Month: April 2026

4/21/26

I’m nearing the end of sharing my Florida adventures! There will be more adventures in other states, of course, but this winter in Florida was definitely special. I’m glad I experienced it. Thanks to all of you who came along with me, here on the blog.

I’ll keep this post brief, and mostly pictorial. These places (and cats!) were so beautiful.

After my Daytona Warmshowers host Nikita dropped me off in Edgewater, I got to experience yet again the magical trail that is the East Central Regional Rail Trail. (You may recall that I first experienced this back in January. The weather was perfect that day, and again this time! I think this was my favorite of all the bike trails I rode in Florida.)

Sadly, this time I missed seeing the goats and trail kitty, but I did see a huge batch of baby gators! (No mother in sight, but she must have been nearby.)

I also saw several strolling sandhill cranes at a neighborhood trail crossing. It’s always cool to see those endangered birds just out and about, enjoying life.

After a friendly encounter with a squirrel toward the end of the path right before I reached the DeBary Sunrail station, I finished most of my day’s ride and transferred to the Sunrail, which I took all the way into Orlando.

From the colorful transit center there, I biked just a few more miles to meet my Host a Sister hosts for the night, Faith and her husband.

I had planned to stay two nights with them, but an unexpected snafu with my upcoming cat sit in St. Pete pulled me away the next morning. Fortunately, I would have a chance to stay with them again after that sit.

So I hopped onto the Amtrak to Tampa, then transferred to a city bus to take me across the bay to St. Pete. After about half an hour of cycling, I reached the home I would share with two adorable kitties for the next week and a half, Missy B and Mr. T. While there, I enjoyed the jungle-like backyard (complete with anoles, squirrels, and many birds who enjoyed the feeders) and I also made some communication attempts with Mr. B.

One of these attempts seemed encouragingly successful, when I had asked him to reach out and touch me with his paw if he was receiving and understanding my telepathic communication. A day later, he did so, not once but twice. Up until then, in the three or four days we had spent together, he had barely touched me or seemed affectionate at all.

The learning and practice continues!

After so much continual traveling, I took advantage of my ten-day stay with these cats to mostly sit still and enjoy the lovely home and yard. But on my last day, I did set out to explore the Boyd Hill Nature Preserve, which was lush and beautiful.

There I got to see my last gator of the season, luxuriating in a sunny swamp.

Next up: the last of my Florida days, in Orlando!

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4/17/26

Hello from my family homestead in Waterford, Virginia! This is one of the last stops on my winter of travels, and I’ll share more in a later post. But now, I need to catch up on my ride from Palm Coast—near where I left off last time in Flagler Beach—to Daytona Beach, where I had the unique experience of sleeping on a boat in a marina!

When I left my host’s house in Palm Coast, it was quite chilly, but sunny and otherwise pleasant.

I pedaled through a nice nature reserve on my way out toward the coast, complete with the requisite Florida “boardwalk” bridges and vegetation.

Pretty soon I reached the ocean, and cycled along it for many miles. At one point I took a lunch break at a park, and warmed myself as best I could in the sun.

I also connected with a few more friendly anoles there, also warming themselves along the fencing.

Farther south, I stopped into the beautiful, lush Ormond Gardens. I first went inside to admire the art at the attached museum, although the main exhibit—of local children’s art, some of it extremely impressive—had a “no photography” sign, so I can’t share it here.

Then I went out and enjoyed the garden area, another beautiful jungle.

I especially enjoyed the turtle pond, and was delighted when the turtles seemed very willing to interact, make eye contact, etc—more than most turtles I had encountered in Florida.

Finally, I departed and finished my day’s ride, arriving at last in Daytona Beach.

My Warmshowers host, Nikita, who moved to the US from Russia some years ago, met me at the marina where he lives on his boat. We had some nice conversation, and he showed me on his map of the world how many places he had bicycled, which was very impressive. He is a much more “hardcore” cyclist than I, willing to bike in remote areas with rugged terrain and primitive camping. (Some of these trips he had done with his then-wife and two small children!)

He encouraged me to take a short spin around the marina in his kayak, which I enjoyed despite not being much of a “boat person.”

After setting me up with amenities, he left to stay at his girlfriend’s place for the night, so I had the boat to myself.

