Home Sweet Home

The DeLands kindly got up early to drop us off at the Punta Gorda airport, which incidentally greatly expanded since the last time that they were there.  A no frills flight on Allegiant got us to Cincinnati around 9:30, and after retrieving all our bike baggage, we were greeted by this lovely driver.  Thanks Marla for taking time out of your spring break to pick up your parents! 

In summary. our first Tony transporting Joan tandem ride was a joyful success!  We appreciate all of you readers that followed along on our journey and your cheerful comments.  In the same feeling of support that was expressed to us by people every day of our ride, we leave you this fitting Irish blessing:

May the road rise up to meet you.

May the wind be always at your back. 

May the sun shine warm upon your face; 

the rains fall soft upon your fields 

and until we meet again, 

may God hold you in the palm of His hand.

Shark teeth hunting to Bud's Fish Fry

Tony's View

We started today out with First Friday mass at St. Maximilian Koble. Afterwards, we went out and looked at the statues in the memorial garden. We found one with a tear running down the nose, so we took a picture to share. Joan was in that picture with Theresa, but cropped herself out because she had her eyes closed. We then headed back to their house for another terrific Bud breakfast.













With full bellies, Bud took us on a 2 1/2 mile hike down this cool bike path to see an empty eagle's nest. Despite being empty, it was a neat nest with great views of it. You can see the nest right above Joan's head. This way Joan could be in the picture. On the way out Joan found some big pine cones to bring home via the Theresa express. She held them out and away from her in case some critters came crawling out so she had time to drop them.

We then went to Englewood Beach to hunt for shark teeth. Nearby Venice is considered the shark teeth capital of the world so they say. In the picture you can see Bud explaining what they look like to me. As you can see in the picture I was excited. The beach was also a good walking beach, but the funny thing was that I think I was one of the youngest at the beach. We then went to a flea market and I got a new pair of cycling sunglasses.




We went shopping, oh yea. We did go get some gelato. I had key lime and banana cream flavor. Funny thing is, Theresa had already bought gelato and had some in their freezer. So being the great guest I am, I ate some for breakfast this morning and just because I had to, I suffered through another bowl after dinner. Yes, I had it three times today. Ken would be proud of me, or maybe jealous. 
When Bud and I were avoiding shopping and taking a walk, we walked by the Cathedral. We stopped in and they had Eucharist Adoration going on so we said a few prayers. My prayers were that shopping would soon be over. My prayers were answered.

Back at their house and being that it is Friday, they had a fish fry for us. It was Red Fish which Bud just caught before we got here. It was so good and different than fish we get back in Ohio, at least that is what Bud told us. Again, we are so fortunate to have such nice friends who take care of us. As everyone knows, I am a pain in the butt, so when people are nice to me, you know they had to go out of their way.

Joan's View

Yes, today was our last day in sunny Florida, and I got to put my toes in the sand one last time before we head north. We are feeling extremely blessed. We had a great bicycle experience and we got to spend time with some wonderful people. I truly enjoy getting to experience the lifestyles of others which we did in several different ways, from life on the road living out of 2 bags to the uniqueness of Key West to the snow bird life of Port Charlotte. It's all good!

At the DeLand House which is not in DeLand, Florida

Joan's View

Bud in the morning hours greeting his frequent visitor that nests nearby, a Blue Heron.

Although Bud claims that his distant ancestors founded DeLand, Florida, Theresa & Bud chose Port Charlotte for their winter home. Bud is a fisherman and he says Port Charlotte is better for catching fish. 

The day started out with Tony observing Bud as he fished in the channel right out the DeLand's back yard. Once I got up and joined the others, Bud made some yummy stromboli omelettes. We devoured them and headed out to see the town. Our first stop for Theresa & I was the Puenta Gorda Art Center to check out the art show. Theresa is an artist so I like to learn from her when we go to those type of places. Theresa & I proceeded to Fishermen's Village, a shopping area which features lots of local artists' creations. The boys, meanwhile, had gone to the Peace River Wildlife Center to check out eagles and other local wildlife.  We met up and decided to get some late lunch. We found a local eatery called Manatees Pizza and better yet, they had 1/2 off pizza on Thursdays! 

Back at DeLands place, Bud & Theresa took us on a nice walk to the ElJobean Pier where Bud does quite a bit of fishing.  After returning, they took us to their local housing association "Thirsty Thursday" get together. Tony even snuck in another walk around the neighborhood and some nearby RV parks. We then came back to their house and let the boys win a few games of euchre and that was draining, so we had to call it a night.

