Day 10: Knights Key to Islamorada: A People Day

February 12, 2015

We made good on our "fuel saving" plan and rolled over to the IHOP rather than cook breakfast. For anyone reading this from another planet, or Europe, "IHOP" is the International House of Pancakes. We have found their breakfast and even dinner offerings to be very good. They have a "seniors" section on their menu, and also one for kids. This is where they list selections for those deemed too old, young, or otherwise feeble to eat a proper American meal. So for us at breakfast this means a 2x2x2, which is two pancakes, two eggs, and two strips of bacon. A normal meal is a 4x3x4 - where only the eggs escape being doubled. The cost for a 2x2x2 is $6.59 -quite reasonable, however they have a trick: coffee is $2.50. Admittedly you do get a 3 cup pitcher of it, and I too have a trick - a thermos.

My virtuous feeling about the 2x2x2 (already more than I would take at home) evaporated surprisingly quickly, as I was hungry again within an hour. The fact is, cycling is just not the same as being at home, and doubling your caloric intake might just be necessary. You would not lose weight with that, but you have a better chance of not being beat during the day.

Cruising along then, on half rations or otherwise, we encountered some "crazy" people waving and calling to us from a side street. We waved politely for a second, but then realized that this was Michel and Gaetane. They had left Leo's and were relocating to Marathon on a general trek towards the north and west. When they saw us on the road, they pulled off ahead, parked, and came to flag us down.

So although we had only parted two days ago, we had a joyful reunion. There was a practical benefit of this meeting too. We had tried to set up the pair with a Crazyguy registration, and had found it surprisingly difficult. We thought we had successfully jumped the hurdles of choosing an appropriate logon id and strong enough password, but there is a further one, of responding to a welcome email. Michel had seen this, suspected Spam, and deleted it. That is a big no no. Hence the long roadside conference.

While the conference was ongoing, an athletic looking but elderly man came along and politely waited for a chance to speak to us. This turned out to be Bob, who lives nearby. Seeing our strange bikes, it had occurred to him that we might be interested in acquiring his Trail A Bike like tandem attachment. Bob is 85 and got this to encourage his wife, 80, to go cycling. She apparently was not impressed, so Bob will now let it go, for $40. If anyone is interested, let us know on the Guestbook and we will put you in touch.

There is more to the story of Bob, though. We had all gone over to his place, and somehow the subject changed from bikes to politics. He revealed that he was of German extraction, and that he had faced considerable hostility for that as a child. The effect of this on him was to resolve to only treat all others with love and respect. This certainly resonated with the four of us, and we were glad we had made the acquaintance of this lovely man. Moreover, the Grampies - lone travellers - now had not two but three friends in the Keys.

The Trail a Bike clone (best for kids), available for $40 (shipping would be an issue, though).

The discussion broadened to Life, the Universe, and Everything

The theme of meeting people continued on this day. All the rest were cyclists. First we ran into four people headed for Key West and then around to Tampa. We talked about the relative merits of camping, motelling, and guided touring. As we chatted, a couple came up on a tandem.They have moved down here, and routinely ride up and down this highway. They supplied lots of tips about the road ahead, for they have memorized every bit of it. Soon we encountered another couple on a tandem. This pair were from Lithuania, but have moved to Chicago. They too were riding up and down the highway. Soon they will head to the Everglades, and maybe we will see them there.

Our second tandem riders of the day - the transplanted Lithuanians.

The encounter that perhaps stands out the most was with the "Joycycling Chicks", Maureen and Angie, and on this trip, Angie's Dad. The pair live in Colorado, but have cycled extensively in Europe. On this trip, their ultimate objective is Maine. Though not on Crazyguy, they have an impressive blog that we are eager to check out in some detail. You can see it HERE . Maureen was having trouble with her knees, so Dodie could recommend her newly discovered knee supports, and of course we discussed routes through France, and all that kind of good stuff.

With all these encounters it's a wonder we found time to actually cycle to our destination, the same motel and same room that we had on Islamorada on Day 5. There we hosted one last person - Wendy - the owner of that iPhone I had found coming in to Key West. We had used it to contact her Dad, and to set up a rendez-vous here. We learned she had lost the phone while on a motorcycle, that maybe it had dropped from her back pocket. Anyway we were glad to have been able to get it back to her, and asked her to do a favour for someone else sometime, to even the account.

Our plan is for an early bedtime and early start tomorrow. We are hoping to arrive in Florida City early enough to go for supper at Golden Corral. Supper there is even crazier than lunch. Our plan is to load up on food, since we don't expect to see much in the Everglades

A note about Islamorada.

Although "isla" is Spanish for island, there are actually quite a few islands making up the incorporated place with this name. Islamorada means "Island Home". We asked ourselves how to properly pronounce this. According to Google translate, it is "ease-la", not "aisle-la" or "eel-la", but we have not surveyed the locals on this.

The history of Europeans here includes a visit from Ponce de Leon, who sailed with Columbus in 1491, and who came here in 1513.

The area has been struck by many hurricanes, including one that basically wiped it out, in 1935. There is a memorial here to the many who were killed by that one, including many workers who were constructing bridges for the Overseas Highway. The highway stillmanaged to be completed, in 1938.

Other Interesting Stuff

The Turtle Hospital in Marathon is an interesting place. Check our last year's blog, Grampies Go South for a report on it.

We noticed this along the way. There is something altogether too cosy about this relationship.

Ah, one of the fishermen finally caught something. It's a Mangrove Snapper - just over the legal 10 inch limit.

The Lignumvitae tree, also known as Tourist Tree, for its red and peeling skin.

Today's ride: 57 km (35 miles)
Total: 460 km (286 miles)

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