Today, the first thing I do when I get up is put sunscreen on the zebra stripe I now have across my arms.  I know today’s going to be another very hot day!

We hit the road from Gainesville, Florida on the day we’ve been planning and thinking about for 2 years now.  We are going to ride across the Keys ending up at Key West!  Terron chooses the Florida Turnpike to get us there.  These people drive fast!  And right off the bat, I get a huge bug splat on my face mask!  We go with the flow, sweltering every mile in our riding apparel.  Our custom fitted suits (Mark Vanderwall says we look like Power Rangers and Terron just calls them Monkey Suits) are designed for safety for sure, but my pants are HOT!  I chose this fabric, versus Terron’s mesh fabric, because more times than not, I’m cold, especially crossing mountain passes. We utilize the turnpike’s convenient service centers for gas and ice cold water.  Terron kept going back in and asking for another cup of free ice to fill his water bladder in his tank bag.  He got me a big cup of ice for my water badder too.  Drinking that ice cold water in the 100 degree heat was so refreshing.

The first toll we pay is $4.50 per bike.  Then not another toll for miles and miles.  This next one is $14.50 per bike.  Terron is so flabbergasted by this amount, he asked the attendant THREE times, “That’s per motorcycle?”.  Now we are finally south of Miami; getting closer!  We stop again to pay a toll, $1.80 per bike.  The next toll says, “billed by plate” so I have no idea how much that one will be.  We hit a few tolls like that so we’ll find out when the bill comes in the mail!  One more toll, I think was less than a dollar and the final toll is another $1.40.  I’m thinking this turnpike is expensive, but then I do the math and it turns out we paid 22 cents per mile, per bike.  At $55 for tolls, we spent less for gas to ride across Florida.

Okay, so where are these Keys?

Just as we get past Homestead, the temperature reading on my bike says 100 degrees, as it has for the past few hours, but I see dark clouds ahead.  Yes!  A rain shower!  Sure enough, we ride into it and the temperature drops from 100 to 70 degrees in 90 seconds!  Ahhh relief!

On the other side of the rain, however, it is bumper to bumper traffic.  Apparently this Key West place is rather popular!  I know Florida’s a long state.  I can see that on the map, but it’s really, really, really, really long, when you’re just so eager to get somewhere!  Two and a half hours later, and I will admit the longest 2.5 hours I’ve experienced this entire trip, we are finally here!

It’s just about sunset and it’s just beautiful.  Our hotel is on the quiet side of the Key, right across from the beach on the south end.  The air is warm, but not uncomfortable.  After we get into our room, we ditch all of our riding gear and head out on Terron’s bike to explore.

While we’re cruising along a small street, a guy races up on a motorcycle next to us and yells out, “I’m from Lynnwood, Washington!”  We chuckle at his blurted out statement and yell back that we just rode all the way from Seattle!  He says, “WOW!  That’s cool!  I was born in Redmond but I grew up in Lynnwood! Have fun!” And then he races off.

We then stop in a little liquor store the hotel clerk told us about to pick up a beverage for later, and while paying, I ask the clerk where he would go eat dinner.  He says, without hesitation, “Hogfish Bar and Grill on Stock Island.”  I said, “Great, which direction?”  That’s when he says, “It’s not easy to find.  Just get yourself across to Stock Island and then ask someone how to get there.  It’s in Safe Harbor.”  I think this man is not a friend of technology.  All we do is look up the Hogfish on our smart phones.  Terron goes to Google Maps and I go the bar’s website, which includes an animated map on how to get there.  Yes, I can see that there are a number of turns, but we will find it!  And we do!  As we park, the band on stage is belting out the Blues!  We are shown to a picnic table out on the dock next to a marina and we feast on lobster, crab and artichoke dip, conch fritters, grilled Hogfish (which is a snapper) and the grilled sampler of Hogfish, scallops, lobster and squid!  Terron makes his usual, after dinner declaration, “I’m fat and happy!”