Odo 5675.8
The route out of town quickly went on to a bicycle rail trail for about 16 miles, and my opinion of rail trails has definitely changed for the better. It was very pretty, and there were lots of cyclists. I talked to a woman for 5 to 6 miles until she and her boyfriend took another path. When we came to a stop sign, she stopped completely by putting her foot down. She told me that police actively ticket these intersections because of serious accidents in the past year. The fine for running a stop sign on a bicycle is $200. I can readily understand how these accidents would happen given that the visibility at these intersections is usually not very good compared to regular streets.
I stopped at a convenience store in Hawthorn. They have a one inch thick piece of steel painted like a bullseye. There are two 50 caliber machine gun cartridges on each side, and a hole through it with a bullet protruding from one side. The lady running the store told me that she bought her husband a 50 caliber single-shot machine gun, and it shot through the steel without noticeable damage to the bullet. This was evident when she pushed the bullet out with her finger and showed it to me. She said if you missed the target, the bullet would travel 2 miles before it would stop unless it hit something or someone else on its way. She also had the regular boiled peanuts and (ta-da!) Cajun boiled peanuts.
I stopped at Angel's in Palatka, which is Florida's oldest diner. Loads of charm. There were 3 boys (tweens, I guessed) seated at the counter, and three more came in. One of the waitresses said, "Oh, Lord, save me." The waitress's concern was on the mark. One of the boys said, "Hey, I'm ADHD," like he knew he was going to need an excuse for something. He needed the excuse; they were pretty rambunctious. I had a black bottom sandwich, which is scrambled egg, bacon and hamburger meat all formed together into a patty. It sounded better than it tasted. The chocolate shake was very good, though, so I ordered a second one. They use real whipped cream. Yum.
Continued on to St. John's Campground where the office was closed, so I picked a spot and set up. The sunset was beautiful. I would have paid up in the morning, but they were closed. This seems to be Motorcycle Week, as there are lots and lots of 'em on the road.
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