I talked with Joe a few nights before and we decided that on my last day we would meet in St. Augustine at the corner of King St. and Menendez Ave at 3 pm. Joe was in Florida on business and said that he would be glad to meet me and take video and pictures of this important day in my life. He said after all of the pictures he wanted me to come back to Orlando with him where we would have a celebration dinner. The next day I planned on driving to Linda's house in Tampa.
Last night I wanted to go to bed a little later so that I could sleep in on my final day. I did not even set my alarm clock. I thought if I have to wait to meet Joe at 3, I want to at least sleep in and make my waiting time shorter. I only had 30 miles to go so I knew it would not be hard to get there.
I went to bed around 11:30 pm and once again woke up at 5:40 am. I was frustrated that I could not get back to sleep and started watching TV around 6:30. At about 8:30, I called my mom and told her what my plans would be that day. As usual, she gave me the rundown of the weather conditions for the morning ride. She mentioned that the wind would be from the SE at about 15 to 25 mph but the high winds were only going to start around noon. The morning was supposed to be calm. I decided to leave around 10 am so I could arrive in St. Augustine before the winds kicked up. I got ready and was on my way at 9:50.
The ride was pretty good. I had a good shoulder the whole way and with the exception of a few gusts here and there, the wind was pretty calm throughout the ride. At 12:05 pm I arrived in St. Augustine - the finish line of the ACA route. I immediately called my mom and told her that I made it. After a few more phone calls, I decided to get some food. I found a local restaurant/bar and parked my bike out front where I could keep an eye on it.
As I ate my meal I watched people looking at my bike with curiosity. They would look at my bike and it's gear. One guy in particular approached with a woman and started walking around my bike. I started to get alarmed and started watching him more intensely. Then, to my surprise, I realized it was Kevin and his wife Susan. If you remember Kevin, he is the guy that I rode with back early in Texas. He was doing the cross-country tour with his wife who was following him in their camper. I was sooo excited to see them again. I jumped out of my seat and immediately ran out and said hi. They said that they thought it looked like my bike but were confused because it didn't have a garbage can on the back. I told them the story about my bike breaking down because of the garbage can and that I changed over to panniers soon after I rode with him. They ended up joining me in the restaurant and we shared all of our adventure stories over lunch. Apparently, Kevin arrived two days before I did. He must have really been putting in a lot of miles to get that done. They just stayed in St. Augustine for a couple days sightseeing. Amazingly, we just happened to cross paths today.
After we finished lunch, we said farewell and they headed off on their sightseeing. It was still only 2:30 and I had to wait a little longer for Joe to arrive. At about 3:30 pm, Joe came down the road in his car rental. I followed him to the beach where we took pictures, video, and even enjoyed some swimming in the Atlantic. Afterwards, we drove back down to Orlando and met his two coworkers for dinner. What a day! I am sooo glad that Joe could be there to see me come in. It was great sharing the moment with him.
Looks like I ran out of road.
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