Oct 20th- I found some keys but no locks

I awoke feeling quite rested for 5 hours. odd how that can happen.
Here's Tim!

unfortunately, my eyes cannot focus whereas the camera can.  Not a great shot. meh.  I know what he looks like :)

Here's Tracie!

At least i could get my eyes open enough to see what i was doing.

Kai!

Sweet little cat.  Tim taught both Roxy and Ruby tricks... as well as Kai.. I love well behaved animals... people need to learn to train their dogs... It's not so much about tricks as it's about making the dog know you are boss.  You don't need to hit an animal.  Tim trained his animals properly and it shows. They want to behave.

I should have taken more pictures, but when memories are being made, you seldom remember to pull out cameras... I had a truly great evening with them... great hosts... great people... hah... a home away from home for a day if you will.  It helps that when you go sit out back, you feel like you're in a cottage / cabin... but you're right in town.  Great established neighbourhood.  very peaceful and i hated that it had to end...

But wait there's more!
We went out for breakfast (can't remember the name) but it was a ma and pa type restaurant... the kind we all like  Both Tim and Tracie like the smaller places... they like good food done right... it shows in their cooking as well.  Food, like an establishment should have character.  A real restaurant always has a specialy of some sort... you may not like it, but they'll have one.I wanted something different today, and the menu inserts for the specials (written in black marker on plain paper) was right on top.  I took the first thing I saw, and it appealed to me quite a bit.  Why waste money on nice menus? i want to eat the food, not what it's written on.

I took this

looks bland and tasteless right? wrong.
loved it. Two properly cooked and seasoned pork chops, two eggs, Grits and rye toast.
I used to make pork chop and eggs once in a while and i had never seen it in a restaurant before... had to have it. I've had grits before, but these were really good.

Just because something may look bland, it may not be.  It was good.

Oh and Tim, i just finished off the pulled pork.... damn that was tasty...

i think my food is taking half the table. hah.

sadly, we had to part ways... Tim and Tracie for work, and myself, to my 2nd point... Key West.
Why Key west? simple.  It's the most southern point in the united states.  I've been to the most northern last year (Deadhorse Alaska) so now it's Key West.

More interstate riding. Interstate riding wears me out fast... since i'm late in the trip,  I am fatigued and i need to watch out for that.  I stopped not far away at a starbucks because... well. you eat that much protein in a day and shit happens.Let's just say i had business to take care of. heh.

At a rest stop

Snake identification chart.  Some can kill you, some can't.
how about this... if i see a snake, i stay away from it.  I won't run away screaming like a little girl, but i think it's prudent to approach ANY animal you don't know with caution.
It's also a reminder that shit in florida CAN KILL YOU.
yet, i'm still more afraid of the old drivers.

me thinking i'm awesome.

actually, i'm looking at these clouds.
not good.

not good at all.
so yes, it rained... a little sprinkle though. I had hoped the sprinkle would cool me off, but alas it was so light it didn't even penetrate my mesh jacket.  All it did was make the air more humid. blah.

i call this pose "touch of grey"

"uhhunh...i like dem gators"  oh wait.. taters... anyways, nice rain clouds.  

I went through alligator alley (I-75) and saw a bunch of vultures on the side of the road waiting for roadkill.  massive massive birds.  That should be the symbol of the USA. Isn't that what Ben Franklin proposed?

I bypassed all the cities and took a smaller highway parallel to it.  This was actually an interesting ride.  It was all grove growers... Palms, exotic plants... etc.. neato.  There were people selling their fruits and vegetables out of the back of trucks, little stands, etc... Some of it looked awesome... no room to pack anything on the bike for fruits though... :(

I was getting hungry again, and decided on going as far as i could tonight.  I knew i might have trouble finding a place to sleep, so when in doubt, load up on food and caffeine.
I saw a few restaurants, and hit this place in a gas station.  didn't look like a chain, looked decent.  The area is filled with many Cubans and Mexicans, so i had hoped I'd get some home style cooking.  maybe not true authentic, but close.

I walked in and it looked way too nice to be in a gas station and i hoped the prices weren't going to break the bank.  I read the top of the menu which has the story on the restaurant.  The original is in Hollywood, and was started way back by Cuban refugees back in the day when 176,000 fled Cuba to the US.
looking at the menu, there was standard fair with a Cuban flair.  was nice.  The prices didn't fit the restaurant.  It was was really nicely set up inside, and the prices were not that expensive at all.

