The travels of the Rambling Roses: Okeechobie to Jupiter Fla--December 15.

Wednesday, January 2, 2013

Okeechobie to Jupiter Fla--December 15.

Another beautiful day, but not nearly as long as I had anticipated. The ride was only 49 miles to Johns house, as he lived right near the road I was riding on, about 15 miles west of Jupiter beach. I rode in on Fla road 710, but before I left town, I rode into the Okeechobie fairgrounds, because I could see that something big was going on there. There was a line of people a quarter mile long. I rode through the parking area, up to the front of the line, and Santa Claus was there, inside a fenced area. The security guard told me it was a Toys for Tots distribution, and it was a major operation! Route 710 was a pretty straight shot, with only one town along the way, Indiantown. There was little traffic, fortunately, because the shoulder wasn't always good, and the road was old and rough. There was road construction across a big bridge near town. I've been really lucky on this entire trip as far as construction goes, but I learned that winter time is orange barrel time in Florida!

Swamp lands

The terrain was quite desolate and even more wet than usual in the swampy areas because they had recently had 7 inches on rain in some areas. I was stung by a honey bee on the tip of my finger as I was riding. The bee actually became lodged between my helmet and sunglasses, right between my eyes. I didn't know it was a bee, and swept it away with my fingers, which is when he got me. I was okay with that, because he could have stung me between the eyes! I also saw the biggest grasshoppers I've ever seen in my life. The bee and the grasshopper sightings on December 15 were noteworthy in themselves!

I also made a stop at Dreyfuss Industries, which was a huge orange processing plant. It looked like a power plant, but I was impressed because there must have been 100 tractor trailers there filled with oranges, and some grapefruit. I stopped and took some pictures until a security guard came out and ran me away for 'security' reasons.

Illegal photo!!! Security breach!

I got to John Travanti's house at about three o'clock and met the family. He has a beautiful home with a pool, and palm trees, and a gated, fenced in lawn. I was impressed. My roomie has done very well for himself,despite my memories of trying to make it hard on him to study his aerospace engineering in the fraternity house. He was involved in the production of rocket engines for the space shuttle program, and when that program ended, he took another related job with a lot more travel involved. Fortunately, his schedule found him home when I was passing nearby, and we could spend a few days reminiscing.
John and his wife, Dorothy, spent the evening giving me the tour of the beautiful Jupiter area, and we even stopped at a Mountaineer/Steeler bar which is owned by a former WVU quarterback, Bernie Kirschner. The place was called the Snuggery. We then had dinner at a great, outdoor tiki bar near the beach in Jupiter Beach.