June 7, 2006
So here we are, 4 days and 142 miles into our trip. It’s been much easier than we expected in most ways, so far, but more challenging in others. We left St Augustine at high noon on Sunday June 4th, in 84-degree heat. Yes, it was a crazy thing to do, but we were very determined to just get a start. We are very glad we did, as it ramped up our energy, and helped us get systems set up in a more gradual way.
We are already outside of Gainesville – in fact I am writing tonight from the air-conditioned comfort of a Holiday Inn in west Gainesville. The first day we managed to achieve 30 miles, and went up to 52 the next day, and made our goal of 60 on only the third day. This morning the alarm went off at 5:30, and when I swung my legs over the edge of the bed and heard the deep, deep, deep breathing in the room, I realized that discretion is often the better part of valor, and I spontaneously decided that today would be a rest/systems day. We’ve made great progress today on getting the bridge established between our now totally virtual office and our “former lives”, thanks to our Verizon wireless card on our laptop, our cell phones, our portable printer, and our organizational systems.
The bike riding has been absolutely gorgeous. We have thoroughly enjoyed the physical terrain, and the weather has been great – lower than usual humidity and the heat hasn’t yet hit its peak. We have been taking careful notes on the real estate issues and we will be compiling those into coherent notes by next week. We can safely say that real estate here is certainly not like Southern Florida. It is still very “country”, with many towns so small that they aren’t even on maps. Some towns are so small that they have only a gas station, a restaurant, and perhaps an auto repair place. However, signs of change are everywhere. Brand new homes are going up, in little mini-clusters –sometimes only two houses – and there are signs advertising small developments in the most unlikely places.
Chelsea and I have taken down phone numbers on several “We buy houses for cash” and we will report back to you on what we find out after calling these investors.
We also have found out that when a logging truck passes us on a narrow two-lane road with no shoulders at 55 miles per hour, it’s a noticeable wind change, but when they pass at 70, it’s like hitting a wall. When they are passing at these speeds going our direction, we have a sensation of being sucked forward.
Chelsea and I are drinking nearly 2 gallons of water a day and could still drink more.
We have found out that locals are extremely interested in our journey, and love to stand and talk to us. We have already handed out any number of business cards and have been assured these folks will be checking our website to follow our progress. We’ll be posting photos soon, so stay tuned.
And finally, we may be seeking investors to bring out a new product – “butt ice packs in the convenient twin-pack”. We’ll keep you posted as we refine the idea.