Ft Lauderdale to Little Havana(42 miles) - Dec 19

Sometime before I fell asleep, I decided that I would ride a shorter distance and spend some time exploring Miami, and stay near there if I could find another room, hopefully with lamps that worked and The Weather Channel, that didn't cost $300 a night. I got up and was on the beach at 9 o'clock, enjoying really warm weather and beautiful water. I stayed till about 11, which was check out time, and started the traffic filled adventure to Miami. The closer I got to Miami, the more traffic thickened, and bike lanes thinned. I tried to catch some calmer streets, but they usually ended at a huge resort, and I would have to get back onto rt.1.

First view of Miami

                                     
The bike lanes in the different towns between Lauderdale and Miami came and went without warning. The boardwalk area of Hollywood Beach was a highlight, with the beach being packed, like it was the middle of July. The closer I got to Miami Beach, the more it seemed
like riding in New YorkCity. Buses everywhere, trucks double parked, construction, horns honking, traffic jams at lights, tourists and townies of every description darting out whenever possible. There wasn't much to look at, unless you like rows of 49 story, two block wide, resorts with water falls and cement animals in the front, with bellhops and valets, cabs and cops. I decided that there was no way to safely negotiate all this without a full commitment to becoming part of the traffic flow. All it took was about 25 mph to go with the flow, so that's what I did, unclipping and sprinting alternately as needed.
The traffic mania ended at a park on the south end of Miami Beach, so I took some time to explore Miami Beach yacht club and marina, and the adjoining boardwalk.

Flower vines climbing house in DECEMBER!!!

 The boardwalk ended at a beach where, I swear, the water was MORE beautiful than Lauderdale.

Yachts and such in Miami Harbor

Rich person's fast toy!

South Beach (part of Miami Beach)

Me at South Beach

 I would like to go back there. I spoke to a security guard at one of the resorts I cut through, and he told me I could get a motel room at a good rate about ten miles down the road. I followed his directions, which took me across the causeway into downtown Miami. I saw the home of the Miami Heat.

 Not long after getting to downtown, I took a right on Flagler Ave, as I was told, and didn't take long to realize I was getting deep into the middle of Little Havana. English signage disappeared and the storefronts were turning into lime green and pink cinder block buildings with bars on the doors and window.
Staying in the spirit of adventure that this trip was meant to be, I decided to go with it and I kept riding, looking for a room. I went right past Miami Sr. High at dismissal time, and got a good taste of what teenage life was like in the community. I finally saw a little motel, and stopped at Julia's Motel (pronounced Hulia's). The desk clerk spoke some English, so It took a while to establish that it was only me and a bicycle for one night, and that it would cost $40. He rented me a remote for the tv for $5.00, but I would get it back if I returned the remote and room key. My room was in the back of the place, right next to a Cuban woman who was doing her laundry in a tub, and hanging it from the refrigerator, which was in the outdoor hallway that was lined with tropical vegetation. The beat of the music that was playing had a Spanish beat, and I hoped they would turn it off tonight, not up! She looked at me and my bike like I was an astronaut with the lunar landing module, and smiled.

My motel!!

One of the local chickens!

Hallway to my room

I decided I was going to get an early supper, while it was still light, so I showered and headed out to find food. I walked around the neighborhood, looked at the Christmas decorations, the small homes, all fenced in, with chickens and cats everywhere. I found a restaurant that was busy and clean looking, so I went in, sat at the old fashioned bar like they had in Mel's Diner, and was ignored for a while. Finally a girl came over and I pointed at something on the menu. She went and got another girl who could talk English, and she told me I had ordered pork chops. I said ok, and proceeded to have a feast-two pork chops smothered in onions, black beans and rice, French fries, and a coke for $13.00. I highly recommend the joint if your ever in Little Havana.

