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Searching direction – a funeral, then a paddle in The Ocala National Forest, now what?, do I paddle the Silver again? – weather report says rain.  So I head out from Ocala on hwy 40 to hwy 27 and then to Williston Fla before driving up alt-27 towards Chiefland.  With Manatee Springs nearby and it about six in the evening I find a hotel and settle in – after a couple nights of ‘camping’ I’m thinking a warm bed should help.

Woke to windy and cool weather, the windy part decreased my desire for paddling but I really didn’t mind because I was a little sore from the two previous days – the choice was easy, ride and ponder reflecting thoughts of another’s lifetime…

Continental breakfast, oj, and coffee then a ride up alternate-27 where memories remain of once towing my camaro with a truck many years earlier, it came loose – but that’s another story.  This morning was nice and listening to 97.9 fm fit well with the day.


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I drove North to Perry and then across hwy 98 Westward, light to no traffic – I think everyone (if anyone) were riding along at 60 also because it seemed there was no-one else sharing my lane.  I suppose Dad would call what I was doing as ‘lolly-gagging,’ but it fit the day perfectly and when I saw the St. Marks Wildlife Refuge and Lighthouse sign I simply made the turn – what the heck?

It was a pleasant place full of “bird-watchers” – bird watchers with BIG zoom lenses on their cameras standing, walking, and riding around looking at birds – plenty of birds too.  I took a slow ride to the coast (about 6 miles) and walked around the light house, still pondering – it was peaceful there.

I did notice the history of the area as I appreciated the scenery and uniqueness of the surroundings. As remote as it was I figured it wouldn’t do any harm – so I wandered out into the thicket to ‘relieve’ myself on some lonesome ‘birders’ trail – but then, there were those BIG zoom lenses – not that I had much to worry about…….., but still I moved on.

Returning to hwy 98 it was nice to feel the familiar Florida landscape surrounding me, even the folks on the radio had/used the same slang as I, with that thought I felt at home, my people – I like this area.

I thought about all the storms and hurricanes that came through too, thought too how a welding or scrap-iron business could benefit (their inventory wouldn’t float away), and somewhere in here and after Dad’s funeral I felt the desire to hug my grandchildren, even though they were in Colorado – and then there were more lighthouses.

Hwy 98 (a heritage trail) is a coastal highway with local seafood businesses around, the ride is a pleasant with a good view of the coastline. Once I made it to Apalachicola and located one of those restaurants and ‘whuffed down a dozen steamed oysters and a beverage.

There were some neat stores around too, so wanting some nautical junk for the ‘Crab-shack‘ I wandered through a few, neat stuff….

Not long afterward I was back on the road, Port St Joe, and then Mexico Beach where I saw our latest fighters making practice runs over the highway – it was great.  The plane above simply represents the military’s proximity and importance to the area.

For me, the music on 95.7  remained great for the ride, it all blended in allowing my mind to freely move about – in there somewhere I wondered too about how far I would make it on this ‘non-schedule.’

Further along the coast I began to hunger for some ‘wings,’ I really wanted some ‘wings’ – I also wanted to catch up with these posts too – another simple exercise of allowing a mind to freely ‘move-about’ – riding helped too and I continued on.

After some ‘junkin stops I continued to ponder about riding to Colorado, so I checked the weather and found that it was 12 degrees – that thought allowed other options of simply circling back and riding the roads of central Georgia or traveling further along the Gulf’s coastline.  I could always return to my original plans of driving to Colorado in June.


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In Destin, Fla the campground was full and as I pulled back out onto the intersection there it was, HOOTER’s – where the wings are not always the best but the beverage helps one to over look the food quality.  There was a hotel almost next door – so my ‘wing’ problem was solved (and I DID let out a ‘rebel-yell’).

So here I am two hours after stopping and relaxing further, laundry is done, and there’s a warm bed close-by.  Tomorrow I will head one way or the other tomorrow, it may be west – feeling some loose ends out there…..

its midnight, I’ll come back and clean this up another day…..

its been a long week, leaving me only one thing that feels certain – I really do love to ‘ride’ these highways………………….

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