Day 7 (21 May). South Florida

From: West Palm Beach, FL

To: Homestead, FL

Miles today: 202

Total miles: 1790

The only apparent way to avoid the traffic congestion of the greater Miami-Ft Lauderdale metropolitan area from the motel is to ride west, to the middle of the state, and then turn south.  I took US 98 west, and as hoped traffic cleared out after about ten miles. The west road and the south road (US 17) intersect at the edge of Lake Okeechobee, and I wanted to see it.  Interestingly, there is a dike (not a levee!) about 30 feet high that apparently goes all the way around it, presumably for flood control.  As a result, you can’t see the lake from the road.  So I drove around the nice little town of Pahokee, Florida, and found a way over the dike to a small park with a cement pier for boats and fishing.

Lake Okeechobee,from a park in the town of Pahokee.

The day was hot, so I continued turned south through the northern parts of Everglades National Park. It was hot and humid (it is still just May), and very flat with few trees.  The periphery of the park included some farmland.  US 17 led a two-lane road, FL 997, that went directly to Homestead (at the south end of the Miami region, and on the cusp of the Keys).  I took it, and it was remarkably empty for all but the last ten miles.  I pulled into a hotel in Homestead around 3:30 pm; this was to avoid the afternoon thunderstorm, which I now expected.    

South Florida vista.  Tall corn for May 21!

The location of the hotel was near the beginning of state road 9336, which is one of the few roads through the southern Everglades.  It goes to the nominal town of Flamingo, on the south coast, about 50 miles away.  I asked the hotel people if the afternoon storm was inevitable (“you can set your watch by it,” someone else had said), but they told me that it was too early in the season for that. I looked at my “weatherbug” app, and it said All Clear for the next several hours, so I thought I’d take the chance.  I brought my rain gear just in case (leaving most of my stuff behind at the hotel), ignored the rumbles of thunder I heard in the background, and headed out.

I was about 10 miles past the edge of town and into the Everglades when it became viscerally apparent that there would, indeed, be a significant thunderstorm that afternoon.  I saw a bolt of lightning actually hit the ground (disconcerting on a motorcycle!), and saw the earth actually glow orange and then red for a fraction of a second.  The thing about the Everglades that drew my attention at that particular moment is that it is really, really flat, and I was just about the highest thing around.  I turned around and headed back, but it was already too late to avoid the deluge and high winds.  The rain was so heavy I could only see a few tens of feet in front of me.  Eventually I got out of the park and telephone poles appeared (higher than me!).  Finally, I made it back to town.  Between the lightening and the torrential rain, I think I can say that I have never been so glad to see a traffic light in my life.

NOT what you want to see ten miles out into the Everglades!

OK, tomorrow the Florida Keys.