You might ask “Where the hell have you been?”
My answer would be, lots of places.
The Tampa Bay Bridge- I rode this one twice thanks to a wrong turn. Didn't really mind. |
First let me apologize for not posting during the week of the
trip. I had these grand plans to post at
least once a day with pictures. I would
also do videos and picture albums. And
then I found myself on the trip of a lifetime and I just couldn’t look away.
Still, I should not have just dropped off the face of the
earth during the very week of the trip.
I WILL do a day by day rundown. I
WILL talk about the things I’ve seen.
There are lots of pictures, some with stories and some that don’t need
them.
First a quick status update.
I am currently sitting the Animal Kingdom Lodge (Disney World) with my
family. Three days ago, my son and I rode the last 90 miles of the ride
together. We went from Key Largo to Key
West. The trip was a pretty grueling 3
hours. Stop and go riding in the blazing
Florida sunshine. I full gear and a
helmet, that kid did every mile and didn’t bitch (or even ask to stop) one
time. We spent last night in Key
West. It does not replace Galveston as
my favorite coastal town (you understand, first loves and all) but it was the
kind of place that I could become very comfortable. More on that in a later post.
Now for some stats:
- 8 consecutive day of over 8 hours of riding each day
- 2 days of 13+ hours-a-day riding
- 4 nights camping in state parks with 3 of the nights back to back
- Over 2300 miles travelled
- I would estimate that I travelled at least 80% of the coastal roads on the US Gulf Coast.
- I only lost one item (my good flashlight)
- No fish caught (to many of you, this will not be a surprise at all)
- One blog post
- Countless phone problems
- 0 accidents
- 0 injuries
- 23384 bites from various species of carnivorous insects (chiggers are a tool of the dark one himself)
- Dozens of pictures
- Dozens of blog ideas
- 1 changed individual
On day 3, my mom asked, “Was it everything you thought it
would be?”.
I quickly answered “Yes” but I couldn’t stop thinking about
the question. I wonder if she knew what she was asking. It was all of the good things I thought it
would be but it demanded more of me than I had even dreamed it would. In fact, had I known the hours involved and
the sheer intensity of every moment, I might not have taken the trip. I would have considered it untenable with my
current lifestyle. It would have been
the biggest mistake of my life.
The real answer to my Mom’s question should have been “Yes,
and it was so much more than I had planned.”
I cannot wait to hear more!!
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