The Roomette

Breakfast - if your expectations are low, they are easily exceeded.

Jacksonville station.

My home until 6:30 pm.

• couple glitches so far. \240Took too much stuff. And, my trunk bag and panniers don't play well together. \240Thank G-d for Amazon. New smaller Topeak bag on its way to Rodeway Inn tomorrow! \240Hopefully, I can stow the bigger one in the Sag vehicle. And, then mail it home from Key West.

The other people’s train is delayed for some reason. They told me they’re at least an hour behind me. I’ll just wait at the Amtrak station since I am ready for some company and I don’t know where the hell I’m going.

Larry is the tall one. Good youngsters. . 64 and 67 years old.

To catch up, we had a super long day yesterday. Their train was 3 hours late. We didn’t get to the metro rail until 10 pm

Then, a bit of tragedy struck. As Nancy (Joe, the organizer’s wife) fell on a bike as she was getting up to prepare to disembark. She hit her nose and arm. Very shaken up. They had to go to the emergency room after checking in and did not get home until 4 am. Turns out she has a fracture in her arm and is in a protective splint but she and Joe will stay with the group until Mar. 2 when she has a follow up visit with the doc here in Miami. She if course will ride in the SAG vehicle.

Pics from last night

Miami Amtrak station

Road through Everglades.

A welcome respite at Gilbert’sTiki bar about 10 miles from our Key Largo destination. From left to right, Nancy, Ann (Joe’s sister), Rod, Carl and Larry. Big bridge to cross over into Key Largo.

Dinner - grouper special with Riesling. Hit the road tomorrow at 8 am.

Joe and Bob

My room at the Royal Hawaiian in Marathon. Nice.

Where we stayed last night in Marathon.

Just over the seven mile bridge. Another group (~15 bikers) also riding from Miami to Key West. Ran into them again at the No Name Pub.

Those are dollar bills all over the walls and ceiling. Estimate is about $100,000. Customers leave them.

(Left to right) Larry, Carl - 80 years old and in much better shape than me), Rod - the fastest rider in the group.

Devastation from hurricane.

Baby’s Coffee. Had great banana smoothie and almond milk latte.

Key West scenes.

House the test of group rented

The Parrot Lady

Cockatoo playing music on smart phone! \240Parrots are apparently way smarter than dogs.

After a great lunch, took Uber to outskirts to enjoy a excellent massage from a German woman. Really helped my sore muscles. It was Barbara’s \240birthday present to me. A great present!

Fishing and Hemingway

Starting with a great breakfast at Harpoon Harry’s at the pier and then a great adventure of deep sea fishing! Larry, Barbara and I went and between us, we caught about 7 fish. The regulars were very friendly and helpful. Barbara caught the most unusual thing - a moray eel. With beginner’s luck, I caught 4. When we came back, we had them grilled immediately at Dante’s.

Barbara’s eel

One that I caught

The fish we caught. Best lunch of the trip.

At Hemingway’s very nice house with 2 \240of the Hemingway cats. One is 6 toed.

The largest swimming pool south of Miami when it was built by Hemingway’s third wife when she got pissed at Ernie for fooling around - it replaced his boxing ring!!

Wedding venue.

Leaving Key West Early This Am to Catch Sunrise

Left the Key Lime Inn in glorious Key West at 6:15 am and cycled to the rented house to join the other Palm Pedalers as we bike back to Miami. Barbara has a more leisurely morning before catching her plane back to a windy DC.

Long day of biking today (52 miles) to reach first stop in Marathon, the Royal HawIian which is not particularly “royal” or Hawaiian but more 1950’s Americano. Owner, Steve, is a nice guy but makes Jennifer Lawrence seem like an introvert. He can really yak.

Pics:

Florida white pelicans are having their annual reunion. \240Only happens once a year per Lady with huge camera who seemed knowledgeable in the subject.

Larry and Carl

Lousy picture if Iguana crossing bike path. They’re all over.

Rod changing a flat at the Royal Hawaiian. . \240A not unusual occurrence.

