2/9/26
Hello from Panama City Beach! I’m slowly catching up on blogging my travels. My bike-traveling pace these past few weeks reminds me of my year of travels, four years ago, when I was blogging nearly every day.
When I left off in my last post, I was enjoying my last few days of time in St. Petersburg. Then, I was ready to head north to Spring Hill, Florida, to catch the Greyhound to Tallahassee. I broke up the riding into two days: Dunedin to Odessa, then Odessa to Spring Hill.
Since I had already biked from the start of Pinellas Trail to Dunedin, I began my journey there. My new friend Katherine was kind enough to ferry me and my rig from her dog sit in St. Pete up to Josiah Cephus Weaver Park, the end point of my ride a few days prior.
We took a final selfie, then she even captured a shot of me heading off to eat my snack on a bench before embarking. It was a beautiful park.
Once I got on the trail, the scenery was lovely. The weather was sunny and a bit chilly, but not too bad.
At one point, I crossed possibly the longest, two-direction bike bridge I’ve ever encountered. (Come to think of it now, one in Hayward, California might rival it.)
Shortly afterward, I rode through a beautiful painted underpass.
That evening, I arrived at the home of my wonderfully warm and gracious Warmshowers hosts, Don and Susan, in Odessa. Their daughter was visiting, too, and we all had a warm and filling homemade meal of vegan chili, courtesy of Susan. They all shared stories with me about their various impressive bicycle expeditions around the US.
The next morning, they saw me off (with leftover vegan chocolate cupcakes from the dinner!) and I was back on the trail.
The weather was even nicer that day—really just about perfect—and the scenery was lovely and peaceful. I took several meditative rests on the benches along the trail.
Toward the end of the day, I found a surprise on the side of the trail: the Spirit Tree. This seemed to be a place for people to honor loved ones who had passed away, on the branches and benches around the tree, with wind chimes throughout. It was a unique experience to stand underneath it.
Finally, I reached my resting place for the night—the fanciest-looking Motel 6 I have yet encountered!
It was a good place to rest before bicycling partway back along the trail the next morning to meet the Greyhound.
Next up: Tallahassee!
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