A Little More of Florida

Sunday, December 2 – Saturday, December 8, 2007

Sunday, December 2

Some days the best laid plans turn out to be no more than just well-laid plans. We had every intention of getting up early and getting out of Clearwater Beach, hoping to get down the highway and find a church service somewhere.

We did wake up early, but it was way too early to get going, so I slept in a little longer…long enough that we were past the schedule that we had set for ourselves. However, it all worked out well; Barbara finished getting all the luggage and gear together while I went downstairs to service the bike for the day’s ride. Then, when all was ready, we took a cart upstairs, brought everything down to the parking lot, and got the trailer and cycle trunk loaded.

We would have gotten away a few minutes earlier, but just as we were finishing locking everything down, a couple from Michigan that we had visited with came down and started talking. They are also bikers, and are considering getting a cargo trailer like ours. They had a number of questions about capacity, towing qualities, etc.

We finally got away from the Best Western Sea Wake Inn around 9:15 am, crossed the bridge behind the hotel, and headed south down Gulf Boulevard. Fortunately, we knew what were doing this time, and the traffic was very light, so we didn’t have any trouble finding the road that we needed to get back to U.S. 19.

As we were passing through Seminole, we saw the Oakhurst Methodist Church and Barbara noticed that the morning service started at 9:40. Since it was only 9:45, we wheeled in, found a parking place in the visitor’s area (unfortunately, we discovered that it was sand and not very well packed, but we found some large sticks to put under the kickstand, so that worked out ok), and walked in to the worship service.

The sermon was on the meaning of advent, and the preacher brought out some points that we had never considered; mainly, that Advent is not just about Christmas, but about the total experience of one’s acceptance of and service to Christ. We had a lengthy discussion of the service after we left the church and began the next leg of our journey for the day.

Our travel options were to go east to I-275 and then go south across the Sunshine Skyway Bridge over the mouth of Tampa Bay, or turn off on U.S. 19 South and take the route through the towns along the way to the bridge. Since we were starting to get hungry and a Sonic breakfast Burrito sounded good, we opted for the slower (lots of stop and start traffic) route through St. Petersburg.

We never did find a Sonic, so we voted to just keep going over the bridge into some of the towns south of the bay before we took another break.

About the Sunshine Skyway Bridge

The original Sunshine Skyway Bridge was built in 1954 to replace a ferry system across the mouth of Tampa bay. A second, parallel bridge was opened in 1969 to offer four lanes of traffic and bring the bridge system up to interstate highway standards.

The southbound span of the bridge (the 1969 section) was destroyed on May 9, 1980, when the freighter, SS Summit Venture collided with a support column, causing 1200 feet of the span to fall over 150 feet into Tampa Bay. Six automobiles and a Greyhound bus were on the span at the time; 35 persons were killed. One person survived the fall when his pickup truck landed on the freighter instead of falling into the water.

The new bridge, named the Bob Graham Sunshine Skyway Bridge, is the world’s longest bridge with a cable-stayed main span. Constructed of steel and concrete, it extends exactly 5.5 miles from end to end, and cost 244 million dollars to build. Construction on the new bridge began in 1982. It was opened to traffic on April 20, 1987.

Barbara: As we were crossing over the bridge, a construction crew was doing something at the summit; so thankfully Jim didn’t share with me all the historical facts until we were across it and back on solid ground! I am always nervous when we are high off the ground, but I would have been petrified if I had any knowledge of its past.

Jim: After crossing the bridge, we turned off on U.S. 41 South to continue our search for a place to eat; surely, Sonic had made its way to Florida! As luck would have it, we found one toward the southern edge of Bradenton and made our stop there.

After a tasty meal, we continued south through Sarasota (winter home of Ringling Brothers and Barnum and Bailey Circus) where we decided that the Sunday afternoon traffic was getting to be no fun at all. Finding a route toward I-75, we headed east for a few miles until we connected with the “big road.” There was still a lot of traffic, but it was moving 65 – 70 miles per hour and the road had no red lights or stop signs. We were already an hour behind our schedule for the afternoon, and didn’t want to get any further behind.

With the sun shining brightly and the temperature climbing to the mid-80s, we decided to stop at a rest area for a necessary break and to shed a couple of layers of clothing. We had both dressed for cooler temperatures this morning, but I knew that my long-sleeved denim shirt and leather vest had to go. It was definitely short-sleeved t-shirt weather for both of us.

We stopped one more time for gas, and then left the interstate at exit 101 to take a local road down to south highway 41 and our destination for the night, the Post of Islands resort, located between Naples and the northwestern corner of the Everglades National Park.

