One of the appeals of this week's tour is that moves are limited to three. So, most days offer a selection of circle routes that begin and return to the starting point.
Today we rode East from Blountstown toward Tallahassee first crossing over the Appalachicola River on a wide, new bridge. We rode primarly through uninhabited pine forests after turning North from the main road. Nothing worth stopping for a picture.
There are seven of us (Mike, Lil, Linda, Bob, Pete, Hargy and me) who rode together on the 2014 Coast2Coast tour with Bubba. Here is a picture of six of us (Mike missing):
We saw longhorn cattle and buffalo here which prompted us to stop:
We rode on through what we all considered surpringly hilly terrain. The highlight was the rest stop at Torreya State Park. A very enthusiastic and knowledgeable ranger shared with us the following:
1. Torreya was the first state park in Florida established in 1935.
2. Torreya is a subspecies of cypress tree and only found in one location in the world. The Torrey pine found near San Diego, CA is similar but a different subspecies.
3. A blight attacked the trees in the 1950's and reduced their number to just 80. The Atlanta Botanical Garden has helped develop trees that are resistant to the blight.
3. The CCC established a camp at the site and built the basic facilities and moved a plantation house from the West side of the river and rebuilt it over 5 years. The Gregory House now has a spectacular setting on limestone cliffs overlooking the river and rich agricultural land to the West.
We endured light showers and two heavy downpours after we returned to camp. Several tents were flooded and had to be moved. After dinner and the rain abated we walked to the little and charming downtown. There was a small festival and band playing.
Then it was back to bed and a very much appreciated sleep.
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