donnie here. this is my final post to our diary of our florida bicycle excursion. i wanted to collect and leave my final thoughts and reflections..... first, i'd like to congratulate my sweetie susan for taking on and nailing this new challenge ! riding a bicycle, day after day (Badfinger), loaded with camping gear, is not for everyone. i had already acquired a love for it, and hoped that by exposing susan to the lifestyle first-hand, she might as well. in fact, i was never really concerned that she could handle the day-to-day grind of hours in the saddle; rather, i wanted to see if that's what it might be, just a 'grind', or an enthusiastic new way to travel and experience life. our journey went off wonderfully !!! from the start of our road trip from katy, TX to pulling in the driveway on the flip-side, susan and i were joined at the hip, and we never seemed to tire of each other (at least, not me of her !!!) we logged long riding days, found sweet camping along the way, saw lots of wildlife (that passing motorists missed ALL of...), and we easily slipped into our camping duties. all of our preparation paid off ! the trip was a great shakedown for future adventures ! this trip brought susan and i closer as a couple, and i look forward to sharing other new adventures with my girl !

Leaving the Everglades, riding through Big Cypress National Preserve then entering civilization again.

Woke up this morning to hunters in camp getting ready to shoot wild turkey.  If we stayed, and they shot one, we could have fresh turkey tonight.  However, the road calls and we are on our way again after breaking camp for the last time for this trip.  Donnie continued to have tire issues today.  We kept filling the damn thing with air intermittently to make it through the day.  We hoped to find an open Bike shop in Naples to get another tube.  We are charmed and got to one just as they were closing.  He replaced the tube on his bike and we continued our journey.  Just as we cross over from Bonita Beach to Ft. Myers it went flat again !!!  We pumped it up and crossed our fingers that it would make it 2 more miles to the car.  Just as we started up again after changing it, it started to rain.  We both looked at each other and said, "rain....really? we are almost back to the car".  Fortunately it was just a short sprinkle and didn't impede our final approach.  We rode over the last bridge from Ft. Myers Beach to Ft. Myers (which was the steepest of all the bridges we crossed). 

Miles Day 5 = 77.7
Total Miles = 295.8

Yes, you are reading this correctly....but we didn't run into any today (whew ! )

This is the smallest post office in the United States



Back to civilization - Ft. Myers... and the end of this trip.

We rode 295 miles in 5 days - just another ride for Donnie, but a huge milestone for me. 

Stay tuned for our next adventure.....to be announced!

Camp cooking - Donnie is just as good cooking outdoors as he is in a fully stocked kitchen.  Maybe even better since we work up quite an appetite riding all day!

tortellini and pesto. not bad for touring cyclists in camp !!

Made it through most of the Everglades today.  There was a canal running the entire length of the road filled with water.  Also filled with alligators.  We must have seen between 100-125 alligators today.  Big ones, small ones, baby ones.  Also an abundance of turtles, birds and other wildlife.  The people whizzing past us in their cars at 75 miles an hour are missing all of this!

Donnie got another flat tire today.  We just couldn't seem to get it patched and fixed.  Plus we had problems with the other spare.  He worked for a while to patch, re-patch and try to make it work.  We think we have it this time!  Fingers are crossed

susan setting up camp at monument lake CG in the Everglades

donnie and susan setting up camp

Monument Lake State Park was beautiful and calm.  That lake in the background is home to 10 alligators.  The Park Ranger assured me they don't feed at night and rarely venture more than 10 feet from it's banks.  If he is wrong, this will be our last posting in the blog.

Miles Day 4 = 51.3
Total Miles = 218.1

On the way from West Miami to the middle of the Everglades we saw our first alligator (of many more to come)

We stopped at a little place that boasted Fried Gator so we had to try it to see if it really tastes like chicken.

fried alligator. a first !!!

susan likes the alligator !!!

Yes !!! It does taste like chicken, but a with a chewy consistency (like snails/escargot)

This was in the restaurant we stopped in at.  He looks pretty mean, but was stuffed, so we were in no danger.  Later in the day I actually DID see an alligator on the side of the road.  I thought it was dead as we rode by until it moved....I don't ever want to be within 2 feet of a real alligator again.

this was another little stop we made for snacks/drinks.  I got a bag of cheetos but couldn't eat them because the birds would swoop down and grab them out of your hand. 

on the Tamiami Trail thru the Everglades. LOTS of alligators on the way !!!

today's destination and stop was West Miami, FL

Was woken up at 5:30 am by a garbage truck emptying the dumpsters in the campground within very close proximity of our tentsite.  That wouldn't have been so bad except their backup warning signals had to have been higher in decibels than anything else on the planet.  After that wake up call, we got everything arranged back on the bikes and made our way on the road to Miami.  We had intended to follow the atlantic trail up through South Beach and on to Fort Lauderdale but took a last minute detour at Homestead and made our way up hwy 997 instead.  We passed lots of nurseries and farms.  We stopped at one and picked our own strawberries!   On the way to West Miami we got caught in a rainstorm.  We sought refuge at a Pilot truck stop where there were many others on motorcycles doing the same.  We called to find a hotel for the night and finally found one.  It turned out to be about 8 miles out of our way but we were ready for a nice soft bed, real pillows and no annoying lights or garbage trucks.  On the way to the hotel I had the next flat.  Donnie was riding ahead and a sheriff cruiser that had just passed me told him I had a flat.  He promptly turned around on his trusty steed to come and save the day.  Continuing on the Tamiami Trail we got caught in another rainstorm, this one was much harder and longer.  After a day of dealing with rain, flats, more rain and heavy traffic in Miami we finally settled into our hotel.  Had the opportunity to sneak in a load of laundry.  We went to one of the best little family run Italian restaurants we have ever eaten at.  Life is good.

