April 19th Mi 1067 to 1367, 300 miles
We flew through the Keys enjoying the breeze and entered heavy heat of inland Florida passing through agriculture farm land. You could smell the green and the moisture when they were actively watering. We stopped for gas, caffeine and water and sat and visited with a local biker with a Hollister California shirt on. He said he moved here from Boston and happily never went back to the snow. The picnic table in the shade appeared to be his regular hangout.
We took the scenic route again, HWY 41 West. Then an even more scenic back road called Loop Rd through the Big Cypres National Preserve. There were old homes lining the road in the everglades with water channels along both sides of the road.
Soon the road turned to dirt and we crawled along at 20 mph looking for alligators…and we found them!
I stopped counting in the mid 20s!
We pulled along side a napping alligator longer than us on the motorcycle and it turned it’s head locked it’s eyes on us and we quickly moved on.
Large leather back turtles terrified of being seen scrambled comically desperate from their sunning spots into the murky water and disappearing. We also startled white and grey herons and they spread their wings gracefully among the trees and brush and easily disappeared over the horizon.
We made it to Naples on the Gulf of Mexico and drove through a posh downtown area that felt like SoCal.
We headed straight for the coast line to cool off but found only fancy homes…so we settled for a 7-11 where I proceed to drink a liter of water and didn’t even need to pee!
We made it to Fort Myers Beach in time for a sunset dinner.
Feeling tired and grouchy and everything seems too loud, I’m missing the quiet of nature. The fries were gluten free so I indulged with my chicken salad. I think I’m needing to replace some salt and electrolytes!
And hopefully I’ll sleep better tonight!