After checking in and finding our room, we voted that the first order of business was to wash some clothes. It had been several days since we did laundry in Marianna, and supplies of some items of clothing were running out.

Once the laundry was started, we walked over to the marina just to see what we could see. A local who was doing some fishing stopped long enough to talk to us and give us his views on what we might want to see and do in the short amount of time we would be here.

We also got some of the history of Port of Islands. It seems that this area was developed as a hunting and fishing site back in the early 60’s. An airstrip was built and men would fly in for the weekend to hunt, fish, shoot skeet or traps, drink beer, and generally have a “guy’s weekend.” A group of barracks-like buildings were built and sectioned off into rooms or cabins. Each had a small bedroom/living area, a kitchenette, and bathroom with a lanai (aka...screened in porch for us country folk!).

In later years the place was upgraded a bit for family getaways, mostly for the weekends, but also for blocks of vacation times.

Unfortunately, the place went bust in one of the real estate upheavals that accompany life in Florida. It was sold (unknowingly, we’re sure) to a drug smuggler who used the isolated location, the airstrip, and the proximity to the Gulf coast and the many surrounding small islands, to ply his trade in bringing in drugs by air and sea. That business also went under once the authorities caught on, and another developer came in and made major upgrades to the lodging and marina facilities, along with some very pricey condominium selections.

We were fortunate enough to find some very good rates through an internet search. When we looked at the prices once we got here, we found that the nightly rates are 3-4 times what we are paying…for once, maybe I made a good deal!

As we were getting our history lesson, the man talking to us pointed out an alligator that had found its way into the marina. It was just lounging around, moving slowly from one dock to the other. We didn’t have our camera to document the event, but he told us to not worry about it…we were sure to see plenty of them in the next day or so.

Tonight…finish up the laundry, have a little supper, watch some TV, and read. There’s no internet service in the rooms, so we just had to talk to each other…what a novel experience!

Monday, December 3

We planned to be off on a new adventure by 8:00 this morning, but again our plans were a little delayed…guess we should just quit making some of those plans.

After getting dressed, we wandered over to the main building to graze through offerings of the complimentary breakfast. After picking out the items we wanted, we came back to our room to eat, but not before finding out from the day manager that wireless internet service was available in the main lobby and dayroom.

When we had finished our meal, we took our computers back to the main building to see if we could get a satisfactory connection, and sure enough, we could. We checked our email and sent a couple of messages before deciding that we’d better get on the road if we were going to see anything today.

I checked the Voyager over carefully and then we saddled up and began our trip. We rode a few miles east on U.S. 41 to U.S. 29, where we turned to the south to go to Everglades City. We had been told last night that this would be a really interesting spot, but weren’t particularly impressed. I think they have some pretty good seafood restaurants, but that wasn’t what we were looking for today since it was too early to eat lunch.

From Everglades City we rode about a mile and a half down the highway to the Gulf Coast Visitor Center of the Everglades National Park. Interestingly enough, the national park boundaries are in the waters, so this visitor center isn’t really in the park. I had my National Park Pass in hand as we went inside, but the nice lady at the desk said I wouldn’t need it unless we went to the main visitor center deeper in the park.

We walked around outside and took some pictures of the surrounding area. This center opens on the 10,000 islands area of the Gulf of Mexico coastline, and we had a great view of several of the Mangrove islands. (Photo on right...more on mangrove islands later)

After leaving the visitor center, we rode about 40 miles north along the western edge of the Big Cypress Swamp to Immokalee. As we were riding along, we began to see signs warning of panther crossings, and long stretches of high chain link fences along the canals and ditches that line the highway. We later found that this area is the natural habitat of the Florida Panther, which is now nearly extinct. It is believed that there are currently fewer than thirty of these creatures living in the Panther Wildlife Preserve.

Barbara: Trust me when I say that I surveyed the trees carefully along the way…didn’t want a panther to jump down on us…don’t even know that they climb trees…never was a Tarzan fan!

Jim: We didn’t see any panthers along the way up or on our return trip, but Barbara did get some great pictures of birds sitting up in the trees. We also saw some orange groves and what we think must be huge tomato farms close to Immokalee.

On the way back to the inn we stopped at a service station to get gas for the cycle. There was a Subway inside, so we decided to splurge tonight and have Subway sandwiches back at our room.
When we got back to the room, we decided that we needed a couple more things to go along with our sandwiches, so we walked over to the marina grocery store. As we were getting close to the building, the manager came out and said, “Looks like he’s brought a friend…I guess I’ll just have to kill them to keep them away.”

