Strange Sights

While biking in South Carolina, not sure if it's the 90 degree-plus temperatures with high humidity, but there have been a couple of sights that struck me as a little strange.

 

 

A fireworks gas station

 

A peacock begging for treats at a minimart in the middle of nowhere....

A PVC pipe mailbox man.  Kinda cool...

A guy having a picnic with his wife in a Piggly Wiggly parking lot on Memorial Day

 



Not sure why this place would be closed Saturday.

Van Guy gets Disgruntled

So...Peter is grumpy when it's 90 degrees and 80% humidity and the van air conditioning is blowing hot.  Found that out Friday when we scrambled into Savannah and had the Toyota dealer recharge the a/c.

Unfortunately, today after we walked around an old plantation and then I got started at 9:30 in the morning, the a/c was blowing hot again.  Sunday morning of Memorial weekend.  No fun.


Not like the fun I had!

I rode and found out that baby armadillos are not afraid of people!  I was riding along and saw little footballs in the grass sort of walking around by themselves.  It was baby armadillos!  I stopped and took pictures and they walked right up and started sniffing the bike!

After I got some great pics and they still weren't spooked by me, I decided to see what they feel like.  They absolutely did not care that I touched them.  I think they're a little disconnected.  Oh, and they feel like vinyl upholstery.

 

It was the best!

Through Georgia Already

Today I crossed into South Carolina!

The road turned cruddy instantly.  Potholes and broken asphalt for 60 miles so far...

There has been swamp on both sides of the road most of the day.  I saw a sign for the Church of Deliverance, which was coincidental, because it felt like I was on the set where Deliverance was filmed.

This is the first place there was no cell signal.  Peter started leap-frogging with the van just ten miles at a time because he knew he wouldn't be able to find me if I got lost.  He's good at being the Van Guy.

I saw six snakes on the road today and they were all different types.  I didn't ask questions.

Georgia 75

Got up early after having most of the previous day off and rode 75 miles into Georgia!


Riding on highway 17 which is an historic route littered with museums, markers, little cemeteries and ruins of plantations.  It goes through a forest of live oaks and pines covered with Spanish moss.

So far,  drivers are friendly and there are signs for bicycle route and safety reminders.

Also, lots of dead armadillos and huge vultures busy on cleanup.

I saw a huge animal carcass a few days ago-  over 5 ft long, coarse black fur and long bones.  But I didn't see the head.  It was definitely bigger than a German shepherd.  So that was alarming.

Then yesterday I saw another one!  So I promptly went to the next McDonald's.  Using Wi-Fi, I looked up Georgia wildlife possibilities.  There was really only one possibility - a wild boar.  They're huge and rampant evidently.  So then I left McDonald's and got back to riding.

Rainy Day in Florida

I rode yesterday from St. Augustine to Amelia Island, which included taking a ferry over St. Johns River.  It cost a dollar.  They see a lot of cyclists, so no one was much interested.  But it was exciting for me!

Peter drove us back at the end of the day to Mayport Naval Station, where we stayed at their very nice Navy Inn on base.  We took a walk on the beach from the back door of our room.  Later that evening, a little girl with a flashlight knocked on the back door and was chattering away, showing Peter something she found on the beach, not realizing she had the wrong room until her mother came to get her.  I thought it was a bad guy, so I jumped behind the bed.  It was all very exciting.

Today, I put on my rain gear and started out from where I left off at Amelia Island.  It was raining harder and harder, but I stuck with it.  Several motorists showed their support by sneaking up behind me and giving a long, friendly blast or two on the horn while waving with just one finger, as if to say, "Now, don't you worry, little bicycle, we're all watching out for your safety in this rain!"  I always wave back and smile.

Finally, Peter said No More!  and took me to a motel with a Jacuzzi.  Which was good.

From the Bike Lane

Hard Day in the Sun and Rain

I rode hard Sunday sweating in the sun before and after lunch at the National Cemetery at Cape Canaveral (it was there and so were we when it happened to be lunchtime).  

Then suddenly it was raining.  And then it was raining hard!  But, I put the rain cover over the phone and my little pack of stuff and kept going.

Started seeing dead armadillos on the road.  Time to start the roadkill log.

Today (Monday) we went sightseeing in St Augustine.  We saw the Pirate Museum, which I highly recommend.  It was a great collection, well-researched, and artfully presented.  It was fun!  We looked around the first town established in the country and toured the fort that was built in 1756.  So that was old.

 

Then we went swimming and rested and at 4:00 I rode for awhile while Peter secretly made plans to take me out to dinner.

I got caught in a rainstorm.  But I still got taken to dinner at an inn in the old city.  So that was good.

No more iquanas

At 400 miles and I guess I've seen the last of my iguana friends.  Now it's tortoises!

Yesterday in Melbourne Shores I came upon a situation where traffic was stopped in both directions.  Everyone was waiting for a tortoise scrambling across the road.  It had to get to the other side.  Then I saw some wandering around on a golf course.  I didn't even know they played.

We are going to Kennedy Space Center today.  After sleeping in the van for three nights, we are camping at Patrick AFB tonight.

I hope to take advantage of the Wifi to post a bunch of photos!

Having fun, the sun is hot and we both hate mosquitoes.
We are talking HATE.