It was only three o'clock, so I decided to go to the Walgreens, get some snacks, and head back to the room. Everything seemed perfectly safe during the day, but i decided not to go to the local bar for a beer later on. The room was about the size of the bedroom in the motor home, the blinds almost closed, and the Spanish soap operas on tv were entertaining for a while. As it got darker, I couldn't even tell because of the extensive fluorescent lighting in the outdoor hallway. Now THIS is an adventure I wish I could have shared with Pam!

Note it's the Farmacia!

Scenes from Little Havana!

Naples Florida

Sorry we haven't been posting but Mike was playing catch up with the blog and saving the drafts so I can add the pictures. Unfortunately, when we went into the Everglades we lost all phone and Internet services! Only AT&T phones work down there! Honestly! It was like falling off the face of the earth and nobody knew where we were! Anyway, so now I'm try to upload our pictures and Blogger won't give me the option to access the pictures on the computer! I'm experimenting with this post that I'm sending from my phone. Wish me luck!

Pictures from the ocean deep!

Pam - I promised to post some pictures from our day out on the water, so here they are!!!  Photo credit goes to our son Buddy and his awesome GoPro camera!

Our boat - view from the water.

Photographer - Buddy Rose!

The two "retirees" while Buddy captains the boat.

Coral reef

Crazy coral!

Seaweed????

This picture was not altered!  The one place we went was really this color!!!

American reef lighthouse.  Six miles out to sea - we planned to snorkel here but waves were big and way too frisky for us!

Dive flag so other boaters stay away from us...

Just a beautiful day on the water in the Florida Keys!

My starfish!!!  He was about 1 foot wide - honestly!

Now I'm going to try something new - here is an underwater video that Buddy took of "my" starfish!

Jupiter Fla to Ft Lauderdale - Dec 18

A beautiful warm day made my 76 mile ride a pleasure. It took 5 hrs and 45 minutes, on a scenic, windless day. Rt. A1A ran in and out on barrier islands, and back to the mainland to go around inlets and ports several times. This made a less than direct route, and I was stopped by four consecutive drawbridges, buts it was worth every minute to soak in the scenery.

One of the many draw bridges

  The landscape really changed more to the tropical variety at Palm Beach.

  I began seeing varieties of palm trees and other crazy things that don't grow in Pennsylvania. The palm trees now have coconuts that I didn't notice before. The ocean water began taking on that clearer, aqua color that I see on tv in shows like Miami Vice, and Coast Guard Florida. I expected to see Don Johnson or Pamela Anderson cruising by in a convertible, (but that didn't happen). The road was quite rideable and bike friendly, except for a stretch with 90 degree turns in Deerfield Beach that almost witnessed my first serious wreck (but that didn't happen). I was cruising in my bike lane around a curve, looking at a motel with a price advertised, trying to decide if I wanted to stop yet, and I was startled by a twenty something girl on a beach bike, riding the wrong way in my lane. By the time I saw her I had time instinctively, to know that I wasn't going to swerve and get hit by a car, so there was gonna be a head-on with me and her. Fortunately she swerved out in the traffic lane ( she could see what was coming because she was heading the other way). The adrenaline filled, not so carefully thought out words, that flowed out of my mouth, hopefully educated her to the dangers of riding the wrong way in traffic.
Delray Beach was the nicest area, in my opinion. As Lauderdale-By-The-Sea turned into the more commercial Ft Lauderdale, I decided to start looking for a reasonable room, as opposed to the resort type places that were prevalent. I found a place that was right on the beach, tucked into a hole between two resorts with a cardboard sign out front that said $53.00. I stopped in and the Russian girl set me up with a room on the first floor that had lamps that didn't work, and other such amenities, but she said that the bedbugs would be no extra charge, so I took it.