I took something called the trio.  Maybe not Cuban, but i had something similar in Colorado last year which was Mexican.  This tasted different but the same style of food.

The Trio!

Pork chop, Skirt steak and chicken breast.

The Sides!

Rice, Black beans and Fried plantains.

all the meats were tender and juicy... tasted very good.  The rice and beans were really good too, but the plantains were my favorite.  I'd never had them before, not that i remember...
These were crispy and caramelized on the outside, tender but not mushy on the inside.  A little sweet but not too much and flavorful on the inside.  It was truly well done.

I ate as much as i could.  So... family owned and operated restaurant, serving good food and they were Cuban.  The waitresses accent was very thick.  I liked that.  Gave an air of authenticity to the place too.

after packing that down my gullet, i was asked if i wanted a coffee.
Of course!
Out comes this.

A coffee Cubano.
it's an espresso really... I wasn't asked if i wanted cream, and i wasn't about to.  This is how they serve it, this is how you should take it. There's a reason for that!  people make foods the way it's meant to be eaten.  Like Tim's Awesome pulled pork. why kill it with additives?

The coffee was really good, and if you know me, i overdo it on the cream.  because of the sweetness and flavor of the coffee (which wasn't a burned taste like an espresso usually is)
but this was really good. very sweet.

I felt bad not eating it all, or not packing it on the bike, but i had no room :(

I love finding joints like this.  Honest restaurants... besides an egg or a rib steak, i don't want to be asked how it should be cooked.  You're the cook.  you cook it.  i'm just there to eat and enjoy.

Not 10 miles down the road, stores started showing up... until then, it was the farm with an occasional gas station.  Homestead looks... seedy a little...  it was getting a little dark and didn't know if i should risk going to the keys now in the dark, or get a motel room.  There were a lot of cheap places ($39) with wifi... but the bars on the windows really turned me off it.  many chains here, as well as big box stores, etc.  So i kept heading south.

South i went and hit Key Largo.  It was full dark now (around 8pm) and started hunting for a room.  I knew this was going to be EXPENSIVE... so i was looking for something cheap.

I found a little place called the sunset cove beach resort. looked really nice and i didn't know what i was getting myself into.  Oh well.

I talked to the guy for a while (he used to ride but his wife won't let him now) and he gave me a discount.  Still expensive for what it is, but not expensive for where it is. you need to keep that in mind.
I took the cheapest they had and i'm fine with it.
It's a trailer!  two large twin beds, full bath... fridge... what more do you need really?  It might seem hokey to some people, that instead of a regular motel room, i got a trailer which is old and needs work, for the price i got it for, but hey, i was sitting under a Tiki hut on rattan furniture in KEY LARGO.

I did almost step on a little lizard (the size of a newt) and it startled me.  So not used to things like that.
no bugs inside here, but i'm sure there are cockroaches, snakes, bats, spiders and all kinds of critters outside.
While at the Tiki hut, i kept hearing a tree frog. damn thing sounds like a calling bird... not an obnoxious sound though.  so many different things to get used to... like the heat and humidity... hah.
time for bed... 3 am again. tomorrow will be rough

Oct 19th- interstates are an nessisary evil

I keep getting up too late, then not moving along as quick as i should these days.

maybe it's because i was up until 3am trying to get the blog going, and since the wifi sucked, i lost all the 'work' i did.  meh.  I shoulda used notepad like i normally do.... stupid autosave.
I got up at 8am... 5 hours sleep... and did nothing until 9.   guess i should have gone back to bed. meh.

Is it fatigue? exhaustion? Do i just not care any longer?

Don't get me wrong.  I can ride every single day of my life, rain or shine.  I love to explore roads, where they lead, who lives there, and what they eat.  That makes it interesting.
What makes it really dull, are interstates. I understand the need for them today, due to the large size of both the united states and canada... but at least make those roads a little interesting!

Put a giant Gator along I-75!  Put a colossal Crawdad on I-10 in Lousiana! cyclopean cactus in Arizona,  a rich Redneck in Texas!
heh.

