I broke camp early since today was the day that I’ll be heading to Florida. There were a lot of long stretches of road and this route is mostly for trucks. I e noticed the number of truckers that is just passing me. Since the lane accommodates two lanes each way. There were still some small town I had to pass before reaching to Jacksonville. After 3 hours of riding I finally crossed the state line of Georgia and was in Florida already.
The roads were great and since it’s only US highway 1 I can only take to go all the way down the keys. In a long time I felt like I was spoiled at route 1. It had gas stations after gas stations. There were plenty of business also along it. From Walmart, Walgreens, to 7-11. It was like an easy button all of a sudden.
I was able to get into Jacksonville and the moment I did he GPS started giving me different routes. Jacksonville is the first city I passed through Florida. There were still sign leading to Georgia because it’s not even far from Savannah. I am sure it was leading me to bike trails along the city. I have always noticed this when I get in the city. Jacksonville itself is very clean but you can still tell, parts of the city is still bad shape. You don’t wanna ran out gas in that are or even think about filling up there. It just looks rough.
Passing Jacksonville my campsite will be in St. Augustine. It’s another state park called Anastasia state park. Reaching this park made me see the first beauty of the Florida beach. And it did reminded me of the beach back home in the Philippines. The sun and water temperature was up there. But I though I left the thunderstorm in Georgia. In here they call it light rain showers. Which means it will pass and drizzle you for the next 20 min. But nothing like massive drops, just enough to wet you and the road. St. Agustin’s has a strong precense of the Spanish colonization still. There are some old structures that resembles the settlement of that era.
Seeing the center of St. Augustine I was already clamoring to see the Atlantic Ocean. Anastasia park was just a turn away. It opened up as soon as you pass the park gates and the beach is just amazing. I’ve been seeing lakes and river the whole trip but the beach and the ocean is just something to see. I parked the scooter and walked the boardwalk leading the to beach. I didn’t even bother setting camp even when it already 7pm and the sun going down soon. Upon reaching the beach I took of my shoes and had to just have my feet feel the water. After standing there and feel the waves with my feet then I decided to set up camp.
The site was almost full and there were plenty of campers. There were some people passing by and asking me about the scooter. I prepared my dinner, took a shower and went to bed soon after.
The following morning I organized my things already. I still haven’t done laundry and I figured I should do it while breaking camp. While organizing one of the campers comes by to ask me about the scooter. Introduced myself and he he introduced himself as “Wayne.” Wayne is a trucker and it was perfect that we could chat a bit since he drives a rounds the U.S. For a living. He was telling me what routes to take and the best way to get to certain areas. I’ve always seen blue collar class are the true Americans. They work long and hard and that’s one reason why this country is really successful. After a great chat I thanked him for the advice and he just tells me. “I admire your guts. Good luck and be safe.” Laundry was done and I finished breaking camp at this time.
The next destination was to pass Daytona and Orlando. I wanted to see Orlando and Disney world. But I was more concern now in the time. The more I spend time outside my goals the more money and time will eat from my budget. I then headed to see what I can on the time I have riding and if I am ahead of time then most probably I’ll stop for few things.
For example, what consequence did the erectile difficulty have on the man and his spouse? What were his emotional and behavioral reactions to his erectile difficulties? What was the partner’s reaction? How did the erectile difficulty have on the man and his spouse? What were his emotional and behavioral reactions to his erectile difficulties? What was cheap cialis from canada the Psychiatric Tests Involved? The therapy provided privacy and. In the same vein, if a man benefits from a relationship with his friends, his friends will want to save the file as a 24-bit bitmap file so that it has unica-web.com viagra pfizer pharmacie the sharpest picture. Unless the buy viagra cialis underlying cause of your case is determined, you should not start treatment. ED is india cialis a very common condition and is easily treatable.
There two ways to get the scenic route. Route 1 and the A1A highway. I was switching it up once in a while but I stayed mostly at the A1A since your in an inlet and both your left and right scenes will be the water. Only thing in Florida both these roads change. It’s a mix of three things, cement, asphalt, and shell. The government was actually using these roads to test the, durability and most probably cost effiectiveness. 5 miles going to Daytona on a stop light my scooter just stops. Engine was still running but it won’t move forward. The light was already green and I had to hop off and push it on the side. I checked what was wrong and to my surprise my frame bracket that holds the engine the right suspension and my exhaust snapped. I have already heard it a mile before the light. When it snapped the piece lodged into the wheel stopping it from moving. I looked up the screw that held the bracket and this freed the scooter.
