Welcome To The Sunshine State

The relaxing atmosphere of The Hostel in the Forest clearly agreed with me. Despite going to bed earlier than usual I also ended up sleeping in later than usual. It was a beautiful night to be almost sleeping outdoors – I figure screened walls counts as almost outdoors. I definitely needed to have my sleeping bag zipped up but it wasn’t cold enough to affect my sleep. Clearly.

I finally managed to crawl out of bed by 8:00 – and yes, “crawl” would be an accurate description as the mattress made every effort to consume me. While I felt I was a late riser, I wasn’t the only one. As I wandered around the forest, there was no else to be seen. My plan was to aim for a 9:00 departure so I loaded up my gear and got the bike ready to go. I headed over to the office area to return my sheets and towel at which time I thought I should at least wander around the forest a bit to see some of the sights and take a few photos – there ended up being plenty of both. I know I didn’t see everything but I did see the pond, the pool, and the glass house. It really is a relaxing place.

I actually considered sticking around for another day but the road (and Florida) was calling. With that, I said my goodbyes to three of the staff who were sitting outside – Joe, and Terra (maybe), and Frank (maybe)? Sorry, so many names, so little time. Names notwithstanding, we had a bit of a chat about where I’d be headed today – the answer was Yulee, Florida. Yes, if all went well, today would be the day I cross the Florida state line. We wished each other well and with that I was off. Well, for about 250 metres (that’s about 800 feet). That’s when I ran into Molly who I had met at dinner last night. We also had a quick chat about our respective plans for the day – of which, Molly’s seemed much more relaxing – before wishing each other well, and heading off.

As mentioned, the plan for the day was a 75 km ride to Yulee, FL. Well, it was 75 km according to Google. Of course, that number went up a bit when I realized that Google wasn’t taking me where I thought it was taking me. Then again, maybe Google knew that I wanted to go the Wendy’s in Yulee rather than the campground. I’m ashamed to say that Google may have been right on that one. On the other hand, Google certainly wasn’t right when it decided it wanted to send me down another non-road. I decided to stay on the highway.

However, I’m getting a bit ahead of myself. Before I could get to Yulee I would first have to pass perhaps the biggest milestone of the trip thus far. That milestone occurred about 60 km (37 miles) into my ride. As I crossed over an otherwise insignificant bridge, I saw a sign. A somewhat large sign. One might even say “THE” sign. “Welcome to Florida”. Much like when I arrived at Gros Morne National Park, I couldn’t stop smiling. Sure, I still have a long way to go but on the flip side, I’ve come a long way. Of course, I had to stop and enjoy the moment and take a photo (or ten). It was a pretty satisfying feeling. Ten minutes later, I was back on the road. There were more goals to reach.

One of those goals was tonight’s campground, which brings us back to the Wendy’s detour. A detour that ended up working out pretty well. Sure, I got to have a large Frosty (to go with my chicken sandwich combo) but I also met Margaret and Ron. A retired couple that was in line in front of me. When they learned of my trip they were more than a bit curious and invited me to sit down with them to eat. I did. We had a very enjoyable chat about travel, cycling, and even midlife crises. Apparently Margaret’s crisis took her to South Africa. She then noted that I seemed to be enjoying mine, at which point we agreed that more people should have them. With that we parted company and I got ready to find the campground that Google could not locate.

A quick consultation on the internet revealed that Google was confused by about 8 km. In the grand scheme of things, that wasn’t the worst news I could get.

The campground in question certainly lacks pretty much all of the charm that last night’s accommodations offered but at least there’s a large common area that I’ve been able to use to get caught up on my updates.

Today’s totals:
Distance travelled: 86.30 km
Time on bike: 3:34:34
Maximum speed: 34.85 km/h
Average speed: 24.12 km/h