Day 5 - Monticello, Fl, 51 miles. 259 miles total
Despite a rather loud weekend crowd at the campground, I slept pretty well. That was a little surprising since I was sweltering in my tent until it finally started cooling off a little around 10 pm.
There was a convenience store just outside the park which was the only option for food and supplies. They had a kitchen too so I ordered a shrimp dinner, forgetting that I was in the deep fried capitol of the world. It came with fries and garlic bread, just to make sure there was nothing healthy about it.
I got it back to my campsite and since there were so many bugs irritating me I decided to eat it in the tent. Once inside, I realized the hot food was just making the heat more intolerable, but I had little choice but to wolf it down and just "suck it up" and try to ignore all the sweat pouring off of me.
This morning I stopped by the convenience store again to see what kind of deep fried breakfast they were serving. The clerk had told me yesterday that they opened at 6 am. And after a brief pause he added, "or thereabouts."
I didn’t pay enough attention to that little addendum, and of course when I arrived there at 8:15 this morning they weren't open. There were three other people standing around waving potential customers off. One of them was an employee who, apparently, didn't have the authority to open the store.
So I waited with them for a little while and of course they wanted to know where I was going. When I said San Diego, the employee's mouth dropped open. And she said, "Honey, you ain't never gonna make it." Then one of the other guys says, "What are you doin', sleeping in a ditch?" I explained that I was camping and staying in motels. Then he says with a very confused look on his face, "Why doncha just take a bus?"
I didn't try too hard to explain it since I doubt anything I told them would make any sense to them. I asked how far the next store was and they said 10 miles, so I bid them farewell, and they told me to be careful.
There was a convenience store just outside the park which was the only option for food and supplies. They had a kitchen too so I ordered a shrimp dinner, forgetting that I was in the deep fried capitol of the world. It came with fries and garlic bread, just to make sure there was nothing healthy about it.
I got it back to my campsite and since there were so many bugs irritating me I decided to eat it in the tent. Once inside, I realized the hot food was just making the heat more intolerable, but I had little choice but to wolf it down and just "suck it up" and try to ignore all the sweat pouring off of me.
This morning I stopped by the convenience store again to see what kind of deep fried breakfast they were serving. The clerk had told me yesterday that they opened at 6 am. And after a brief pause he added, "or thereabouts."
I didn’t pay enough attention to that little addendum, and of course when I arrived there at 8:15 this morning they weren't open. There were three other people standing around waving potential customers off. One of them was an employee who, apparently, didn't have the authority to open the store.
So I waited with them for a little while and of course they wanted to know where I was going. When I said San Diego, the employee's mouth dropped open. And she said, "Honey, you ain't never gonna make it." Then one of the other guys says, "What are you doin', sleeping in a ditch?" I explained that I was camping and staying in motels. Then he says with a very confused look on his face, "Why doncha just take a bus?"
I didn't try too hard to explain it since I doubt anything I told them would make any sense to them. I asked how far the next store was and they said 10 miles, so I bid them farewell, and they told me to be careful.
A better view of the Suwannee River
Today was a better riding day than yesterday. The headwinds didn't materialize until around 11 am and they weren't as bad. The humidity didn't seem quite as bad either.
I'm on Hwy 90 now and it's got a nice, wide and smooth shoulder. But when I got to Monticello (locally pronounced "ma-nah-sella") the heat was getting bad again and I started looking for a motel. Nothing had shown up online here but not every place is online.
When I was nearly to the end of town without seeing anything but expensive bed & breakfasts, I pulled into a convenience store to ask if they knew of one. The clerk, an East Indian man who spoke very limited English, replied, "Room?"
I said, "Yes."
He then said, "Brama."
I had no idea what that meant. So I repeated the question, to which he replied, "Brahma, $40," and held out a room key.
What luck. I guess I stopped at the right convenience store. The Brahma Motel was just a couple of blocks away. And although this bears absolutely no resemblance to the Hilton, I'm very glad to have found it. The cable TV system is out, but it's got a comfy bed, a shower, microwave, refrigerator and, most importantly, air conditioning!
If you want deep fried wait for Louisiana!
ReplyDeleteUgh. Maybe I'll ferry around it. :-)
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