Day 47 and 48, Moving through north Florida

April 22, Wednesday  Dave and Loren 85 miles
Our route continues to be on 90 with nice shoulders. The surprise was how hilly it became during the afternoon. Tallahassee was especially hilly. Bubba routed us through the city on a zigzag path to avoid the worst of the traffic. The busy roads that we did have to take had bike paths. Now that the weather has cleared up it gets quite hot in the afternoon; it was 86. I found myself getting a little woozy and I realized that I had not been drinking enough. I forced myself to drink a full bottle of water and a Gatorade and that got me to the motel. It was great to just step into the shower rather than having to walk over to a shower house and try to keep clean cLothes dry and dirty clothes together while trying to dry off and get dressed standing on one leg. Why? Invariably there isn't a chair or bench to put clothes on and the water jets out into the changing area (if there is one)which leaves the floor all wet. That's problematic when trying to put pants on. Ah, but I'll miss it when it's done...

April 23, Thursday, Dave and Loren 48 miles.
Today was nice and short. We stopped in Greenville which is Ray Charles birthplace. It has a nice bronze statue of him so we all had our pictures taken there. Our destination town has a nice community college where we are overnighting in the gym. Bubba had a woman who knew Ray Charles come and talk about his early life, but also how she put herself through college and got a Master's degree while raising 5 children. Determination. She advised us to use the same determination to get up the hills!
Tomorrow a 77 mile route to High Springs and then a rest day at O'Leno Sate Park. We only have three more biking days left!

A welcoming sign at a bakery rest stop.

A cypress swamp at Lake Miccosukee.

We stopped at the Madison Post Office which has original woodwork. One patron stopped to talk to us and said the mural was somewhat controversial but they left it because it is historical.

The Florida and have been so friendly and talkative, maybe more than any other state we've been through. They all say "stay safe".

Even the fast guys get sleepy. "Rocket man" Jeff.

Lots of big old live oak trees and Spanish moss. The little town of Monticello.