White Springs, Florida

Tonight we are in White Springs Florida and have ridden 205 miles since our start on Saturday. Last night we were in High Springs. Are you getting a theme here? This area is saturated with springs and caves. Cave diving is quite the sport. Eight billion gallons of water flow daily from springs in northern Florida. The air temperature continues to be in the 90's by midday so yesterday we visited Poe Spring Park for a refreshing dip in the spring that feeds the Santa Fe River that flows into the Suwanee River. that then empties into the Atlantic Ocean. In High Springs, we met Sharon Tugman who is living her dream of operating a bakery, The Secret Garden. She provided us not only with complimentary goodies but also made a contribution to CMN. Her son even tried to help me with a few computer glitches. Thank you both! A local legend, Naked Ed, had pearls of wisdom posted in the Great Outdoors Restaurant (terrific place) One such pearl - "It is nice to be important, but more important to be nice." After arriving in White Springs, we dropped our bags at the motel and rode to the historic Telford Hotel for a buffet meal of great southern cooking. Stephen Foster is the composer of "Way Down Upon the Suwanee River" Even though he never visited Florida, they have a park and museum honoring him here on the banks of that immortalized river. On the way back to the hotel, we were caught in a sudden thunderstorm which actually felt refreshing since the temp had reached 97.