Day 312 – Miami, Florida to Macon, Georgia

Day 312 – Miami, Florida to Macon, Georgia        06/29/11        Mileage: 577

This morning was rough after last night’s drunken debauchery, so I was in no rush to get on the bike. John, Sabine and I met for breakfast and Sabine helped me fill in some of the blanks from last night. Damn the bottle, I’m not drinking ever again….or, well….at least until later. After breakfast I bid farewell to my dear friends as they left for the airport for the final leg of the journey to their new home in Sao Paulo, Brazil. Sabine was taking a regular commercial flight and John was flying with their dogs Lua and Simba on the cargo plane. I will miss them immensely. After lingering a bit to use the wifi and shake off the hangover, I packed the bike and hit the road north.

I dodged thunder storms most of the day….but this one caught me so I took shelter under in abandoned gas station…

I decided to head toward the Blue Ridge so I took the less traveled road through the middle of Florida up into central Georgia and ended up in Macon. The scenery was nice but not super inspiring so I didn’t stop for many pictures.

A little taste of the South…Waffle House!

Tomorrow it’s back on the road north towards the Blue Ridge Mountains and the famous “Tail of the Dragon”.

Day 311 – Miami, Florida

Day 311 – Miami, Florida        06/28/11        Mileage: 18

Today I would say goodbye to my cousins Barbara and Murray who have been wonderful and accommodating hosts. But, I would also be saying hello to my friends John and Sabine whom I met in Brazil almost 2 months ago. They are moving to Brazil and will be literally flying out of Miami tomorrow to Sao Paulo with their two dogs Lua and Simba…so I’m so glad I was able to catch them before they left for good! I met them at their hotel and after a few quick beers we headed out for lunch at The Field Irish pub up in Fort Lauderdale.

Well, The Field is an awesome pub with great atmosphere…and our lunch quickly spiraled down the rabbit hole…especially after the double Patron’s and Guinness started flying. What started out as an innocent lunch was now an all out booze fest. Thankfully Sabine is a saint and was doing a good job corralling the two drunken idiots. The rest of the night was a blur with many gaps in the memory record, but I did apparently order ravioli (ps: I can’t even tell you when the last time I order $%#@ ravioli!?) at an Italian restaurant that I scantly remember being at.

Why are these pictures dark and out of focus? Well, I assure you there was nothing wrong with the camera, and everything wrong with the photographer!

Back at the hotel I tried to hold it together long enough to get a room after which I promptly went to bed….and by that I mean pass out cold.

Day 310 – Knight Key to Miami, Florida

Day 310 – Knight Key to Miami, Florida        06/27/11        Mileage: 116

It was hard to leave paradise but it was time to get back on the road north. I found a new rear sub-frame and sidecase rack for the bike and had them shipped to Miami. They were both damaged in the accident back in Venezuela and although the bike is clearly able to be ridden as is, I wanted to swap out those parts as soon as possible The parts were due to arrive at my cousins house back in Miami so that was my destination. As luck would have it I pulled up just as the UPS truck was making the delivery….sweet! So with the new rack and sub-frame in hand, I set about swapping them out. Unfortunately this was no small feat as I had to take the back end of the bike almost completely apart.

Vespa parking only?

Luckily it all went better than I expected and with a quick trip to the hardware store for some replacement bolts, I had the bike back together in around 6 hours. Tomorrow I’m going to meet up with my friends John and Sabine who are on their way to Miami in route to Sao Paulo, Brazil….I can’t wait to see them!

Day 309 – Knight Key, Florida

Day 309 – Knight Key, Florida         06/26/11         Mileage: 0

The beer at the Sunset Grill was so cold and the camping at Knight Key was so good I decided to stay another day. Well, to be honest…the campsite was just OK…but the beer and food at the Sunset Grill was fantastic…and they had good wifi so I could get caught up on the blog and my beer drinking all at once. Maybe I am a good multitasker after all?

Today is my last day on the road…

Today is my last day on the road….

I’ve been putting in some long days in the saddle and I’m currently in northern Virginia. To sum up the last few days since leaving the Florida Keys, I met my friends John and Sabine in Miami just before they caught their flight to Brazil…we had a great time! I rode through Georgia, North Carolina, Virginia and took the Blue Ridge Parkway which is nothing short of spectacular! Today I’ll be arriving back in NJ to see many the friends I haven’t seen in ten months. Like all good things, this trip too must end…

More posts to follow soon…