January 29, 2014
Day 25: Sneads: Icebound
We peeked out the door at first light to see black ice in the parking lot. So we slunk back to our bed and abandoned any plan to cycle today. Originally we had thought to go a short distance, anyway, but looking at the spacing of the towns we realized that doing that would not get us to, for instance, De Funiak Springs any quicker over the next couple of days.
By 10 a.m. our decision seemed justified when we learned that I-10 was closed from Marianna to Pensecola, due to ice, and the status of hwy 90 was unknown. Back behind us, the highway patrol was allowing traffic over the bridge, but was directing it carefully.
The forecast is for a really hard freeze tonight, but no rain tomorrow. We will bust out of here then, no matter what.
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Pete Seeger
Pete Seeger has been one of our favourite musicians since we were little. In fact, one of Dodie and her sister's (many) claims to fame is that they once sat on his knee. Pete passed away yesterday. As we travel through the States we see any things that are at odds with the "American Dream": poverty, environmental degradation, racial inequality, lands heavily posted against trespass, etc. Pete Seeger represented the best of America. Moreover, by singing songs like Woodie Guthrie's "This Land is Your Land", he captured the spirit that lies behind cycle touring in this country. Have a listen, and share with us the joy that this man ever existed:
By mid day we gathered the courage to head out on foot in the direction of town to see if we could scare up some food.In the motel parking lot cars were still covered in frost and icicles, and the cold wind had us tighten the hoods of our parkas. We had walked on the highway for only a minute when an old pickup truck with cracked windshield pulled over onto the grass. The driver, who turned out to be John Stone, said "You on bicycles? Stayin' at the motel?" He then offered us as lift, which we gladly accepted.
John dropped us at the grocery store which was quite reasonably large, not a handi-mart. It was great to see some real fruits nod vegetables, However, the store contained no fresh baking, That is, unless you include boxes of Krispy Kreme donuts. Its not like these were actually baked in store, or anything, but they kind of looked like real bakery, Because they were packaged in sixes, we couldt really buy and try them. Admitedly too, they looked totally ordinary. A day will come when we do try a real fresh one!
The store featured a lot of Little Debbie packaged pastries, so despite their low quality, I figured she deserved an appearance here in the blog.
We also found the home base of our most familiar beers: Natural Light and Bud Light. They seem to cost under a dollar a can, making them as cheap as pop.
At the front of the store they had hot boiled peanuts. These are peanuts in the shell, boiled. Unlike the crunchy roasted peanuts that we are used to, these once peeled are mushy. The salted water did give them a bit of zip.
Another item with a locl flair was in the gum machine, which featured giant peach gum balls.
Just to have something for coffee time, we picked up two Moon Pies. Yes Sandra, moon pies, though I wish they could have been muhn pies!
For our next act, we made our way back through the cold to the main restaurant in town, the Captains Table. People inside recognized us as the cyclists, so we answered a few UQs. Concerned about the cold, the people at the next table invited us to stay at their place. Everyone was concerned about the danger of the road, not so much because of the natural risk of it, but because there are crazy people out there. We tried to make light of this, saying that we are crazier than anything Florida has to offer. The menu reminded us of what we had seen a few years ago, on the Blueridge Parkway in the van. It reminds us that we are truly now in the South. This is as opposed to south Florida, which is a world unto itself. So, one could choose catfish or grouper or chicken gizzards or liver, with grits. We went for chicken, which naturally is fried chicken. This turned out to be not greasy and really very good.
Walking back 1 km to the motel was bit of a trial, with tht icy wind on the side of the face. With the closure of I-10 presumbly still in effect, trffic ws heavy too, and included lots of big trucks. We are hoping like mad that all this turns around by the time we attempt to roll out tomorrow morning.
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