On our way to Gainesville, we stopped along US 27 for a break and remove some rain gear. Cynthia took her glasses off and after pulling off to continue, she realized they were still on the trailer! Well, no they weren’t. We went about a 1/10 of a mile and do you think we could find them? Nope, they just vanished. We walked the road and they were nowhere to be found. It is a bummer when you lose important things. Lesson learned. Next time bring extra of the important things if you have them…just in case! Fortunately for us, we had ordered them from Zenni and all we had to do was order them again and send them straight to Baltimore. No real harm done. However, if you are the driver and have to have them, be sure you do! We had a good night in Gainesville and the next morning was beautiful! Monday, June 1 saw us heading south on I-75 to eat up more miles to our next stop in Bonita Springs. The day ended with the obligatory afternoon thunder storm but by then, we were inside.
Tuesday June 2 we were up early and after a brief stop at Walmart, we were motoring down the Tamiami Trail aka, US 41. This was to be our route across Florida to the east coast. Our first stop was the Big Cypress National Preserve. The Preserve was created to protect the fresh water’s natural flow into the Everglades and the Ten Thousand Islands. Consisting of 729,000 acres, the Preserve is vital to southwest Florida and the Gulf of Mexico. It really is a beautiful area and not a swamp of backwater either. The water within the park is really clear since it is constantly flowing from Lake Okeechobee!
We left the Preserve and within a few miles, were at the Everglades National Park. We stopped at the Shark Valley Visitor’s Center to check out the film but was told they did not have one at that location. We were quite disappointed because the film at Big Cypress was so good, as are most park films. In addition, to get to the observation tower not far into the park, you had to take a tram that was $20 per person. We opted not to do that. There are 4 visitor’s centers around the park since the Everglades are so big. Created in 1947 to protect the Glades, the demand for fresh water from nearby Miami and other cities are stressing the environment. Any of the park visitor centers have additional information about the area.
After leaving the Everglades, we continued on US 41 to FL 997 to Homestead and then to the Atlantic coast to visit Biscayne National Park within sight of Miami and right on the Biscayne Bay. Florida 997 is a nice short cut but a really bad two lane road. Apparently, they are widening the road to four lanes so you might want to give that route a few years yet! Once at the Biscayne NP visitor’s center, we were pretty disappointed. Though the film was good, the rest of the displays etc. weren’t all that nice. I guess since the park is mainly a boater’s park, we didn’t find it all that interesting. I am sure other’s do though. Not staying too long, it was a short hop to US 1 south and our destination for the day at Marathon, in the Florida Keys. We got chased by rain the whole 50 miles or so to Marathon, arriving just as the heavens opened up! We continued to have good luck in that the hotel was right in front of a really nice restaurant called Tarpon Creek. We took our time settling in and sat at the Tiki Bar to enjoy the view, watch the rain and enjoy two of the best Cuban sandwiches we’ve ever had. The mojitos I had were pretty good too and quite fitting for the occasion!
Over the past few days our reservations to Dry Tortugas National Park had been fooled up one way or the other. I first made ferry reservations to go there from Key West on Tuesday, June 3 but thinking it through, the boat ride would have taken up too much of our day. The other option, though twice as expensive, was to take the floatplane. We’ve never been on a floatplane so we decided to go for it! Cancelling the ferry, we THOUGHT we had reservations on the plane for Tuesday (today) but found out we didn’t. Since I didn’t confirm with them soon enough, the best we could do was at noon on Wednesday. One things’ for sure- you have to stay flexible! Since we had all day Tuesday free now, we went on into Key West to visit Fort Zachary Taylor and the Coast Guard Cutter Ingham, both being National Historical Landmarks. In the meantime, we made an appointment at BMW Motorcycles of Miami to service the bike on Friday morning, giving us Thursday afternoon after our flight back to go the 150 miles or so to Miami. It has been 6,000 miles since we left Las Vegas, and here I thought the country was only about 3,000 miles across!
The drive down US 1 can be tricky. There are LOTS of dangerous intersections and the opportunities for a car to take a left in front of you abound…and they do! If you are coming this way, take your time and be extra vigilant! Staying at the 45 mph speed limit (that is most of the way) is a good idea. Be ready for anything. We did not think the scenery got really nice until after Islamadora, which is about 40 miles down. However, once past Marathon, along the way the views of the ocean on both sides of the road are really nice. The remnants of the railroad that used to run down along the Keys is still evident. I believe that was mostly destroyed by Hurricane Irene in the 20’s or 30’s. Not sure but it was a MAJOR hurricane! It is pretty cool to realize that anywhere along the road, you are actually WAY out in the ocean!