We turned to see what he was looking at and saw a couple of alligators swimming around the marina. Then, he pointed out a third critter and told us that it was a crocodile. I went back to the room and grabbed the camera so Barbara could take pictures while I went into the store. The gators and croc wouldn’t get in close enough to get a good close-up shot, but she got some pretty good pictures of them lolling around in the middle of the marina.

Barbara: I now know the different between a croc and an alligator…a crocodile has a flat head whereas an alligator has a hump (or knot) on his head! Just thought I’d share my new-found information.

Jim: After that bit of excitement, we went back to the room and ate, and then spent some computer time back in the main building until I decided to take advantage of the beautiful swimming pool. The evening air cooled down pretty rapidly after the sun went down, but the heated pool was beyond wonderful…a great way to end a wonderful day!

Tuesday, December 4

Happy Birthday to Susie in Hobbs, New Mexico!

Today was both a sightseeing and a Point A to Point B day. Our objective was to get from Port of Islands Resort to Key West, but with all the scenery between those two points, we knew that we wouldn’t be in too big a hurry.

We started the day earlier than usual and had the cycle serviced and the trailer loaded by 6:45. We went over to the main building at 7:00 for the continental breakfast and to check our email before taking off. We waited until 7:30 for someone to show up and set the breakfast items out, but no one else came in except one of the workers; he told us that they didn’t open until 8:00, so we packed up and left…figured we’d find something down the road.

We headed east on U.S. 41, also known as the Tamiami Trail (a two-lane highway that was the original direct route from Tampa to Miami). The route for the day would take us through the Big Cypress Swamp (named for the size of the swamp, not the size of Cypress trees), and part of the 1.5 million acre Everglades National Park.

Our first stop was at the Ochopee Post Office which is considered to be the smallest post office in the US. The building was once and irrigation pipe shed belonging to the JT Gaunt Company tomato farm. It was hurriedly pressed into service by postmaster Sidney Brown after a disastrous night fire in 1953 burned Ochopee’s general store and post office. The present structure has been in continuous use ever since, both as a post office and a ticket station for Trailways bus lines. It services residents in a three-county area, including deliveries to Seminole and Miccosukee Indians living in the region.

About 20 miles from Port of Islands at the H.P. Williams Park on the north side of the highway was our next sight-seeing venture. One of the rangers we had talked to yesterday at the Gulf Coast Visitor Center of the Everglades NP told us that this might be a good place to spot alligators and other area wildlife.

Since it was so early in the morning, I doubted that we’d see any of the big critters out sunning themselves. We did spot some birds that were perched up in the trees along the canal and the boardwalk and got some shots of them.

Barbara: A bird in a tree is a bird in a tree no matter how you try to make it different. However, using the crystal clear water’s reflection, I had some camera fun. The black spot on the right of the photo is actually a bird sitting in the tree.

Jim: Then, I saw a gator out in the water, but sank before Barbara could get him in the view finder and take a picture.

We waited quietly and patiently, but were about to give up on seeing another alligator when I looked up and saw a large one swimming toward us from the other side of the highway. This one didn’t seem to be camera shy at all (or maybe he knew that he didn’t have to worry about us because he was bigger than us). In any case, Barbara was able to get a number of very good shots of him before he dived. He even cooperated by getting close enough to us that we could see his legs and tail moving through the clear water close to the boardwalk!

While we were focusing on the big guy, a couple of smaller gators swam into the area, so Barbara took a few shots of them too. We got a lot more pictures than we can put in the journal by the time we got away from there.

When we decided we had enough pictures of the park, we saddled up the Voyager again and continued east.

Down the road we began noticing signs that said “Indian Village.” We didn’t think much of it…just thought that was the name of a town that we were passing through. When we saw another set of the same signs and really looked at what we were going through, we realized that there were several Indian villages along the way. Small thatched-roof buildings were clustered in each village area.

Now, most of you know that we are sometimes slow learners, and this morning was a case-in-point. After missing some really great photo-ops because we were trekking along, I decided to stop at the next village we saw. We rode, rode, and rode some more without seeing any other villages or thatched-roofs to take pictures of, and finally gave up on the idea after we crossed into Miami-Dade County.

Wouldn’t you know it, just after we gave up on the idea, we came around a bend and blew right past another little village. I slowed down; made a U-turn (after checking to see if anyone was ahead of or behind us), made a second U-turn to get us in position, and Barbara was finally able to get at least a partial shot of one of the buildings. Whew!!! This is getting to be a lot like work!

