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Thursday, December 13, 2001 - Heading West for a Change
52 miles. St. Augustine, FL to Lake Delancy Campground, Ocala National
Forest, FL
We left Joan's Uncle Chuck and Aunt Ann. They
have a place almost facing the Matanzas River and in the backyard is a tidal
swamp that is alternately inundated and dry twice a day. Talking to them
we got a good idea of problems related to living close to the ocean. Lots
of people like to do so but it comes with a cost. Some years it never
frosts here and this appears like it may be one of those years.
Today we are doubling back to the west on the final Map
section of the Southern Tier Route and then cutting straight on FL-19 all the
way thru the Ocala National Forest to Mt. Dora where we will pick the route of
the single map section of the route from Ft. Myers to Maine that we are using.
From Ft Myers we will head east across "Alligator Alley" to the
Homestead area and then down to the Keys and the end of our trip.
It was foggy again as we left but the sun was already
shining thru it promising a fine December day as we crossed the Matanzas River
heading west on FL-206. Most of this stretch is past forest, some of it
recently burned. We then passed by Hastings where we encounter a couple
and their niece who were getting ready to finish the route from west to east.
One of the team would drive a SAG (support and gear)
vehicle with their bicycle on top while the other two were riding the route on
their bicycles. They would take turns driving the SAG wagon allowing a
more restful way to travel cross country. As you can see there are a
number of ways to skin this Southern Tier cat. Of course that would
be too easy and comfortable for us to emulate.
Ten miles brought us thru East Palatka (pop. 1989) and
across the St. Johns River into Palatka (pop.10,201). We cruised on FL-19
for the rest of the day into the National Forest where we went off pavement to a
quiet campground for the night. Turning south we crossed a high bridge
that spans the central Florida Barge Canal from the St. Johns River to the
Oklawaha River. It gave a great view of the forest canopy but also makes
one wonder at the necessity of this canal, but the Army Corp of Engineers
marches on and far be it for me to question the wisdom of any of their
multitudinous projects
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