View from my room

My hotel

I immediately went over to the ocean and went into the perfectly clear, warm water. I saw two brownish speckled skates, and a 12 inch shark with a wide mouth bone, that might have been a hammerhead. The beach was relatively narrow, and looked like it may have just been refurbished after the hurricane season. There was a wide sidewalk with lots of runners and other exercisers and tourists. After a shower I walked about five blocks south, and found the main beach restaurant and bar area of Ft Lauderdale. I grabbed a bite and a beer, people watched, and went back to the room to turn on the lights and scare the roaches away. (It really wasn't that bad). I also found out that the jeep repairs were more extensive than first thought, and Pam was going to have to stay in Wachula another day. My choices were to stay where I was another day (which looked pretty good! ),ride a full day tomorrow and get to the Keys a day before Pam and stay with Charlie and Susan Watson (they are the good folks from the outer banks that sowed the seed about spending Christmas in the Keys), or ride a shorter distance and stretch things out another day.

Ft. Lauderdale

Cool sculptures in Ft. Lauderdale

Famous Ft. Lauderdale Swim Club.  Michael Phelps holds pool records here!

Two days with the Travanti's Dec. 16,17

The days spent with JT and family were very enjoyable, and I'm glad I got to hook up with one of the few people from my past that I have bothered to keep up with. Actually, JT found me by contacting Buddy (our son) at his school e mail address, and Bud recognized the name. Eventually we got together for a WVU football game last year in Morgantown, and hatched the plan for this visit to possibly happen. Lauren, David, Jake (the kids) , and wife Dorothy were accommodating beyond the call of duty during my three day invasion, so close to Christmas.
We went to the Snuggery to watch the Steeler game, as is a Travanti tradition. There were some hardcore fans there, as you will see if u look at the posted pictures. We also combined sightseeing with some shopping, Dorothy made some great home made lasagna, and I even was allowed to help put up some Christmas decorations! We ate at a great place called Dune Dogs, (twice), a great little outdoor tiki bar, that was like a locals place, off the beaten path. We spent some time looking at the old fraternity websites and composites, refreshing each others memories

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.

My old college roommate, John Travonti.

John's home

John's family

Mountaineer bar in Florida!!

Steeler fan

Another Steeler fan

Wachula to Okeechobie-on the road again- finally!

Nothing against Wachula, but even though we have a wrench in the plans with this jeep, and Pam volunteered to hang around until its done, personally I was really ready to get onto the next adventure, which was hooking up with my college roommate, John Travanti and his family in Jupiter Fla. Origionally we were going to park the motor home on his property and visit, but now I will be alone and staying until its time to leave for the ride to the Keys. I decided to split the trip to Jupiter in half since I think I will be riding into the wind all the way to the east coast. Okeechobie is a place I have always heard of, and it was about a 70 mile ride on Fla 66e, until it also becomes US 98 into Okeechobie. As predicted the wind was a headwind but it was tolerable and really didn't beat me up at all. I rolled into town at a decent time, out of water, as it was a hot trip with few places to refresh yourself. We had a few orange groves, but this is really cowboy country. What wasn't swampland was ranch land. The road and shoulders were great and there is not a lot of traffic going to Okeechobie. My wildlife watch also included two alligators, one dead , a little one in a culvert, and one big, dead, wild hog. I stopped at the first little store I came to and had a Gatorade and ice cream. I also spoke to a woman who pulled up in a car and told me I had great legs, but I knew her judgement was suspect when she told me Okeechobie was 50 miles away when it was only 13 miles away according to my Garmin GPS.
When I got to town I easily found a Budget Inn, got a shower, and walked around town. Okeechobie is a pretty big town, and I was right at a crossroads of major US highways 98 and 441. The historic downtown area was offset from the main road, but ran parallel, which allowed for parking and a calmer environment even though right along a busy road. The streets were all very much wider than I'm used to, thanks to the wide open terrain. I ended up walking about a mile south on US 441 and eating at a restaurant called Cowboys BBQ with mostly locals. It was a good choice, a Wild West atmosphere, with cheap beer!

Poor piggy!

Don't ride to slowly over the bridges!!!

Pretty flat around Okeechobie!  But each cow does have his own palm tree!

Swamp buggy!