Through with the picture-taking for a bit, we continued east to the intersection of U.S. 41 and Florida 997 where we took a short break before heading south on 997 toward Homestead. We had been riding almost three hours and had covered slightly less than 90 miles…no new land speed records for us today!

In Homestead we stopped for gas (wanted to have a full tank before setting out across the Keys), and later stopped at a Denny’s for breakfast and to check our email through their wi-fi system. When our waitress came by and saw that we had both laptops out and running, she said, “If you’re writing a book, my name is Catherine.”

We laughed and told her that we actually were writing a book, and that we’d be sure to put her name in it. I asked her the correct spelling of her name because we wanted to be sure to get it right.

With full stomachs and a full tank of gas, we got back on the cycle and headed down U.S. 1 to tackle the 126 mile highway through the Florida Keys to Key West

The Florida Keys is an archipelago of about 1700 islands stretching from the mainland, abut 25 miles south of Miami, to the last inhabited island, Key West, and then on to the Dry Tortugas. The islands from the mainland to Key West are connected by a series of 43 bridges on U.S. Highway 1. Some of the bridges are very short, spanning bodies of water no wider than a small canal. The longest bridge is the Seven-Mile Bridge at the 47-mile marker, a span of more than 35,000 feet over the Atlantic waters.

We found quickly that speed would not be of the essence this afternoon. Most of the highway is posted at 45 MPH; some sections, particularly through populated areas, are marked at 35 MPH and others are up to 55 MPH (but not for very long stretches). With just a very short break about 40 miles from Key West, the 126-mile trip from Homestead to our hotel took us three hours.

Barbara had done an internet search last week and made reservations for us at the Southernmost Hotel, literally the southernmost hotel in the United States. Our part of the hotel is situated on the south end of Duval Street, only one block from the Atlantic beach.

After checking in and locating our room on the third floor (great view of the pool from our balcony), we got everything put away and started making our plans for the evening. We discovered that there is a sunset celebration every evening from about 5:00 – 7:00 at Mallory Square on the North end of Duval Street…jugglers, musicians, tight-rope walkers, you name it, so we decided that we would take in that attraction tonight.

It was a beautiful evening, temperatures in the upper seventies as sundown approached, so we decided we’d walk the mile or so up Duval Street and take in the sights. What we found along the way was what I would call a combination of Bourbon Street in New Orleans, and any of the main streets in Juarez, Mexico.

Key West has, after all, a huge Cuban enclave, so there were a number of Cuban-style clubs and restaurants; and it is obvious that most of the merchants along Duval Street cater to the college crowd. Want a t-shirt that says anything you can imagine (or maybe that you could ever possibly imagine)? You’re sure to find it in one of the many t-shirt or sign shops along the way.

We found that few, if any of the hotels/motels allow smoking in their rooms, but drinking alcoholic beverages in the streets is permitted. In fact, one of the liquor stores we passed had a sign that stated, “By law, you must open your drinks outside of the building.”

There are quite a few cars on the narrow streets, but there is a booming business in renting small motor scooters and bicycles, and of course, there are more pedestrians than you can shake a stick at.

There are also a lot of restaurants featuring almost every kind of cuisine. Once we got to the north end of Duval Street, we spied the Sunset Pier Restaurant, a restaurant that was situated on a long pier, and which had a great view of both the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Mexico. We took a look at their menu and voted that we would give them a try tonight. Our choice was their Cuban Mix sandwich – roasted pork, honey-cured ham, Swiss cheese, dill pickle slices, Dijon mustard, and mayo, served on hot pressed Cuban bread. For a side, we had their signature Sunset Fries - crisp French fries tossed in garlic and cilantro, with a specially mixed tomato dipping sauce. Yum-yum!

In addition to the great food, and the wonderful view, we enjoyed live entertainment, a two-man team of vocalist and guitarist. I closed my eyes for a moment and could almost swear I was listing to Otis Redding singing “Sittin’ on the Dock of the Bay.”

When we had finished with our meal, we went on over to Mallory Square to see some of the shows and find out what the vendors had to offer. We also had a chance to go through some of the shops in the Mallory Square Mall.

We took one of the back streets on our return trip to the hotel. We passed the Ernest Hemingway House and the old light house at the end of the key, and the Harry Truman Winter White House. There are a lot of historic sites and structures in Key West…far more than the average person can afford to take in during one visit to the city.

Famous former residents of Key West include author Ernest Hemingway; educator and philosopher John Dewey (photo on left…Dewey house); and playwright Tennessee Williams. Hemingway, who lived in Key West for ten years, wrote For Whom the Bell Tolls, The Snows of Kilimanjaro, and A Farewell to Arms (and no, Chris Perkins…that is not the story of Venus di Milo), while he lived here. He used depression-era Key West as the setting for To Have and Have Not, his only novel set in the United States.
Tonight…return to the room, do some writing, and try to sort out everything that we saw and did on this very busy day.

