RTTMS June 4, 2011

Missed getting the blog posted last night so I will try to make up for it this evening.

Mitch, Mike and I headed out toward Key West from Hollywood, Fl., at about 8:30am after a refreshing McDonalds breakfast....well, the coffee was OK according to Mitch and Mike.

The morning traffic heading south was not too heavy and moved along at a nice clip......5 mph over the speed limit worked well. As we crested an overpass just north of Kendall (South Miami) there were about 15 of Florida's Finest holding roadside discussions with many drivers. The law enforcement were in cars and motorcycles and they were giving out the tickets in volume. It was nice to cruise on by as we were not of interest to them.

After we passed this working group of law officers, we proceeded on to US 1 at Homestead and on to a mostly two lane road to Key Largo. This road is being upgraded as it is the main evacuation route to the mainland when the hurricanes come to town but I do not know why they do not make it a 4 lane road but I guess that DOT knows more about it than I do.....maybe.

The road speed drops to 45, 35 and 55 for the rest of the way to Key West so it is best not to get in hurry. We made excellent time as we did not get caught at a lot of traffic lights or school buses so the trip went smoothly.

The wind was once again blowing from the east and at a higher speed than before. It was blowing at about 15 to 20 mph with gusts somewhat higher. This made the gas mileage really good with the plus of more comfortable temps.

Here are some pictures of the ride down to Key West.

Mike and Mitch following me to KW.
US 1 from Homestead heading south.
Key Largo view from the bridge.
View of the "Office" on 7 mile bridge.

Mitch and Mike keeping up....almost to Key West!!
The keys are very flat and with lovely blue and blue-green water surrounding them.
The KW police officers that validated my UCC ride start. Very nice people and very gracious to assist me.
We then went on to the most southern point in the USA where they have a large marker and we took the required picture.
After the photo ops, we fueled up and headed back north to Mitch's house. The wind was still blowing pretty good but it made the ride comfortable and since we were heading away from KW and the Keys, we had light traffic while the incoming was backed up for what seemed like miles in a couple of places.

I will spare you the pictures of the return trip as they would be more of what you have already viewed only looking north instead of south.

Ran into a splash of rain just as we exited the Turnpike in Hollywood but the road got wetter than we did. Mike headed west from the Turnpike exit and ended up getting soaked. We got lucky.

This morning, I met Mike once again the Mickey D's for a light breakfast and we hit the Turnpike North at about 8:30am. The traffic was OK and we make excellent progress. When the highway veered away from the coast, we lost the cooling on-shore wind and the temperature began to rise. We were soon getting into the high 80s and low 90s as we neared Kissimmee. Mike made his turn just north of Kissimmee toward his home in east Orange county as I continued to Wildwood to have lunch with my son Scott and his SO Carrie Ann.

Lunch was good but it was time to get back on the road to get this part of the trip over with.

It kept getting hotter and finally peaked at 100 degrees just south of Lake City. Just north of there, I took I-10 west toward Tally and thankfully, the temperatures started to drop.

Near Madison, the roads were wet from rain showers and the temps dropped to the 70s....wonderful riding after all of the heat that from earlier in the day.

I passed through a couple of short showers....10 minutes max...the cooled me off again since I was riding, I quickly dried off.

Just east of Tally, I ended up riding in the rain for about 20 or so minutes and then was out of it about 5 miles from my exit so I knew that I would be wet when I got home but no matter as I would be at home to dry off.

It was not raining at the house when I arrived so I quickly unloaded the bike and put it in the shop just before it started to rain. I got about 1/2 inch in 30 minutes so the timing was terrific.

I has been a safe ride of about 1250 safe miles since Thursday so I am thankful for that.

Tomorrow John Thompson and I will continue my trek toward Prudhoe Bay, Alaska and we hope to have a safe and enjoyable trip.

I will keep you posted.

Mike