Longest ride of the trip

  Up early, left the Florida City hostel by 7:35 then stop for a quick bite at Burger King, kept it basic and healthy.  The temperature dropped last night and was in the fifties when I left. Great Hostel I stayed in, Hoosville, which I would recommend to any cyclist or bohemian.  I have grown rather attached to these places, funky and loaded with interesting people from all over the world.  The twenty-four mile through the Everglades was totally fenced in.  Probably to keep the Alligators and other such animals off the road.  Any reasonable person would not venture to far off the road into the swamps, not me at least.
    I arrived at Key Largo in less than two hours and judging from all the tourist honky-tonk advertising and stores, it was no place I wanted to stop.  The riding was easy so I kept moving along from one Key to another.  With each mile, the visual improved particularly with the private homes.  For a good portion of the way, there was a nice pathway keeping the traffic at a distance.  Several long bridges only provided a five foot shoulder with a jersey barrier on the outer edge.  I stuck to the middle of the shoulder and kept a constant eye on the traffic coming up on me. A little nerve racking but manageable.  Being Sunday, the RVs and other tourists crowded the road.  After four hours, I crested fifty miles, that is moving right along. Just after noon I pulled into a convenience store for a fifty minute lunch break. Feeling pretty good, I pushed on until around 2:30 when I decided it was time to find a place. Stopping off at the Jolly Roger RV site, I was blown away by the price for a tent site, $82.50 per night.  As polite as I could, I asked if there was any place less expensive. Praise Jesus, the woman at the counter called a nearby state park, Curry Hammock State Park. Being only a cyclist, the park said they would carve out a spot for me. Goggle gps jerked me around for a few extra miles but I finally arrived at the place with seventy-three miles on my odometer. Nice place by the ocean, terrific facilities and only $22. The park ranger asked that I not put up my tent until sunset when all the beach goers would be gone.  The no-see-ems came out in force, so with a little bug spray and fast work, I set up the rent and climbed in.  Just before I adjourned for the evening, two bicyclists, a couple, rode up to set up next to me. The guy said he knew me.”You live by a lighthouse, right?” Sure enough, in September they had stayed at my house on there way down the coast, small world. Tomorrow they are riding to a Key thirty miles away where they will try to stay at another state site. So I will be joining them. The idea here is to avoid the  high price of lodging while closing in on Key West.  I have yet to hear from two Warmshowers hosts I sent requests to last night who live in Key West.  Up early tomorrow to get over the seven mile bridge before the crazy tourists get on the road.