Key Largo

Not such a great night in Marathon yesterday. Developed pretty bad painful \240constipation after accidentally taking 2 Imodium, thinking they were Aleve. This after not much going on in that dept. for a few days. Consulted Barbara and my family medical team of Rachel and Scott and ended up eventually taking magnesium citrate, decolex pills and a suppository (thankful Joe drove and got this) that eventually unplugged things but not much sleep. Ended up riding in the SAG SUV in the am but resuming biking in the afternoon. Good thing was I avoided cycling over the 7 mile bridge and the strong headwinds.

In fact, most of the way back, we encountered fairly brisk \240headwinds. Good thing I was a stronger cyclist by then.

Had dinner and breakfast here. Pretty good.

Our Hippie Funky Hangout for 2 nights in the Everglades.

Shorter ride today - 28 miles but encountered pretty strong headwinds especially along the route through the glades. Pooped when we arrived at our “palatial” home for next 2 nights-the Everglades hostel. I have had it relatively easy compared to the other solo Amigos (having a private room) but decided to “rough it” here and bunk with the other male Pedalers and one imposter. 1 room, 3 bunk beds. As I was the 2nd oldest in this room, I got a bottom bunk. Very helpful for my typical 1 - 2 nightly bathroom excursions.

Our room. See the guy ( not one of us) in the corner? \240The first night, I discovered his snoring makes a runaway freight train sound quiet. Think more like a jackhammer. And, see the bottom bunk next to him. Guess who slept there? \240The next night, Carl was kind enough to give me some of his really nice ear plugs. Slept a whole lot better on night numero dos.

The hostel grounds

Nice outdoor shower.

The Everglades Alligator “farm”

Biked to a Cuban local place for breakfast and then on to the ”farm”. \240Pretty hokey but quite entertaining. Especially the air boat ride through the Everglades with captain “psycho Paul”.

Getting ready for snake show. From left to right: me, Jeanne, Carl, Larry and Rod.

AirBoat ride below.

See the gator?

Have to wear headphones to cancel some of the noise of the engine. Reached speeds of 35 mph skimming over the marsh and water. Psycho Paul did several 360’s to ensure we all got wet.

Psycho Paul on top.

Alligator show below.

Feeding rats to the gators. \240

Largest Gator found here below. .

Next stop, “Robert is here fruit stand” for delicious cious smoothees and lunch sandwiches. Also bought some mangos fir tomorrow’s breakfast.

Farewell Dinner at Rosita’s adjacent to hostel where we are 3 or 4 times coming and going.

.

Last Day of Biking - back to Miami

About 21 miles - left early to avoid strong wind after a delightful breakfast of eggs (prepared by master egg chef Bob), pancakes skillfully dipped with one arm by Nancy and mango from “Robert is Here”.

Stopped at this giant flea market, food market. Pretty much we were the only gringos. Great fruit, veggies, spices, as well as auto tires, wheels, clothes — you name it.

About 5 miles from Coral Gables, I thought to myself— “Wow, I made the whole trip without a flat tire”. That was the kiss of death as 5 minutes later, yep, you guessed it. My rear tire was flat. I did \240have a tube with me and Carl, Rod and Larry did misting the work to change it. A big thanks to those guys, especially Carl who did most of the work.

Got some freshly squeezed OJ here.

At our new favorite Thai restaurant near our”hotel”. It’s a bit of a stretch to call the Rodeway Inn a hotel - it’s a tad under maintained.

Back at the Rodeway, my first room had no A/C, so I had to move to another room and different floor. This one had great A/C, but also came with some jerky people who checked in at 1:30 am and celebrated by running, shouting and slamming doors for the next hour and a half. Given I was getting up at 5:15, I found this behavior slightly rude. Calls to the front desk yielded a very helpful “They’ll probably go to sleep soon.”

Next morning a very nice 64 year old taxi driver happily showed up at 6:15 with his van taxi and luggage, bike and I proceeded to the Miami Amtrak station, where my 2 panniers were already checked courtesy of Joe. Checked my bike too. In a few minutes, I boarded the Silver Meteor, bound for glory

DC.

Journey Home

Had the same attendant Bianca who was overjoyed to see me in one piece. And wanted to hear all about our trip. Like an old friend.

Good morning,America,how are you?

Lessons Learned

• start train trip on Silver Meteor in Alexandria vs. Union Station, which is awful in terms of luggage and bike.
• Train more if possible
• No need for panniers if we have SAG vehicle