Seriously.  Running along the trans-canada or the interstate system can drive you insane.
I was about to take some smaller roads, but because i was busy uploading the 18th's blog and having my morning coffee, i left Tallahassee really late.  I was to meat up with Tampa Tim today... And no, that's not a typo and you'll see why.

I was about to take some secondary highways... but they seemed about as boring as the interstate, and the speed limits were lower.  if i kept this pace up, i'd get to Tampa really late. well... later than i was already going to be.

this was a neat road... but, slow...
I wanted to wind up Beast....

I think the difference between last year's trip and this one are:
day light hours. i had more in june than in october.
i had mini vacations where i did nothing for days on end... my average speed was much higher... some of the route 66 roads, and california really slowed me down.
I was broken down for a week in fairbanks (more or less) and a week in vancouver.  then again, crossing canada was quick as there wasn't much to visit... just scenery, and i didn't have to fight traffic in many cities except for toronto and chicago... this trip, i fought it in many.  Chicago, St Louis, Oklahoma, Alberqueque, las vegas and pretty much the whole coast of california.  holy crap there's a lot of traffic there.

did i mention how awesome splitting lanes are?

Back on I-75, there's not much to take pictures of.... even at the rest stops.. .a wee bit boring.
I did find this at one of them though...

Isn't that romantic? ya, i'm a softy.

Beast had oil, and was running well, so i opened it up as much as i could.  I went so fast i found myself in some country that drives on the opposite side of the road.

IT'S COMING RIGHT AT ME!

ok, maybe it's being towed.  But as you can see, not much on I-75.  Thank god for XM radio.
wish i took all the stations tho... getting bored with what i have already.

riding fast on the KLR wears me out... as soon as i'm faster than 70... i get tired quick..  i tried to keep a pace of 78-85mph.

man this beard is itchy... it's fur now... very soft to the touch, but the full face makes it itchy as hell.

nothing else to take pictures of... so here's one of me again.
whoopie.


I did manage to get to Tampa without incident... except Florida drivers suck... Why must they all stay in the passing lane when people are passing them on the right? how retarded? do they not get the hint that they are blocking the passing lane?  morons.
Arizona drivers do that too.
fucking old people...
"i'm going to stay in this lane so that i don't have to move out of it until my exit! it's safer that way"?
really dumbass? traffic has a flow, and you're a rock in the stream. MOVE.

Tim came to pick me up and we rode back to his place.

The roads around Tampa are great? all the trees overhanging the roads... love it!

Tim and I got along great right from the start.  How can you not... he's an awesome guy.!
I met his wife Tracie as well.  Very welcoming people.  I was offered a shower and greedily took it.  Man it feels good to be clean after a ride... even though i had showered 6-7 hours before.  unreal.

I met their pets ... Roxy, Ruby and Kai.
Roxy is a 'mutt'... sweet dog though, albeit a bit neurotic.  She's soft as can be and always wants attention. Ruby can be a little bitch. Wiener dogs have such attitudes! hah.. she was a sweetie though.... just not trusting at first..  Their cat Kai, was cute.  I miss having a pet... but i don't miss having to take care of one.  I wouldn't want to not give a pet the attention they deserve.

Tim had some pulled pork and some smoked beans.  They call it barbecue, but like most of us, we think BBQ and we think BBQ sauce.  The pulled pork was 'au naturelle'. The baked beans, unlike anything i'd had before.  The Pork was juicy, and had pure pork flavors, with such subtle tastes... it was ...

Wow.  Seriously, wow.
I love food that is done right... i like it even better when it's a "one of"...  truly some special food there.

washed all the food down with some of Tim's home made brew... this is a micro brew, not the crap you boil from a can.  Very very nice beer.  I'm not big beer drinker, solely for the fact that many many many beers suck.  That beer was good...

The rest of the evening was very enjoyable and relaxing... i love to just shoot the shit, drink and smoke and just relax.  I learned a lot about the flora and fauna, the history of florida/tampa... it was great.

I will say, everytime an Acorn would fall from the tree and hit the roof, it freaked me out.
I knew there were some animals that can kill you in florida, but i didn't know about many things...

crocs, gators, snakes, spiders and bugs.
a lot of crap can kill you out there.  Is this why all the old people go there:? srsly?

