Larry met a new friend!

There are numerous sculptures like this in one area of downtown Key West that are amazingly lifelike.

This is the last entry in the blog. We all head home bright and early tomorrow morning.

It was a great trip and it was a real pleasure riding with both Larry and Hal.

Today was a rest day. We helped Larry box up his bike so he can ship it home tomorrow. And, Hal and I will pick up a rental car at Key West airport tomorrow morning so we can drive home.

Key West is an interesting and quirky place. Among other things there are feral chickens running around everywhere.

Larry is about to ride onto a seven mile bridge leaving Marathon Key.

On the way to Key West on highway U.S. 1 we had to cross numerous bridges connecting the chain of small islands called keys. In this picture we are riding on a relatively new bridge. The old bridge on the right of the photo was one of the original railroad bridges used by the railroad from Homestead, FL to Key West, FL. It was built in the early 1900s. After a hurricane destroyed the railroad a roadway was built on top of the bridge. Some of the old bridges have been made into bicycle/pedestrian bridges.

This was on a small concrete structure next to the monument marking the southernmost point in the U.S. in Key West.

We stopped in downtown Key West where Highway U.S. 1 starts in Key West.

Hal and Larry at the southernmost point in the U.S.

Andy at the southernmost point in the U.S.

Larry appears to be contemplating that he is sitting only 90 miles north of Cuba.

We are at the southernmost point of the U.S. we started the trip in mid-August at the easternmost point of the U.S.

Hal cycling along the waterfront in Key West. There a nice bike which started near the motel and took us along the ocean and eventually to the downtown Key West area.

After a pretty leisurely 52 mile ride we arrived at the Days Inn in Key West where we checked in.

We then explored Key West via bicycle and ended the day covering a total of 62 miles. Our total trip distance was approximately 3,200 miles.

Above is Fred and Shary who are from the Philly area. They have been cycling for the past five months. They bicycled the west coast of the U.S. and then the east coast. We had been a few days behind them traveling down the coast and tried to hook up unsuccessfully several times. They ultimately arrived in Key West before us and were heading north by car towards home when they passed on us on the highway about 25 miles north of Key West. We stopped at a restaurant and they treated us to lunch while we compared stories about our trips.

Congratulations from Facebook friends.

Big bird hanging out near our motel this morning

Sunrise this morning.

An interesting flower along the bike trail.

Also, a short video of Andy riding in Curry Hammock state park:

www.lawprofessor.org/video/IMG_0833.MOV

Today was an easy day and we explored some state parks along the way. One of them - Long Key state park - had campsites right on the ocean. Larry decided to camp to save money because motels and private campgrounds are progressively more expensive as we get closer to Key West.

Hal and I continued on and at about 40 miles we had a nice lunch break. However, when we went to start riding after lunch I realized my front tire was soft - a flat! After removing the tire I found a very short and thin metal shard in the tire which had punctured the tube. Hal patched the tube for me since he is much better at patching then I am. I usually just replace the tube when I get a flat. Unfortunately, after reinstalling the tube and tire the end of the presta valve broke off when I was inflating the tire. So I had to take off the tire a second time and install a new tube. We decided to only go another few miles to the city of Marathon and call it a day. Total mileage today was 43 miles. That leaves only about 47 miles to reach Key West tomorrow. As of today we have ridden a total of about 3,140 miles.

Tomorrow we are all staying at a motel in Key West because we discovered it was cheaper than staying at a campground in Key West.

Larry riding across one of the bridges connecting the Keys.

We saw similar warning signs about alligators in SC and other parts of Florida

Do you really have to tell people not to harass alligators and crocodiles? Wouldn't common sense dictate that you shouldn't annoy such animals?

One thing I don't like about Florida - snakes. This sign was located at the beginning of one of the keys.

Larry's rack bag seems to be listing to one side!

Larry scared some birds standing on the bike path.

Hal riding on the bike path today.

Larry riding on the boardwalk in Long Key state park.

Andy riding on the boardwalk in Long Key state park.

Hal riding on the boardwalk in Long Key state park.

Several of the Keys are connected by long bridges. The bridge for cars is on the right. The old highway bridge is on the left. The old bridge originally was for a railroad that went from Homestead, FL to Key West, FL in the early 1900s. The railroad operated until the 1930s when it was severally damaged by a hurricane. A highway was subsequently built on top of the railroad bridges. New highway bridges were built next to the old railroad bridges and some of the old bridges were converted to a bicycle/pedestrian path which is on the left.

Hal crossing the water near Marathon Key.

I saw a bunch of Iguanas today. Sometimes they stand perfecting still as if they think you won't notice them if they are not moving.

Passed this sign in the morning. We may or may not ride all the way to Key West today.

So far we have been able to ride on a bike path through the Keys.

I like this sign. It was in a restaurant we had breakfast at this morning.

Hal eating Key Lime pie on a stick.

Long Key state park which is about 65 miles north of Key West. One of the few parks with campsites right on the beach on the ocean.

These little lizards (2" or so) were everywhere this morning. They scamper about as you walk around. Too fast to photo usually but Hal took this photo of one on the outside of the bathroom window.

Getting ready to leave this morning from the Cocoanut Cove motel.

Our motel tonight on Windley Key. Windley Key is not much more than a mile long.

The wind continues to blow out of the NE non-stop which makes riding very easy.

Finished early today but still managed 54 miles. During lunch it rain pretty hard but shortly afterward the sun came out. We stopped just north of Isamorada which leaves us about 84 miles to Key West and two days to get there.

Andy on the lookout for crocodiles.

Larry riding on the Keys in Crocodile Refuge.

Larry and Andy crossing the bridge to the Keys this morning.

Our lunch stop today near Rock Harbor. Only about 95 miles left to reach Key West!!

After leaving Homestead, FL this morning we headed through low lying swampy land. We crossed Card Island Sound onto the Keys and entered the Crocodile Wildlife Refuge. We had a headwind for awhile this morning but once we turned onto US 1 we had a tailwind. As a result we covered over 40 miles by noon.