Key West

I woke up at 5 o’clock to someone’s car alarm going off.  When I looked outside to see what was going on, it looked like the battery was getting low as lights were very dim, which was making the alarm to trigger.  I wanted to get up and get going early as I’m riding to Key West and back today.  It’s about 160 miles each way.  I checked out hotels, but they run anywhere’s between $300 to $600 a night (nope can’t and won’t do that).  My hotel was about a half hour from the start of the road to the Keys.  Just before entering that area, I pulled over for a fire truck, there was a fire on the edge of the woods.  When I came back out at the end of the trip the fire was worse, and it was on the news that it had burned 40 acres and they were still trying to get it under control.

There was a steady stream of vehicles going in and out of the Keys all the way, as the day went on it got a little busier.  All of the islands to the Keys had devastation from the hurricane.  There we some boats smashed, RV’s with the sides gone, a tractor trailer on it’s side, trees down, and many homes hit.  I saw a mansion that was just a shell and a for sale sign up, I’m thinking they are just tired of rebuilding all the time.  There were piles of sand that was washed up, and signs where areas were flooded.  I drove all over Key West and didn’t notice where they got hit, I’m sure they must have but either have it cleaned up or I didn’t go by those areas.  Key West is a neat place, very busy and all the homes, business are packed in tight.  The best way most got around was to rent either a bicycle or a scooter.  I was surprised to see the long line to have your picture taken at the monument at the furthest most Southern point of the continental US.  I was at the right place at the right time, just when I drove up a vehicle left so I took the spot.  I was able to get pictures of my bike and  the monument in it.  I gassed up before I started back out and there were roosters running around the gas station with their babies – free range!  There are 42 bridges, and one is 7 miles long to get from island to island – amazing for a couple of reasons.  1) who would have thought it would have been worth wild to build in the first place, and 2) that they survive all the hurricanes each year.

I highly recommend if you get a chance to ride out Key West, do it.  It was a fun ride and interesting.  There is a lot of history out there.

Love and Light to you all!