December 20th, 2007 | categorizilation: all categories,USA (FLorida)
Today’s distance / 今日の走行距離: 18.6 miles / 29.9km
Average speed / 平均速度: 8.6mph / 13.9km/h
Time on skateboard / 走行時間: 2h 08m
Total skateboarding distance to date / 今までスケボで走った距離: 1087mi (plus 266mi) / 1749km (plus 430km)
Ascent / 上り: negligible
Descent / 下り: negligible
End-of-day GPS coordinates: N27.55.034, E082.31.019
Last night I slept possibly the best I ever have slept outside in the US so far. A soft bed of leaves, temperatures that dropped down to near freezing (keeps the bugs away), not even a hint of rain, and best of all, a clean sleeping bag! I spent most of Tuesday afternoon washing my sleeping bag – the first time in more than five years – and it made the world of difference. I was nervous about washing the bag, since it is filled with down. Very difficult to dry. However Bob’s big dryer made short work of it, and now it’s all nice a fluffy again.
So factor in a nice deep sleep, and a knowledge that I only had a miximum of 20 miles to skate todayto my destination, and I was a happy boy, the morning sun slowly warming the ground and air as I skated in the early haze through Bloomingdale.
I arrived in Tampa in plenty of time, at around 10am. I skated through the impressive downtown area – a very tidy and clean-cut, modern town with wide streets and pavements.
There was some degree of drama when I visited the John F. Germany Public Library however. I walked in, and noticed a box near the doorway that stated ‘If Your Belongings Do Not Fit Into This Box, Then You Are Not Allowed To Bring Them Into The Library’. I walked up to the information desk, informed the staff that I was traveling through the area, and if it was possible to leave my bags somewhere while I checked the internet. My bag certainly didn’t fit into the box, niether did my skateboard.
The friendly desk assistant called her supervisor, and after a while the on-duty deputy arrived also to assess the situation. The answer was no. “Unfortunately you are not able to leave your bags anywhere on the library property, Sir,” the deputy informed me.
“This is a government institution, and security regulations do not allow for our policies to be changed for anyone, traveler or not,” he told me.
“You see, we have many homeless people here in this area. If we bend the rules and allow you to bring your bags into the library, then that would be discrimination.”
The library supervisor continued with “Please realise that since 9/11, security has been tightened. There is risk of bombs and other sorts of issues.”
Blanket regulations. Gotta love them. In the end I complied, and wandered out of the library. I headed to the University of Tampa, to see if they would let me, the possible teorrist bomber into their library.
“Sure,” the librarian at the Tampa University Library said as I entered, “the computers are just over there. Feel free to use them.”
“Is there anywhere I should put my bag?” I asked.
“No, not really. Just put it where you can see it.”
Good on you, University of Tampa.
I took a wander afterwards, and found that the University of Tampa is quite the place. Old (in American terms), the university used to be a hotel. Beautiful corridors and interesting nooks and crannies…
At 2pm, I met up with an old buddy from my time working in Switzerland as part of this trip around the world. Rick Smith is his name, and he is a legend. He met me at the Bank of Tampa on Bayshore Blv. and took me back to his groovy home in South Tampa. I will be staying with him and his wife for Christmas, so it will be a week long break for me before heading off again.
We spent the evening catching some live ice hockey action, and then had great sushi at The Rack Sushi Bar.
December 19th, 2007 | categorizilation: all categories,USA (FLorida)
Today’s distance / 今日の走行距離: 61mi / 99.2km
Average speed / 平均速度: 9.8mph / 15.7km/h
Time on skateboard / 走行時間: 6h 18m
Total skateboarding distance to date / 今までスケボで走った距離: 1068mi (plus 266mi) / 1719km (plus 430km)
Ascent / 上り: negligible
Descent / 下り: negligible
End-of-day GPS coordinates: N27.52.549, E082.12.954
Look Mum! I’m in the paper again!
Kevin from the Newssun newspaper in Sebring has done an awesome job of summarising the last 1.5 years of my life. Thanks Kevin.
So I picked my copy of the Newssun in the morning, and it was a great start to an amazing day on the board. The longest day of skating in the US so far at 61 miles. Gentle ups and downs in the landscape plus no wind plus smooth roads. Just perfect.
My route today took me along highway 27 from Sebring to Avon Park, and then along the Avon Park Cut-Off road, along some more back roads, and then followed highway 640 all the way to near Bloomingdale. I passes more citrus groves, phosphorous mines, and was tooted at by the heavy phosphorous laden trucks that careened down the road.
