Employed!

On the 4th Rose and I flew to PA to get my car. It was a very short and fast trip. We stayed in Pa two nights and then headed back to Tallahassee. It wasn’t too bad of a drive, only 960 miles. We stopped for one night in Georgia and were back the next day.

I put in several applications for jobs after we returned to Tallahassee. Mostly for construction work because that is what I’m most familiar with. The job I wanted most,I actually ended up getting. I was hired at Trail and Ski. It’s a great little hiking and skiing store right in Tallahassee only around 5 miles from where I’m staying. I started there on the 22. So far I like it alot. There has been several customers gearing up for the Apalachian Trail. To get paid to tell trail stories and help a beginner choose the gear that will be needed for their hike or ski trip is fantastic. All the gear is top of the line. Most brands I have used on one trip or another and I’m really happy we don’t sell anything I would not recommend or use myself. The store is also close enough that I want to start riding my bike to work.

While waiting to hear back from possible employers I kept myself busy. I took several small day hikes around the parks and lakes near Tallahassee.

On one 3 mile walk I even found a Lions Mane mushroom.

I joined Planet Fitness and have been trying to work out 4 or 5 times a week. Also Rose and I have gone for several rides on trails near Tallahassee.

For Valentines day we spent the weekend at Paynes Prarie Preserve.

We spent two nights camping. The Preserve boast that they are home to wild bison and wild horses. We did not see any bison but we did see the “wild” horses. Some people go out to  a nice dinner for Valentines Day. Rose and I chose to hike through a gator infested swamp.

We biked a lot of the trails but some ended in water. At one such place,two ladies unwilling to get their feet wet, had stopped. They where pretty exited and told us in a whisper that a bison was just ahead of us. I asked if they had seen it and they said no but you can hear it bellow. I waited in anticipation to hear my first Buffalo bellow. I looked out over the sparce, knee high grass and wondered where something as big as a bison could be hidden. Finally we all heard the bellow. I’m not sure what a bison sounds like, but I know a big old alligator bellow when I hear it. Trying to contain my laughter, Rose and I parked our bikes and waded in. I didn’t have the heart to tell them it was a gator not a bison.

Today was my day off for the week. We drove up to Thomasville, GA to ride a 30 mile loop on the clay roads.

I really enjoyed it. There was just enough hills to to make it a good work out. Unfortunately at the bottom of the hills there always seemed to be around 200 yards of deep sand. It required us to get off and push. Having to stop at the bottom of a hill is never fun. We had a great time though. It was great to get out of the city.

I’m still adjusting to being back in society. It always takes me a while after a big trip to adjust. City traffic, Meeting expectations and having to be somewhere at precise times is a huge transition from the freedom, the excitement of seeing over the next hill and living life as it comes when out on the road. One thing that is real easy to get used to though is all the restaurants and having a fridge. We try not to eat out too often but a couple times a week we do. At a local pizza place Rosie found a sticker on the soda fountain that she really liked.