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Monday, December 3, 2001 - Back on U.S. 90
60 miles. Gulf Breeze, FL to Holiday Lake Travel Park, Crestview, FL
We got a bit of a late start as we had coffee and
breakfast with Aunt Jo and Uncle Stan. They have been married an incredible 58
years. It just goes to show that it can be done. We didn't get started until
9:30 but it didn't matter too much since we had only 60 miles to go with easy
terrain and a light east wind.
The Five Dimensions of Cyclotouring were not to be
negative factors. The day was in the mid-70's with warm December sunshine all
day. We crossed Pensacola Bay on the newly completed Garcon Point Toll Bridge.
Why it has been built is not exactly clear since 99% of the traffic still uses
the older U.S. 98 bridge at the mouth of the bay. We concluded that it could be
of value during a hurricane evacuation but that is about all.
When we reached the north shore they waived the toll
for this pair of cyclists and we pedaled on north on FL-191 with little traffic
past pine forest in to Bagdad (pop. 1457) and Milton (pop. 7216). In Bagdad
there were many evergreen oaks with large amounts of Spanish moss adorning them.
I have reached the conclusion that there is a symbiotic relationship between the
oaks and the Spanish moss since the oaks can be heavily bedecked with it while
other trees carry little or none.
In Milton we had lunch at an Arby's. We talked to a
couple of young guys about our trip and as they left they gave us the three sandwiches
that they had not eaten. We ended up with eight Arby's for just $5. Leaving
Milton we rode on the Blackwater Trail Bike Path for about 5 miles and then
proceeded for 20 miles on deserted back roads thru young pine forest crossing
several small rivers and creeks which led to some ups and downs, i.e. small
hills in Florida.
We became reacquainted with our old friend from West
Texas, U.S. 90, in Holt and rode on into Crestview (pop. 9886), a very busy
town, after passing thru Holt and Milligan, whose claim to fame is having been
the first county seat of Okaloosa County from 1915 thru 1917.
The last 40 miles carried us past vast forest holding
of the Louisiana-Pacific Lumber Co. As we travel across this great country of
ours we are constantly amazed at the extensive holdings of various lumber
companies. It takes a lot of land to grow the timber necessary to keep a company
going, but it is always amazing to realize the extant of their holdings as one
rides a bike thru them.
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