Wednesday, December 5

Wow…the “Key” word of the day is “walk!”

We knew last night that we wanted to get out and see the town this morning before it got too hot. The breezes are very light and it gets sultry and sticky downtown when the temperatures start to rise.

We started by walking around the “neighborhood” of our hotel. First we went down to the private beach and landing…went out on the Duval Street Pier and took some photographs. Then, we went around the block to the east and looked at one of the other hotel properties and walked out on that pier.

Along the way, we passed the John Dewey house and the marker for the southernmost point of the United States, a point closer to Cuba (only 90 miles) than to Miami. Also on the southwestern end of the island is Naval Air Station Key West.

We then made our way back north on Duval street, walking the opposite side of the street from the one we were on last night. The first thing we found was that most stores and shops don’t open until 10:00 am, and it was only 7:30. We thought we’d find some unique Key West breakfast place, but after checking the prices for even the simplest meals at the few restaurants that were open, we opted for breakfast sandwiches at Wendy’s. I love a good pancake breakfast, but I’ve never seen one, mine included, that was worth $11.00 (and that didn’t include juice or coffee).

We didn’t start out to travel the full length of Duval Street, but almost without knowing it, we were back at the Sunset Pier Restaurant, where we had eaten last night. It was still closed, but the pier was open, so we sat at the railing and watched the ships moving in and out of the harbor.
One thing that really grabbed our attention was a barge carrying a large waste management garbage truck. My first thought was that they were going out beyond the 12-mile limit to dump garbage, but then we realized that the barge was headed to Sunset Key, where the truck drove away so the driver could make his rounds to all the houses. The barge returned to Key West until its scheduled run back to Sunset to retrieve the truck and all its new garbage.

As we worked our way back toward the hotel, we wandered in and out of a few of the shops and stores that were opening. Some of them were very interesting…others were the same types of stores that one can find at Myrtle Beach or Padre Island – the merchandise is the same except for the name printed on it.

After our 2+ miles of walking, we decided to put in some time around one of the hotel’s three swimming pools. First, we got a load of wash going and then went to the pool area. I thought the water was a little too cool, but it did wake me up, and the warm sunshine sure did feel good when I got out of the pool and went to one of the deck chairs to sit back and relax for a bit.

When the clothes were finally done we took them back up to the room and decided that if we were going to hit the beach, we’d better do it soon. So, we walked the block or so back down to the beach area and tested the waters.

The beach wasn’t much, as beaches go…pretty cluttered, and the water had rocks and chunks of concrete in it close to the edge, but the water itself was wonderful. I enjoyed alternately wading and swimming out to the edge of the swimming area and just lounging around and soaking in the warm water. Interestingly enough, there were no waves that even approached breaking…very calm all around.

Barbara soon joined me out in the water after a bit, and we swam around for a few minutes before deciding we’d had enough of the sun for one afternoon. Besides, clouds were moving in from the northwest and it looked like we might get some rain pretty soon.

Back at the hotel, we just relaxed, read, and worked at the computers for a couple of hours before deciding that we’d go out and look for a couple of things for tomorrow’s trip. We planned to go a couple of blocks to find some Diet Cokes, but once again found ourselves walking the entire length of Duval Street…I guess we were just gluttons for punishment.

We did some serious looking through the shops around Mallory Square and took in some of the night’s open-air entertainment before working our way slowly (because we were too tired to move quickly) back to the hotel, where we got everything packed and ready to take downstairs tomorrow morning.

We spent about an hour sitting out on the balcony and enjoying the balmy evening before going back inside and calling it a day…a very busy day!

Thursday, December 6, 2007

We started the day much earlier than we had intended. Last night I set the alarm for 5:30 am, hoping to get away by 6:30, but we both woke up around 4:30, so we started getting ourselves and the gear ready…just not at a very fast pace.

After getting dressed, we made sure we had all the gear was ready; then we made a final check of our email, and started hauling everything downstairs to the cycle. While Barbara filled the ice chest, I did the final check on tire pressures; made sure everything was secured, and locked all the compartments.

Barbara went to the office to check out while I started the cycle, backed out of our space (always a bit of a challenge with the trailer attached), and drove around to pick her up.

From the hotel, we rode back up Duval Street to Truman Avenue (U.S. 1) and headed east. We did have to stop for fuel…paid a gastly price (yes, I do know how to spell ghastly, but the pun was very much intended and I wanted it to be clear), and then cruised slowly down the highway through the town.

