GOOOOOOD nights sleep last night . . . how do I know that?  Why  . . . because my new Withings watch tells me so!!!

I’m right on course with my alternating light and deep sleep pattern, cycling every 90 minutes! Woke up from a light sleep cycle which is what you want to do to feel refreshed. Waking up during a deep sleep cycle can leave one groggy all day . . . of course too many margaritas like last night can, too!!!!

Our usual morning map meeting . . . we are always concentrating on NOT getting lost!!!!

Local ‘folk art’ for sale on the way out of town. One would need ‘just the right place’ in the home to put a piece like this . . .

. . . of course if you had a couple of  kiddies these might be a hit!

Right outside of Crestview we saw the finishing touches being put on the new and improved county correction’s facility. Looks kind of homey . . . if you can see past the barbed wire!!!!

Today is an easy ride. Get on Hwy 90 . . . 62 miles down the road exit Hwy 90. No turns!!!! Four lanes out of town, then  down to two, but always a nice shoulder.

Every time we entered a new county there was a sign about the Lawton Chiles Trail . . . I had to look it up. Click above for the rest of the story. Interesting!!!

Nice name . . .

. . . and some nice, handsome bungalows’. Move in ready!!!!

The half way point was DeFuniak. Wonder if  they know about our ‘Big Top’ in WI????

Haven’t seen  one of these drive thru’s for a while . . .

. . . it was Wednesday today so Military Discounts!! They were busy serving our men in uniform both coming, and going!!!!

Had to swing into the Pig to see if they had a bakery . . . no fresh goodies . . .

. . . but the usual disclaimer.

I guess this means you could have bought this bike for the $330 you would have spent on cigs. That bike cost more than $330!!! This billboard also reminded me of the half dozen or so riders we saw smoking, at the rest stops, during the Cycle Zydeco ride!!!!

Nice courthouse in Walton County . . .

. . . where they are still flying the Confederate flag!!! Interesting in these small towns, that are also the county seat, how the local lawyers and bail bond companies always encircle the courthouse within a block, or two. Not far for their clients to travel for justice!!!!

Besides maybe Main St being the most popular name we have seen as we biked across the US on this trip, MLK, Street, Blvd, Road, etc . . . certainly takes the cake for number two. Seems every town, no matter the size, has one. DeFuniak may have been a little late in joining the crowd!!!

This was interesting. Looks like the dentist may have done OK selling dentures for $1,000/set, but priced himself out of business at $1,400. Seniors . . . we are on a fixed income, you know!!!

Have biked by several State of Florida Forestry stations the last several days. Reminds me of some of our WDNR northern stations. Very tidy . . .

. . . and here is a piece of their fire equipment, ready to ‘rock and roll’. Just before I retired, we entered into a formal agreement with FL to provide mutual aid in the form of equipment and manpower support between the two states. The WI fire spring season usually ends around the middle of June, way before FL heats up. If we had a bad enough spring, and needed help, Florida would load there equipment on semis and truck it north. Conversely, we could supply support to them usually after July 1. Made sense!!!

Speaking of fire towers . . . I notice on the ACA map we were paralleling Elgin Air Force base. The map made note of a natural feature named, ‘Sandy Mountain’ . . . a mountain  . . . in Florida??? They have to be kidding!!! Looked it up and there is indeed a State of Florida fire tower on the ‘mountain’.The height is listed as 79 meters, or about 250 feet. That has to be to the top of the tower!!!!!

 

Too bad it was so early on Wednesday morning. I would  have liked to have attend Bro’ Jordon’s service. Bet it rocked!!!!!

Lunch time in Ponce de Leon meant heading into Sally’s . . . literally the only place in town . . .

. . . great décor and great food.

Look’s like Sally has been a proponent of the ‘open kitchen’ concept long before it became trendy in big cities!!!!

Now this guy must have REALLY wanted a street light out in the middle of nowhere. BIG solar panel!!!!

The whole area between DeFuniak to Bonifay seemed to be flooding. All the rivers were overflowing their banks . . . it’s FLAT down here.

Here was Darrel, and his other brother Darrel, who have watched way too many 4X4 truck commercials’ on TV, trying to figure out if they could ford this flooded area . . .

. . . by the time I got to the other side of the bridge they thought it might be a little too deep and were beginning to back out . . .

. . . right in to the open arms of ‘Officer Friendly’, of the State Patrol. I missed the shot, but as they backed up past the officer, he was standing there with his arms held up in a ‘What, are you a couple of idiots’ gesture’. Wonder if you can get a ticket in FL for being stupid????

