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I had planned this trip a year ago but I didn’t happen, this year it did.
With Snoopster’s help I spent Christmas Day loading the bike and getting ready for the trip to Key West. I got up at 3:30 AM on the 26th, walked my dogs, and started gearing up. Deb got up, packed me some banana bread, wished me luck and saw me off. It was only a few minutes past my 4 AM planned Departure.
This trip was destination oriented and not so much about the roads taken so I made excellent time. My first stop was the Mississippi Sandhill Crane Refuge. I pulled into the parking lot before lunch and there was a guy gearing up. We chatted, he told me he was retired but worked in the book store, I was surprised about how much he knew about the Cranes. I headed in and took the tour. I watched the video and it became clear. The guy on the motorcycle was retired like he said; He was retired from being the head biologist and manager of the refuge. I saw no Endangered Non-migratory Sandhills that day but I am glad I stopped. I continued on down the road and made Big Lagoon State park before sunset. I put up the tent, grabbed a shrimp sandwich on the beach and head down to the Flora-Bama for a cold one and to watch the sunset. When I returned to camp I went to use my new head lamp and it worked about 2 minutes. I grabbed a spare flashlight that worked for an even shorter amount of time. Go Figure. I had new neighbors, 3 college kids; I walked over and visited with them for a while before calling it a night.
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I set out the next morning at 5 AM and was headed to see an old Army buddy just north of Tampa. The plan was to make Hillsborough River State Park by 1 PM , set up camp, and meet up with him. I found myself in bumper to bumper traffic and made camp much later, I would meet my buddy tomorrow for breakfast. My Chain needed tending and the ground was too soft for the center stand so I found some concrete down the road. When I came back there was a truck at my campsite and I guy in Army fatigues looking confused. He asked me if this was site 4, I said yes and showed him my camping slip. He showed me his site 4 slip also. I told him no big deal that the site was big enough for us both. He said OK. That’s when he opened up his truck and his 5 kids got out along with 1 wife who didn’t want to be there....
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I was up and packed before sunrise. My Buddy had a busy night at the fire station and was still at work. I didn’t leave the park till after 8 AM and met him for breakfast. I headed down the east coast and made it to the glades where I took an hour long airboat ride. It was nice. The plan was to ride through the glades and grab a hotel in Homestead. I made Homestead at dark and realized I should have planned a little better. Homestead is a cesspool. I pulled over and moved my pistol from my tank bag to my pocket. I stopped at the Ramada Inn and the lady quoted me $299.99 a night. I laughed and left. I called Econolodge, $329. Urban camping was out of the question. South was the Keys and I knew that was $$$ so I headed north. Once I felt safe I pulled over and got on my phone. I found a KOA near Miami. By the time I got there it was 10PM. All the $40 tent sites were full. I pulled out my go-cot, Gortex- bivy cover and sleeping bag and found a piece of grass out of the way. I was up and packed before the sun came up. I wrote a quick note explaining my predicament, wrapped it around two $20s with my name and number and dropped it in the night slot. No one called so I guess we were good.
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I entered the Keys and headed south. My first stop was at Robbie’s to hand feed the 150 lb tarpon that gather at the docks. It cost me $4 and was awesome. I stopped and grabbed some breakfast, and then headed to the Key Deer Refuge. I saw no endangered deer that day. I made the KOA at sugarloaf by lunch, set up camp and met my neighbors. The Chive was having a pub crawl starting at 1PM so I headed further south. I met the founder of the Chive and the manager of the Resignation Brewery. It turned out to be quite the night.
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I woke up Tuesday regretting some of my excess from the night before and headed down to Harpoon Harry’s for what I am told is the best Bloody Mary in the Keys, A little something to knock the edge off. I visited Hemingway’s House, Fort Zachery, Mallory Square and the Southern Most point marker so I could snap the picture.
