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Day 55- Itchetucknee Rest Day

 Come on, Florida — let’s up the game a bit, shall we? 37° at dawn with a high of 60 when the normal temps are 49 to 76 seems unfair. It does, however, add to the badassery factor when you have to leave the tent in the middle of the night to answer nature‘s call under such harsh circumstances.

We built a fire and enjoyed coffee all morning till brunch was ready.


We hung around until about 11 when we headed across the street to the Itchetucknee  State Park.

We started as a whole group minus Terry and Sue who had to go shopping for dinner. First we headed to the trail to Blue Hole.


The Ichnetuckee River has many springs and underground caves and Blue Hole is one of the ways divers access them. 67,000,000 gallons of water flow out of Blue Hole daily and the water stays 72° year-round.

We walked further into the park and saw a kayak company launching boats for a float down the river to the south entrance of the park. We looked into it but it was all booked. Too bad. Some people we talk to said it was like floating 3 miles through an aquarium.


Matt, Adam, and Jack went back and Ann and Kelly and I hiked the nature trails. We didn’t see much wildlife but did meet up with Sue. We eventually headed back to camp too.



I couldn’t sit still so I hopped on the bike and headed into Fort White to mail a card and have a look around. I found some nice sandy roads to ride on and stayed out about an hour and a half.



Looks like another chilly night with a low of 34°. I trust my gear…, I trust my gear…

Things I learned today:

  • I can ride a tandem thanks to Adam and Kelly
  • Florida is fickle

Comments

  1. Nothing like closing out the ride with a “badassery”(great word) factor. It cracks me up that on your rest day you can’t sit still. Love the picture of you on the tandem. Debbie

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