01 May 2014
Tallahassee to Monticello, FL
48 miles (Total Miles = 2,677)

Is it ironic that on the Southern Tier, traveling through states like California, Arizona, New Mexico, and Florida, I have yet to put on my swim suit? Or would that just be sad?

This is what I wonder while feeling a cold trickle enter my right shoe and a solid stream run down the inside of my left rain pant leg. Now that there’s a breakthrough in my not-so-waterproof outer shell, there’s no turning back. Sure, we took refuge on the porch of the Tallahassee Resort Club Welcome building when the thunder and lightning came – and I must say that although she seemed welcoming at first, it was clear after about 20 minutes that the gal inside wanted us soggy cyclists to move on, having hinted that there were picnic tables and restrooms at the State Park down the road, and giving a small head-shake of disgust when we said we were waiting for the lightning to subside – but we couldn’t stand there all day, so back out into the steady rain we went.

The light at the end of our rain-soaked tunnel is the 1872 John Denham House Bed & Breakfast. With only a few days of the tour left, why not spoil ourselves a little with real linens, a claw foot tub, and wine and cheese at the B&B happy hour? Unemployment be damned, it’s time to start celebrating the many miles behind, the few left to go, and the friends made along the way.