On mini-plateaus (if you can call them that), small settlements of houses appeared on each side of the road. Around the houses was…nothing. No fences, trees, driveways. Just grass. The houses looked as though they had just been plonked there in the middle of the section.
My lovely cousin Rachel (www.callandergirl.co.nz) has asked a valid question. She asked if she could call my US cellphone (+1 305 484 0416) from New Zealand. The answer is YES! You can. I would recommend calling by Skype however. Should be a little cheaper for you. I still have to pay US$0.10 a minute to receive the call though (what’s up with that!?), so it might be a short call.
Also, Marco, a reader from Europe, recently said that he would appreciate my GPS coordinates so that he can follow me more easily. Thank you for the feedback, Marco, and you can see the end-of-day coordinates at the top of each post now. That is, you can see exactly where I was sleeping that night (to the nearest 5 metres or so).
December 18th, 2007 | categorizilation: all categories,USA (FLorida)
I ate some mysterious meat today. Or, hang on, I think this alligator meat was legal, so I guess I can call it Gator Meat. It’s only the stuff that has been acquired by dubious means that is called Mystery Meat…or so they say…whoever they may be…
In any case, Bob and the crew (Tiffany, Travis, Jason, Rob, Shalaila, Chase) took me out to savour some local flavour tonight at the Mad Turkey restaurant. On the menu was gator tail. The best in the area, apparently. No one makes it better than they do at the Mad Turkey, a real country bar on the outskirts of Sebring.
I enjoyed my gator tail greatly, as I had spent the afternoon wandering in the hammocks and ancient citrus groves of Sebring. We was fixin’ to find us sum gaters, but there was none.
A feature of Sebring and the surrounding areas is the ancient vibe of the trees. Old twisted oaks are draped with Spanish moss. Forget New Zealand for a Lord of the Rings set, the film makers need to discover central Florida.
Now the plan was to leave Sebring today, but Bob and Tiffany are those types who once you meet them, you never really want to leave. They inspired me to stay another day today, so I am off tomorrow. Thank you Bob and Tiffany, you are great. So is your zoo (they care for an opossum, two dogs, a parrot, a snake, and two cats).
December 17th, 2007 | categorizilation: all categories,USA (FLorida)
No skateboarding today. Had an interview with a local newspaper. Made the landing page for 14degrees.org a bit easier to navigate. Previously, the fancy Flash animation posed issues for some visitors to the site. I hope that the changes makes it a little easier.
Check it out here: 14degrees.org
Abuse and constructive criticism appreciated.
Must sleep now.
December 16th, 2007 | categorizilation: all categories,USA (FLorida)
Today’s distance / 今日の走行距離: 42mi
Average speed / 平均速度: 8.6mph
Time on skateboard / 走行時間: 4h 57m
Total skateboarding distance to date / 今までスケボで走った距離: 1006mi (plus 266mi)
Ascent / 上り: negligible
Descent / 下り: negligible
Citrus groves, rain, then headwinds. That’s the boring part.
The exciting part was that I was escorted into Sebring by Tiffany, girlfriend of Blue Lagoon Saloon part-owner Bob, and Tiffany was late for a wedding. Now, when she told me this, I figured that she must be in a hurry to get home and have a shower and do all those girl things that girls do before weddings. Ah, no. Fifteen minutes after arriving at the Blue Lagoon Saloon, Rus (27) and Lyn (21), two regulars at the Blue Lagoon Saloon bar and restaurant, were married there and then at a table in the restaurant.
I kid you not. The happy couple popped open a bottle of champagne after the ceremony, and it was all official.
Rus and Lyn had met in the Blue Lagoon Saloon three months earlier, and so they thought it appropriate that they should be legally married there. Lyn’s sister was the one to officiate the wedding. She is a notary public, and therefore has the power to make these things happen. Pretty original! I wish Lyn and Rus all the best.
December 15th, 2007 | categorizilation: all categories,USA (FLorida)
Today’s distance / 今日の走行距離: 51.5mi / 82.9km
Average speed / 平均速度: 9.3mph / 15km/h
Time on skateboard / 走行時間: 5h 30m
Total skateboarding distance to date / 今までスケボで走った距離: 964mi (plus 266mi) / 1551km
Ascent / 上り: negligible
Descent / 下り: negligible
Tailwinds and smooth roads continued today with the wonderful Lake Okeechobee Scenic Trail from South Bay to Moore Haven.
