noticed a blood mobile parked on the street. I missed giving last month in Lake Mills, so I went in and asked if I could give. They said I could. So I did. 

Thursday

Today got up to 90 degrees. Monticello was our first stop of the day. The city is super charming! The courthouse sits right in the center of town and there’s a round about around it. The town has 40 buildings on the Historic Registry. I walked around downtown looking at beautiful buildings. On my way back to the van, I stopped into a Tupelo’s Bakery and Cafe.  I got Tim a a fresh pecan pie bar. Tim loved his snack. He sent me back to get more. 

The next stop was Madison, FL. To us, it wasn’t nearly as wonderful as Madison, WI.

We ended the day in Lake Butler and stayed in the Cracker Barrel parking lot with about 8 other RVs.  When we stay at a Cracker Barrel we usually try to buy something to show our appreciation for letting us camp there. 

We went in and Tim drank three huge sweet teas and ate three biscuits with honey. I helped him with some cheese curds. Our waitress Rochelle was wonderful.  She kept Tim’s sweet tea refilled and gave us one for the road!

Then we went to the van and chilled. 

Friday 

Today we plan to finish our cross country trek in St. Augustine, FL.  St. Augustine is commonly called the oldest U.S. city.  

For the past six weeks what we never mentioned in this blog was that Tim was cycling all the way across the country. 

We started at San Diego’s Dog Beach on April 5th and he pedaled 3000+ miles through extreme heat, light rain, snow and horrible head winds with only three rest days.  I drove the van and supported him along the way so he didn’t have to carry anything other than water. It has been a bucket list dream of Tim’s to ride across the country. There are companies that have tours to do it together, but Tim had limited time around our other trips, so this was the best option. 

So, he had a final 111 miles to do today. 

I stopped at a Walmart in Palatka, FL and got poster paper, markers, and a cake.  Then I found a rest stop with a picnic table I could use to make a poster.   I scooted ahead to St. Augustine Beach and found the VC and the man with the book where people can sign that they completed The Southern Tier Bicycle Route.  Then I took my poster out to the road and waited for Tim. We headed down to the beach to dip his front tire in the ocean to officially finish.  Then we went to the VC. Tim signed the book.  The guy took his photo and will put it in the book as well.  It was a very joyous occasion!

We went and found St. Augustine RV Resort and Tim took a shower. Then we drove to downtown St. Augustine and celebrated Tim’s awesome accomplishment at St. Augustine Fish Camp. We had an outstanding meal! We had been wanting fresh crab and this was a fabulous place to have it.  Stacy our bartender/waitress was phenomenal and kept Tim filled with Sweet Tea.

I was concerned that after all that caffeine Tim wouldn’t be able to sleep, but with the relief he felt to be finished, he drifted right off. 

What a phenomenal journey! We made wonderful friends, met inspiring people and discovered numerous hidden gems of the U.S! Now we are anxious to get home and see friends and family and spend time on Rock Lake!

TIm’s Take 

As many of you know from reading Wilderness Wandering, I am a cycling enthusiast.  It has been my dream for many years to cycle across America, but work, family commitments, etc. always seemed to get in the way.  But retirement, and Beth, have changed things dramatically.

When I asked Beth if she might be willing to serve as my van support on such a trip she quickly agreed and we immediately started planning.

We chose the Southern Tier route because it is the shortest distance across the country and neither Beth nor I had spent much time In Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, nor Florida’s Panhandle.  Also, the Adventure Cycling Association provides detailed printed and digital maps to help with navigation, finding services, etc.

I will never attempt to match Beth and her ability to provide insight into a travel experience, so I will take an entirely different approach in highlighting the cycling aspect of our trip across the country.

First and foremost, Beth provided simply outstanding van support.  She did virtually everything for me.  All I had to do was eat (the food Beth prepared for me), sleep (in the accommodations Beth uncovered, and pedal my bike.  That’s it!

Now my summary, but in a numerical fashion:

1) This was my first bicycle trip across the US. 

2)I had only two flat tires and made only two trips to a bike shop, and one was to simply buy a replacement tire.

3)The Southern Tier consists of three equal parts: Southern California, Arizona, and New Mexico…Texas…And Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida.  Also in at three was the number of days I didn’t ride my bike, or, total rest days.

4)The number of nights we spent with Warm Showers hosts.

5)The number of days I rode fewer than 50 miles, AKA, light mileage rest days.

6)The number of nights we boondocked in the van.

7)There are 7 sections, or parts, of the Southern Tier route…I biked more than 100 miles in a day 7 times…I also biked between 90 and 99 miles in a day 7 times.

8)The number of pieces of pie I ate.

9)The number of times I was chased by dogs, primarily in Texas and Louisiana.

10)My least favorite stretch of road, HWY 10 in California (One cyclist had three flat tires on that stretch alone). The shoulders were extremely rough with semis roaring by at 70 mph at what seemed like a foot from my shoulder and filled with debris that I had to try to avoid. 

11)The number of flat tires a fellow Southern Tier cyclist had in the trip.

12)The number of days I faced brutal headwinds in the desert.

13)The number of consecutive sidewind/tailwind days I had to finish the ride…Simply beautiful.

14)The number of Gatorades I drank in one day while cycling in the desert.

15)The number of fellow Southern Tier cyclists we met on the route.

And jumping ahead…42…The number of days Beth and I spent on our journey across the country.

77) – The average number of miles ridden per day.

And lastly, 3010 – The total number of miles ridden coast to coast. 

Favorite time – a tranquil 5 mile ride at dusk in Buescher State Park after a rain storm.

The first 20 miles of every day in rural areas before it got hot, while the roads were quiet and dogs were still sleeping.

Least favorite times – 110 miles of 13+ mph headwind into Sanderson took 12 hours and completely exhausted me.

Up until the last 1/2 hour the ride from Baton Rouge to New Orleans was wonderful, but being excited after 110 miles in downtown New Orleans with Saturday night crowds and being completely lost because the navigation wouldn’t work and my phone was almost dead was very stressful.

Last one, Mesa Drive in El Paso. I happened to hit it at rush hour and it was unbelievably congested.

Most memorable moment was climbing Mt. Emory with David and Donna. Mt. Emory (8800 feet) was the literal high point of the route. The day was blustery and cold with occasional snow showers. Beth and Linda fortified us with hot chocolate on the way up. And doing the climb with friends made it very special.

I can’t stress enough how important Beth’s role was in the journey.  She was unbelievable in her ability to meet all of my needs and do so with a smile on her face.  I will always be indebted to her.