However, he was a consummate host, agreeing to drive me a significant distance the next morning so that I could reach a starting point close enough to my next destination that I could make the trip in one day, rather than having to get a hotel. He dropped me at the entry to the Central Florida Rail Trail in Edgewater, and from there I was able to cycle that magical trail (again!) to the Sunrail station in DeBary, then catch the train to my next host in Orlando.

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4/9/26

Hello from Richmond, Virginia! I’m slowly making my way north and west back to Portland, but I have several Florida adventures still to share.

Today’s installment: my very pleasant ride from St. Augustine south to Flagler Beach, which included a spontaneous stop at Washington Oaks Park. I love oak trees, so this sounded like my kind of place, and I was picturing some manicured live oaks with Spanish moss. I did find some of that, but also much more, including a very jungle-like trail that I strolled in for about an hour.

First things first. I departed my St. Augustine hotel on the St. Patrick’s Day weekend, and there was a large Celtic music festival in town for the weekend. I wove my rig through the crowds lining the military-and-bagpiping parade, and headed south from one of the very oldest European buildings in the USA.

From there I crossed the iconic Lions Bridge, and I happened to hit it just as the bridge was going up. It’s always a little surreal to see a bridge lift. (It always reminds me of some of my colorful nightmares!)

From there it was a pleasant ride for some miles, with some nice water views.

Then it was time for the park. I’ll just share the pics in the order that I encountered these environments. There were so many different kinds of natural spaces in that park. I wished I could have another couple of hours to fully appreciate the whole place.

Coming out of the park, I continued along scenic roads and bikeways, until I reached the home of my wonderful Warmshowers host Susan.

We shared a nice meal and some great conversation. She told me that Washington Oaks Park is one of her favorite parks, and that her late husband’s uncle had been a major supporter of the park. I love all the human connections I make in my journeys, especially when they intersect with the beautiful natural spaces I get to see.

Next up: sleeping on a boat in Daytona Beach!

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Do you have your own dream or project, and would like some support or collaborative brainstorming about it? Schedule a free one-hour video or phone call with me!

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4/3/26

Hello from Apex, North Carolina! I’m enjoying a nice visit with my aunt and uncle and their two doggies, but meanwhile I still need to catch up on my Florida adventure blog posting!

I’ll keep this one short too, mostly photos.

I stayed in a hotel in St. Augustine for two nights. During the intervening day, I visited the beautiful nearby Ravine Gardens. To get there, I was pleased to experience about 12 miles of the 19-mile-long Palatka-to-St. Augustine State Trail.

This trail was much less shady than most others I’ve seen here in Florida, and much more agricultural, with potato and cabbage fields aplenty. Fortunately the day was warm without getting too hot.

To get to the trail, I biked a few miles south of the downtown St. Augustine area to the Seabridge Mall, where I caught the quaint little Sunshine Bus Company bus. Similar to most of the buses I had taken from Gainesville to St. Augustine, these were short buses staffed by chatty local drivers. Once again, upon boarding both the outbound and inbound buses, the drivers told me bikes were not allowed on board, but I was able to prevail upon them by arguing that my small folded bike wasn’t “really” a bike in that form.

The outbound bus dropped me in the rural community of Hastings, where I picked up the trail and rode to Palatka.

From downtown Palatka, it was just a mile or so to the lovely Ravine Gardens. The weather was perfect, and the azaleas were at peak bloom, so I couldn’t have asked for a better day to visit.

I spent at least an hour contemplatively experiencing the forest on a shady bench along the ravine trail, and then headed back out to bike back the 12 miles to catch the bus in Hastings again.

Before I rejoined the trail, I thought it would be fun to bike to the Palatka Amtrak station. I knew I wouldn’t be able to take a train to or from that station, since it doesn’t offer checked baggage service, so I made do by snapping a pic of the exterior before continuing my bike journey.

It was a very pleasant day.

Coming up next, my bike ride south from St. Augustine to Flagler Beach!

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Do you have your own dream or project, and would like some support or collaborative brainstorming about it? Schedule a free one-hour video or phone call with me!

Want to be notified of future blog posts? Use the green “sign up” button to subscribe!

Want to support my vision financially? I am in a continual process of manifesting a “salary” for the unconventional work I do in the world. You can make a one-time or monthly contribution, or even become a fairy godfunder! (Heartfelt thanks to all my godfunders, patrons, and supporters!)