Day 11: Perry, FL to Chiefland, FL; 64.9 miles, again on Highway 98, 86 degrees

So, we quickly figured out the gist of today’s ride. We turned out of the hotel parking lot and I looked down at my Garmin, the route instructions said, “left turn in 43 miles.” Ha ha…another long stretch of Highway 98. I was told that there were 14 bends along our route on Highway 98 today. Wow! That’s truly an interesting route. Well, back to wildlife providing interest along the route. Today’s sightings along U.S. 98 included live cattle, ponies, snakes, and a white egret. It also included quite a bit of road kill. Based on our sightings, I would have to say that the armadillo population in this area too a bit of a hit in the last 24 hours. We also saw baby alligator, snakes, frogs of various sizes and species, a large black bird, raccoon, and several things that were so long gone that it was too hard to make out their species. ; – )

Our first stop was at mile 17 at a Sunoco.

Our second stop was also at a Sunoco at mile 26. Bill and I grabbed sandwiches from the Five-star Carols to have at the third stop at mile 43 since it was only 10 am at the time we got to the second stop.

Between the second and third stops today, we had two diversions from the monotony of the road. The first was dodging reflectors every mile or so leading up to narrow bridges for about 10 miles.

The second diversion was Bill’s flat rear tire about 2 miles from the third rest stop. The Carols pulled up just as we stopped to change his tire and it was great to have the tire pump from their truck.

Stop 3 was a great place to eat our sandwiches and grab a snack, as well. Only the drive-in was open, but walk-up worked too.

The last 20 miles of today’s ride were on a beautiful rail trail with lots of flora and fauna. The flowers were such a good diversion after all the time along the road.

Suwannee River

We also saw lots of great butterflies, but they were elusive, and I wasn’t able to photograph any of them. The red-headed lizards were also camera shy – so just picture them in your mind. ; – ) There were Monarchs, Giant Swallowtail, and maybe a black swallowtail.

Since we are in Chiefland, FL, does anyone know if this is the Chief?

My 20+ year-old shoes are really struggling to hang together for this trip. This is the second repair…but they are no longer manufactured and I really like the shoes. Bill has to keep them together. Good thing we have a large tube of Gorilla Glue.

Finally, today’s shower is a 7.5. Might have gotten an 8 except for the 70’s gold color. Bill couldn’t get over it. ; – )