Metro Park, FL to Big Cypress, FL 8869 mi The gate has been closed when I leave in the morning, but as usual I just ride under it. Thankfully traffic is light on the shoulderless road. The crossroads with 41 are in the middle of nowhere. A huge Indian casino stands caddy-corner from a lone…

Boca Raton, FL to Metro Park, FL 8814 mi I read until 8 waiting for Aunt Lou to get up. In the silence I start to consider what I would do if she died during the night, but then she emerges. Just doing her morning devotionals, she says. We have a quick breakfast, then I…

We eat a light breakfast in the dining room and I meet some of Aunt Lou’s friends, including Lydia Hewitt, who says she was my dad’s 4th grade teacher at Wheaton. How does she remember him? “Sad” and “disturbed” are the only words she comes up with. She remembers something about him being separated from…

Jupiter, FL to Boca Raton, FL 8760 mi I’m escorted out of the park by another wet little rain shower. Under the gate at 7 am. Slowly the terrain becomes more urban, until I’m in the pits of West Palm Beach. A man at the city limits persisently asks me for a cigarette. A big…

Vero Beach, FL to Jupiter, FL 8704 mi A lazy morning. I pack, Lee walks, Vic and I eat cereal. I accept their offer for coffee to avoid offending my hosts. Coffee is one of those words that means different things to different people, and I’m afraid I’ve become too snobby to include the canned-grounds-drip-filter…

Vic and Lee play golf today, so after breakfast I go to the beach and write to the music of the surf. When I get restless, I ride north towards some big clouds. Soon I’m in a rain so wet I feel like I’m bicycling underwater. I take shelter at another beach with some surfers.…

Vic and I have cereal while Lee is on her morning walk. Then we spend a couple of hours washing the boat, which already looks clean to me. My reward for this is an outing on the windsurfer, which takes a while to put together. Somehow, once I’m in the water, my windsurfing experience from…

Cocoa, FL to Vero Beach, FL 8643 mi Bev cooks a good breakfast, we take some photos, and I’m riding again. I’m excited to get to Vero Beach to see what Vic, who I met cycling in Vermont, has in store for me. It rains on me for the first time since South Carolina. It’s…

I go to work with Jim in his very modest little Honda. He buys me a bagel and very good local orange juice for breakfast. The first thing that strikes me about Kennedy Space Center is the size. There’s a whole internal network of highways to get from one area to another. We check out…

Flagler Beach, FL to Cocoa, FL 8577 mi The trick is to get out of the park without any rangers spotting me. After some effort, however, I find the park entirely fenced in, so I have to exit through the gate. I luck out, it’s 7 am and the park doesn’t open until 8, so…