The visit to Fort Taylor was similar to any of the coastal forts built by the US in the mid-1800. Though smallish in size, it did afford pretty nice views of the ocean! Just around the corner is docked the Ingham. However, at $20 per person to do a self-guided tour, we decided against that and toured around Key West a bit instead. Key West will definitely be a future destination for us! It is a really quant city and I can see why folks like it so much! We headed back to Marathon and hit some strong rain just before our hotel. We relaxed the afternoon away and caught up on writing and organizing. It’s off to Key West again tomorrow and our first seaplane ride!
We got an early start on June 4 to be sure we would make it to the airport in time for our flight. We were SO early I decided to eat up some time and find the marker for the southern-most point in the continental US. It was pretty easy to find, follow South Street to the water! We met three guys from Ontario on motorcycles while there and had a nice chat with them. We got to the airport about an hour ahead so we had lots of time to visit the main terminal and get some drinks before we left. It was pretty exciting taking off in a small plane (it uses the runway just like other planes). I happened to look at the manufacture’s plate and took notice that the plane was about a month older than me! Born on September 18, 1957, this de Havilland DHC 3 Otter felt a little like me too! No worries though, it does land on water! Before you knew it, we were flying low (about 500 feet) above the water so we could spot turtles and/or sharks in the shallow water. I didn’t see any but Cynthia did. I did get to see a ship wreck though. The landing on the water was quite a thrill and I must say much smoother than a few Air Canada flights I have been on. The view of Fort Jefferson (Dry Tortugas NP) was pretty nice. We taxied in and somehow went into reverse to anchor the plane to the beach. We had a full 2 ½ hours to roam the fort and surrounds. It was a beautiful day in a great location! The trip back seemed short but don’t they always? We got on the bike and made our way back up the Overseas Highway arriving in Miami close to the airport by around 7:00. Checking twice, I noted we were just across the road from BMW Motorcycles of Miami. How convenient!
We were up early as usual even though our trip to BMW would last all of three minutes. Waiting for the folks to open at 9:00 we planned to be in Winter Haven by evening. That was not to be. Besides the Friday traffic late in the day, we spent our day at the dealer till 2:30. Got lots done though! New software update, they replaced the turn signal switch (even though I told them it had been replaced already by my favorite dealer, BMW Motorcycles of Las Vegas). Not sure why but they also replaced the starter switch. All free of charge which meant all we spent was the time waiting for it. We did get 8,500 miles out of the rear tire and had more to go. I suspect we could have seen 10,000 out of the Pilot Road 4 GT. With another one on, we may push this one to see. With the change in oil and a rear fluid change, we ALL felt much better and headed north up US 27. By the time we put 175 miles on, we were approaching thunder storms around Sebring so we decided to bail out for the night.
Saturday, June 6 we decided to put in a relatively short day and find a campsite early. We really miss camping when we get away from it for too long (this being about three nights).Little did we know but we would get the very last site! Its all too familiar- Friday and Saturday nights really require a reservation! Anyway, off onto US 27 again and hooking up with I-75 North just around Leesburg, we quickly ran into a back-up. The the ‘go’ extremely slow and it being 92 out in the sun, we prayed for the rain that never came. After losing about an hour, we got back up to speed but we were pretty spent after sitting in the sun without any wind to cool us. I had planned on a campsite at Stephen Foster SP but the attendant told us upon arrival they were sold out. She did call the next nearest park and found they had one site left and they would hold it for us. The 25 miles to Suwannee State Park seemed to take forever! Needless to say, the last spot was the least desirable but we didn’t care. We met a fellow biker that was traveling in his RV and towing the bike and got into a long conversation about each of our travels. Seems he is doing the same thing we are albeit only for this summer AND in an RV. Ken invited us over for some air conditioning in his rig and we could hardly refuse! We had a great visit, good conversation and made a new friend! We left soon after dark and after battling the gnats for a short time, we turned in.
Sunday June 7 started out good and stayed that way! We got an early start and headed north again on I-75 to Ocmulgee National Monument in Macon, GA. We weren’t sure what to expect but the site is an excellent example of a Mississippian Native American settlement. From about 1,000 years ago till the infamous Trail of Tears, the Creek Indians’ ancestors built a very extensive settlement along the Ocmulgee River. Visible today are many of the mounds used as burial, temple and other unexplained facilities. It was a nice visit with the customary good film and we were off again in the Georgia heat to find our way to FDR State Park. It ended up being a really nice park on a manmade lake (CCC project) and we got a spot right on the water.
We will pick up again in the next chapter of our 2015 National Parks Tour. Stay tuned, much more to come! Greg & Cynthia