It’s days like this that make it all worth while. The last week or so skating into the wind up the Florida Keys was tough, and this was my reward.
Everglades with Lake Okeechobee in the distance. The dead trees, I learned, are dead for a reason. They are not native to the area, so the conservation officials are trying to get rid of them by ring barking them.
Blisters made their presence known today however so I removed the offending shoe and skated the rest of the day in my rubber sandals. It worked wonders.
I enjoyed more of the flat smooth skating past Moore Haven along Highway 27, no longer the congested highway I had experienced yesterday. The traffic was lighter, the shoulder wider.
I stopped in at Gatorama just before Palmdale, and opted to take a photo of an alligator for free rather than paying the entry fee into the theme park. Yes, that is dead alligator roadkill on the side of the road.
Instead of filling my water bottles at Gatorama, I decided that I would carry on to Palmdale, where there was sure to be a petrol station. Or so I thought. Palmdale is no more than a small settlement mostly of trailers on large plots of land. Concerned that I wouldn’t have enough water to make it to Sebring the next day, I decided to try asking at one of the trailers for water.
I picked a driveway t random, and started wandering up towards a large square building. There was movement inside, and when I was half way up the 200 metre driveway, a short man stepped out into the doorway. I waved, and he waved back. Looked a little wary of the guy wielding a very long skateboard.
I introduced myself, and explained why I was on his land. When I got to the building, I saw six other people there, all sitting around a picnic table inside the spacious building. “Well, I’m sure you’re on a schedule, and you’re most welcome to some water, but would you like to join us for dinner?” the short man said. He was about sixty, with a large potbelly.
There was a Christmas tree at one end of the building, and it appeared as though some sort of pre-Christmas party was in progress. I was introduced to Yolan, Nadia, Stephanie, Sabrina, Beverley, and the short man’s name was Jene.
On the menu for the dinner was potato, sweet potato, salad, and beef steaks. I accepted the invitation, and was treated to a wonderful meal, and homemade maple syrup icecream for desert.
It was a rather international dinner, with Jene and his daughter Beverley from Palmdale, and the others from the French speaking part of Canada. Yolan and co. were visiting from Canada for a few weeks.
By the time we had finished the feast, it was 10pm, and everyone was ready for bed. The others retired to their trailers, and Beverley got a large inflatable bed for me to sleep on in the building (or barn as Jene called it).
December 14th, 2007 | categorizilation: all categories,USA (FLorida)
Today’s distance / 今日の走行距離: 58.7mi / 94km
Average speed / 平均速度: 9.6mph / 15.5km/h
Time on skateboard / 走行時間: 6h 6m
Total skateboarding distance to date / 今までスケボで走った距離: 912mi (plus 266mi) / 1469km
Ascent / 上り: negligible
Descent / 下り: negligible
Wow. Talk about zoom zoom. A beautiful south easterly wind blew me all the way to South Bay today. A massive 55 mile plus day. It was not all happy days however. Tailwinds can have their disadvantages. Since I was traveling at the same speed as the wind, it was as though I was standing in full direct sunlight, with no breeze to cool me off. Actually, make that running vigorously on the spot in the direct sun with no breeze. I had my own little pocket of superheated air around me. I have never traveled with my shirt off, but today was an exception. It was sweltering. To make matters even more exciting, this 50-odd mile stretch of road featured very little in the way of facilities.
Oh and you may be interested to hear that I met a person who speaks English today…why might that be so interesting? Because all the other people I met yesterday and today only spoke Spanish. Rather strange. You’d think if you were working in a foreign country, you’d learn the language…apparently not.
Lots of sugar plantations around this area between Hialeah Gardens and South Bay. The Everglades have been drained and the lowlands have been put to work as agricultural gold fields.
December 13th, 2007 | categorizilation: all categories,USA (FLorida)
Today’s distance / 今日の走行距離: 31.4mi / 50km
Average speed / 平均速度: 8.3mph / 13.4km/h
Time on skateboard / 走行時間: 3h 46m
Total skateboarding distance to date / 今までスケボで走った距離: 854mi (plus 266mi) / 1374km
Ascent / 上り: negligible
Descent / 下り: negligible
I spent another damp night outside last night. Using my big plastic sheet I managed to keep most of the rain showers off, but I still woke up feeling wet and clammy. It is so humid here…
First stop for me this morning was The Call radio station. It was a six mile skate along the bus route from Homestead to the outskirts of Miami, where the radio station studio was. I arrived at the station, and Kelly, the announcer, was surprised to see me. I had not been able to get in contact with the station’s manager the night before, so tey didn’t know if I was going to be showing up or not. Kelly, in true radio anounder fashion, adapted to the apparent change in plans, and we did a live interview then and there.
