Cheryl filling in tonight for Chuck with info from his phone call.

Sneads to Chipley, FL
50 miles

Chuck called tonight (via FaceTime, which is the Mac equivalent of Skype – technology is so cool!) and said the guys are camping at Falling Waters State Park in Chipley, FL. Chuck’s familiar with this campground, as we stayed at Falling Waters together back in 2003 when we took our ‘Big Trip Out West’, RVing for the first time.

By the time everyone made it to the campground and got their tents set up, it was too dark to hike the short trail to Florida’s Highest Waterfall this evening, but they plan to take a look at it tomorrow morning before heading out again.

Today was another ‘Death Valley Day’ according to Chuck. This is his way of saying the winds were miserable. Chuck has used this phrase a lot on this trip, but the first time he said it was back in 2009 when he rode his bike from the entrance to Death Valley National Park down to Badwater (the lowest point in the U.S.) when we were traveling as full-time RVers. If you click the link and read his post, you’ll know what he’s talking about. 🙂

Chuck said he’s not complaining, though, and that everyone’s still motivated and feeling strong, but “we feel slow.”

The boys seem to be settling into the routine of riding, with not too much to report out-of-the-ordinary. They stopped in Chipley at a laundromat to do some laundry, and did some shopping at CVS and Wal-Mart for some batteries and stuff before riding to the campground.

The big excitement of the day was meeting yet another group of riders coming east from San Diego on the Southern Tier trail. Jessica, Caley, and Tad are three med students on their way to St. Augustine.

The "3 MDs" Riding Sea-to-Sea

Everyone chatted with each other for a little while, took pictures of each other, and exchanged blog addresses. Before long they parted ways, but not before one of the girls complained about having fallen on her bike and Chuck joked facetiously that he’d never done that before.

Of course, as they parted and the light turned green, Chuck clipped in before he had enough momentum and promptly fell. He said he never felt so embarassed in his life. But, hey, it happens. The only time we cyclists ever seem to fall is when we have an audience, right? It must be bicycle Murphy’s law!

The current plan is to ride to DeFuniak Springs tomorrow and maybe stay a couple of days to see the sights.

Snead to Chipley, FL