Today’s weather was mostly sunny with highs of 92 on the road near Miami. Winds were light along the coast and the air was calm inland.

Day’s distance: 200 miles
Total trip distance: 6,502 miles

With my Key West stay completed, I returned to the road today. I had a great stay in Key West and can’t express enough my appreciation to my wonderful hosts and long time friends Andy and Kai.

It felt good to be back on the road though I could tell my body had gotten used to laying around the pool rather than sitting on a motorcycle. 🙂

My GPS unit wanted to use the most direct route off the island, but I took the long way around because it had just one stop light and was more scenic.

I had a pleasant trip up the Keys and stopped on Key Largo at The Buzzard’s Roost for lunch. It is located inside a marina and I passed by it the first time. This place was recommended by the Yoga on the Beach instructor, Don, if I remember correctly. Well it was good. I had Tuna Tacos, one of today’s specials. It came with Ahi tuna covered with a Cilantro Wasabe Aioli and seaweed.

Oh, I had a slice of Key Lime pie afterwards. I’ve been thinking about Key Lime pie since arriving in Florida. Cindy, my waitress today, says theirs is more custard-like, compared to others that are more like a cheese cake. They are made in house and my slice was quite yummy. Needless to say I recommend stopping here for a meal.

There are two ways off the Keys, Hwy 1 or the the Card Sound Road.

I took Hwy 1 on the way down, but Card Sound Road this time. The speed limits were mostly set at 45 and there was a bicycle lane down much of this route, but there was less traffic and it was a bit less developed.

My destination today was Ft. Lauderdale. I wanted to visit someone I worked with while at my last job. We have spoken over the phone and through email, but never met. He rides and invited me to visit back in December of 2013. Well, today some sixteen months later, I stopped by for a visit. 🙂

It was great to connect in person, share a meal and stories of travel and work and share our other interests. Thanks Eric for a really great visit. That made my day.

I had planned to stay in my first ever Airbnb accommodation tonight. I made a reservation to stay in a room at a house just a few block from Eric’s place. From the outside, the house looked like it was in very poor shape. There were holes in the soffits and an old mattress in the backyard.

When I looked inside, while the room seemed clean and looked just like the picture, the bathroom wasn’t. The host expected people to put their used toilet paper in a waste basket next to the toilet because the toilet would not flush otherwise.

I looked beside the toilet and there was an open basket of feces-laden toilet paper. I won’t show you that picture.

I didn’t stay another minute. While it took some emailing back and forth, I received a full refund from Airbnb and a $100 coupon good for a year should I want to try again.

I booked a room at a local Motel 6 and am looking forward to sleeping comfortably. Tomorrow I plan to get an early start.