We went as slowly as we possibly could because Barbara wanted to try to take pictures of some very young mangrove plants that we had seen when we first came into town. Unfortunately, the best specimens were out in the water to our left and oncoming traffic and the angle she was shooting from worked against us. Plus, there were no spots to pull over and take a photo.

After getting out of the city limits, we just mixed in with the other traffic headed toward the mainland or other locations in the Keys. During our ride we experienced the beauty of the sun breaking through the clouds and were able to capture that moment when its light reflected on the Atlantic waters. Awesome!

We cruised for about an hour and a half before taking our first break at a fishing bridge about 65 miles east of Key West. There, I was able to get a couple of shots of mangrove roots and Barbara got a really nice photo of a mangrove island a couple hundred yards off the coast.

Barbara: One of the more interesting facts I found out in the Everglades is that the islands one sees off in the distance in the Gulf are literally made from mangrove trees.

At low tide, young mangroves appear. Then their aerial roots and seedlings spread from each tree, eventually creating mangrove “islands.” The photo on the left shows a seedling; then, the photo on the right shows a young mangrove plant. Both of these photos were taken from the Everglades visitor center marquee since I never got close enough to do one justice. Though as you will see in the collage, I did get a really blurry, yucky photo to show how they are far apart and then eventually grow together.

This collage gives you an idea of how one mangrove tree spreads until eventually it becomes an island of its own.

Another mangrove bit of trivia I found interesting was when we approached Key Largo where they are building a new overpass I realized that they were having to cut through a mangrove island to set the pilings for the highway extension. So…I grabbed the trusty Sony camera and went to work!

Jim: One of the more interesting communities we passed through was Islamorada, a community on one of the Keys that was destroyed during a Labor Day hurricane in 1935. The storm struck with 200 MPH winds and 17 – 20 foot waves that washed over the island. As we rode through, I looked at where the natural shore line is and estimated that if something like that happened today, we would be sitting under five feet of water if we were on the highway. The community has a large hurricane memorial located on the side of the northbound lane of U.S. 1.

We walked around for a bit and then saddled up and struck out again, not stopping until we located a Key Lime products store in Key Largo, almost back to the mainland. Once again it was time for a fanny break and we got to look at some items that we hadn’t been able to find in Key West.

We didn’t take time to have breakfast before we left this morning, so we stopped again at Denny’s in Homestead to eat and relax a bit. Then it was across the way to give the Voyager another drink before getting back on the road.

We voted several times this morning on which route we’d take out of Homestead. Our options were U.S. 1, which runs close to the Atlantic Coast, The Florida Turnpike, which parallels I-95 and eventually breaks back toward the west to the Orlando area, or I-95.

We decided that even though the turnpike was a toll road, it would be fast and would get us to the Orlando and Lady Lake areas faster, so we gave it a try. What we found was that about the time we built up a good head of steam, we’d have to stop for another toll booth, fork over $2.00, and then start up again.

By the time we got to Hollywood, about 40 miles from the start of the turnpike, we decided we’d had enough of that, so we left the turnpike and drove through Hollywood toward I-95, hoping to make as good time as we had on the turnpike without paying all the fees. We took a break there for about half an hour and then started up again.

What we didn’t realize about I-95 is that it is a 4 – 6 lane highway on each side with lots of intermittent construction zones and high speed traffic except where it grinds to a halt for accidents. We had to make a sudden stop at one point and the air was ripe with the smell of burning brake shoes and rubber tires.

We thought for a bit about getting off and going over to U.S. 1, but were tired of driving through all the coastal towns, so we just toughed it out. We did take a short break at a Cracker Barrel in Palm Beach and stretched out our legs a bit. We were really getting tensed up from the heavy traffic.

Luckily, a few miles north of Palm Beach the highway got better, the traffic lessened, and we were able to cruise the way we like. We stopped for gas at Port St. Lucie and then pulled off the highway a few miles north of there (the outskirts of Fort Pierce) to spend the night. We were thrilled to find a brand new Best Western with great rates. We micro-waved some food for dinner and then just sat back and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Friday, December 7

For what ever reason, we woke up earlier than necessary this morning. We just lounged around for a while before getting cleaned up and dressed and going down to the lobby for breakfast. We didn’t plan to get away before 9:00, so there was certainly no hurry.

After getting the last of the gear downstairs and checking out, I did a check on tire pressures before we were to pull away. I checked the front tire and put a little air in it and then moved to the back. As I closed off the valve, I could feel air rushing out…there was a leak somewhere in the air hose and I was losing air quickly. Barbara finally figured out how to pinch off the leak and I held the valve in place while she worked the foot peddle to bring the pressure up to where we needed it. Another crisis averted, but it definitely took teamwork!

