Its after dinner and we're at the Cheyenne Saloon. "Willie & Po' Boys" are in the corner hammering on power chords, guitars emblazoned with the confederate flag. Earlier at a seafood restaurant near the campground we were discussing plans for arriving in St Augustine tomorrow and celebrating the finish.
Today was a good day. We started with a beautiful 16 mile bike trail from Gainesville to Hawthorne. The trail wound its way through forest and meadow and across beautiful bayous. In Hawthorne we stopped for a while at Dianne's Barbecue for lunch. Later at the gas station at Putnam Hall we met another touring cyclist who last year did approximately the same route as us but in the other direction. He had set off on a whim on his Walmart bike with no gear and almost no money - crazy - but he made it. When he started he was 350lbs (158kgs) and he was 280 when he finished. It just shows what's possible when you have the will.
On our way into Palatka we decided to stop for a beer. The Hi Level, a tiki style outfit with a respectable number of pickups and Harley's in the parking lot seemed like a good place. The first round for the 3 of us came to $4:50 - total! We started talking to the folks in the bar: the 2nd round was shouted by the bartender, the third by the guy 2nd from the left and we can't remember who shouted the 4th, but we had to chug it and split since we still had 6 miles to the campground and the sun was already sinking large and red behind the trees.
So tomorrow we finish. 40 odd miles will take us to the Atlantic Ocean and complete the coast to coast. We'll have a welcoming party of friends and family of some of the riders then take our bikes across the sand to the water, and we'll be done.
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