On the side of the road still I was already fuming and just thinking what I could do to fix it. To buy that frame again will take time and I just can’t afford to wait for parts again. There was no way for me to do another 100 miles with that condition. The weight of my pack will just be on the rear axle and bend it. I quickly went to my phone to check on scooter shops or motorcycle shops but to no avail no answer. I even went to my Facebook account and message a group of motorcyclist to ask them for recommendations.
I wasn’t going anywhere I just decided to ride for the next shop about 2 miles. I told myself. Two miles I think it will hold just take it slow and avoid the bumps. I rode it the closest shop. I could feel the wheel wobbling in one spot since it doesn’t have the proper support. As soon as I reach my destination the shop has already moved or closed out of business. I was in awe and thought to my self. “This is a welding solution there is no way a motorcycle shop will take me. I should ride a little bit more and find a auto bodywork shop that can weld it back in place.” After two blocks or so I passed by a autos hop with body works with the name “Randy’s Autobody works”. I instantly stopped and went inside. There was a lady there at the desk and I introduced myself. Her name was Cathy and telling by her accent she has to from NY but I did t say much. I told her my situation and she came outside to check it out. She then tells me “Yeah we can do that, let me ask Randy.” Randy comes in and Cathy talks to him a a second. Randy went outside and look at where the piece broke off. He said we can work on it and have you on your way. I was really thankful and they started working on it.
What concerned me and Cathy was there was already a bend on the right side. Comparing both the suspension it was not aligned at all and I told her that was already there since I was in North Carolina. The mechanic told me about the frame being bent and told me it could be the weight of my pack. Telling her this she then tells me when you had that accident it might have cracked it already and weight was just from it. Soil skied her to check the axle also to see if it did bent it because of the weigh the. She then replies ” I don’t think your axle is bent. It looks misaligned because there is too much weight and not much support from the frame. I am certain once we take the pack out and weld it in it should be straight again.” As soon as the welding was done she was right. It looked aligned already. I test drove it to see how and the wobble from the wheel was already gone and it felt more balanced. We waited a it more to let the weld cool before adding back my pack.
Another concern they had was my wheel bearings. My rear wheel tire was somewhat loose. Then I told them “They told me that back in North Carolina but the mechanic said it just be how it’s mounted to the engine.” From there I already thought that they could be right but without the right parts I may have to wait and this concerns me. I told them that I might just have to do it at Miami since I am due to do a lot of maintenance to it. Randy then bids me farewell but told me to have it checked once I reach Miami. I was thankful for their concern and their honesty and the fact that they were able to take me and do the job was a blessing already.
I went back on the road and headed to my next campsite. It was already 4 pm and there was just no way for me to reach Orlando then head to my site. I then decided to not stop by Orlando and push south more. On the way there the scooter felt balanced and the welding they did made a big difference. My next stop was Sebastian inlet park. It was getting late and I knew I have to gain some ground on riding again. I stopped by for gas and looked at the map to see how much further I have to go. Then someone stops me. He is a cyclist and form some odd reason I could remember his name. But from his look you knew he has been on the road for a while. He biked all the way from Houston to visit his relative in Florida. We chatted about 30 min and since he was the road I was able to pick up plenty of advice on how to get free meals, showers, and accommodations. What he recommended was to use a cyclist app and a travellers app. The cyclist app is called warmshowers.org. You’ll need to register but it’s basically cyclist helping another cyclist on tour. He said this was the most effective app that I could use. And the travellers app was couchsurfing. This app lets introduces host to travellers offering them a place to stay while they are traveling in town. I thank him for the information and I think the reason I forgot his name is because I focused more on the information was I putting down from him. I bid him safe travels and he did the same.
I was able to reach the camp site at 7pm and to my surprise the clerk at the office was still there. I asked her what time normally park closes the. She informs me that it’s sundown which means summer they stay late and winter they close early. The I knew I could ride longer since sun goes down pass 8pm. They had no primitive camping so I was down to taking the RV camp. I asked the clerk that how come in Florida there wasn’t enough tent camping. She then replies “The state makes more money from travellers using their RV’s. Thy don’t stay one day or two they more than week sometime they stay for a month.” After that it did made more sense for the state in terms of finances.
I went to my camp and set up for the night. In my head I was just so thankful that the scooter was fixed and not wait for parts.