We headed out from the motel and entered the Florida Turnpike for the journey from Fort Pierce to Lady Lake. All we wanted to do today was get from Point A to Point B as quickly as possible!

We did find out that the Florida Turnpike is one of the pricier toll roads we’ve driven on. With the trailer attached, we had to pay an extra fee. By the time we got to our exit point, we were wondering if we had enough cash to pay our way out.

After traveling the road for about an hour and a half, we pulled over at a very modern rest area to walk around and stretch out our legs. Inside the building we found some nice shopping areas along with a variety of fast food places…a really impressive place to stop for a few minutes. One of the vendors was selling fresh Indian River citrus. We would have liked to buy some, but our storage space seems to be shrinking daily…one of the few downsides to traveling by motorcycle.

After another rest break up the highway, we finally reached Exit 285, which took us over to U.S. 27 North, the road through Leesburg and up to Lady Lake and The Villages. As soon as we got into Lady Lake, we stopped at Dottie Conklin’s hair styling shop. Dottie and her husband, Dick, were our genial hosts when we came down in March. Dick had set up a temporary RV facility for the volunteers who needed a place to park their rigs while we worked on the church.

We then found our “home” for the next four nights, the Holiday Inn Express in The Villages. After checking in, we took a luggage cart full of our things up to the room. While Barbara started unpacking luggage and putting things away, I went back downstairs to get another cart full of “stuff” from the cargo trailer. We decided that this would be a good time to consolidate the packages of things that we bought along the way and try to make some sense of repacking the trailer, trunk, and saddlebags when we leave Tuesday morning.

We also drove out to Dick and Dottie’s house in Weirsdale to try to find Dick and let him know we were in town. After ringing the doorbell several times we decided that he must be off somewhere, so we left a note to let him know we’d come to see him.

From there we rode out to the new church to see it for ourselves. We’ve received a couple of pictures of it, but they didn’t begin to convey how beautiful it is. We are really looking forward to joining the volunteers and the congregation for the dedication service Sunday morning and renewing friendships with those who were so generous to us when we were here in March.

Barbara: Unfortunately, in order to take a pic of both of us, I had to use the cycle as a camera “tri-pod” and it certainly wasn’t level; therefore, we’re just a little crooked!

Jim: After leaving the church, we rode back into town, made the obligatory stop at Wal-Mart for some necessities (including a new air pump for the motorcycle), and then stopped at Sonic for a couple of burgers and some onion rings to take back to the hotel.

Tonight…eat our Sonic meal, check email, watch TV, and read (and not necessarily in that order), and generally kick back and relax.

Saturday, December 8

It was a pretty lazy morning around our place. We took our time getting up and around…went downstairs to have a leisurely breakfast, and then came back up to the room to lounge around some more.

Around 11:30 or so we uncovered the cycle and made a trip down the road a few miles to check out a Dollar Tree store and a Florida citrus store.

While we were at Dollar Tree, our friend Rod called to see if we were still on for supper tonight. Rod and Ruth are from Virginia; we met them when we came down here in March to help build Crossroads Community Church. Rod had arranged for us to get together with them and Bob and Nell from Georgia tonight for a reunion meal. We arranged for everyone to meet at the old church site at 5:00 and then go somewhere to eat and catch up on each other’s lives.

Once we got back to the hotel, Barbara called Rod to see if it was possible for them or Roy and Rachel, the friends with whom they are staying while we are all down here, to swing by our place, rather than having us out on unfamiliar roads at night. They agreed and told us they’d come pick us up at 4:30.

We both settled down to some serious computer time and I was waiting until 3:00 pm so I could log in to the Artesia radio station and listen t as much of the Bulldogs state championship football game as possible before having to leave.

At 1:30 the room phone rang; it was Rod…he and Ruth had been by the new church and then stopped by our hotel to see if we wanted to go with them and spend the rest of the afternoon visiting with Roy and Rachel at their home in The Villages.

We said we’d be happy to do that, so we came back upstairs, shut down the computers, and got ready to go out for the rest of the day.

We had a wonderful afternoon visiting with Rod, Ruth, Roy, and Rachel for the next couple of hours. It seemed that we were all able to pick up the conversations where they had left off on March 30, the day that we finished our part of the construction on the new church and went our separate ways.

