Here is a run down of the last half of my trip.

Day 5 – Friday
After an evening of reminiscing and going to the Roaring 20’s where we had pizza and watched/listened to an old Wurlitzer theater organ being played I had a fairly early bed time. Friday morning we hit the highway heading south. We branched off and took the Tamiami trail across the heart of the Everglades. It was a nice two lane route where we saw alligators lounging beside the road.

Traffic was heavy and backed up heading from Homestead to Key Largo and it was slow going. Once we got through Key Largo the road cleared and it was smooth motoring across the series of keys, towns, and bridges. The towns weren’t any too exciting but there were lots of mobile homes and travel trailers. I was surprised by the number of people living on the keys. I have always pictured them as being small and only a handful of people where in reality there are a lot of people there.

Key West is fairly large and includes a section of “regular” town and then the tourist district. We spent a little bit of time in both. We stopped for a burger on Duval Street and met a guy from Grand Rapids and who happened to have a cottage about 10 miles from my hometown. What a small world. He went to Florida three years ago for Daytona Bike week and never left.

We didn’t want to get stuck in traffic heading out of the keys in the morning so we left just after dark and rode north east toward Miami. We rode through downtown Miami at 11:30pm toward Dad’s sister’s place in Ft Lauderdale. Traffic was moderate but moving fast. 

We arrived at Debbie’s around midnight after a series of wrong turns as Dad was talking to her on the phone and she was trying to guide us in. We stayed up and chatted until much too late.

Day 6 – Saturday
We woke early again because Debbie had an early appointment. We packed geared up. I turned the key on my bike and … nothing. Strange, must be a dead battery. Push starting didn’t work so we tried a jump start. Still nothing. Dang it. Must be something else. I checked all the fuses, wiggled connections, and scratched my head. Finally I wiggled once connector and the lights all came on. I figured it must be a fluke and we went on our way. We stopped for fuel and the bike wouldn’t start. This time the connector was melted. Some cobbling and it was fixed good enough to complete the trip.

We went up to Loxahatchee to visit an old tractor pulling friend. He wasn’t home but was up in Okeechobee so we went up there. It was good to see Marty we visited a while and then grabbed lunch at the Golden Corral.

We made our way north toward Daytona Beach via two lane cutting through cattle and citrus country. Did you know there are a lot of cattle in Florida?

We got to Daytona just as it was getting dark and the beach was closed to vehicles. We drove around, got a motel for the night, and had a good dinner at the Bubba Gump Shrimp company, and walked around. We went back to the room and I took a nap while Dad and Aaron went out to the block party and fireworks. My nap ended up turning into a nights sleep. I wasn’t feeling well because I had a killer cold and the sleep was much needed but I did miss ringing in the New Year.

Day 7 – Sunday
We got off to a late start this morning and enjoyed an IHOP breakfast where we got to observe one of the cooks walk off the job. The beach was still closed because it was too soft for vehicle traffic. We rode north along the coast for a while before heading west on two lane. In Lake City we hopped on I-10 and headed back to Dothan.

We got the bikes loaded up just as it was turning dark and started to rain. Aaron headed toward North Carolina and we headed back to Michigan. Just as it started getting light we rolled into Grand Rapids.

2500 miles and 4 states had been covered on the bikes and 2100 miles in truck in exactly one week. I’m tired but I think I’m getting over my cold. It was a good trip. In hindsight our route was too ambitious and didn’t have enough time to stop and see the sights. The short days of the winter really limit the number of miles that can enjoyably be covered. The weather was great with only a few sprinkles on Sunday. We saw everything from the devastation along the Gulf Coast to the hedonism along Bourbon street in New Orleans. We passed through Laurel Hill where the Hobo Festival is held every year as well as the home of speed in Daytona. It was good to spend time with Dad and Aaron. The bikes performed well with minimal problems. I even reached my goal of over 10,000 miles in 2005.

Only 4 more months of PMS: Parked Motorcycle Syndrome.