What a different world completely to live in florida compared to home.  Yes, we have snow. they have hurricanes.
We have deer and moose and beavers.
They have shit that will eat you, sting you, bite you, poison you and pretty much scare the crap out of you.

no wonder we put up with snow.
After doing nothing all night we crashed... 3 am.  holy crap.

Oct 18th - Tallahassee or bust

I slept like crap.  I think i'm just too out of shape or i was spoiled by recent hotels. meh.  Maybe my body is really starting to feel the affects of riding.  Maybe i need a massage... most likely i need a chiropractor.


WASSAT!

nothing it seems... taken from inside the tent looking out.  since i got up really early, i took my time this morning, i knew i had a ton of time to make today's destination before nightfall... Tallahassee.


I couldn't pee in the swamp as they don't want you to put greywater on the ground, so off to the washrooms i went.  I saw this on my way there and laughed.

Funny isn't it? maybe you can't make it out fully.

That's a woman.  On the left is a Great Dane, and in the Middle, a Chihuahua.  Made me laugh.


There are only 4 words that come to mind when i see this

PUSH BUTTON | RECEIVE BACON

The sun was coming out nicely, and since i had taken a ride around the campground the night before, i knew there would be some nice photo-ops to be had.  I was also looking for wildlife... haven't seen much on this trip, then again, i've stuck to the roads, and the most of what i saw were dead... I did see an armadillo dead too.  first one of those :)

Off for a walk i went.  I know, big shock... Al goes for a walk

i like these trees.

my favorite of the series... top of the trip i think.  I like it.

It was quite surreal, the trees, the still water, the lighting, the slight fog...

There were these fish (i think they were fish) splashing about at the surface of the water.
Since i saw an old movie when i was young (Piranha) I wasn't about to test the waters.  Never know what's in there.

I finally saw some wildlife, most probably what was making a rukus and creeping me out the night before.  Right when i was about to take a shot, it runs away!

Stupid squirrels.  heh.  As much as i like the tree rats, that's all i saw for wildlife near a swamp.  Meh.
My set up before the tear down.  Right behind my site is the swamp.

welcome to the swamp.  I wonder if they like to eat fat canadians.

I had to take my greybeard picture of the day.  It's filling out quite well.  I should be looking like Captain Caveman in no time.

I packed up and headed to starbucks for Wifi. well, ,coffee to (which i where i am now, well not really, about 425 miles west of it)
I updated the blog and looked at the time. CRAP.  I wasn't going to make Tallahassee before sundown.  I really need to get my ass in gear for this trip or else i won't have time to do anything... I'll have to take a direct line home.
I had decided on taking the causeway that goes directly across from where i was to New Orleans.  It's a toll way, but for $3 it's worth it.

it's so long, you don't see the other end

this thing is about 24 miles long.  and straight.  Good thing is that the speed limit is 65 the whole way through, the bad thing is that if you speed, there are many... and i mean many cops waiting for you.  I kept my speed at 70.

not sure which of the 2 above i like better...

New Orleans! or... Nawlins! whichever you prefer.

Bourbon street at canal. neato

OK, WHAT THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE IN FLORIDA! MUST YOU ALL BATH IN PERFUME? FUCK! YOU STINK.


anyways...


I rode down bourbon street, looking for a place to park and maybe get some 'local' cuisine.  Well, there wasn't anyplace to park right in front of somewhere and there wasn't any way i'd leave Beast by himself here.  It's my ticket home, it's all my belongings in the world.. etc.  Would you leave your wallet at a curb a few blocks away hoping someone wouldn't screw with it?


Riding down, i spotted a place called "Arnaud's".  I must come back just for that alone! hah. I wonder if they'd let me drink for free due to my last name. doubtful.  Does that mean i have Cajun/Acadian roots?  dunno.


New Orleans is one of those cities i must come back to visit.  The others being Las Vegas, Los Angeles, San Francisco and San Diego. apart from that, cities sucked. OK, i'd go to Green Bay again... felt like home somehow... very comfortable.


On the way out of town i kept my eyes open for a local place to eat. I found this place.

Sammy's Food Service & Deli

It was filled with locals.  It took me a few minutes to decide on what to order.  Meanwhile i was being stared at by locals, black and white equally.  Never seen a spaceman before?

THE CLAW!!!

So i ordered this.  A soft shelled crab poboy sandwhich.  It seemed local enough and it was on as one of their daily specials.  

