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....