More stories of adventure...

After having enjoyed Tallahassee, we left for High Springs, FL. For lunch we stopped to eat our gruel at Itchetucknee State Park. The area was humid and swampy, but inside the park were crystal-clear springs that maintain a constant temperature of 72 degrees. Wonderfully bizarre.

In High Springs, we stayed with Lys Burden. Of her many accolades (including a feature article in National Geographic), she and her husband were founders of the organization Adventure Cycling in Missoula, MT. (Adventure Cycling created our cycling route!) She could fit in well with the Teton Science crew. Her ways are natural, organic, local and very inspirational. She is devoted to making communities thrive by cultivating local gardens. I am open to sampling just about any food, but I was wary about her raw milk (perhaps it was the warning on the packaging). She assured me that I wouldn’t die and I enjoyed the cup of milk I poured over my granola. Marina would have been proud.

From High Springs, we traveled to Gainesville and stayed with Alex, a PhD student at the University of Florida. This couchsurfing dude took us to the Butterfly Rainforest, an art museum, out for dinner at a local Mexican restaurant, to the movie “The Kite Runner,” and we ended our eventful night at the local rock climbing gym. It was fun, but I’m really bad at rock climbing.

In the morning, we made our way to Palatka, FL. We arrived in the city in time for the local Azalea Festival, but were surprised to discover that there were not ANY azaleas at their Azalea Festival. When we were in High Springs, Lys Burden suggested we stay with her close friend, Linda Crider. I had called Linda Crider to confirm this, but she was out canoeing and didn’t get my message. So…my Dad and I just showed up at her house. We were delighted that she was home when we arrived. Her home sits on the banks of the St. Johns River and it looks like it could belong on Summit Avenue. Linda organizes Bike Florida (a bicycle tour of the state) and she and her friend Mike entertained us with a salmon dinner and good conversation. In addition to our breakfast, we drank fresh squeezed orange juice from Florida oranges.

We left Palatka for our ride into St. Augustine. To be honest, it was sort of anticlimactic. We faced a strong, strong headwind and sat on the beach with strangers. I didn’t expect any pomp and circumstance, but the completion of our journey was so quiet. After leaving the beach, we hoped to celebrate our feat with a beer. However, when we checked the local pub we learned that a pint of beer was seven dollars. That’s ridiculous; do you know how much ice cream you can buy for seven dollars?

We spent the next day in St. Augustine where we encountered the historic sites of our nation’s oldest city and we conversed with a few waitresses who had recently been sick. Dinner-waitress Emily, breakfast-coffee-girl and pancake-lunch-lady all volunteered information about their illnesses and diseases. Unsettling.

Since we had the time, we decided to bike down the coast toward Orlando. With Linda’s handy route, we headed toward Daytona Beach’s Bike Week. Along with thousands of other bikers, we biked down Daytona’s main drag amid the deafening sound of motorcycle engines. We joked that we had ridden 3,300 miles to get to Bike Week only to discover that we rode the “wrong” type of bikes. We stayed in Daytona with a guy named Chris who gave us for a tour of the local NASCAR sites that he loves very dearly.

Much to our surprise and delight, my Uncle Curt and Aunt Faye were vacationing at their timeshare in Orlando. Curt met us at a bike shop in Titusville and enabled us to join their family fun. We also got to spend time with Jen, Roman, Brennan, Luke and Ross (my cousin & family). Their youngest, Ross became thoroughly enamored with my flashing bike lights and headlamps and was ready to hop in my suitcase (bike trailer bag) when we left for the airport. At one point, Faye told us that Ross could be a very stubborn child. I turned to Ross and asked him, “Are you a strong-willed child?” He responded, “NO!!!!!” Haha.

Between a bicycle crash and a stroke, my Mom and Faye have endured serious physical hardship for the past couple years. Both my Dad and my Uncle Curt provide me with a model for what it will mean to promise “in sickness and in health.” For the loves of their lives, they have patiently toted wheelchairs and canes, made hospital visits, opened doors, pulled up the car, etc. That’s real love.

We have received such a warm reception at home! Kathy Beenen poetically wrote, “From sea to shining sea” – We were inspired by the adventure you shared. Thank you for letting us “travel with you” through your blog. We are inspired by dad and daughter- the physical, emotional, mental feat of a cross-country ride; and by Sandy, who has traveled her own multi-marathon in the past 2 1/2 years and her support for your adventure. We are inspired by your lives and celebrate your accomplishments.

With three cheers,
A sigh of relief,
And all our love,

Kathy & Kelly
Congratulations (and love to Jill, whose accomplishments will be celebrated in another card, another day)

What a nice card! When we were in Gainesville, Alex made some comment about how my Dad and I are “hardcore” cyclists. Logically I know this journey is rather “hardcore,” but I just think of myself as a girl who really loves to ride her bike.