Day 6: Chipley, Florida 73 miles

We slept well last night in a featherbed. B and B breakfast was a with homemade granola and scones.

The weather was low 30s when we started riding at 7:30. Praise the Lord there was no wind and no rain. The temperature gradually improved and it was beautiful riding weather.

We hit a glitch in Chattahoochee when we missed a turn. Even in looking at the map afterwards it did not look clear. We flagged down a driver for directions and the woman said "hey sugar what do you need?" We had to backtrack--
That cost us about five extra miles.

We made up for the time we lost because we changed time zones. Not as easy to make up for the energy used.

We legitimately could take a rest day,however, we want to keep riding while the weather is so nice.

After eating lunch a couple of guys asked Ron if he was Lance Armstrong --we are not sure if they were serious ha ha.

Sometimes our calories need to come in the form of milkshakes.

You're staying at a Quality Inn. All the hotels were about 2 miles or more off route near the freeway. We are doing laundry which is a very big treat!

We tried to find a full service 

dinner option but there was none in walking distance so we had Wendy's with chili and baked potato.

Day 5: Quincy Florida 45 miles

 Our day started with a B and B breakfast.  It was a little on the light side so we needed to stop 20 miles for bagels. 

We chose to stay on highway 90 rather than take a 20+ mile detour for a bike route. We regretted that decision slightly when we hit some road construction.  The route was hilly and the weather was windy. Of course that wind was a headwind. Temperature was 46 but with the windchill was cooler. 

We rode through Tallahassee which is the capital of Florida and passed the Florida State campus.

We decided to stop here in Quincy because of the wind. Also the next town was 21 miles and the hotel had very bad reviews. We are again in a B and B. This one was built in 1843. It has been lovingly maintained.

The house was built for the 6th governor of Florida. There is also a notebook in the lobby that verifies the house is haunted.

The only restaurant in walking distance was Hardees. 

Tomorrow we will go at least  to Marianna but possibly further if the wind is not an issue.

Day4: Monticello Florida 65 miles

The honeymoon period is over.  We had to put our rain gear on today; we had to climb hills and we had some wind in our face.  But it wasn't really too bad. We were able to find food when we needed it. My brother has been telling us we needed to eat biscuits and gravy. That was on the hotel menu so we both had some to start our day.

We Were surprised that there is a lot of logging in this area. Lots of log trucks passed us. The logs are very scraggly not at all like Oregon.. There was a Georgia Pacific  tree farm.

We arrived at a nice bed-and-breakfast at 2:30 PM. We especially enjoyed a nice long hot tub soak. We are in their Romeo and Juliet room😍.  It is getting close to Valentine's Day.

We had our First Mexican meal tonight. Definitely hit the spot.

Tomorrow we bicycle through Tallahassee. We are not sure where we will stay.

Day 3: Live Oak,Florida 60 miles

This was another very nice day of riding. There were a few Rolling hills but the weather was perfect. we had about 10 miles of bike paths. Most the rest of the time was on County roads with little traffic. 

A man drove by and stopped to talk since he is a rider. He took our pix for us.

We had a picnic at 30 miles since there were not many towns for food options.

This area reminds us of Eastern Oregon since there are lots of ranches (horses). Have seen a lot of large estates and one was labeled a plantation--appropriate for the south. Our first day of riding was more agricultural with potatoes and cabbage being the obvious crops. We saw a road sign that just said "Spuds".

We want to be sure the blues skies are seen in our pictures because that is missing in Oregon right now.

We are trying some of the local food and drink favorites. Sweet tea is very popular but too sweet for us. Had a great turkey barbecue last night.

We are about 85 miles from Tallahassee. 

We expect to stay in Monticello tomorrow.

Day two of ride: Alachua, FL 65 mil

We started our ride about 730 after a continental breakfast at our hotel. We saw the sunrise.

About 10 miles into the ride Ron got a flat on his rear tire. He had picked up a screw. Luckily where he had the flat was right where our bikepath began. We had about 15 miles of bike path which is nice to be off the road.

There was 100 mile Endurance foot race taking place on the trail. We were happy to be on bikes. 

We rode to Gainesville Florida but did not see downtown only the suburbs. By the time we ended at 2:30 PM we were getting quite warm. We know we should not complain about 75° to those of you in Oregon😊.  

Tomorrow our destination is White Springs.

To St. Augustine to Polatka Florida. 38 mi

Today was a beautiful day to ride bikes. The route was flat and the weather was sunny. Breakfast provided at the motel was excellent. 

At 29 miles we stopped for a barbecue chicken sandwich to share only because we felt we needed to  even though we weren't very hungry. It was good barbecue and only $5. 

Some of our route was swampy areas. Yesterday we passed alligator farms but did not visit. Today we expected to see alligators as roadkill but no such luck. We rode many miles along the St.John river and our hotel is right along the river.  

A few other notes about yesterday: we experienced kindness of strangers when Tom gave us a ride from the rental car return to the bike shop. Augustine is the oldest town in our nation. The castle in yesterday's picture was Castillo de San Marcos which was an outpost of Spain completed in 1565. At Dinner last night the desert included bacon bourbon and pecans in addition to chocolate and caramel--only in the south! (did not try it)

This town has a statue of a Confederate soldier.

Tomorrow our goal is Gainesville Florida

Day 1 "preparation day"

I

. .We arrived at Orlando airport at midnight. We stayed in a not fancy hotel and went back to the airport for a rental car this morning. We drove the 125 miles to St. Augustine with cloudy 55 degrees and slightly rainy weather. Now we are out on a deck in a sunny 70° evening.

We were reunited with our bicycles at the bicycle shop. We explored the old town of St. Augustine and dipped our back tires in the Atlantic Ocean. At the beach we met a couple from Switzerland. They were just finishing a San Francisco to Florida bicycle trip. We had a great lunch at a pub. Our hotel has an evening social so we will go have a glass of wine to celebrate our ride beginning tomorrow.

We are carrying with us a flat friend that we will include in our blog. He was sent by a friend who is a teacher--so keep your eye out for him in our pictures!

Tomorrow our breakfast at the hotel is at 7:30 we plan to leave shortly after that. Our goal is Palatka Florida about 40 miles