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.