Tuesday through the swamps.

Tuesday I left St. Petersburg frustrated at the internet. It took over 10 minutes at the hotel to upload any webpage so I was left with hours of work undone. The sunshine soon erased my grumpiness and I took the suggested I275 over a stupendous bridge and then cheated by wacking it down the I75 towards Key Largo to make up for lost time. Pity as I believe the coast road is nice. At Naples I swung off the Interstate and took US 41 through the swamps. I rode steadily at a horrid 45-55mph for the whole way. It takes FOREVER at these ridiculous 1920's speed limits. I kept gloating over the fuel savings as a way to avoid speeding. I stopped at an airboat tour shop for directions. "Chrome road south" she said. "Like the chrome on your bike". Except it was spelled Krome Road. Some local stop had a collection of animals in cages and the friendly chap teased me and let me in for free to take some photos. The Harley blokes outside asked me what my bike was. They had never heard of an R1... get a life guys! The Harley in the photo had a lot of krome. That turkey was the ugliest thing I have ever seen apart from the morning mirror. I liked the yellow snake. I also saw a HUGE soft-shelled turtle at the side of the road. Fortunately he was headed off the road. Birds are common including vultures, pelicans, egrets, cranes and I also saw wild turkey. My camera batteries ran out and THEN I saw the gators in the swamps! Fume!

I finally made Key Largo as dark settled in and chose the tackiest motel I could find. Proof is in the morning photos. What on earth posseses these people to make such horrendous trash? The friendly girl was from New Joisey and did me a good deal. 290 slow miles. Boy did I sleep.