Tony's Side Notes

It was fun hearing all of Bud's fish stories while walking around today. It is neat hearing about all the salt water fish. I think Bud needs a boat or even a kayak to get better opportunities. When Bud and I went to the Peace River Wildlife Center we saw and heard some Laughing Gull. They sounded like they were laughing when they make noise. Bud and I were cracking up listening to them. There were some other birds that made it sound like we were in Jurassic Park. Bud is a big fan of Jurassic Park. I thought it was funny when the retired folks got all excited by the 1/2 off pizza Thursdays. Check out their smiles. We made Theresa go get a neighbor's scale so we could get the bike cases back to 40 pounds. We started at 55 pounds and finally we got them down to 40 pounds since that is Allegiant Air's weight restriction. We have some fun things scheduled for tomorrow.

Traveling by Sea to the Next Place on our Journey

Tony’s View

Today we started with mass again only this time Lynne drove us by car. After mass we stuck around and prayed the rosary. It was outside on a walking rosary with a grotto of Mary in the background. See the picture that doesn’t do it justice. It is really cool. We then went back to Casa Springer and Lynne made us a breakfast for a King. It consisted of eggs, bacon, French toast and fresh strawberries. Thanks Lynne! It was awesome. It was then time to finish packing. We were, after some strategic reorganizing, able to get the bike, gear, and our clothes into 4 bags, which is the ferry’s limit on bags.  This worked because the Springers are bringing back Joan’s bicycle helmet and 3 water bottles, We simply ran out of room so another thanks goes out to the Springers. When we leave DeLands on Saturday, we will need to rearrange again to fit everything into 5 bags so that no bags are over 40 lbs. due to Allegiant airline regulations.

We then went to the Little White House for a tour. This is where Harry Truman spent time relaxingduring his presidency. This is the place for his working vacations. The stories they had were fascinating. Harry Truman is my favorite President, because he was just a regular guy in the right situation.

After that tour, we went to Fort Zachary Taylor beach. The cool part about this beach is it had plenty of shade from pine trees, and rocks to climb on. These are two of my favorite things making this beach really nice. 

 

After spending time there for a while, Steve continued to show us a lot more interesting things at Key West. We then had lunch/early dinner at Hog Fish.  I had Hog Fish tacos and they were very tasty.

Lynne then dropped us off at the Key West Express Ferry for our 4 hour ride to Fort Myers. It was a full boat and we were at the end of the line. Luckily, Joan and I found a seat together. I was thinking the sunset would be neat to see, but it was very cloudy.

DeLands picked us up in Fort Myers and took us to their house so we could mooch off someone else.

Joan’s View

The last few days were another great opportunity to experience life in a different lifestyle, Key West.  Being on the road this long, the days sort of melt together, but we definitely won’t forget the easy peasy days in Key West.  Thanks Springers!

The Great Key West Adventure

Joan's View

The day started out with bike riding believe it or not! Lynne took Tony out on some of their bikes that the Springers use to get around the island. They went about 8 1/2 miles round trip to 7:30 morning mass at The Basilica of Saint Mary Star of the Sea, and then stopped to pick up fresh mango bread. Tony taught Lynne how to "own" a lane.

Later, the Springers took us out on their kayaks.  We started in Cow Key channel and went down Riviera Canal where our fearless leader Steve took us into a cutout channel through the mangroves. It was awesome getting to see closeup all of the creatures living in the mangroves like starfish, crabs, etc. At times it got very narrow, but the Springers showed us how to push off the mangroves trees by hand to get through tight spots. At the other end of the cutout the water was full of small jellyfish. We turned around and ventured back through the mangrove trees and out into the canal. Lynne saw a couple sinking in their kayak. They then tipped with their only loss being a bottle of champagne. Together, Lynne and Steve helped them figure out how to get back on their kayak and back to the dock.

It was hot tub time after hauling the kayaks and stuff back!

In the afternoon, we cleaned up, and after Stephanie finished her days work, we picked up Jordan and went to dinner at one of the Springers favorite Cuban restaurants, El Siboney. We finished in time for the Springers to get to Aqua, a bar with a singing contest, to see one of their friends compete. I ventured out for a little shopping on Duval street and we all met up later. As we were heading to the car, Steve unbelievably spotted Jim & Tonya Thieman from Sidney.  Because we all had kids that graduated together in 2008, we called it the parents reunion in Key West.

Steve & Lynne also had another adventure when they realized that Jordan left his apartment keys in their car and his phone was dead. Long story short, they found Jordan and got him his keys.

The other pictures are of Tony disassembling our tandem at different times throughout the day and starting to pack it for our ferry trip tomorrow to Fort Myers to meet up with our neighbors from Sidney, Bud & Theresa DeLand.