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New Year’s Eve I had scheduled a Dive/ Spear fishing trip. I got to the boat an hour early and had some fried conch and an Iced tea. We dove and hunted the Cayman Salvage master wreck and Joe’s Tug. It was my first dive in 8 years and my first spearfish trip. It was awesome. I shot 5 for 5 and even saw 3 giant groupers that were larger than the hood of my car. I made it back to camp and I used my neighbors Coleman Stove to cook up the Hog Fish and Snapper that were swimming hours ago. We ate well. I was so wore out from the dive I didn’t even make it down to Duval St for New Year’s, In fact; I was racked out by 8.
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The New Year started out rough. Having refrained from the New Year’s festivities I woke up refreshed at 4 AM. I figured I would grab a shower and use the charging station to charge my dead phone and my dead communicator. I grabbed my shower stuff, phone, charger etc. and started making my way between tents in the dark) towards the showers. In route I kicked a fire pit so hard I thought I broke my toe. Lucky for me there was a tent full of people to break my fall. It reminded me of the “The Mena Tent incident of 2013”. People in the tent were cussing, punching, and yelling, other tents started to light up, I grabbed my stuff and disappeared into the showers. After I showered I realized the little square plug that goes to my phone charger must have fallen off during my fall. There was still a crowd around the tent and too many flashlights to go over. I took the long way back to my tent, packed up and got on the road. I drove back through the Key Deer refuge and managed to see 3 endangered Key Deer but not before my chain started making a an awful noise. I failed to do any research on chain life before leaving. It never even crossed my mind. When I went to put the bike on the center stand it snapped. Over the next 2 days I would stop and tighten the chain every couple of hundred miles and fight with having no center stand. I stopped for lunch for Black Eyed peas and Cabbage and got back on the road. I made it from Key West to 100 miles east of Tallahassee, 300 of the 500 miles were in the rain. I grabbed a hotel and had Papa Johns Deliver me a Pizza. It had been a rough one.
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I woke up and got on the road by 4:30 AM. I was going to ride until the chain gave, I got tired, or I made it home. I managed to make it from Lake City , FL to Wallis Texas in 15 hours, 916 miles of riding in the misty cold rain. I was glad to be home.
With Snoopster’s help I spent Christmas Day loading the bike and getting ready for the trip to Key West. I got up at 3:30 AM on the 26th, walked my dogs, and started gearing up. Deb got up, packed me some banana bread, wished me luck and saw me off. It was only a few minutes past my 4 AM planned Departure.
This trip was destination oriented and not so much about the roads taken so I made excellent time. My first stop was the Mississippi Sandhill Crane Refuge. I pulled into the parking lot before lunch and there was a guy gearing up. We chatted, he told me he was retired but worked in the book store, I was surprised about how much he knew about the Cranes. I headed in and took the tour. I watched the video and it became clear. The guy on the motorcycle was retired like he said; He was retired from being the head biologist and manager of the refuge. I saw no Endangered Non-migratory Sandhills that day but I am glad I stopped. I continued on down the road and made Big Lagoon State park before sunset. I put up the tent, grabbed a shrimp sandwich on the beach and head down to the Flora-Bama for a cold one and to watch the sunset. When I returned to camp I went to use my new head lamp and it worked about 2 minutes. I grabbed a spare flashlight that worked for an even shorter amount of time. Go Figure. I had new neighbors, 3 college kids; I walked over and visited with them for a while before calling it a night.
I set out the next morning at 5 AM and was headed to see an old Army buddy just north of Tampa. The plan was to make Hillsborough River State Park by 1 PM , set up camp, and meet up with him. I found myself in bumper to bumper traffic and made camp much later, I would meet my buddy tomorrow for breakfast. My Chain needed tending and the ground was too soft for the center stand so I found some concrete down the road. When I came back there was a truck at my campsite and I guy in Army fatigues looking confused. He asked me if this was site 4, I said yes and showed him my camping slip. He showed me his site 4 slip also. I told him no big deal that the site was big enough for us both. He said OK. That’s when he opened up his truck and his 5 kids got out along with 1 wife who didn’t want to be there....
