As expected we had rain again today. One nice surprise is that it didn’t rain as much as was expected. It was pretty much a light rain all day and really wasn’t too bad to ride in. When you get to this area of Florida, there aren’t many roads that you have to find your way through either. There is only one main road that goes through the Keys, so I shouldn’t be getting lost anymore. I say that a little hesitantly because I still may and that could be bad.
We had an opportunity this morning of going to an alligator farm that is located right next to the Everglades National Park and is supposed to be much like the park and take an air boat tour, so Selwyn (New Zealand), Bill and I did it. It was quite interesting and I think it gave us a little idea what the Everglades were like. The air boat was very loud when they got the thing going, but we were able to see alligators, turtles, birds and beautiful sights. They did give us ear covers to minimize the noise. It was interesting to go through the grass and reeds of the swamps in that boat. They say that the average depth of the Everglades is six inches of water and that it is actually a river.
The road that we took riding to get to Key Largo went mainly just to the side of Everglades Park. The ride was just as beautiful as the boat ride. It is just pretty to see the wildlife and plants that are in the park. It would have taken a day to get to and tour the park and we just didn’t have that much time. I think a person could spend a few days here and enjoy it.
As I mentioned above, it is raining. There is this blob of a storm right down on the tip of Florida and that is where we are. I think the rain is supposed to continue through tomorrow and then start tapering off. I hope so. We have two more days of riding and then we are done. We only rode 35 miles today and we are at the 99 mile marker. Going down the Keys, the miles are counted down on the mile posts until you get to Key West, which is 0. The addresses down the way are also counting down. We will spend Thursday in Key West and not ride, so we will be able to tour a bit that day.
I had a nice seafood dinner tonight. We went as a group to the restaurant and I had mahi-mahi, shrimp and scallops and a piece of fried key-lime pie for desert. I had to try the fried pie as it was the first time I had heard of it. It was a piece of pie wrapped in a pastry crust and fried. The pie was actually warm when served and I thought was very delicious.
I had my 8th flat today. In fact I actually replaced my back tire. It was worn down to where a different color begins to show, alerting you to the fact that the tire is worn out. I was carrying an extra tire, so it was no problem. I have learned that there are probably better tires that are out there to maybe prevent so many flats. It is hard to say. I am probably just a little low on the luck.
Everglades
Alligators
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