Crestview - Marianna - Quincy

The ride from Crestview to Marianna was 94 miles.  Ninety on 90 the guide called it--90 miles on Hwy 90.  Well, there was a smooth shoulder and trees (but not shade), houses, open land, and medium amount of traffic, but it was hot (low 90s by afternoon), humid (in the 80+% range when we started), and boring and a headwind was picking up.  Consequently, I couldn't see any reason to be out there riding and sagged in from the 32 mile point. My second no-photo day.  I spent the afternoon sitting in the shade with a nice breeze and reading a book.

Today's ride was only 54 miles, some of it on very pleasant country roads with lots of rollers and a significant climb after crossing the Appalachiola (sp?) River.  Crossing the river also put us finally into the Eastern time zone.  While it was humid (87%) when we left and hot (upper 80s by noon), it was a more interesting (farmland, pasture with horses and cattle, woods, and small towns) and shorter ride with frequent shade.  I left around 7:30 and was at the motel by noon ( 1pm EDT).  I took a few pictures, but I really didn't see anything new or different. But I am surprised at how hilly Florida is--not what I usually think about the state. If I may mention honeysuckle once again, the fragance in the early morning under foggy, then cloudy conditions was intoxicating.

If it sounds like I'm getting a bit tired of this, you're right.  I was discussing this with a few of the other riders this morning, and we all agreed that 8 weeks was a bit too much and the sense of that set in somewhere around the 6 week mark.  We're getting anxious to go back to riding where and when we want, having a room of our own, and eating what and when we want to. But we're all hanging in there with less than a week to go now before we dip our wheels in the Atlantic Ocean.