27.1 miles (43.7097 km's)…54,991 steps…$0.91 in loose change (no paper money today!)…findings for the day: 1 car/boat/motor homing washing sponge (in wrapper), 2 quarters, 3 dimes and 11 pennies…wildlife sighted: several iguanas of various sizes, several Key deer (all small!!)
Today I walked to honor "Joe", born in 1925 and a WWII veteran. After Pearl Harbor he and his father enlisted together. Joe is a new neighbor at my new home (for a week) at the Fishing Lodge. I also walked to honor another new neighbor, Barb, a cancer survivor. Very best wishes to both of you and Joe, thank you for your service.
The weather cooperated in assisting me to active my goal of making it across the Seven Mile Bridge in that it was hot to start with and only got hotter as the day wore on. It took me 1 hour and 55 minutes to make the 6.9 mile (11.1290 km's) span. Crossing the bridge was like some roads I took across central Montana or South Dakota except here I had water on both sides, there it was grain fields.
One interesting experience of the day happened just after I got off "the" bridge. Through my $4.00 ear plugs (welcome to the Keys!!!) I heard my name. Two young woman were walking in my direction asking if I was the guy walking from British Columbia. As it turns out Cristina and Ann are friends with Meredith Greenwood in New Hampshire down here on spring break. Thank was VERY cool! A few picks later and best wishes all around and I was on my way again.
At days end we stopped just a wee bit south of mile marker 22 on Cudjoe Key. Tomorrow, after breakfast with friends, it will be on the Key West and mile marker ZERO!!! After today 22 miles will seem like a walk in the park! Dinner at The Wharf was pretty tasty as was the conversation with our server, Sue, an ultra-runner and Ben the bartender the cyclist. Life is so very full of adventures, all we have to do it reach out and grab them. Seize the day, as Robin Williams so eloquently put it in Dead Poets Society.
See ya'll in Key West on the 14th. CHEERS!!!