Fries are hand cut, the bread fresh... it was really good!!  I don't like fish, but i do enjoy seafood.  This was pretty good.  I'm still not a huge fan of the innards of the crab, but i did my best to finish it.


As i was leaving, 5 cops came in.  If the local cops come here to eat, you know the food is good.  always a good sign.


Belly filled, i headed east.


First Emma come, den i come, next, two asses, den i come again...

It's from an old joke of an Italian guy trying to explain how to spell a certain state...

Mississippi! (revisited)

Lunar lander!

The reason there's a lunar lander is that there are NASA tours (free) that shuttles from here.  Seems it's the largest rocket test facility in the USA.

I got some maps and info and left.  I got through Alabama, and noticed something different right away.  State troopers.  many of them.  twice i saw 3 troopers have a guy in cuffs on the side of the road.  holy.

I wanted to see what Mobile was all about and when through downtown.  Actually, i was looking for coffee, but it's a good enough excuse.  Downtown was dead.  no cars, no people.  creepy, so i kept going and i accidentally took this tunnel.  All i could think about was a bad Sylvester Stallone movie called daybreak. heh.

Luckily for me, it took me right back to I-10 east, so not much time wasted.

Gusty as hell, and there are quite a few of these bridges/causeways.  couldn't take many pictures.

Got to the Visitor information center in Florida.  Got some info and noticed that the vending machines here are a bit different.

The visitor centers all had these in Florida. Odd.

ICE CREAM!

How cool is that?  Never seen one before and they are a great idea!  I took the bubblegum Popsicle to cool me off as it was quite warm in the sun.

It's a dumb picture, but it shows more bridges and it shows my really tall shadow.  That means one thing only. Dark is fast approaching.  crap.  This is going to be fun.  I actually like to ride at night, just not on the interstate.

As you can tell, it's not fully dark yet, only dusk.  If i took a picture you wouldn't be able to make it out. Keep in mind my visor isn't clear either and it's dark.  Want to know what i see?  it's pretty much like the below.

This is the Atari 2600 version of Night Driver.  I played it quite a bit in the day.  The only difference between Night Driver and my Night Rider is that I only have 1 life, and no one keeps score.  otherwise, it's pretty identical.  Good thing i rocked that game.

as the sun went down, so did the temperatures.  I was freezing.  I should have put the liners in, but i packed them up in the duffel and didn't want to risk debalancing the bike.
To note:
I inflated the tires to 32-36 instead of what it should be (21-27?)   There is still a front end wobble, but it's quite stable now, unless i go 85mph, or when i'm passing big trucks.  Those rigs displace a lot of air and the KLR, loaded as it is, is a giant sail.

I stopped at every 2nd rest stop as i was cold, and to relax. I was going to be late anyways, why keep up an insane 80mph race in the dark?  It also helps that at one point while passing a string of cars, I passed a deer not 4 feet away from me eating grass on the shoulder.  Maybe i shouldn't pass cars so wide... meh. I lived. heh.

I picked up this energy drink earlier that day because i knew i'd need it.  it's like all the others. Tastes like crap.

Beast in the moonlight.

I finally hit Tallahassee at 8:30pm... wait 9:30! crap. Forgot the timezone change. Oh well, at least i don't have to change timezones anymore as i'm staying in this one.

I got myself a coffee to warm up and then a room at a cheap econolodge.  Yay for wifi at the motel.

There's not many ma and pa places nearby so i hit up an IHOP for a second meal that day.
As i walked in, some young woman asked me if i came off the interstate because of my suit.  hah.  I told her i was on the interstate earlier and i've had the suit on for 8700 miles. heh.  she seemed shocked.

The food was actually not bad.  tasted better than i had hoped. Sirloin tips, eggs, has browns and pancakes.

didn't know what kind of sauce/syrup it was, but it was the odd one out, out of the 3 to choose from.  Was pretty good.  rule of thumb.  always go for the most different and never tried before foods.  how else will you ever know what it tastes like and if you'd like it?

Got back to the room and wrestled with the Wifi for 3 hours trying to use and update the blog in vain.  I lost it all, hence why i'm at a starbucks now.
10 am.  crap.  it'll probably take me about 6 hours to get to Tampa the way i ride :(

Sorry Tim, i'll only be able to get there at about 4-5pm.