Riding past beautiful beaches

We are bedded down in the back of the van with all of our foam pads and pillows, in a Bass Pro Shop parking lot in Ft. Pierce.  Good news - it's Sauna Day.  It's about 90% humidity and it keeps raining off and on,  so we can't leave the windows down for very long.  It's good for my skin.

I rode to St Lucie today.  So far it's 320 miles since Key West.  We have seen some Von Trapp family houses and some Kardashian houses and also a few Sanford and Son places.

There are some fancy yachts and lots of canals and harbors and islands connected by draw bridges.

The cycling maps haven't been quit right in detailing some of the turns in the downtown areas,  so that has made for some spirited discussion with the support personnel.   (But I was right.)

Also, I fell off the bike in downtown Miami trying to squeeze between a big van and the curb at a red light.  Luckily, Peter likes his gals with scabs an their knees.

So, it's still hot and I'm using a lot of sunscreen.  We try to sleep at Flying J truck stops because they have really nice showers and we sleep in the van.  But we're pretty tired so it doesn't matter much!

Seeing lots of beautiful beaches and lots of iguanas still!

And Florida is big.

Missing the Keys

We stayed at Homestead AFB last night and I headed for Miami Beach this morning.
It rained and I got lost in the big city...

But it was Mother's Day and I saw this mother:

And then I saw this:

For part of the day I was on a bike path that had a crocodile warning.   I thought the trail should be called "Meals on Wheels".

Start and Stop

 Key West Starting Point!

So, here I am on Day 1 - May 10

We toured the Hemingway House after having coffee and Key Lime Pie at the Six-Toed Cat Café.
It was lovely.

Then I lathered up with sunscreen, zeroed out my odometer and....we had to get in line at the monument for this photo.  I guess it was a good thing we were there early, it was 10 people deep to take a picture!

I rode to the lunch point at Sugarloaf Key, and the sun was blazing!  Peter found that a ship he had contact with during his service is anchored in Key West, so he went to tour it while I rode. 
It was a stunning ride on Highway 1.

Every patch of grass along the road is littered with iguanas sunning themselves.  When I tried to take their picture, they would stand up and waggle away at top speed.  Then I read at lunch that they are not native, but were introduced here when they stowed away on fruit ships and many were released into the wild by pet owners.  So...you buy a cute little lizard and when it gets three feet long you realize that you weren't planning on opening a zoo, so you let it go on the side of the road?

Anyway, it's quite odd the first time you see one stand up and run away from you!  They definitely do not want their picture taken.


Then, as I came to one of the dozens of bridges I crossed, I leaned over the railing and saw this from my bike:

So, I saw a manta ray from my bike.

We decided that riding in the hot heat was rough and Peter cut me off at 35 miles for the first day.  I need to start early, take a break in the afternoon, and ride again at about four. 
We went to the beach and waded into the warm water, took a shower and made spaghetti.  It was so beautiful!

We spent the night in the parking lot of Kmart in Marathon.  But Peter was having so much neck trouble that we decided he needed to see a doctor.  We drove to Miami yesterday and got some pain meds for him.  It was both an odyssey and ordeal.
But, we spent the night at Homestead Naval Air Base Inn, and it was fab. I worked out at the gym.  Military benefits are the best.

Peter is doing much better.  We are heading back to where I left off riding the first day, at Bahia Honda.  More adventure to follow....

Almost at the Starting Point

Sunday we stopped in Baton Rouge and walked around the old capital building, which Peter explained is Gothic Revival style.  Then he took me aboard the USS Kidd destroyer anchored there, to demonstrate its functional appointments and name millimeter sizes of each armament.  Without using the walking guide brochure.

Then of course, we wandered down Bourbon Street in 'Nawlins, gawking at drunken debauchery and ate creamed crawdad on dirty rice.

Yesterday we crossed Mississippi and Alabama.

Took a little time in Mobile to tour an historic home with an exuberant coed clearly addicted to 5-hour Energy shots.  It sounded like a turkey gobble played at fast speed interrupted every 10 minutes with "any questions?"

I entertain us during the driving by reading historic highlights of cities we pass through.  Haven't seen any mountains for 3 days...

We plan to see the Hemingway House tomorrow and then...and then....and then I RIDE!

Day 6 of Road Life

We're in Louisiana-  first time for either of us.  I am covered with mosquito bites.

We left Peter's brother-in-law Francisco at his beautiful home in Brownsville yesterday and stopped in Houston last night to see "Peter and the Starcatcher" at the Stageworks community theater.  It was great!

We've been staying in the van at Flying J stops at night, lulled to sleep by the romantic sound of idling semi's.

 Peter frustrated while paying for parking at the Alamo.

 

Peter and his brother Francisco 

Onward to New Orleans. 

And driving...

Tuesday night in Scottsdale.  Dinner with Peter's sisters Cynthia and Priscilla and family.
 
I rode for an hour to work out.  It was kind of hot!  Saw little tiny quail chicks frantically racing and tripping across the road with their adult supervision.  Also lots of cottontails at attention.

And spotted the home of one of the neighbors.

On to Texas!

We're driving!

We left Placerville yesterday after getting the cats settled at Grandma and Grandpa's.

Got new bike gloves and said good-bye at Placerville Bike Shop and Andrew.

Got out and rode down Kingbury Grade as we left Tahoe.  It was great!