Day 100 – Tuesday 4/23/02 - mileage 73.1 - climbed 0
Key Largo to Miami - 100 DAYS ON THE ROAD
We are excited about our small milestone of 100 days on the road. Myron and I plan to celebrate by going out to a nice dinner. John and I woke up early and packed up. We told Myron we were going to breakfast and to meet us. We finished a leisurely breakfast and still no Myron We went back to the campsite and he had already left with Jeff. John checked his voice mail and Myron had left a message that he and Jeff were cycling into Florida City for breakfast via Hwy 1. We followed and soon were going thru the everglades national park. As getting close to Florida City you can see the take off pattern for the airport. As we cycled near the airport thru the everglades I can picture in my mind the tragic scene of the plane crash. We met Myron and Jeff in Florida City. We had a brief snack and said our farewell to Jeff. Jeff will head west to California and we continue north toward Maine. It wasn't long before we were cycling thru very exclusive areas south of Miami. This is where the very wealthy live. The Kennedy compound, Gloria Esteffan and many others. I really liked Coconut Grove with all the nice shops and coffee houses. I could easily spend my whole years budget on a meal in one of the many fine restaurants in Coconut Grove. We stopped to call Oleta River State Park to see if they still have space for us. They don’t take reservation, so we had to see if they had room. They had room but they close at 7:00 pm. We had to 28 miles more and it was already 5:00. We were in downtown Miami cycling thru rush hour traffic. Riding past all the skyscrapers and in and out of traffic. It was difficult riding, we hated it. We did have a small blessing in that it was only 18 miles as opposed to the 28 miles the ranger told us. I went ahead to be sure we would be there before they closed. By the time we set up camp I was tired and winding down from the traffic. I completely forgot about our plans to go to dinner and celebrate out 100th day.
Day 101 - wed. 4-24-02 - mileage today 48.0 - climbed today 0
Miami to Boca Raton - THE ROSE
We just can’t figure out how the trip can get better, but it does. We started our day cycling A1A along Miami Beach. Miami Beach isn’t quite what I pictured it to be. There were a lot more high-rise hotels and condos then I thought there would be. The high-rises were also rite on the beach. Not across the street from the beach like I pictured it in my mind. We cycled all day thru very upscale areas like Hollywood, Fort Lauderdale, Hillsboro and Boca Raton. Fort Lauderdale had one of the nicest businesses, tourists, beach front areas I've ever seen. Hillsboro had very expensive houses on one side of A1A facing the beach. On the other side of A1A were homes on the inland waterway. Everybody on the inland waterway has a boat tied up to their own dock. Any one of the boats I would love to have. There wasn’t a boat there under 100,000 dollars and several small 150 to 200 foot yachts worth well over 5 million dollars. Upon entering Boca Raton we saw several signs advertising beach front apartments for sale starting at the low 2 million dollars. You read right - 2 million dollars for an apartment. We couldn't wait to get to Boca Raton this is where our friend Mike lives. Mike is a true "CUTTER" and friend. Cutter is a long story, I explain later if someone email and want to know the definition. We got to Mikes house and were welcomed like long lost family. We settled in and went to dinner at DaDa's. If you’re ever in Boca you have to try DaDa's. Afterwards we went to Joyce's home. Joyce as you may recall is Mike’s girlfriend. Joyce had a special treat waiting for us. Yep, you guessed it (Apple Pie)-yummy. We were also treated to a very special treat; and that was, THE ROSE. Tara, Joyce's oldest daughter played The Rose on a grand piano that gave me goose bumps. I love that song, and to hear it played so beautifully sent me to heaven. Tara is an exceptionally gifted young lady with a knockout smile, then we were treated to a poetry reading by Jesica (Jessi). Jessi is Joyce's youngest daughter. Jessi is a very thought provoking inspired writer as well as artist. We saw a vase she created, it could easily sell for several hundred dollars in one of those fancy fufu shops. Joyce you have done a wonderful job in bringing up two beautiful, smart and talented girls. It was getting late and way past my bedtime, after midnight. We said good-bye knowing we were in for a very special dinner tomorrow night.
Day 102 - Thurs. 4-25-02 - mileage today 0 - climbed today 0
THE FEAST
Today is a layover day in Boca Raton with our friend and fellow CUTTER Mike. Mike got up and fixed us breakfast ever though it wasn't his turn for kitchen detail.. Mike is spoiling us by cooking for us, allowing us to use his car and waiting on us. Mike and Joyce have taken hosting to a new level and rewritten the definition. It would have been enough for us just to see them but, they insist on spoiling us. When Mike got off of work he took us snorkeling in the clear warm waters off Boca. It was great to see so many beautiful, colorful, tropical fish. Afterwards we went back to Mikes to clean up for," THE FEAST ". Joyce after a long day of work and with only about 1-1/2 hours of preparation fixed us an incredible meal of BBQ Salmon, spinach stuffed fila dough, tons of broccoli and potatoes. What was for desert? You got it, Joyce's famous Apple Pie. Joyce has a beautiful home, which is set up perfectly for entertaining. We ate dinner on the back patio next to the screened in pool area. We can't thank Mike, Joyce, Tara and Jessica enough for everything they did for us. They are Family.
Day 103 - Friday 4-26-02 - mileage today 50.3 - climbed today 0
Boca Raton to Jupiter Island - Too Tired
We had such a wonderful time visiting Mike and Joyce that we really relaxed. It is amazing how quickly you fall into a very relaxed state, to where you don’t want to anything but sit and sleep. It makes it very hard to get started riding again. I wasn’t feeling like leaving quite yet but we must keep the train rolling. Not long after we started cycling I started to feel better. It is amazing how your body craves exercise. When it is so use to it and you stop completely for a day or two, your body gets sluggish and not feeling well. We had a beautiful ride today thru Del Ray Beach, Palm Beach and Jupiter Beach in Palm Beach we saw young boys playing La Cross at an exclusive privet school. They were on the La Cross field wearing dark blue slacks, light blue long sleeved shirts and dark blue neckties, playing this rough tough sport. It was quite a different world from what I'm used to. I have never seen so much wealth as I have here on the east coast of Florida. Hundreds of miles of very expensive homes to obscenely expensive homes. Well into the tens of millions of dollars. We saw a house today which Myron estimates to be well over 50 million dollars. Most of the private single family homes here look more like resorts then they do homes. We stopped at a Winn Dixie grocery store in the Palm Beach area and one of the bag boys was outside asking me about my bike and where I was going. I was telling him when an older well dresses lady walked up and also asked, what am I doing and why? I began to tell her when she blurted out, "Why don’t you get a job". I tried to explain that I do work but she didn't want to listen to any more I had to say. She turned around shaking her head in disgust mumbling something I can only guess at. I rode ahead of Myron and John to camp. We were only about 17 miles away from camp. I wanted to get in to catch up on the journal. I waited and waited but no sign of them. Finally they showed up about an hour after me. It turns out that they got lost and found themselves riding south on A1A when they should have been riding north. Fortunately John saw a sign indication they were heading south. Myron was wondering why the sun was setting on his right side and not his left.
