Beautiful cool morning this morning. We went for a three-mile hike through the woods. Pleasant hike and lots of different bird calls. We ran into a woman with binoculars and talked with her for a bit about birdwatching. It’s quite popular around here.
We headed down towards Cedar Key, about 40 minutes away. We may not be driving all the way to the Florida Keys, but this Key, just off the mouth of the Suwannee River, was within reach. We stopped at the Cedar Key Museum but much of it was closed for hurricane damage repair. We asked the guy about kayaking and he pointed out a nearby spot we could launch our kayaks
So we paddled around the islands for a good hour, noting all the wildlife and all the damage from Hurricane Helene.
We came back in, drove into the town of Cedar Key, and stopped at the city park so we could stroll around town for a while. This is a town that reminds me of the older Florida, before the high-rises surrounded all the beaches. It’s mostly small single-family homes, a few small inns, and small businesses packed together where the land allowed, and even sitting out in the water on pilings. Here again, the hurricane damage was evident, as some buildings were wiped completely off their foundations, others were missing sections of the building or stairways or decks. When we were out in the kayaks, we could hear the sounds of construction as people work to rebuild.
We were told by one of the locals, however, that Cedar Key had become quite a party place, and the hurricane wiped out a lot of the bars, so the party scene is no longer a thing here. This particular person was happy about the absence of party-goers.
We took the road less traveled on the way back out of Cedar Key. This was a minor road that goes through the Lower Suwannee National Wildlife Refuge. We couldn’t spend a lot of time there because we were due at our next overnight stay at 5pm, but it was a pleasant drive.
Just past the tiny town of Fowler’s Bluff, I noticed a dash light come on. Battery voltage was low. As I was mulling this over, another light came on. Engine running hot. Ok, this sounds like something serious. Better pull over.
When turning off the road, the steering was really heavy. Ok, I know what this is. I opened the hood and confirmed my suspicions. The serpentine belt was gone. The nearest town of any size was Chiefland, about 15 miles away. I was just looking up auto parts stores in Chiefland when I heard the crunch of gravel. A car pulled up beside us and a guy got out. He was holding a broken serpentine belt.
“This is probably yours,” he said. He spotted it on the road a couple miles back and figured its owner wasn’t too far away. He hung around while I called the auto parts stores in town. NAPA had one in stock. He offered to drive me into town to pick it up. On the way I learned that his name was David and he was a clam farmer. So I learned a little bit about clam farming today.
When we arrived back at the RV, David would not take anything for his trouble. He told me he could relate. He waited until I verified that the belt was the right one and then took off. We’ve had this on other trips. Complete strangers stopping by to help at just the right time. This time it was a clam farmer from Cedar Key.
Two things that come out of this: First, carry a spare serpentine belt. Second, stop and help someone stranded on the side of the road. I can relate.
Our total down time was about an hour and a half.
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