OK . . . so I had to look this one up, too. ‘Worm charming, worm grunting, and worm fiddling are methods of attracting earthworms from the ground. The activity is usually performed to collect bait for fishing but can also take the form of a competitive sport. As a skill and profession worm charming is now very rare, with the art being passed through generations to ensure that it survives.’  Who knew!!!!

As we were biking along we kept crossing paths with a USGS vehicle, doing some type of river monitoring. Finally, I met Neal who gave me the whole scoop . . .

. . . he would drag this device across a bridge. It would measure the current flow, speed and the depth of the water. The unit sent the telemetry, over radio frequencies, to a receiver in the truck, located on the other bank of the river. This was only Neal’s second survey but I told  him it looked like he was doing a great job!!! In typical senioritys settings, Neal, the new guy, is out doing the walking while the more ‘senior scientist’ is sitting in the truck recording the telemetry!!!!

Tonight we are staying at the Economy Lodge . . . which is going through a major room renovation project . . .

. . . sort of like a real life version of the movie Hotel Marigold !!!

Good sleeping last night and woke to a VERY dense fog!!! The girls headed out at 6:30am to beat the heat. The three boys, we headed next door for a full breakfast and were on the road by 8:00am . . .

. . . where it was till very foggy. Good thing I had my See.Sense rear flasher onboard. The first Intelligent Flasher . . . smarter than I am!!!

Hard too see from the reflections but there are silt clouds billowing around under bridges and mixing with the still water. Won’t be clear for long!!!

Here is the scoop on this, . . .’Deep in the swamps along the border between Alabama and Florida can be heard stories of a water monster of a different sort.  It is said that he is more than 20 feet long, has red eyes, and is demon possessed.  Two-Toe Tom is the focus of numerous legends and tall tales.  His name originates from the claim that he lost all but two toes on one foot to a bear-trap.  Due to his ferocity and frequent attacks, many have hunted for Tom.  But Two-Toe Tome has never been captured. Some believe Tom still lurks in Sand Hammock Lake near Esto Florida, even to this day’. The festival is a little more civilized with a horseshoe tournament, car show and country music . . . and a beauty pageant!!!!

Nice riding  today once the fog burned off . . .

. . . first one of these I have seen . . . 

So  close on the spelling . . .

Sounds down right friendly . . . and a horse motel !!!!

. . . if you are not going to spend any money though, you might not be so welcomed!!!!

Our half way point for today . . . too early for lunch. The sign implies there is an ocean and mountains . . . ahhh, not in FL. Maybe they are celebrating their sister city, the Marianna Islands located in the Pacific??? Pretty city.

Not sure if I have ever seen a McDonald’s with ACTUAL golden arches. This could be an original  . . . or a replicate. Not sure!!!

Nice old home in Marianna . . . it’s now the cities Visitor Center.

Another interesting mix of business and religion. You only live once . . . get that car today!!!

For 10 miles, no shoulder, but nice rollers today . . .

Another one for the list . . . first dead turtle I have seen.

I came down over a hill and there was a VERY big and VERY much alive turtle, about the size of the top of a 5 gallon bucket, in the middle line of the road with traffic, coming from both sides, trying to go around it. I stopped, carefully grabbed it and carried it to the side of the road. It mad a B-line for a little stream flowing through a culvert . . .

. . . and sat down for a rest. A bunch of the cars honked at me for approval and thumbs up!!!

I watched him for a while and he seemed to be staring at me, maybe because I had on a neon yellow jersey today, but I think it was to say Thanks . . . I named him Blinky because, as he stared at me, he was slowly opening and closing his eyelids!!!

Not sure what is hitting these pine . . . might have been a slow burning fire that killed some of the lower branches.

This one was a beauty . . .

Soon we were in Snead, our home for the night. Not much for restaurants so we stopped at the local Piggly Wiggly for a little lunchy . . .

Then on to the Lake Seminole Motel, our home for the night . . .

bad news is the pool is empty . . . .

. . . good news there is a funeral home right net door, a local landmark!

Wasn’t long before someone had to come over and show off their new jammie bottoms . . .

With no restaurant in town it was back to the ‘Pig’ for a picnic dinner of ham, sweet potatoes, cole slaw, salad and vino!!! But first how about some ‘goober peas’ . . . 

Boiled and salted . . .  YUM . . .

Dinner was fabulous, at a picnic area on the side of the reservoir . . . lot’s of leftovers!!!!

