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!
Saturday, March 23, 2013
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
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.
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.
Friday, March 22, 2013
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 !!!!
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 !!!!
Thursday, March 21, 2013
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
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
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
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
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