I was up and packed before sunrise. My Buddy had a busy night at the fire station and was still at work. I didn’t leave the park till after 8 AM and met him for breakfast. I headed down the east coast and made it to the glades where I took an hour long airboat ride. It was nice. The plan was to ride through the glades and grab a hotel in Homestead. I made Homestead at dark and realized I should have planned a little better. Homestead is a cesspool. I pulled over and moved my pistol from my tank bag to my pocket. I stopped at the Ramada Inn and the lady quoted me $299.99 a night. I laughed and left. I called Econolodge, $329. Urban camping was out of the question. South was the Keys and I knew that was $$$ so I headed north. Once I felt safe I pulled over and got on my phone. I found a KOA near Miami. By the time I got there it was 10PM. All the $40 tent sites were full. I pulled out my go-cot, Gortex- bivy cover and sleeping bag and found a piece of grass out of the way. I was up and packed before the sun came up. I wrote a quick note explaining my predicament, wrapped it around two $20s with my name and number and dropped it in the night slot. No one called so I guess we were good.
I entered the Keys and headed south. My first stop was at Robbie’s to hand feed the 150 lb tarpon that gather at the docks. It cost me $4 and was awesome. I stopped and grabbed some breakfast, and then headed to the Key Deer Refuge. I saw no endangered deer that day. I made the KOA at sugarloaf by lunch, set up camp and met my neighbors. The Chive was having a pub crawl starting at 1PM so I headed further south. I met the founder of the Chive and the manager of the Resignation Brewery. It turned out to be quite the night.
I woke up Tuesday regretting some of my excess from the night before and headed down to Harpoon Harry’s for what I am told is the best Bloody Mary in the Keys, A little something to knock the edge off. I visited Hemingway’s House, Fort Zachery, Mallory Square and the Southern Most point marker so I could snap the picture.
New Year’s Eve I had scheduled a Dive/ Spear fishing trip. I got to the boat an hour early and had some fried conch and an Iced tea. We dove and hunted the Cayman Salvage master wreck and Joe’s Tug. It was my first dive in 8 years and my first spearfish trip. It was awesome. I shot 5 for 5 and even saw 3 giant groupers that were larger than the hood of my car. I made it back to camp and I used my neighbors Coleman Stove to cook up the Hog Fish and Snapper that were swimming hours ago. We ate well. I was so wore out from the dive I didn’t even make it down to Duval St for New Year’s, In fact; I was racked out by 8.
The New Year started out rough. Having refrained from the New Year’s festivities I woke up refreshed at 4 AM. I figured I would grab a shower and use the charging station to charge my dead phone and my dead communicator. I grabbed my shower stuff, phone, charger etc. and started making my way between tents in the dark) towards the showers. In route I kicked a fire pit so hard I thought I broke my toe. Lucky for me there was a tent full of people to break my fall. It reminded me of the “The Mena Tent incident of 2013”. People in the tent were cussing, punching, and yelling, other tents started to light up, I grabbed my stuff and disappeared into the showers. After I showered I realized the little square plug that goes to my phone charger must have fallen off during my fall. There was still a crowd around the tent and too many flashlights to go over. I took the long way back to my tent, packed up and got on the road. I drove back through the Key Deer refuge and managed to see 3 endangered Key Deer but not before my chain started making a an awful noise. I failed to do any research on chain life before leaving. It never even crossed my mind. When I went to put the bike on the center stand it snapped. Over the next 2 days I would stop and tighten the chain every couple of hundred miles and fight with having no center stand. I stopped for lunch for Black Eyed peas and Cabbage and got back on the road. I made it from Key West to 100 miles east of Tallahassee, 300 of the 500 miles were in the rain. I grabbed a hotel and had Papa Johns Deliver me a Pizza. It had been a rough one.
I woke up and got on the road by 4:30 AM. I was going to ride until the chain gave, I got tired, or I made it home. I managed to make it from Lake City , FL to Wallis Texas in 15 hours, 916 miles of riding in the misty cold rain. I was glad to be home.
Key West and that silly marker is on my 'list' too.
I'm so happy that you were able to make it down there to see Moose (even if it was brief) and did get to most of your activities. I know it's been too long since you dived and I'm glad that you were successful with the spear fishing. 
I hope your successful in getting that replaced.
Sorry about the center stand though. I've never seen that happen before.