With tummies full have ham we all had a good nights sleep . . . not really moving around much until about 7:00. Then . . . more ham for breakfast!!!!

We crossed the Apalachicola River on the way out of town, whose reservoir we had our nice picnic alongside it possible last night. Oh yeah . . . a 7% hill, one mile after starting out today. I am still amazed at the way the gps works. Although I shouldn’t be, as it has counted down the distance in feet to the center of hundreds of intersections where I have turned. But . . . this river was the dividing line between Central and Eastern time zones . . . sure enough, half way across the bridge my Garmin 800 moved an hour ahead!!!

The dam that made our picnic possible!!!

Billy Jo McAlister may have jumped off the Tallahatchie River bridge, but his cousin Bobby Jo never made the news here in Chattahoochee when he probably walked off, rather than jump off, the end of this bridge to nowhere!!!

Had to get a shot of Connie at the local PO just because I love saying that name . . . Chattahoochee!!!!

Nice of this bar owner to let his patron’s know when the place is ‘rockin’ and rolling’ . . . no need to waste time coming too early to drink!!!

Yesterday Gina had met Tim, of Tim’s Fresh Boiled Peanuts, and in fact the peanuts we ate as an appetizer last night came from Tim . . . so we had to stop by, on the way out of town, to say “Hi” this morning.

Gina I were the first there and Tim had to go home to get the license plate, he had promised Gina but forgot to bring to his ‘store’ this morning. Here is the raw product . . .

. . .and here is his kitchen where he already had a batch boiling!!!!

Oh, he sells a little of everything. Gina was trying these on when  I  left. Not sure if they ended up in her panniers or not!!!

This was an interesting situation . . . I presume they mean the volume of the music . . .

. . . which may not sit so well with their neighbors across the street. Might be sort of a Hatfield and McCoy situation . . .

. . . as the neighbors want everybody to know, several times, they are not welcome. Probably tired of people peeing in their yard at bar time!!!

Not sure what this is all about but I bet who ever it is that is bringing their last pay stub, and getting free transportation, is coming out on the ‘short end of the stick’!!!!

Clever . . .!

Lots of great fishing holes along the way today that look to get a lot of use . . .  . .

. . . how can you tell, by all the litter people leave at EVERY landing! Sad.

Nice old school, for girls, outside of Gretna. Three rooms on the lower level and one large room, and a stage, on the second!!!

All across the US we have biked by county deputies homes. How do I know . . . because they have their squads parked outside, in order to leave and return from their shift. Many of the homes were singlewide trailers or dilapidate homes, making me think a law enforcement profession didn’t pay too well in some areas. The Sheriff, or one of the deputies, that lives here is doing  . . . ‘just fine’.

But so was the rest of Quincy, a nice little town we passed through this morning. Positioned at the interstate’ s ‘Easy o’ Easy Off’,it might be a bedroom community for Tallahassee.

Oh yeah . . . we have seen our share of car dealerships who ‘guarantee a loan with nothing down’!!!!  Looks like this one made one too many bad loans!!!!

Here is something unique we have seen the last several weeks, entrepreneurs setting up ‘car washes’ at gas stations. They don’t seem to have auto drive through versions in the smaller towns but instead individuals who set up a tent, bring out the vacuum and garden hose, and for $10 take care of detailing your drive!!!!

Entering Tallahassee, I came upon this accident. Five cars involved. The two officers in the back were flailing their arms around, I thing trying to recreate who was where when the action happened. The guy in the beige car, talking on his cell phone, seemed to be ‘way out of position’. I think the whole SE part of the country maybe one big ant hill. As I took this shot, I felt stinging sensations on my right foot only to look down and see I was standing on top of another anthill. Slow learner!!!!

On our route through town we rode through  the Florida State University campus. Very pretty. Here was the Dick Howser Stadium. Doesn’t mean a thing to me but it might to some of you sports fans out there . . .

. . . nice walkway and path winding through campus . . .

. . . and here was the FSU HiFyer’s permanent facility. It is an extra-curricular activity under FSU’s Division of Student Affairs. All members of the FSU Circus are required to be a degree-seeking students, registered at Florida State University. Who knew!!!

‘Connie the Clydesdale’ patiently waits outside the aLoft, our home for two nights in Tallahassee. Concierge parking, of course!!! Rest day tomorrow, so plenty of time to explore the town.

Paul and I are sharing this room  . . . TommyH, by luck of the draw, has his own version for two nights.

