Update 16 - 1/21/01
Hello from beautiful downtown Tampa, Florida!
We have reached another milestone point of our trip, and are currently enjoying the hospitality of Stratton and Susan. They have graciously invited us to stay in their guest house next to their home/office. This is an older part of the city that has undergone much restoration. We are surrounded by beautiful examples of early architecture, including their home, which is more like artwork than a building.
Leaving Panama Beach, we continued on US 98 along the Gulf Coast in the panhandle of west Florida. Much of the highway has been rebuilt recently, complete with wide shoulders. The landscape included vistas of long beautiful beaches and islands or peninsulas off shore. There were several long bridges along this section and we saw a lot of wildlife, including dolphins swimming and diving near the bridge pilings.
There are several lengthy stretches of sparsely populated sections. We stopped at a small store run by a local named RV (bet you thought I was going to say Bubba). We wanted to buy sandwiches for lunch, but his telephone line was not working and so he couldn't accept our credit card for the purchase. To our surprise he offered to give us food and drink for lunch, rather than have us miss the meal. We did pay him with a personal check, which he accepted without asking for identification. When we asked about wildlife in the area he took us outside and called in two comical wild pigs that live nearby. He calls them Bacon and Sausage, so we assumed their long term survival prospects are probably not good. We bid good bye to RV, and rode off discussing our continued amazement at the kindness folks have shown toward us and the interest they have in our trip, even when we have stereotyped them otherwise.
At Perry, where the panhandle connects to the main part of the state, the route turns due south, and the weather became decidedly more tropical. We stowed the long gloves, jackets and fleece for the first time in nearly six weeks, and broke out the sun screen. Near Cross City we camped at a KOA on the Suawannee River. The temperature that evening at 9 PM was 68 degrees. Earlier that day we met Warren and Mary Ellen, retired educators who stopped their RV by the roadside to meet us and ask about our ride.
South of the KOA we rode for nearly 20 miles on a Rails to Trails route through what is normally wetlands. However, as we quickly learned from the locals, the region is in the grip of a devastating drought, and where there is normally water that teams with wildlife, there is only dust now. Many people are without water as their wells have dried up and they have to depend on water that is being trucked in.
Thanks to guidance and maps from our hosts, Stratton and Susan, we left the main roads and spent our last several days riding south through historic and very beautiful towns, eventually joining the Withlacoochee State Trail for 46 miles of riding smooth asphalt on what used to be a logging railroad.
As we approached Tampa, the traffic increased, and the rush-rush aggressive driving of urban living was apparent. The difference between urban and rural lifestyles seems to be magnified by the automobile. Our route into town was on secondary roads, but traffic seemed heavy, perhaps because it was Friday. The stretch of road we were on had no shoulder and Sharon told me to pull over in a driveway to let a pickup truck go by. As the truck passed, I saw what was worrying her, it was heavily overloaded with scrap metal that was not very well secured. The truck was traveling slowly, followed by a long line of autos. We waited for the line to pass, the last car being a dark sedan driven by a clearly very irritated young woman.
A mile up the road we came upon the scene of a horrible collision. Apparently the line of cars was passing the pickup as they approached a curve and the anxious young woman decided to pass along with everyone else, even though in a blind curve. She paid a terrible price for hes lack of patience -- it cost her life. Fortunately the elderly man he hit head on survived, but was badly injured. We found out the next day that his wife died as a result of her injuries.
When the fire was extinguished and it was safe to move from the safety of a side road, we returned to a restaurant a couple of miles back where Statton picked us up in his mini-van, as Sharon was too upset to continue riding. After settling into the guest house we enjoyed a memorable diner prepared "from scratch" by Stratton and an evening of pleasant conversation. We learned about our Host's recent tours in Great Britain and Bulgaria and dreamed of going to such far away places as we paged through their photo albums.
Saturday was a very busy day.
First there was breakfast with our niece, Wendi and her husband Rob. He had to go to work, so after dropping him off, Wendi toured us around Tampa. We walked around recently restored areas of Ybor City (somewhat like the French Quarter in New Orleans), and visited the Plant Museum. The museum used to be a famous hotel, and the design and construction is amazing. Don't miss it when you travel to Tampa.
In the afternoon we drove Sharon to the airport for a quick trip home to take care of some business matters at work. She will be back on Tuesday.
Then we went to the locally well known Dud Thanes Bike Shop where I arranged for some minor maintenance for our bike.
That evening we went to the annual dinner of the Tampa Bay Freewheelers bicycle club where I answered many questions about our tour and extended greetings on behalf of the Vancouver Bicycle Club.
We will be here in Tampa for a few more days before riding across to the east coast of the state to visit our son and his family in Coral Springs.
Having a great winter vacation in Florida,
George and Sharon Miner
Vancouver Bicycle Club, Vancouver, Washington
2000 da Vinci Global Venture towing Bob Trailer
Free as the Wind - Our one year self-supported tandem tour of the USA, Mexico and Canada
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