Great hosts!  Great day!  Thanks Springers!

Tony's Side Notes

Yes, it was my turn to do the main part of the blog, but Joan graciously did it for me. I was frustrated taking the tandem apart. I did get it back into 2 suitcases before finishing this blog, but the packing is not over yet. You see we came with 5 suitcases when we flew into Jacksonville. However, we can only bring two bags each on the Key West Express. So tomorrow morning I have to over pack the bike bags with dirty clothes, so we can try to get everything into 4 bags. Enough about the packing stuff. I know many of you at Choice One, when you read the blog above about me getting into a kayak, thought, "what is he doing in a kayak?" I was wondering the same thing, but it was really cool and I enjoyed it after I got over the initial nervousness. Looking forward to really hitting the Dramamine for the 3 1/2 hour ferry ride tomorrow.

The Springers at the End of the Biking Road

Joan's View

Today was our last day of biking and it turned out to be 
quite a day. We left our hotel and within 3 miles we were on the 7 mile bridge. Nothing but bridge in front and behind us. Tony was in heaven, but I only let him stop once on the bridge to take pictures. No stopping is allowed on the bridge, but thankfully the sheriff that passed us did not slow down. Traffic was moving swiftly on the bridge while Tony expertly navigated the various debris littering the bike lane. This is a good time to mention that we did not have 1 flat on the entire trip!

We continued on through what seemed like dozens of more smaller bridges all with beautiful views of bright shades of blue and green water. We took a mini side trip about 8 miles to see if we could spot some Key Deer (the small endangered deer of the Keys) and stopped at Blue Hole for a look at the wildlife there. Soon after we took a break for lunch in Big Pine. Tony had a fascinating chat with a girl who approached him while he was waiting outside the visitor center in a shopping center.  She asked if we had been outside of Mount Sinai hospital in Miami on Friday. Unbelievable, but, yes, we did ride through there and she was taking her Mom to the hospital and stopped to let us pass. She had recognized out bike. She was excited to go home and tell her Mom.

Back on the road, we went over bridge after bridge connecting the islands of the Keys. About 3 miles from the Springers on a 4 lane divided section of Route 1, like an interstate, there was road construction and the bike lane disappeared. We got off the bike and crossed to the other side of the road. We crossed back again looking for a lane, then crossed again until we found a narrow bike path. 











As the path continued on the bridge, it got too narrow, actually a sidewalk, for our bike so we had to walk it over the mile plus bridge . At the other side the bike path turned and went under the highway and back up the other side.  It was a relief to see the bike path pickup again so that we could ride on it.  




Another mile or so and we made our last bike stop of the trip at the Springers. Lynne, Steve, Stephanie, Jordan and his dog, Loomis, were there by the pool to greet us.








The Springers kindly welcomed us with a great room, a great meal (Tony even liked Lynne's brussel sprouts) and took us to Sloppy Joe's, the bar where Jordan works on Duval St. Jordan was a classmate of our daughter, Cara, and since we haven't seen him in a long time, it was good to see him in action although his arm is temporarily in a sling. The Springers then took us to Captain Tony's.



FYI, we had been to Key West years ago and did mile marker 0 and Margaritaville so those stops aren't on this trip in case you are wondering.

Tony's Side Notes

Yes, the seven mile bridge was so cool to ride your bike across. I added a couple of additional pictures for some of my geeky friends. There aren't that many of them, but who cares. The bridge along the side that you see was the old Rt 1 bridge and I was thinking it might be cooler to take that one. But when we got to the point where the picture below shows where they made a break for boats to get through, we would of had to turn back after 3.5 miles in. 

I think that is too cool to go this far without a flat tire and for you all out there that followed the TonyChasingWade blog, we had 22 flats. Once again it must have been Wade's bad luck and not me. Just thought I would mention that.

What a coincidence that when I was waiting on Joan in some random shopping center off the beaten path, some 150 miles from Miami, that a random person would come up and tell me she saw us in Miami. I thought she was just coming up to tell me how good I look in spandex, I hear that all the time. Seriously, that tandem provided for many conversations with people coming up to us to just talk about it and ask questions. Definitely something many people thought was interesting. Well, it is late and time for bed.

An Easy Sunday Ride

Tony's View

The day started out by visiting with Mike and Davida Eley. Joan thought that since we got up early we should try to see one more time if they were home. We knocked on their door a couple of times and no answer. Then as I was heading to the carport to take a picture of their Harley to text to Craig and ask if that was going to be his inheritance, Mike came down the stairs and asked who we were. Lucky for us he claimed Craig. We had a great time visiting for an hour or so. The funny thing is if you closed your eyes you would swear you were talking to Craig. 
We headed out from there and a few miles down the road we saw this giant lobster, so we had to stop and take a picture. I noticed that they had Cuban coffee and at one of the stops the other day, a lady told me before I leave the area I had to try some. Cuban coffee is an expresso with lots of sugar, I was ready to pedal after one. If that wasn't enough sugar I threw in a piece of key lime pie. Don't worry we worked it off.

