3/23/26
Hello from St. Petersburg! I’m here taking care of two cute kitties for ten days, but meanwhile I’ve been falling behind here on the blog.
So I’ll make this one short—mostly just photos—and plan to make another post soon.
When I left off last time, I had been enjoying various aspects of Gainesville. After my earlier lovely ride on the St. Marks Rail Trail south of Tallahassee, I was looking forward to biking a similar one in Gainesville. When I did so, it was also lovely, although the day was hotter, the rest stops (and fresh water) were more scarce, and I saw almost no animals, which was quite a change from the St. Marks Trail.
I did have one really cool animal encounter, though, but you’ll have to take my word for it since I didn’t get a photo.
Toward the end of the day, as I was nearing my starting/ending point of the trail as it borders Paynes Prairie State Park, I glanced to my right from the trail, into the woods. As I did so, a brown horse with a black mane suddenly emerged.
No human in sight.
I caught the horse’s eye, and said aloud something like, “Wow. I wasn’t expecting to see you here…”
The horse met my eye briefly, then tossed its mane and turned back into the woods.
The entire experience was very brief, but it felt like a magical moment. I’m pretty sure this the first time I had ever encountered a wild horse. It was a cool way to end my day of cycling. (I later remembered that I had heard that there were wild horses living in Paynes Prairie.)
Finishing the trail as it extended into downtown Gainesville, I made my way back to Karma Cream, where I had met up with Debbie the previous day for a snack before we went to the botanical garden. Karma Cream is a great mostly vegan café in town where they serve a wide selection of vegan ice creams. It was the perfect capper for my exertion on a hot day. I chose one scoop each of coffee and chocolate, and enjoyed it at a table outside.
Next up: St. Augustine!
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