Day 7 - Ten Miles from Hell

Once again, we rose before full daylight, packed the bikes, and headed out to, regrettably, take our leave of the Keys. I'm tellin ya, gettin these pre-dawn starts is the only way to ride in Florida durin the warmer months. 'Bout halfway up the island chain, we were gettin a bit hungry, so we stop at a li'l store to grab a drink and ask the where'bouts of a decent place for breakfast. A fellow in a pick-up truck beside us tells us we should try the Stuffed Pig a couple miles up the road. Hey, with a name like that…it's gotta be good…right? After stuffin our faces at the Pig…which did indeed serve up a fine breakfast…we mount up and enjoy an uneventful, but very pleasant, ride on up the islands. A few miles up the road…can't remember which Key…we see a sign for a party, obviously in my honor, and just had to get the pic. It's somewhere near here…you'll know when ya see it. We were also gonna stop by Alabama Jacks up close to hittin the mainland…as we were advised by several folks before our trip…but we were makin tracks way too early for that particular waterin hole to be open fer business.

Up 'til this point, we had been enjoyin reasonable days with regard to the temps…but today was the day a weather front was startin its way across the state…bringin with it significant increases in the daily temps. Instead of headin straight up to Jensen Beach…our overnight stop this day…we opt to avoid the congestion of Miami and Fort Lauderdale, and head back to the Lake Okeechobee area, ride halfway 'round the lake, and then shoot east over to the Four Fish Inn in Jensen Beach. As I was plannin this ride back at the house, I envisioned a nice ride 'round the lake with beautiful vistas out across the water. But, 'cause of floodin problems in the past, a sizeable dike had been built completely surroundin Okeechobee…completely blockin our veiw from the road. We did ride up on the dike at one access point to get a look-see. I don't know that I've ever stood at the edge of such a large lake…looked like we were lookin out across an ocean. This is where we saw our only gator of the ride, as it made its way across a section where a new marina was under construction. Guess it was hangin out for scraps of lunch left by the construction crew…or more likely, the construction crew itself.

Anyways, after a short break and some gator sightings, we make tracks east on Hwy. 76 towards Jensen Beach. Now, this day's ride would only cover 'bout 280 miles…well within the tolerances of this group…but the heat was gettin unbearable for the gals, and as such, was affectin their mental capacity to think logically. I know…women think logically? What the hell am I sayin?! Well ok, the heat was hittin Loosie rather hard…but CK seemed to be holdin her own rather well. It seems Loosie was under the impression that the heat had taken its toll on my mental faculties, as she once told Cuz, "I don't think TJ knows where he's goin. He's got us ten miles from hell!" BWAHAHAHAA! She was not a happy camper in this heat, to say the least. As it turns out, we WERE on the right track, and made Jensen Beach at a very reasonable afternoon hour.

After checkin into the Four Fish Inn…which, by the way, is a very nice, newly renovated, but old fashioned Florida motel…we washed away the heat and road grime with some nice cool showers. A few margaritas later, after some loungin 'round the rooms, we head out and settle in at Conchy Joe's for dinner on the rear deck over lookin the Indian River. Ya know how on every ride there's gotta be that one goober that blurts out that one memorable, albeit stoopid, statement? Well, it seems this trip it was my turn. As we're sittin there on the deck waitin on our dinner, I glance out at the water and see this big creature attackin some smaller fish at the surface. The first thing that comes to mind are the images from the Discovery channel of sharks feedin on fish at the surface of the water…so, of course, I yell out, "SHARK! SHARK!" This seemingly uncontrollable outburst of mine emptied every table on the deck as everyone crowded 'round our li'l table to watch the shark attack…which, much to my embarrassment, turned out to be a dolphin. Oops…my bad. hehe Oh well, at least it gave us one more thing to laugh about on this trip.

OK, back to the Fish for an early bedtime, as once again, we're gettin a pre-dawn start in the mornin…this time, at the request of the gals. Seems they've figured out this beatin-the-heat thingy rather quickly. See ya in the morn.