Nice . . . none of us checked for bedbugs here . . .

We boys had a GREAT dinner last night at the Front Porch . . . while the girls went somewhere less ‘spendy’ . . .

TommyH and I had the honey shrimp on a bed of smoky gouda grits . . . and Paul had the seafood linguine . . .

. . . and of course there was dessert involved. Stacked Key Lime pie, Coconut Cream pie and I had the flourless chocolate cake!!! YUMM . . . it is our ‘day off’ you know.

Today is Saturday, rest day. Time for napping, shopping, eating, touring, bike mechanic work, laundry . . . all the things one does not get done during our ‘work week’!!! BUT . . there was plenty of time to explore the downtown area, in between the rain showers that is

. . . the historic state capital. Open for touring on Saturday . . .

. . . here is a real carpet bag made famous by the ‘carpetbaggers’ who descended on Florida trying to make their first million!!!!

. . . and of course a pair of ‘Walkin Lawton’s’ shoes from his walk from Pensacola to Miami. Someone making the same trek today would probably be wearing a pair of Nike’s and have them as a corporate sponsor . . . .

. . . there were still signs like this on up until the mid 1960’s!!!!

. . . at one point there was a big debate in the Florida legislature regarding smoking during the legislative sessions. Not sure what this jokester’s message was  . . . but it looks funny!!!!

Here is the ‘new’ capitol  . . . built in the late 1970’s. Only Nebraska, South Dakota and Louisiana have gone with the ‘elevated tower’ look. Glad it never caught on . . . makes our dome in WI look even more majestic!!!!

. . . all the new parts!!

Right down the street from us was the 22nd Annual Crawdad festival. Lots of music, beer and ‘dads . . . !!!

We might head back this evening, when it cools down a little. Once it stopped raining . . . STEAMY!!!

Too hot and sticky to go back to the Crawdad festival, so TommyH and I headed over to the Backyard Bistro . . . walking distance from the hotel. I had the sirloin steak on smashed baby red potatoes with grilled portabellas on top. TommyH had the Backyard’s version of Shrimp and Grits . . . Saturday night so I had to have a ‘tini first, of course  . . . yumminess all around!!!!

. . . after all the activity today, we decided on dessert too . . .Ginger Creme Brule for Tom and another flourless cake for me. YUMMM!!!  . . .  the others went out for pizza!!!! Tomorrow we hit the road again . . .

Well . . . our rest day is over and we are back on the road again heading to Greenville, FL, 65 miles down the road. We will pass under our  ‘200 miles left to Augustine’ mark and the end of the trip. Beautiful day but going to be hot. Would eventually reach 88 degrees!!!

Here was a great natural arch . . .

. . . cool and out of the sun!!!!

A stop at Boyton store in Wascissa to fuel and water up . . .

Economizing in Florida . . .

Linda made a new friend with Boogie, an Australian Shepard. He was sort of apprehensive at first, but really warmed up to her . . .

. . . and was obviously VERY sad when she left!!!!

. . . the parking lot was full and I thought with a name like that there would be some loud singin’ and wild music . . . but things were as quiet as a church mouse!!!!

We rolled into Monticello which, I think, had one of the best looking county courthouses we have seen on this trip. VERY handsome. . .

and time for a break at the  . . . Electric City

. . . bikes for rent . . .

. . . and coffee to drink!!!! Fun place!

Julie and Mark rolled in, having stayed in Tallahassee last night, too. They are taking a rest day in Monticello . . . but we will see them again down the road

. . . like old home week, having not seen them since Dauphin Is, it was time to catch up . . .

We rolled into the Grace Mansion  B&B, our home for the night in Greenville . . .

. . . grand old porch with wide circular corners . . .

. . . here was the girl’s room, in the main house . . .

. . .while us boys tried to ‘make do’ in the cottage . . .

. . . nice living room . . .

. . . big kitchen . . .

. . . and since I was first in today . . . my single room with a king (two doubles actually) !!!!!

. . . plenty of time today to get in the pool!!!! Gina presents her best ‘Ethel Merman’ water ballet impersonation!!!!

. . . Brenda, our Grace Mansion B&B owner/hostess, was too shy to have her photo taken but had just done her toe nails and agreed to have them photographed. They match her flip/flops . . .

No restaurant in Greenville so we went shopping . . . OK, know what these are but will pass . . .

. . . know what these are and will pass again . . .

. . . don’t know what these are, so I bought some and we will find out what they taste like tonight!!!!