50 States, Day 291

St. Augustine to Jacksonville, 108 miles

 

"A mighty flame followeth a tiny spark."

~Dante Alighieri

With rain in the forecast and clouds confirming our fears (okay, we weren't exactly afraid), we set out (finally) bound for Jacksonville. It wasn't but a few miles out of town that we experienced what keeps the landscape so green.

Yes, when it rains, it rains. Hard, pounding rain that covered both sides of the windshield and created enough humidity that I had to ride with the face shield open a bit while the rain spattered my face. Fortunately it didn't last too long and the remainder of the day was spent with soaked shoes and gloves as the rain came and went, but nothing like the first downpour. Should have worn the boots today.

Because of the weather we stopped at a motel tonight, bonus! An adjacent bathroom, fridge and soft queen size bed (it's actually smaller than the one in the trailer!) awaited us. We unloaded and then headed to meet an old friend that we hadn't met before. Yes, thanks to the Internet, Linda Rondeau and I have been friends for some time, but hadn't met. I guest post on her 'Geezer Guys and Gals' blog.

Once again Google Maps blew it, converting their street name and sending us four miles off course. QG and I agree that it's a dead heat between Google Maps, a paper map and randomly stumbling onto something.

How cool to meet award winning author Linda Rondeau and her husband Steve. And, bonus, they treated us to dinner. Our first home cooked meal in a long time, and man it tasted good.

Poor Linda and Steve, they got an earful from QG and me too, as we hadn't sat down with friends in quite some time. But everyone enjoyed one another's company. After dinner I picked Linda's brain about blogs, writing and publishing, and she never told me to shut up. Pretty gracious.

And now, rested, dried and relaxed, Quilter Girl!

On the way out of the campground we met a couple, she from Florida and he from Finland.  They were choosing their tent site so we chatted a bit about our trip and theirs and we were on our way.  I thought about them 15 minutes later when the skies opened.  We got our tent down just in time.  Riding in the rain is a whole lot more comfortable than living in a tent in the rain!  The motel is very comfortable tonight, thank you.

QG

Today I mentioned to QG that Florida felt like we listened to that voice in our head about speed. After over nine months, we slowed down and enjoyed the moments, ignoring the clock and calendar. And now we're ready to leave. We'll spend a few days here in J'ville, then West to Tallahassee to visit the Capitol.

Thanks for following!

P.S.: Huge thunder, lightning, and gutter filling rain falls now. No regrets on the motel.