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Sunday, December 16, 2001 - Dog Day Afternoon
38 miles. North of Davenport, FL to Prince of Wales Motel, Lake Wales,
FL
Having planned a short day, we allowed ourselves to
sleep in. We got on the road around 9:00. We had a light shower overnight, but
it must have been more than we thought because some water had gotten part of the
tent floor wet. We were happy to leave Disney World and Orlando behind. They
don't make for good cycling.
In a few miles we left New Florida and entered Old
Florida. Here there are older homes, small farms and landholdings, orange groves
and less money and glitz. There tend to be native Floridians. The towns like
Davenport (pop. 1529) have no condos or strip malls. We were cruising on back roads
on our way to Lake Wales (pop. 9670) along the shore of Lake Pierce when the
ever present canine threat raised its ignorant head. As we approach a house
close to the road, a pack of about five dogs of various sizes raced into the
road.
With the house so close to the road there was little
time to react. Joan was in the lead and a big stupid dog ran out and stopped
right in front of Joan, like a deer in the headlights. Collision was inevitable
and she piled into the mutt, falling to the right. I stopped and chased the ugly
pack away. Angry words followed with the irresponsible owner of this public
menace. She seemed to have no concern at all. They usually don't. And people
wonder why, with a few exceptions, I have little use for man's best friend. Joan
came out of it in fairly good shape with a gash below her right knee and a few
bumps and bruises. She soldiered on the remaining 10 miles into Lake Wales and
is recuperating well.
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