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 !!!