Miles Day 3 = 56.7
Total Miles = 166.8


My hero and expert tire-changer

Picking fresh strawberries....YUM !!!!

today's destination  and stop was Key Largo, FL

Shortly after leaving Marathon, Donnie got our first flat tire.  Saw 3 other couples also touring but going south rather than north like us.  A day of riding the bike lane on Highway 1 and going across too many bridges to count them all.  Stopped at a little bar when we hit Key Largo where we had beers and raw oysters.  Anyone that knows me know that Donnie was the one who had the oysters (I can't eat anything that is slimy and looks like snot).  We had planned to stop at the state park down the road for the night but they were full and had NO sympathy for a couple of road weary travellers that only required a 10x10 space to spend the night.  The park nazi made it clear we should have planned ahead with reservations.  Well excuse me ma'am...the whole point of touring is not knowing where you will end up each day.  We called to another campground a few miles further down the road who assured us they had a tent space available.  Upon arriving at 5:40pm we were met with a sign in the office they closed at 5:30pm...yes, I said CLOSED....that would have been a very helpful piece of information to tell us over the phone earlier when we told her we were on our way on bicycles.  Fortunately, the office manager lived in an RV in the spot across from the office.  She literally came racing out and over when she heard Donnie yell out a few choice "french" words commenting on the fact they were closed.  But all ended well and we settled in for the evening after Donnie made sure to unscrew some ill placed flood lights in the area.  And for anyone concerned about Hercules - my mother says he is healing fine but won't go anywhere near the cat !

Miles Day 2 = 58.5
Total Miles = 110.1

Marathon, FL

First day of our ride!  We got off the ferry and rode briefly around Key West.  We took a photo op at the Southermost Point in the US.  Unfortunately I didn't bring my cord to download pics from my camera so those will come later.  We saw loads of wildlife along the ride to Marathon.  Lots of lizard things (not sure if they were iguanas or monitors) and a huge red rooster in the wild.  We crossed over 7 mile bridge right into a campground that had no vacancies for tent camping....Ugh!  But we were able to plead our way into a sweet RV site for the tent camping price.

Miles Day 1 = 51.6
Total miles = 51.6

One of the many bridges we crossed on the way to Marathon

On the road from Key West !!!

At the Southernmost Point in the United States.  Ready to roll onto Highway US1 - mile marker 0

Key West Express Ferry

Ft. Myers. FL to Key West, FL

We made the ferry !!!!  Bikes and all our stuff.  It was touch and go for a while.  We had heard the ferry company didn't want to take bikes with attached racks and panniers so were very concerned our trip would be modified before it even began.  But we had no problems and everyone on board was extremely accommodating and friendly.   While on board, we met a really nice couple (Jeff and Lynn) from Darbyshire England who let us share their booth.  They are here visiting relatives on Pine Island and taking the ferry to spend a day in Key West.  After hosing off the bikes with fresh water to take the salt off of them, we were ready to finally start at mile marker 0 on Highway 1.

Hanging out on the top deck of the Ferry

Bikes are loaded and sea worthy

later on 3/19, we stopped in sun city center, FL to visit my dad and his wife for a short pit stop since we were driving by not 2 miles away.  they moved there from Naples, FL 2 years ago, so it was nice to have a chance to see their new place for the first time. we had to keep the visit short as we intended to get to Ft. Myers in time to reach the Key West Express ferry.

We got Ft. Myers Beach and located the ferry location. after that, we looked for a suitable location to camp for the night.  We found an RV park close by, but only after the office had close. we exhausted all attempts to reach someone in authority to acquire one of several nice open camp spots, so we helped ourselves.  The RV next door to our camping spot had a motion-activated floodlight that seemed to want to turn on every 5 minutes, ALL NIGHT LONG !

Our first official night camping as squatters in Ft. Myers

3/19
today started with a growl. literally. Susan's parents dog, an 'adorable' pit bull, decided to 'play' with their cat. after hearing susan screaming for spectator support, I ran to the back of the house to see the cat clawing the shit out of Hercules' already BLOODY face!! getting the two separated (and he all cleaned up) was a nice start to our second travel day !!

THEN, a few scant miles from the Florida state line gave a state trooper all he needed to pull me over and ticket me for 80 in a 55. definitely was going over 55, but nowhere near 80. at least in the area he pulled me over !!! damn, first ticket in years !!

 

susan on the road to columbus, GA

 

 Entering Mississippi

Louisiana - our first state line heading east from houston....

The start of vacation:  sharing ice cream after the Lucky Trails half marathon in Seabrook Texas March 17, 2013

Susan's bike

Donnie's bike

loaded and ready to roll

We are Donnie and Susan from Katy Texas (a suburb of Houston for anyone not familiar with this area). This is our first of many bicycling adventures TOGETHER. We intend to be gone for the next two weeks travelling by car and bicycle from our home to the southernmost tip of Florida via Columbus Georgia. Then back home again via Panama City, Florida. We hope that everyone reading our blog will feel as though they are riding along with us on our journey. Please feel free to leave comments.

We're not riding the tandem on our florida trip. just happened to be the only pic we have so far !