Circling the U.S. Chapter 79: After Tallahassee

Thursday, March 12 - Sunday, March 15, 2020

After leaving Tallahassee the riding on Thursday, March 12, was easy, if a bit boring. No wind was a nice change; we had good shoulders and light traffic. But there was no place of interest to stop which made the day seem long without a good reason to take a relaxing break.

We'd heard about this bike path running about 20 miles from Tallahassee to St. Mark. It lived up to its reputation as a pleasant ride.  

I was aiming for a free camping spot next to a motorcycle shop past the town of Perry. Rob was aiming for a cheap motel in Perry. But we came to Rocky's RV Park and Campground first and found out it only cost $14, a nice change from our last camping night that had a price tag of $68. After 61 miles I was ready to stop. I said I was tired of cheap motels and the weather was pleasant enough to spend a couple hours relaxing outside. Rob, being the agreeable soul he is, gave in.

The only catch was we had nothing for dinner and we were in the middle of nowhere with nothing but a convenience store. They at least had salads, chicken wings, and fruit cups, so we made do with that. After dinner the bugs came out and sent Rob into the tent. Maybe next time he'll get his cheap motel.

Meanwhile, I was obsessed with the coronavirus news and stayed up glued to my tablet searching out whatever information I could find. I felt badly about all the events that were cancelled, events I knew my friends in Colorado and New Hampshire look forward to every year. When I read that the virus can lead to pneumonia followed by liver and kidney failure, I thought, that's how my mother died. I didn't want that to happen to Rob. He has lung disease. Every winter he gets sick, often with bronchitis, but not this year. So far. But I thought we were probably in the healthiest place, being away from crowds, pretty much in the middle of nowhere. And Florida had only seen a few cases.

Friday, March 13, we thought we'd start the day with a second breakfast in Perry. I'd done some research and we easily found the Backdoor Bistro and Coffee Shop. We were the only customers. We needed to charge our phones and my tablet so we found a table in the back with outlets nearby. There was music playing which I didn't pay much attention to as I worked on my blog while waiting for our food. But as we were eating, the words to the music rose to my consciousness and I realized we were in another "Christian" coffee shop.

When we were getting ready to leave, I was waiting for Rob to finish in the bathroom. The owner was sitting nearby, folding napkins. I said, "I couldn't help but notice that you are a Christian business. I've also seen a lot of Trump signs in this part of the country. Do you, as a Christian, support Trump?"

She said, "Oh, yes. I could never vote for a Democrat. We have to protect unborn babies."

"How do you feel about Trump's treatment of immigrants?"

"He's protecting my interests."

That was as far as the conversation went because Rob came out of the bathroom and we had many miles to cover. But obviously nothing I could have said would ever change this woman's vote.

The day's riding wasn’t challenging, just again long and boring. I had a sore butt and it was hot, in the eighties. We passed a baby alligator sunning itself on a cement culvert.

This was now a couple very hot days in a row. I couldn’t imagine doing this trip later in the spring. I was looking forward to starting to ride north in a couple weeks and watching spring unfold. Already we’d been enjoying lots of blooming azaleas and magnolia trees. The wildflowers alongside the road were multiplying, with colors of white, red, yellow, and purple.

Sixty-eight miles brought us to Fanning Springs State Park which turned out to be a real gem. Located on the Suwanee River, with no campgound, primitive camping is allowed for anyone arriving without a car - kayakers, hikers, and cyclists. The park ranger who checked us in said few people stay overnight. Once the park closed for the night we had it to ourselves. I especially appreciated not having internet access.

We set up our tent in a big field next to a band stand then went for a swim in the spring fed pool adjacent to the river.

Saturday, March 14, we had a beautiful morning. We rode about 10 miles to Manitee Springs State Park where we rented a canoe for a couple hours and headed out of the spring area to explore the Suwanee River. The river was much wider than I expected; we stayed close to the shore in the hopes of seeing wildlife. But it was back in the spring-fed area where we saw piles of turtles sunning themselves on a rock, a couple turtles swimming and a small alligator becoming one with the muddy island in the middle of the water.

Manitee Spring is one of many natural springs in Florida that feed into larger rivers.

Cypress knees are outgrowths from the roots of the cypress that help stabilize the tree growing in wet conditions.

Some of the knees get really big.

We came out of the spring into the Suwanee River.

 We saw wildlife upon our return to the spring. There's an alligator tucked into that tiny island.

Too many turtles to count.

Sadly the afternon was not nearly as pleasant as the morning. We headed to Cedar Key, another old fishing town that had been recommended to us. It was out of our way, but we figured it would be worth a detour on what looked to be quiet roads off the beaten path. But it was hot, the scenery was uninspiring, and there were again no places along the way to stop for a break. Then, it turned out that the campground Rob had picked out was not in Cedar Key as he'd thought, but about 10 miles before it. A couple phone calls told us that we probably wouldn’t be able to find an affordable room if we kept going into town. It was the beginning of spring break for the public schools; everything was booked. We wouldn't be able to spend the evening wandering around a quaint old fishing town as we'd hoped. We were disappointed but we knew we had no choice. We decided to check into the campground and spend the following morning exploring Cedar Key.

When we arrived at the campground it was full, but the manager found us a spot, asking a gentleman with a camper van if he wouldn’t mind sharing. He didn’t. The campground cost $10 but the manager wouldn't take any money from us, so we split the cost with the other fellow.

The campground sat right on the Gulf, a favorite spot for fishing and running noisy airboats. After dinner we found a short trail along the shoreline. We didn't realize when Rob took this picture that this would be our last night on the Gulf.

The campground was packed, large groups sharing campsites, kids running around, people gathered around barbecues. The manager told me he'd never seen it so busy. "The movie theaters are closed. Schools are closed. People have nowhere to take their kids."

I said, "This coronavirus is pretty scary."

"You can't believe everything you hear," he said. "The media is making the virus look worse than it is just to make Trump look bad."

After we were in our tent, Kylee called. "Mom, Boulder is shutting everything down. Libraries are closed. Denver schools are closed. CU is going online. People are working from home." 

She didn't suggest we quit, but she sent me an article that described what was going on in Italy, how they didn't have enough ventilators, and that was where the United States was heading. That scared me. Rob has two chronic lung diseases, pulmonary hypertension and asthma. He has heart disease. He's over sixty. For people like him the coronavirus can easily lead to pneumonia and organ failure and death. 

I realized then that our trip was over.