2/9/2015
The Florida Keys reminded me a lot of my native Taiwan. The scent of wild nature growing next to sea water fed me energy. Island culture has always had a laid back feel. Businesses seemed to open late and long haired island dwellers rode their bikes. Of course plenty of majestic houses had been erected close to the road. Yet, they seemed a bit out of reach as they were concealed with coconut trees and other greenery. Every now and then I passed stands filled with coconuts for sale. They only wanted $0.25-0.50. I don’t think the owners of the electrolyte filled nuts even cared if money was left behind.
The highlight of day 161 came when I got word that Crystal had secured a lunch donation from Marker 88. I ran right into the beachside location. The staff was casual and friendly. The beach setting was made even more romantic with swaying tables and a person singing to the guests. My mom enjoyed her Mahi while Crystal and I had pasta. The best part of the meal of course was dessert. I’ve had to privilege to try many different sweets on this trip. Everything has been a specialty of the area. On this day I had the world famous key lime pie. The lime custard was not tart like the limes on the mainland. The citrus flavor meshed perfectly with the merengue top and gram crust. I didn’t even want to leave after eating but we had to find a spot to put our heads.
That night we had gotten the ok to park our trailer beside a beach restaurant. This was a fantastic feat since finding parking in the Keys was almost as difficult as running through the little islands. Midnight rolled around and a couple of guys had a tractor and truck in full operation. They were shoveling piles of rock into the truck. Why were they working at such an odd hour? Crystal had been told the construction workers would arrive at 9am. It was pretty far from 9am. We packed up and drove backwards a mile. We parked next to an art colony with a huge empty lot. We figured we could catch a few winks of sleep before getting back on the road. A few winks was about all we received. At 3am the police startled us out of our second sleep. We were informed of the city ordinance that didn’t allow people to camp out by the road. At that point everyone’s bloodshot eyes were wide open. Although we were in paradise the sleep deprivation was equal to torture. We made our way forward and discovered the previous construction had halted. With very few possibilities, we rolled the dice and parked in our first spot.
My crusty eyes and aching body accentuated my foul mood. There were two things I needed to keep myself pushing forward; food and sleep. All other luxuries I could forgo. I hit the road early but had very little enthusiasm. Of course once I got into a rhythm my body remembered its mission. When I spotted an emerald green iguana on the road, my eyes widened. The sight of the exotic creature woke me from my sluggish state. It powered me across several bridges filled with birds and anglers. The temperature scorched throughout the day but every time I crossed a bridge chills ran through my body. Sea breezes against sweaty shirts were a cold combination. The chills disappeared when I spotted a school of dolphins. I didn’t know there was a dolphin research center right there in Marathon. The smooth creatures jumped and played while boats maneuvered in the water. Right after that final bridge I ran into Marathon and the search for shelter was on once again. Ihop prevailed as our savior after we were run off the Kmart parking lot by the local law enforcement. He had suggested a quiet spot across the seven mile bridge but it was a bit far for our taste. Luckily we had completed stage one. Everything past this point in the keys was bonus.
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