Don and I spent Saturday night in Florida City, organizing to begin our self-supported ride south.  We each packed a pannier plus some front packs.  Our ride to Key Largo on Sunday was only 35 miles, but we wanted to get an early start to avoid some of the traffic.  The Card Sound bridge looks ominous, but we were able to spin up it without difficulty.  There were a number of other cyclists out enjoying a Sunday outing.

Only stop along the way was at the Crocodile Lake Preserve – sadly no crocodiles, but did enjoy a butterfly flitting among in the flower garden.

After dropping our panniers at our Key Largo hotel, we went to the John Pennekamp State Park and took a glass-bottom boat trip to the only barrier coral reef in the U.S.  The reef extends 160 miles off the east coast of Florida.

Kent and Anne Ellis from Ft Wayne arrived after 2+ days drive – they will be our companions on this trip.   We walked to dinner nearby at Skipper’s Dockside, passing by the African Queen docked nearby.  And during dinner, a pelican visited on the nearby pylon.

Monday morning, after last minute organizing, we were off to Marathon, deciding to have breakfast in Islamorada.  We enjoyed our food and a friendly waitress Chrissy at Bob’s Bunz.

We arrived in Marathon before noon, dropped off our gear at the hotel, and headed to Burdine’s for lunch, recommended by Ian and Cheryl.

Then we took a tour of the Turtle Hospital, another Ian and Cheryl recommendation.

I’ll continue the post and photos tomorrow.