From Fort Lauderdale to Melbourne
From Fort Lauderdale to Melbourne
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It is hot and humid in Fort Lauderdale. Nine in the morning and the temperature is fast approaching the eighty-degree mark. I can't do anything without sweating bullets. Now I realize that I lost a lot more liquid yesterday than I realized.
So what better time to lose your ignition key? Well not actually lose it but misplace it. I have already been down to the bike once to unlock it. I know I had it earlier today. Back up to the room, no luck. Did it fall out of my pocket as I walked across the lawn and pool area when I took my room keys out of my pocket? Back and forth, but there is no sign of the key. Unpack the right hard bag -- no luck. I take a cursory look into the left hard bag. I didn't unpack it this morning. Where is it? Finally I go back and tear apart the left hard bag &endash; because it is the only place I haven't searched yet. And there it is -- in the bottom of the case. I have no idea how it got there. But my shirt is soaked through with sweat but at least I can leave.
In the forty minutes that I've been looking for the key the weather is getting ready to turn. The clouds are lower and grayer and heavier. I know I need to get rolling as fast as possible to stay get as far north as possible. Only a few miles out of Fort Lauderdale there is a brief downpour and I pull off the interstate and put all my rain gear on and stow the cameras.
On and off for the next fifty miles, I get a face full of rain and then the road is dry. It is the oddest things. At one point the lanes on the other side of the interstate is wet but my side is dry.
At Fort Pierce, I pull of the interstate to head over to Highway 1. This was my plan and despite the bad weather, I really want to ride along the ocean. It is raining cats and dogs. The less busy highway helps me to avoid all the spray kicked up by large trucks. The downside is a lot of stops and starts on pavement that frequently includes painted arrows, numbers etc. I confirm that is for good reason that automotive engineers use wet painted asphalt to test antilock braking systems.
I stop for gas north of Fort Pierce. The clerk tells me that the rain is expected to last all day. This is not good. But I screw my courage up to try to get to Cocoa Beach. If I make it, I'll be back on track.
At Sebastian, I head back to Interstate 95. The weather is not letting up and if this is going to last all day -- I'd rather hit my objective and get out of the rain as fast as possible.
Within a couple miles there is an accident. Some idiot in a cozy, dry Ford Ranger has managed to get it up on the guardrails facing the wrong way. The sky is now black and the rain is pouring down. I've got about 35 miles to go, less than an hour and I'm at my goal. Then out of the corner of my eye -- a lightening bolt. This is NOT good. Time to find a hotel and get out of this muck. It is a bit of a nerve jangler for the next three miles until civilization in the form of a Howard Johnson and Shoney's beckon.
I'm in tonight trying to get caught up on my tales of Key West and the to watch Survivor Finale. Tomorrow a visit to Kennedy Space Center and a drive to Jacksonville.
Depart Fort Lauderdale on East Sunrise heading west.
Enter Interstate 95 heading north.
Exit I-95 onto Florida 70 heading east.
Turn right onto US Route 1 heading north.
Near Wabasso, turn onto County Road 512 heading west.
Enter I-95 heading north.
At Melbourne exit I-95 onto US 192 heading east.
Arrive Melbourne, FL
(c) 2001 Thomas N. Engler Revision Date: 05/02/2001 revised
11/08/2001
