Did you ride those bikes all the way from Canada?

That's the question we seem to hear everywhere we go. I want to lay on a big
story about having to use dogsleds to get them to the Canada-U.S. border and
driving them from there but Nat keeps telling people how I trailered them
down and they still seem impressed.


People have been asking when the next installment will be coming, and the
reason I haven't sent anything lately is because we've just been doing
normal people vacation stuff. Mostly. But here goes.
Went to Key West on Tuesday, and just cruising along that never-ending
series of bridges made the whole trip worthwhile. Visit. You won't regret
it. Save an afternoon for Duval Street, it's the main shopping street in
downtown Key West and is a mix of bars and tourist traps. You know you're on
a serious party strip when they sell beer from curbside stands, and through
an accident of timing we happened to be there on St. Patrick's Day. Curb to
curb drunks at 4 in the afternoon. Most of the stores didn't care when I
walked in with my cup full of beer, and those that did were considerate
enough to have a rack at the front door so you could check your beer and
pick it back up on the way out.

We were wearing shorts and shirts as we rode, I haven't been on a bike
dressed like that since the early 80's. We were still the exception though
because even with all the bikes we saw we were almost the only ones wearing
helmets.

We snuck into the beachfront Waldorf Astoria to get me a magazine to read on
the beach and to use the bathroom. When I went into the vast marble and teak
hall that was the men's room I was greeted by the attendant. I was pulling
my camera strap over my head as I crossed the room when I heard the
attendant ask "Would you like me to hold it for you sir?" I froze dead in my
tracks but my mind was racing.

Hold what? And if he's referring to what I think he's referring, how much am
I supposed to tip him for that? $5 Seems about right for the prostate exam
at the border but on some level this seem even more personal, so should I
tip more? And all the guys who are reading this know how important it is to
get the right aiming point to avoid splash back so how do I correct for
that? "A little bit higher, and to the left. Okay now, take your little
finger and..........."

Turns out he was asking if I wanted him to hold the camera, but if anybody
has some advice on tipping on those rare future occasions where I use a
bathroom with an attendant I'd happy to hear it.

After driving through Fort Lauderdale in pouring rain we crossed over to the
strip of land that lies off the east coast of Florida. The attached picture
is of Nathalie buying a couple of beers when we stopped to take a break. Not
only does this state have a brown bag law (meaning you can drink in public
as long as you can't see a bottle or beer can), some of the liquor stores
have drive through windows. The girl at the window gave us cold beer
complete with their own little beer can sized bags. It's illegal to have an
open container of alcohol in a vehicle, but you can pull up to a window
where somebody will drop a cold case of beer in your lap. What the heck do
they think is going to happen next? Do they really think I'm going to wait
until I get home to open it?

It's early Friday morning, and we're going down to the beach for one last
time to watch the sunrise and go for a swim before heading back to Z-Hills
and to start skydiving which is when the real entertainment will begin. 9
Days so far, a combined total of 4,800 kilometers on the truck and the
bikes, which sounds like a lot.but we've driven through some of the most
gorgeous places I've ever seen and still managed to spend time on the beach
5 days in a row. I imagine the bikes will be out in force on the weekend
back home, but this morning we're going to be driving down to the beach in
our bathing suits.

8:22 P.M. on Friday night.
We drove to the beach at 7:00 A.M. as planned, and went for a run along the
beach as the sun came up. I was in bare feet, dodging the surf as we ran,
sometimes it caught me, sometimes I got away, either one was good. Went to Starbucks, got our morning coffee, and sat on the boardwalk as the surf came up and we planned out our day. Went for breakfast
at the Blueberry Muffin before returning to the beach. I was standing in the surf taking pictures of the surfers when A Pitts S2S aerobatic biplane came along and put on a 20 minute airshow a hundred yards out to sea, right in front of us. All this, and it was only 10:00 in the morning.