Tailwind and goodbyes

Sunday April 30th. Day 55 Madison to Olustee. 65 miles or 104 km. 

No blog tonight. Trying to figure out things.

In the meantime it is Monday afternoon and time to get my blog up to date. 

We left around 7 am. Weather had dried up and the sun was peeking around the clouds. Still there was heavy fog that persisted till about 10 am. By now I knew the drill. Annie starts off enthusiastic but after 1 hour she's done. Fortunately, there was a strong tailwind.  Wow that's a long time ago since I could say that. We stopped for a coffee and a bite to eat as there was no breakfast food left. As a matter of fact, no food at all in my bag!

We decided to alter our route slightly so we saved a few miles. At around noon we arrived in the village of Wellborn. There was a restaurant that served decent food so we stopped there. Soon the time came to say goodbye to  Boaz, Jochim and David. All 3 are amazing people. Kind, caring, and fun. I will miss them. My 3 Israeli amigos are going to Saint Augustine while I will try to get to the Amtrak train station. in Jacksonville. My ticket is for Wednesday so I have to figure out where I will stay for the next 3 nights.

My plan was to stay in Lake City but even though it is quite a big city, I couldn't find a suitable place for the night. So I kept on going. At one point I asked for help at the agricultural department but no camping allowed. So onwards I went. Yet my energy was dwindling so i stopped at a gas station to ask for help. I was told that across the road there was a State Park with a campground. Happy, happy!

I found the host but was told that there was only group camping. I was so disappointed and I guess the host saw my disappointment. He explained that it is legal to camp anywhere outside the park and pointed me in the right direction. I found a beautiful open spot in the middle of the forest.  The only negative were the deer flies. Man did they bite! I put on my raingear and gloves and still they found some skin. At around 7.30 pm the bugs had gone. 

                                                     

Very quiet with some chitter chatter from the birds. I still had to come up with a plan so searched for cheap hotels.  Still pricey and not in a good neighborhood. I got a call from Mike, a Warm Shower host which was very helpful.  He was located at the East side of Jacksonville and informed me that the train station isn't in a good part of town. Ok that sealed the deal. I decided to try to get on the Monday evening train back home. It wasn't cheap but I got a spot! 

Exhausted I crawled in my sleeping bag. I left the fly open. The moon was shining. Just perfect and that's was the last thing I remembered till my alarm woke me at 5.30 am.

Dear Lord, I ask that you give Annie an extra zoom, zoom, zoom today but most importantly, give my sweet friend physical strength and mental determination. Please keep safety amongst her group. In Jesus name, AMEN We love you! (Pam)