40 days of travel, 40 more to go before California.
My week started off in southern Florida on a pretty bad note. Getting out of Miami turned out to be a hassle, but after 2 flats and some negativity from people I made it into (and out of) alligator valley. South-western Florida was such a bad experience that I got angry at the whole state and decided to bike through the night in hopes of getting north quicker. I took a 2 hour nap in a parking lot and made a couple of rest stops but other then that I biked straight for 30 hours and covered well over 200 miles. I was angry. Really angry at the fact that I spent most of that time passing shopping malls and stores. It wasn't the route I took, no, highways to the east & west turned out to be the same; hundreds of stores selling bullshit items that we don't really need, repeating themselves over and over again. I lost count of how many fast food places I passed and how many food stores were within a few feet of each other. 50 miles of store after store after store. Rationally and logically it made no sense, what kind of a society would want this? Main street always made sense to me; a couple of stores serving a small community, friendly staff & proud small business owners that knew what they were selling. These malls that we all flocked to for the sake of saving a few dollars are the complete opposite.
I was also angry at the people. People who would stare me down and not even ask what I was doing or where I was going. People who would flip me off when I waved to them or nodded. People who ignored me even after I said hi to them trying to end the staring contest they were trying to win with me. Whats up with this animosity and hatred I'm experiencing? In NY people are "cold" but keep to themselves, in southern Florida people made it a point to show their detest towards me.
As I rode north this started to fade, yet the unwelcomeness was still felt. "Hi I'm biking to blah blah blah, looking for a place for the night.. Know where I can find a spot to pitch my tent?" I asked one couple. "nope, you won't find any place like that around here."
I stayed at a state park for two nights, taking a rest day to get away from people and to reflect on a lot of things. Much of that day was spent just laying on a picnic table thinking. I got sad, and then miserable. I would have days like this back home, but haven't experienced any on the road so I guess everything caught up to me. I knew it was only temporary. I gave myself that time though, and let my mind wander. In the morning it was overcast and raining, but I felt revived. People started being more pleasant as I went further north, and my ubiquitous joy came back. I stayed at two state parks the following nights and met some awesome people along the way.
I'm now headed west, hoping to be out of Florida by Thursday, through Alabama on Friday, and out of Mississippi by the end of the weekend. That's the plan, not sure about anything else. Might end up picking crops somewhere along the way if I find the work just for the experience (:
Spending Halloween night on a beach near Carrabelle, FL. No rain fly; just the sound of the ocean and the view of thousands of stars above me.
Peace, W
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