November 4

Another lovely morning to ride.  I was really expecting the temperatures to be much higher when I was down here but I have been pleasantly surprised.  Didn't sleep too well last night due to a persistent headache and a stuffy nose.  Took some medication and hit the road.  Not long after I started this sign gave me a jolt of inspiration - Key West - straight ahead.

The roads were very congested and the morning commuters were in their normal rush.  Right after I took the picture above I saw a man crossing the street in a wheelchair get hit by an SUV!  It wasn't a direct hit - the front bumper/headlight of the SUV looked like it just caught the hand pieces where you would push the wheelchair.  The force spun the wheelchair around like a top and it fell apart in pieces.  This occurred at an intersection so the man in the chair was immediately surrounded and assisted to by motorists.  The man appeared to be OK but that was my warning to stay awake and don't take anything for granted.  Everyone is in a hurry.
A little while down the road the traffic did indeed thin out as the entrance to the Keys got closer.

After this point all the land on both sides of the road belonged to the Everglades National Park.  The park covers over 1.5 million acres and is land set aside to preserve an ecosystem - unlike other National Parks which were often set aside to protect and preserve their natural beauty.

The sign below shows 108 miles to Key West - the end of Route 1.

Finally rode into Key Largo, the first Key in the chain of islands leading out to Key West.  The only thing I knew about Key Largo was it was mentioned in a Beach Boys song called "Kokomo" many years ago.  Of course there are a lot of boating and scuba diving places here but it seemed most people were just passing through to get to another Key.

I made it to Islamorada, my stop for the night.

Passed this giant lobster (shouldn't that be in Maine?)

Everywhere you looked the water was a beautiful turquoise color and crystal clear.

Thank goodness this was a shorter day of riding.  My symptoms were getting worse and I really felt terrible.  I got to my motel and took a nice hot shower.  I set the room heater on 78 degrees and got under the covers and just shivered like I was freezing.  Other symptoms soon appeared (which I won't detail!) and it was clear I had some type of viral infection.  I was hoping it would be a 24 hour bug because tomorrow was my last day and I had planned 86 miles of riding to get to Key West.  In a few hours I felt slightly better so I got up, got something to eat, then climbed back in bed for the night, hoping that I would be able to ride out in the morning.