Day 168: St. Augustine to Ormond Beach, 41 miles
Day 169-172: Ormond Beach
Day 167: 8/26/14
The storm raged on and off throughout the night with high winds and heavy and loud rainfall but, believe it or not, I did manage to get some sleep up on the picnic table. I woke up at about 6:00 a.m. to one of the groundsmen raking up the courts right near my pavilion. The sun wasn't up yet so he had a flash light as he made his way around the courts and then he eventually got close enough to me and the light came over in my direction and then away and then back again... A flashlight double-take and then it stayed.. I waved at the blinding light and the man behind it and saw the faint dark figure give a little wave back and that was that. I figured I better start packing up. So I did and hit the road as the sun was coming up. The storm had blown over and the day turned out to be really nice. I continued my relatively flat and easy ride down the historic A1A highway passing through Atlantic Beach, Neptune Beach, Jacksonville Beach, Ponte Vedra Beach, and eventually down to St. Augustine.
Back to where it all started on Day 1 back in March! It felt pretty weird getting back to the starting place again and again made me start realizing that this whole thing is coming to an end... Definitely a little bitter sweet. But, on the up side it's not where this journey ends so no need to despair yet! I still got some more riding and adventuring left!
Day 168: 8/27/14
I left St. Augustine after a little breakfast and rode straight down A1A to Ormond-By-The-Sea and got there a little after Noon on a beautiful and hot day! 41 miles and done for the day on my 17th day in row of riding (a record for the trip... Philadelphia to Ormond Beach without 1 day off...). And boy did it feel nice to know that I was done for the day and would be able to enjoy a few days off here.
I'm staying with my long time friend and childhood next door neighbor Sara (who only recently moved down here herself) and will be spending a few days off to enjoy the area and the Holiday weekend with her before my last push down to Key West!
After Sara got out of school (she's a teacher) we hung around her house catching up, I got to meet her Cousin Donna and her Cousin's husband Brian and we had a few drinks with them at their awesome outdoor bar which just so happens to be next door to Sara's (what luck!) and then Sara and I came back to her house and we cooked up some magically delicious flank steaks and cheese and spinach and grilled asparagus for dinner. Definitely, a good first night in Ormond Beach with promises of an even more fun-filled holiday weekend to come!
Day 169: 8/28/14
Sara was out of the house early Thursday for work and I enjoyed a little extra sleep. I felt it was somewhat deserved after all of those days riding in a row. I finally rolled out of the bed around 8:00 a.m. and cooked up some coffee and hung around the house for a few hours with Sara's dog Trixie. Then I headed down the short distance to the beach where I first got a massive slice of pizza from Tony's Pizzeria which wasn't so bad (from my New York pizza eating standards) and then made my way down to the beach. I spent a few hours walking down along the beach, doing a little swimming, and then lounging out on the beach reading my book. Quite an enjoyable afternoon...
Once Sara got home that night we headed out to Maria Bonita Mexican Restaurant for dinner and happy hour drinks.. The place didn't disaappoint! Margaritas, queso cheese and chips, enchaladas, chimichangas and deliciousness! After dinner we stopped in at one other place called Billy's Taproom and Bar, a cool down-home pub, for one more drink and to listen to a little live music and then we headed back to her house and called it a night.. Some of us still had work the next day!
170-172: 8/29/14-8/31/14
Sara made it through work and then her cousin Melanie got to her house to hang out for the weekend festivities and the rest of these days included a bunch more trips down to the beach for swimming, another home made taco feast, a breakfast of cinnamon swirl waffles and bacon, a lot of hanging out around the house and next door with family and friends, an unhealthy amount of coffee, a few beers, and sleep in between.
These were some much needed days rest and I had a blast hanging out with Sara and her family. But, as with all good things they must come to an end at some point and so Sunday (8/31) marks my last days rest. I've got a mission to complete and starting anew tomorrow, the first of September, I'll be back on the bike to finish what I started and get my butt down to Key West!
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.