Blue Boat Home

The rain stopped overnight, and the wind calmed by morning so that I was able to pack up without losing anything to the wind.

The bike-map route brought me around Jacksonville without going into town.  I stopped at a quiet little strip mall for lunch and was able to send a message to the list.  I rode as far as the town of Callahan and got a hotel room, since there were no campgrounds for another 30 miles or so, and so that I could wash and dry some things.

33 mi

[posted to the Wheeled Migration Yahoo Group on February 26, 2005]

I know it's only been a few days since I last wrote, but as I write this I don't know when I'll next be online, so I figured I should take the opportunity.

The helicopters and jets stopped flying over sometime between 10 and 11 PM, and the rain started.  It was just a light rain, but it had a strong and gusty wind behind it.  When it hadn't stopped by 9 AM, I called the camp office and had them sign me up for another night - no point traveling in this weather when I could stay put for just $5.75.  I had plenty of food, and my gear was dry inside the tent.

I stayed up late last night talking with fellow travelers in the hostel: a young woman from Ireland headed west and a young couple from England headed east.  All three have been to the US before but have never been to the midwest; they go back and forth between the coasts through the South via Greyhound because there are more interesting stops that way... I guess they don't think there's much of anything between Minneapolis and Portland.

[posted to the Wheeled Migration Yahoo Group on February 23, 2005]

I slept poorly because every few minutes raccoons launched a new assault on my trailer.  In the morning I found muddy footprints all over it, and a bunch of sand inside the blue bin where they had squeezed in a paw or two.

I started out the day by riding north into Palatka.  I stopped for lunch at a Huddle House, which turned out to be pretty much what it looked like: an imitation of Waffle House, but with about twice as many items on the menu.  Their chicken sandwich couldn't compare.  If I eat there again, I'll order something I can't get at Waffle House!

I left Diane's place late in the morning and followed a route she recommended to avoid traffic returning from yesterday's Daytona 500.

Today's forecast said nothing about rain, but a light sprinkle began around noon and kept up all afternoon.  It was just heavy enough that I needed to wear my poncho; fortunately the day wasn't hot enough to make that an ordeal.

Late this morning, Diane drove me out to Homosassa Springs Wildlife State Park.  Like a lot of Florida's state parks, it used to be a private attraction and so seems a little bit Disneyish.  We got on a boat and rode to the main part of the park, but the boat wasn't on a rail, and the wildlife along the river was all real!

I slept in this morning and made a hot breakfast and was able to thoroughly dry the tent before Diane arrived at the campground.  We rented a canoe and paddled up the Rainbow River to its source in the other part of the park.  Along the way Diane pointed out cormorants, egrets, and other wildlife.  The water is some of the clearest in the world, very popular with scuba divers.