2015 Southern Tier

Day 58

April 27, 2015 rick wojack

We had a great meal last night out on the back veranda of the boys cottage . . . fresh garden salad, teriyaki/barbeque chicken, roasted potatoes, steamed butter broccoli, and grilled yellow squash.

I had also bought a German Chocolate cake for dessert . . . .

which Gina cut into first four pieces and then eight . . .

. . . but who was she kidding . . . the four of us ate the whole thing!!!! We are starting to ‘talk’ about ‘tapering’ our eating and drinking habits since the ride is coming to and end . . . just in the talking stage at this point!!!!!

The wifi didn’t reach out to the boys cottage so I sat on the deck of the mansion this morning to work on the journal . . .

. . . what a great space with views of the yard and gardens!!!!

Soon it was time for breakfast today . . .

. . and we all assembled in the grand dining room . . .

. . . where our hostess, Brenda, presented us with coffee, juice, a yummy quiche, mini-muffins and fresh fruit!!!! Let’s bike . . .

So many of the Baptist Churches have a huge bus parked alongside. Not sure what the use them for but a BIG investment!!!!

Amen!!!!

I think this one was just sunning himself out on the tarmac and had not been hit . . . but it didn’t want to find out!!!!

Our first stop today . . . Madison, FL . . . Connie Cannondale felt right at home!!!

Not sure what this was all about at the local vet’s office but looked fun . . .

. . . as fate would have it, I was about to find out!!!

. . . of all the church signs I have photographed on the trip with clever sayings, I finally met someone working on a sign. Bernard or ‘Berne’. AND he told me the signs at the vet’s office represented folks who had donated $25 to the First Baptist Church student contingent that were heading to Mexico to do some missionary work. What a coincidence!!!!

. . . and here was the Madison County Courthouse located in Madison, FL. Nice . . . almost rivals our state capital in Madison, WI!!!

. . . they must have run out of money when it came time to design the Annex . . .

Here is the Garmin signaling my turn right in front of the courthouse. It also beeps when you are approaching a turn . . . but I can hear it!!!!

So true . . .

Biking through the Suwannee State Forest today. Looks a lot like WI!!!

First of these we have seen in . . . real or fake!!!!

Now this guy REALLY was not friendly and didn’t want ANYONE nosing around . . .

that silhouette looks like it is from the back . . . Yikes!!!!

Great flowers along the way today, especially the vast areas of Coreopsis, the state flower, in the ditches and across many fields. Quiet roads, overcast sky, cool temps, no winds, flat . . . perfect riding!!!!

As I took the photo above I turned to the other side of the road and saw several guys ‘raking’ the forest floor of pine needles . . .

. . . pushing them over to big piles and covering them!!! Must be using them for some type of animal bedding??? Way to expensive as a fire prevention tool, considering the value of the pine . . .

The pine/live oak forests look a lot like northern WI . . . but the forest floor shrub layer certainly doesn’t!!!

Time for lunch and the only option for miles was a ‘mini mart’ . . .

. . . a couple of happy eaters??!!!

Got to do some research on this “Spanish Moss’. It’s everywhere, on nearly everything that’s growing. Don’t stop in one place too long!!!!

WOW!!!! Where did this beauty come from . . .

Smoochie !!!!!!

Wonder how they trim the roadside trees in FL? Here, they do it with a hydraulic powered rotary disk saw that will cut anything up to 10 inches!!!! Wicked machine!!!They had the left lane blocked as we rode by . . . using guys from local the jail, in their uniforms who had been vanned out in the van in the upper left, to direct traffic!!!!