Florida East Coast

 Florida East coast

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 Day 4 February 22nd 2016 continued.
       
     After I finished drooling at Bruce Rossmyeres Harley Davidson I rode down to highway 1 and had lunch at the world famous iron horse saloon, another tip from my boss as a must stop.  I had a burger and it hit the spot.  After lunch  I hit highway A1A and followed that to Main Street where they have bike week It was only a few days away and people were busy setting up.

      

      I parked the bike and went on foot to explore some of the shops before walking down to the board walk of the famous Daytona Beach. After a good hike I returned to old faithful and road the rest of A1A coast line before returning to the mainland and highway 1.

 A few miles down the road I came to a place called New Smyrna beach. A co worker of mine has purchased a condo here and now I understand why. I went off route for another ride down the A1A coastline. Not sure if I passed my co workers condo but there were many. The area was more laid back then Daytona. After following A1A to the end I found that I had to back track all the way back to the entrance. By far worth the side track. 

      Back on highway 1, I had open roads to Titusville. I rode  on to Cape Canaveral. I had time to kill before getting to the hotel so I road to Cocoa Beach for another poker chip. This area is pretty cool. Lots of surfing activity. I road all the way down A1A to the end again and returned back to Cape Canaveral. I kept envisioning in my head of all the astronauts that would have trained and flew from here.  These Ladies and Gentleman have travelled the same roads I was doing.  

     It was getting late but there was a side road that caught my attention. Not sure if it's a real shuttle in the scrap yard but it sure looked like one. On this side road I found a movie prop company with some neat items on display.   I high tailed it back to Titusville where I am a quick scoot over the bridge in the morning for the Kennedy space centre day.

Day 5 February 23rd, 2016

  

       My day started with a 12 mile ride to Merritt island and the Kennedy space centre. I got to the parking lot at 8:30am. Being a planner worked to my benefit today. I had maps schedules and daily shows all lined up just had to execute. People that know me I'm a bit of a time keeper. First stop the shuttle Atlantis exhibit and launch ride. As I entered the building so many memories came back to me. I was awe struck to say the least. One of the neatest things about the shuttle was the Canada arm on it. Still makes me proud to think of the Canadian contributions to the space programs. 

     

         There was many of simulators around the building. One that I enjoyed was landing the shuttle. And I must say I only crashed it once. As I followed the exhibits it lead me to the launch simulator which was pretty cool and I'm told pretty realistic. After I got out I high tailed it to the bus tour where we went out to launch pad a and b and witnessed many cool historic and future technologies. The bus dropped us off at the Apollo Saturn museum and took in a few more exhibits before returning to the visitor centre just in time to catch a 3D space iMax presentation. After that I walked around catching a few more shows before returning to my bike with kickstand up at 2:00 pm.

  

        I headed south and rode the entire Merritt island to its end lots of cool acreage type houses. I was playing cat and mouse with a rain cloud so I turned to highway one to try to get ahead of it. My attention returned to highway a1a and the coastline and I came across gated community after gated community. There was some really nice properties along this rout. The only down side is that the schools got out and because you could not pass traffic was at a stand still every block for the buses. I returned to highway 1 to carry on my ride.

           Just as I got in to Fort pierce the skies opened up and the rains fell hard. Caught out in the open I figured it's a good time fuel up ;) I waited for the rain to die down but no foreseeable change. I Booked a room 26 miles down the road in Stuart Florida. I dug out a dry jacket and clear riding glasses and continued in the rain. About 6 miles out the rains stopped which allowed me to collect a poker chip here then hit the hotel to dry out for the night.

Day 6 February 26th, 2016 

        Departed at 8:00 am. Fear of rain and clouds quickly subsided as I rode off in to an amazing sunrise. I left Stuart on highway 1 and followed it down to the a1a highway at Jupiter beach. This was a neat little coastal strip passing Jupiter and Juno beaches. Lots of people out for their morning jogs. After connecting with highway 1 I rode until I hit my first stop of west palm beach to collect my first poker chip of the day. A detour found my self entering the turn pike. On this stretch of free way I passed a motorcade of police bikes escorting 3 black SUV's. Every time there was a vehicle on the side of the road there was a police bike parked beside it. Same with gaps in the turnpike. I lost count after 54 bikes all flashing the blue and reds. 

     I made it to Fort Lauderdale Harley Davidson at 11:00 and purchased the second poker chip of the day. After riding east out to the Fort Lauderdale beaches my attention took me south on the A1A. After about 20 miles down I decided I still needed to check off swimming in the Atlantic Ocean off my bucket list. I found a nice beach and parked my bike. The water was refreshing and a lot warmer then I was expecting.

      About three o'clock my attention went to finding a hotel for the night. I went on to hotels.com (no I do not work for them) and searched out a place that was normally $345 cad a night on sale for $168 cad a night. Because hotels.com has a thing stay 10 nights and get a free one. After taxes the room only cost me $34cad for the night. To stay in surf side Miami beach is pretty cool. After check in I was feeling good after 3 hours of rest and relaxation, and4 the deal on the room. I decided well there is one last Harley dealership left on the list Miami beach. Pardon the language but fuck. This was a bad mistake. It started out well until I made my way to the I 95 freeway for down town. Stop and go, stop and go. It was just 12 miles away I thought. I could do this. The path of travel took me an hour to complete and I found myself across from American Airlines centre. The Miami Heat were playing by the looks of the jerseys Golden state. Across from the arena is this huge shopping complex. The last Harley Davidson was close. As I tried to park in the parking lot a mean looking lady. And she probably was nice but at this point I stand by my words, says  no motorcycles. The look I must of given her. So u turn. now what? do I turn back to the hotel or hit the dealership 16 miles away. Decisions were made. I'm not saying good decisions but decisions. The freeway heading the other way yeah let's try that. It's on route to my hotel, if it gets too much I will exit. Fuck ...... Stop and go, stop and go, stop and go well you get the idea. The heat from my engine was torture on my umm some say sun kissed some say sun burned legs. Decision time. I'm getting off this thing. Exit closed....... Really? Ok back across 5 lanes of traffic. Carry on keeping on. 

         I got to the dealership 40 minutes later. After buying my last poker chip a sense of relief followed by a sense of heat exhaustion. Water I asked? I found a water fountain and a cup. I sat on that couch for 20 minutes downing cup after cup of water. Weather report? That rain was still suppose to hit. Starts at 5:00pm it says, goes until midnight. What time is it? 5:30pm. Got to go. Back on the bike I headed south east back towards A1A. The rain was coming in from the west. I could feel the odd drop. I managed to stay ahead of it until 6 miles out. Let it rain I thought. I was already shivering from the heat overload. Pulled up to the hotel locked the bike up. My shivers turned to warmth as I got under my covers for a 30 minutes nap.

      On a side note. Not sure who was in first motorcade but Air Force one with Obama was due in at 1:30. Maybe he came early. It also explains why the freeway was packed. He came back through at the time I was on it. 

Day 7 February 27th, 2016

      Last day with the bike. I left the room around 9:00 stopped off for breakfast then continued my way to the end of a1a at south point Miami beach. Very cool area. Miami can be relaxing with out the rush hour traffic. Road across a neat bridge called Mac Arthur causeway over to down town Miami. This is where the some of the cruise ships port. I then proceeded to ride to the Key Biscayne. Riding through a couple really neat parks. At last good things come to an end sometimes. One last ride on the freeway led me the Eagle Rider to return the bike. I am all checked in to my hotel in Miami springs. I fly out tomorrow morning back to Canada.