The rest of the day consisted of enduring an endless clack…clack,clack….clack…..clack,clack as I skated through Miami on the slotted concrete pavements. Stopping and starting at intersections and traffic lights. Noisy cars. Bustling people. Hot, hot weather. Humid. Sweat. T’was not nice.
I followed some back roads to Okeechobee Road. Highway 27 as it is also called. This highway will lead me all the way to Sebring, my destination for the meantime. In Sebring I will be meeting Bob and Tiffany, a couple I met in Marathon in the Florida Keys. They have offered to put me up for a day or so before I carry on to Tampa.
Okeechobee Road is collossal. It is massive. Heavy traffic. But there is a frontage road so far today, where the traffic is lighter and the surface smoother.
When it got to around 5pm, I began looking for a place to crash for the night. With daylight hours only lasting until about 5:30pm, my skating hours are rather limited. I decided to head for the Hialeah Gardens sports ground, to see if they would let me stay the night there. The answer was no, but some of the parents of children at the sports ground heard me explaining what I was doing, and offered for me to stay at their place for the night. Thank you to Ana and her family for letting me sleep at their place!
December 12th, 2007 | categorizilation: all categories,USA (FLorida)
Today’s distance / 今日の走行距離: 34.1mi / 54km
Average speed / 平均速度: 9.9mph / 15.9km/h
Time on skateboard / 走行時間: 3h 27m
Total skateboarding distance to date / 今までスケボで走った距離: 822mi (plus 266mi) / 1323km
Ascent / 上り: negligible
Descent / 下り: negligible
Tailwinds, smooth roads, strong legs. What a difference a day makes! I finally managed to get off US1, the big, noisy, crowded highway that I have been following up the Florida Keys so far. I was on Monroe County Highway 905 for most of the day, heading either north or west. That means that there were no headwinds today. Also, the wonderful day off yesterday at the Flannery’s really made a world of difference. My legs felt strong, and I was feeling good. And of course the smooth road…pure bliss.
I have a big thank you to make; thank you to Carlos, a random stranger who pulled up ahead of me and treated me to lunch! Thank you so much Carlos for your hospitality and time. It was a pleasure to meet you.
The smooth roads continued after lunch along Card Sound road.
I had my route more or less worked out through Miami, where I would connect with highway 27 through the middle of Florida. This plan was torn apart however after a short chat with some road workers working on new bus lanes alongside US1 highway through Homestead.
“Krome Avenue?! You’re planning on skateboarding Krome Avenue? If you don’t get run over, you’ll get shot!” one worker warned.
I was told that on parts of Krome Avenue there were no pedestrian walkways, and it went through some very rough neibourhoods. And the traffic was very heavy. Plan A scrapped.
They recommended instead to follow the bus route all the way into Miami, and then find my way out of the city to Highway 27. The bus route had cycle paths all along the side of it, so I spent the rest of the afternoon following the newly paved cycle paths to Homestead, even though it was into the wind once again, heading north east.
Stopping at the Homestead Public Library, I called The Call FM, to arrange an interview for tomorrow morning. Rob Robbins from the radio station had emailed me and asked if I would drop by on my way through. Since it was on the way, I accepted. Due to lack of communications after the phone call from the library I missed one of The Call volunteers who had come to look for me to let me stay at their place, so I ended up sleeping in a dark corner of a graveyard in Homestead. Lovely. Gotta get a cellphone, I think.
December 11th, 2007 | categorizilation: all categories,USA (FLorida)
Today’s distance / 今日の走行距離: 0 miles
Average speed / 平均速度: 0 mph
Time on skateboard / 走行時間: 0h 00m
Total skateboarding distance to date / 今までスケボで走った距離: 788 miles (plus 266 miles)
Ascent / 上り: negligible
Descent / 下り: negligible
Resting today at the Flannery’s place. Wonderful family who have taken me in and are letting me stay a couple of nights. Which is just what I needed. After only three days of skating, my body has taken a toll. Swollen knees, bloated legs, blisters forming…
So I really hope that these problems will clear up after a day off. Taking it really easy today updating the website. Watched Sicko by Micheal Moore in the evening. Great film about the state of US public medical care…or the lack of it.
Thank you so much to Jack, Amy, Megan, and Erin for a very restful day and great food!
