Hi Everyone!
Our virtual office this afternoon is the “pub” at a KOA campground in Sugarloaf Key. We have instrumental music playing the background – it started with primarily steel drums, switched over to really old country music, and as the liquor flows, the locals are doing some serious sing-a-longs to old country songs. The fans are circling overhead, giving a much-needed breeze. We’re under a huge blue tent, and there’s a bar serving margaritas, beer, sodas, and pretty much anything one could want.
We’ve gotten ourselves settled in at a table near the bar, in a quiet corner. Chelsea has a view of the V Harris Channel, while I can see the pool and the RVs. We are plugged into an outlet and the bartender offered to plug in our powered USB hub for us, over the counter behind the bar. So we’re ready to go! Our laundry is done (we need to go get it and put it in the dryer), and we’ve got our showers done.
So we’re really underway! We’ve had an extremely busy last month getting ready to go, and despite all we’ve done, Alex will still be helping us out by finishing up some of what we had to leave. He’s downloading music for us so we can get it when we see him; he’s searching out some key things we left behind; and he’s helping pack things we didn’t have time to finish. It’s awesome having a team.
We thoroughly enjoyed Key West. It’s truly more laid back, in many ways, although there’s a feeling that some folks are “aggressively relaxed”. They are chasing relaxation with determination. And there are a lot of folks who have clearly been fried by too much liquor for too long, and too many good times.
We went out on a snorkeling boat for the afternoon on Sunday, and I was struck by how natural everyone was, compared to the times we’ve been out in Key Largo and the Caribbean. Everyone was far more relaxed. It made for a much more relaxed time for us as well.
After getting to bed far too late for far too many days in a row (organizing and getting ready), we ended up getting to bed last night really late and weren’t able to get an early start. We also had a telephone interview with a popular South Florida radio station, and after that we still had to eat, finish packing the trailers, and get on the road. By the time we did all that and got down to our starting point several miles away, it was nearly 10:30 a.m., and the temperatures were already in the mid eighties, with really high humidity. It was SO tempting to just stay another day and get an early start tomorrow!
However, sticker shock is one expression that comes to mind down here in the Keys. The rooms were the least expensive we could find and even with a special deal they ran $180 before tax and charges. Meals run in the $20 range, and at KOA here in Sugarloaf, we paid $6 for a small bag of beef jerky, and we paid $55 for a primitive campsite for two of us! To give you a frame of reference, we were paying only $25 for three of us for a campsite with electricity, in the rest of the US. It makes me want to get moving through here really fast.
We have really enjoyed the friendliness of the people. The place is loaded with bicycles and scooters, and nearly every bicyclist had some pleasant comment for us. We’ve also enjoyed the scenery – the snorkeling was just gorgeous – although we still like Key Largo the best for the variety – but the weather was great (hot) and the views are incredible. As we were cycling today, we were only feet away from the water for mile after mile. If we have to be hot and tired, I’d sure rather have it be in a place like this!
We’ve already settled into the fun of the trip with respect to getting to know people and areas in ways we’d never know otherwise. As we sat at on a curb at a convenience store, recovering from the heat, we idly watched a gasoline tanker pull in. It became clear that he was going to fill the tanks, and that’s something I have never seen done. It was just amazing to watch the driver – he went about his work so efficiently that it was like choreography. He was calm and quiet, and just moved easily and steadily. I was so fascinated that while he waited for the gas to flow from the tanker into the tank, I asked him how he knew when it was full. He treated us to a complete explanation of the whole system, from driving to the Port at Ft. Lauderdale to fill up the tanker, to the structure of the tankers themselves, to a typical day for him. Did you know that the gasoline tankers are compartmentalized? The one today had ordered 1100 gallons of regular, and the 1100 gallons filled one of the compartments. The driver’s name was Doug, and we want to say hi to him publicly – and thanks, Doug! You gave us some fun things to think about while we covered the next few hot miles.
We are highly visible on the road, as there are just cars, ocean, and the two of us riding our bikes hauling our highly visible Burley trailers with their perky orange flags. When we came into the campground and started figuring out our tent, two 10-12 year old boys stopped by and asked if we had ridden from Key West today. When we said yes, they were very excited, as they had seen us on the road and the family had been talking about us. We told them to honk and wave tomorrow or the next day if they pass us…
We’ve also met a motorcyclist – retired – who is on a 21 day, 8000-mile trip on his motorcycle. He is part of a group who become certified “four corners” riders, meaning that they have followed all the certification rules, and have ridden to the four corners of the United States. The buoy at the southernmost point of the US was one of his “tasks”, and now he’ll be headed out to finish his trip. We told him about our trip and gave him a card, and he said he’s going to let “hundreds” of other riders know about our trip, and have them follow us. We wouldn’t get these fun kinds of meetings if we stayed in hotels.
The heat really got to us today – neither of us does well at all in the heat, so we are hitting the sleeping bags early tonight and we will get started really early in the morning – maybe as early as 6 a.m. We are very grateful that we don’t go more than 10 miles without having some place to get water or snacks. We don’t have a stove yet, so we have to remember to get water and food before we settle into the campground.
Chelsea was introduced to her new home for the next 3 years – our REI backpacker’s tent. It can sleep 3, but that would be seriously tight. After our awesome two-room Columbia Cougar Flats tent from Peter Glenn last summer, this is really a shock. We laughed our way through getting it set up – it’s brand new and has never been out of the bag. It was very easy, thank heaven, as we were hot, tired, sweaty, and SO ready for shade and a shower. We are also trying our new Cocoon silk sleep sacks from REI – it’s way, way too hot for sleeping bags, and regular sheets are way too heavy (and never dry in this humidity).
The riding was pretty straightforward today, other than the debilitating heat. We are getting used to the trailers – our Specialized Dolce bikes are so tight and perky that it is taking some getting used to in riding with 60-70 pounds of wiggling gear. They are amazing going up the hills – slow but easy, and we have great speed going down. We also noticed another huge side benefit – we aren’t getting blown about when the semi-trucks go blazing by at 70 mph. I can’t imagine having to handle this kind of weight with panniers on the bike!
We’ve done well in every way – we calmly changed a tire for Chelsea (flat) only 3 miles from our destination in blazing heat (have I mentioned that it was very hot?)…sigh…and we are getting used to the weight. We are going to be looking good soon!
All in all we’ve had an outstanding first day, and we know that it will just get better. We’ve already had some fun adventures, and we look forward to just lengthening the list. We had forgotten our cable to download our photos to the laptop, so we will pick it up when we ride through Delray Beach. My apologies – you won’t be able to see photos until then – it’ll be about a week.
I have promised myself that we will write every day, so stay tuned. I’m heading off to check the laundry, and there are lots of interesting people to meet in the half hour left till our heads hit the pillows!
Signing off from Sugarloaf Key…