From there we headed to another tourist trap that was interesting. It was called Hungry Tarpon at Robbie's. You go there and buy fish to feed to these big Tarpon fish. We just watched others feed the Tarpon, but there were some really big fish. We took pictures of the pelicans that were standing around begging for fish. One of them really liked Joan and wanted to get a picture with her. The other picture was so cute. The kids had fish to feed the tarpon fish but the pelicans hung around like dogs begging for food. The kids didn't know what to do. 

After leaving there we were cruising along and went over a bridge 2.4 miles long. Yea, I know only an engineer would measure the length of a bridge. I think it is just preparation for our seven mile bridge ride tomorrow. Joan was glad that it had a 4 foot shoulder for us to ride on. 
From here we went to one of the best beaches in the Keys according to Mike and Davida Eley, Sombrero Beach. This was something we didn't know, that the beaches aren't very good on the Keys. We spent time there talking to two older guys about the area. Next, we headed to our hotel called the Black Fin, a reasonably priced hotel for the Keys. The picture is one from the hotel marina showing what it looked like at sunset. Stats for the day: 46.5 miles at 15.9mph. We had a 10mph tailwind. It was nice. Ride time 2 hours and 55 minutes and 4 hours 15 minutes. Spent a lot of time just visiting and checking things out today. It was fun.

Joan's Side Note

I got a roller coaster ride today coming into Marathon!  We rode for a long stretch on a smooth bike path through this thick mangrove type region until we got closer to Marathon and the nature filled path ended. The street didn't have much room for bikes so Tony used the so-called remaining bike route which is more like a wide sidewalk. The bike route frequently goes up to the bike path and down where there is a street or driveway, but added to that are the white bumpy lines at each entrance along with the raised crossing dots. I even put my arms up over an extreme up and down section.  I'm thinking the front seat of the tandem gets the real thrill of the ride just like a roller coaster!

All Sunshine Saturday to Islamorada

Joan's View

We followed the stop and go bike path from yesterday along the dedicated bus road for about 12 more miles this morning.  On Route 1 we, along with what seemed like all of the rest of the travelers, stopped for one last potty break at the last gas station before there is nothing for miles but highway along the Everglades National Park.  About 20 miles in, eagle eye Tony spotted our first alligator or crocodile of the trip so we stopped the bike to get a picture of it through the fence.  Of course, cars started pulling over as well because they knew we had seen something.

In Key Largo, we took a lunch break at Evelyns and once again were able to eat outside near the bike. Tony had a cowboy burger that he had to smash down in order to bite from it.

Tony also found another rest spot since we are officially in the Keys    
<<<<<











After another stretch of highway and bridges, we arrived in Islamorada and found our hotel, the Conch On Inn Hotel. It is a small family owned place and the owners kindly showed us the manatees in the inlet around their back patio.  We took tons of pictures and I even reach down to touch one.  

                                           
We tore ourselves away from the manatees to get cleaned up and walk to nearby mass at San Pedro Church. Outside the church they had a walking rosary made from landscape stones.
Dinner tonight was at Marker 88 per Craig Eley's recommendation. We had to walk about 1-1/2 miles the other direction to get there so Tony was giving Craig a hard time via text whether it was really worth it, but thanks Craig, because I loved my Alligator Reef salad! (no alligators were harmed in making it). In addition, it was a beautiful walk back to the room and stars galore were visible.

Tony's Side Notes

Today was wild life day. It was so cool to see the manatees. There were eight of them in the hotel's little bay. Before church we went to Craig Eley's Dad's house, but we found this sign on his front door. It says "Welcome Friends, Relatives by Appointment." I guess since we know Craig we are considered relatives not friends. Therefore his Dad wasn't home. His place was pretty cool, though. Craig also told us that across from our motel hidden behind all the trees, Jimmy Johnson, the ex Cowboys coach lives there. 

When we were cruising on Rt. 1 we were going 17 to 19mph. We went 51 miles, averaging 15.8mph. Good stats day.