While the ladies went inside, Rod, Roy, and I sat outside in the lanai and continued our talks. Both Rod and Roy are active in their respective church association disaster relief missions, and they had lots of stories about trips to hurricane and other disaster areas to provide assistance.

Just before we left at 4:30, Barbara called Mother to see how she was doing, since we were probably going to be late getting back to the hotel tonight and wouldn’t have a chance to visit. She was having a rough day, but was listening to the football game and told Barbara that the first half of the game had just concluded with a 48 yard last-second field goal by Artesia; the Bulldogs were leading the Roswell Goddard HS Rockets by a score of 42 – 17. Goddard, by the way, is in our district, and is the same team that Artesia edged out in the state championship game last year.

Roy and Rachel led us over to the old church where we waited for Bob and Nell. When they arrived with their host family, Gene and Joan, we all voted to go a few miles south to Leesburg to eat at Capt. Bell’s, a popular seafood restaurant, where we spent an hour or so visiting, laughing, and eating a wonderful meal. Barbara and I have been in Florida for over a week and haven’t eaten any seafood…a very serious oversight on our part.
At Capt. Bell’s Restaurant – Good food and a great time at the “reunion” dinner

Upper Left – Barbara, Nell, Jim, Bob
Upper Right – Rod and Ruth
Center Left – Nell taking a picture of Barbara taking a picture of Nell…those two took over where they left off in March…taking pictures of everyone and everything in sight
Center Right – Rod, Ruth, Jim
Lower Left – Nell, Jim, Bob
Lower right – Rachel and Roy

Roy and Rachel told us about a living nativity scene that was being presented a couple of miles north of Capt. Bell’s at the Leesburg First Baptist Church, so they, Rod, Ruth, Barbara, and I decided to check it out.

When we got there and got parked, we found that we would begin the experience by standing in a line to go into a big tent. We weren’t sure what was going on in there, but from time to time we could hear Christmas carols and every now and then the line would move forward a bit.

As we got close to the tent entrance, a guide told us that everyone would go into the tent where they would be assigned to one of the twelve tribes of Israel, and would be given a gold coin. Then, we would wait inside until our tribe was called to begin its journey to Bethlehem.

We waited somewhat patiently while other tribes were called and escorted out of the tent by a Roman soldier in full regalia. Finally, our tribe, the Tribe of Benjamin, was called.

The soldier first took us to three stations before going to Bethlehem. The first was the tent of Isaiah, where we were told the prophecy of the coming of the Messiah. Next, we went to the house of Mary, where the angel delivered the message that she would conceive and bear the Christ child. Mary then took us to the house of her cousin, Elizabeth, who was pregnant with the child who would grow up to become John the Baptist.

From there, we were taken to the outer gates of Bethlehem where we had to turn our gold coin over to the tax collector before we could enter. Some among us had given their coin to a beggar who was wandering through the crowd, but we all got in anyway…maybe the tax collector was in the Christmas spirit.

The soldier took us through the different areas of the city where we saw woodworkers, pottery makers, weavers, storytellers, and other depictions of the citizens (and visitors) around the city. The city itself was really amazing. We could tell that a lot of thought and work had gone into the design and construction of it. The costumes and sets were all designed to give the visitor the feel of the overcrowded city of Bethlehem during the time of the census.

Moving through the city, we soon came to the innkeeper, who directed us to the stable where he had sent a young couple because there were no available rooms at the inn.

Upon reaching the stables, we were greeted by an angel who announced the birth of the child Jesus, and immediately afterward two shepherds who had come to see the great miracle escorted us to the manger where we found Joseph, Mary, the baby Jesus, the Magi, and more angels.

It was really a very moving experience and obviously there had been a great commitment on the part of church members to present the nativity story. When we asked how many people had been through the journey this week, one of the guides told us that as of Friday night, there had been more than 2,200.

After having some hot apple cider that was provided by the church, we said our goodbyes to Roy and Rachel and then climbed back into the car with Rod and Ruth so they could take us back to the hotel.

Back “home,” we covered the cycle and then came back upstairs to reflect on the activities of the day and relax a bit. I called Jean in Artesia to find out how the game came out; Artesia won over Goddard of by a score of 58 – 31, earning their second consecutive state football championship and their 26th in the 51 years since the first one in 1957…the most of any single school in the history of New Mexico high school football…Way to go Bulldogs!!!
Above: Pictures taken during our journey through Bethlehem. Note the Roman soldier in his motorized chariot in the upper left. Evidently this was a prototype that didn’t catch on for a couple of thousand years.

“When we were young, we wanted to change the world; now that we’re older, we want to change the young.”…Anonymous

Reunited with friends in Lady Lake,

Jim and Barbara