Mastering the Miami Maze

Tony's View

Today was a very interesting day. We rode 57 miles, averaging 13.8mph, ride time 4 hours and 6 minutes, with stopped time of 3 hours and 31 minutes. We had so much stopped time because of the many traffic lights, no real rest time. It was a lot of stopping and starting which got tiring. We started out leaving Fort Lauderdale weaving through their roads trying to avoid major roads. After that, we ended up in Hollywood Beach and rode on the boardwalk for over two miles, weaving in and out of people, but it is one of the coolest boardwalks we have ever seen. One of the places was called "Nicks" so we had to stop and get a picture. We then headed into Miami and the traffic was very busy. There were very few bike lanes, so in the heavy traffic we had to own the lane. Owning means driving in the middle of the outside lane so traffic can't pass. When going through the Miami Beach area there were high rises on both sides. It was cool to see, but very intense. After this we spent 2 miles plus on interstate 295 with cars passing us over 70mph. This made Joan very nervous with them zipping by. We were now in some shady Miami areas so we just kept moving. We eventually, after working our way through the street maze, ended up on a bike path for the last 25 miles. This bike path followed under their Metrorail train which is elevated on a bridge. We have a picture of this we will share it along with a few other pictures when wifi is better, notice the wifi is better at next place.

After following and weaving through this bike path we came across our lunch destination, called "Cara Jo."  It was an excellent place just opening as you can see in the picture.

(Note the "Nick & Cara" theme in today's blog) After a while the Metrorail turned into a dedicated roadway for the bus route, and the bike path followed it on the side. We finally got to our destination in Cutler Bay at the LaQuinta Inn. Dinner was good tonight at a Peruvian restaurant.  

We will get back on the bike path for a few more miles tomorrow. It is called the Miami Dade bike path.

Joan's Side Note

Definitely a wild ride today. As far as those darn bridges go, we went over our first all concrete draw bridge and it had a dedicated bike path! Nice!

Tony did an amazing job navigating through the hectic streets of Miami Beach and Miami especially considering his Garmin with the preplanned route sort of went haywire. I'm especially grateful for the drivers that stopped to let us cross at certain points of the trip today. It was a more mentally taxing than physically tiring day just because we had to constantly be aware of the traffic moving in all different directions around us. I'm thankful to be at today's destination!

It's a Throwback Thursday for Tony in Fort Lauderdale 

Joan's View

Fort Lauderdale is a rest day and I so took advantage of it and slept in! Tony did a nice job again of finding us an apartment style room for the stop here in Fort Lauderdale. Once we got moving, we began the day with maintenance. I stayed at the nearby laundry mat while Tony walked to Publix for food. I gotta say the attendant at the laundry mat was really nice and loaned me quarters until Tony got back since I didn't have any small bills for the change machine. Oops. Tony had to wait on a draw bridge though to get to Publix.  

We then walked a mile or so along the beach.  It's a little cooler today, but the water is remarkable warmer here.  Today's photos are all about are beach time.

FYI - Tony's thumb injury was pre-bike trip.

A few spring breakers were around, but I'm sure more will be arriving in the coming weeks. We walked back along the boardwalk and even went into a few shops (Tony's limit). Tony was here for spring break in 1984 and on our walk back, he thinks he saw the hotel that he and his college buddies stayed at in 1984. It looked 32+ years old too, but is that amazing?  

Back at the room, Tony cleaned and oiled the bike. We took one more trip to the beach with the comfy beach chairs provided and Tony did some body surfing. We ate a nice dinner in the room of stuffed scallops for Tony and a fillet for me. Tony finished rerouting the Garmin for one of the upcoming days because he realized that we would have been on a gravel road otherwise.

Stayed tuned tomorrow for where the wind blows us!

Tony's Side Notes

When I walked over the draw bridge to go get groceries for us, there were several yachts that were enormous. I took a picture of one of them. One was named "Incentive." Maybe something like that would be a good "incentive" by Choice One to me. However, you all know that won't work for me so it wouldn't help in keeping me out of the office.

By the way, if you are reading this blog and not checking out Choice One's Facebook page, you are missing how they are abusing me while I am gone. Check it out to see how mean they are to me. https://www.facebook.com/search/top/?q=choice%20one%20engineering

This is the picture of the hotel I am guessing we stayed at for Spring Break some 32 years ago. I went with Ron Fairbanks, Brian Zombie Stutz, Chris Bauserman, Todd Gregory, and Dave Mangas. Might have been more but that is all I can remember, with Ron's help. We all stayed in one room and told the motel that we had 2 in the room to save money. Four of us had to sneak in every time we went to the room. There was the gate right by the main office (see picture). They had a gate in the back you could open from the inside to sneak in. Funny thing about it now is that they probably knew better and we were too young to realize it. The good ole days. 

Going by Miami Beach tomorrow, I am wondering if it is as glamorous as people claim.