Day 16 - Fort Pierce to Long Point Park

Thursday.

Once again, the dew in this state is crazy!

I spent some time shaking things out to accelerate the drying process, because I was h-u-n-g-r-y! After a slight delay due to flat tire #1, the 7 miles into town were pretty painless, and I reached my favorite eating establishment (with free internet) to eat.

As I was changing into my flip-flops, an older guy passed by and commented "so, you are riding cross country?". Many people have an idea I'm riding a long way, but only a small percentage of people will guess that I'm going coast to coast, so I was excited to talk with this guy. We chatted for a few minutes and then he went inside.

After I ordered food, the restaurant was pretty crowded, so the same guy proceeded to offer up half of his table. What a nice guy.

We chatted a little more about bicycling, and then he told me he was down to take his boat out for a spin because he hadn't run the engine in a while. After a few minutes, he asked if I wanted to help him take his boat out and cruise around for a while.

But of course! (Again, this not having a 'tight schedule' really helps)

So, Ernest and I took his boat out, cruised around the bay and then the ocean for a while, and then back to the loading ramp. Afterwards, we sprayed down the boat, and put it back in the storage lot.



Boat Cruise.

Once again, another win-win situation for me. It made Ernest's life easier to get his boat in and out of the water with my help, and it made my life cooler by going on a boat ride with a complete stranger!

What a day.

Also, I saw the coolest boat in all of Florida. Rock Chalk!


After the boating escapade, I rode another 35 miles up to another county campground. (this picture was cooler in my mind)

This campground is called Long Point Park. It's a pretty nice park, with lots of camping. On Thursday night, there were a number of spaces available, but Friday was a different story. All booked up. The state park campground right down the road was also full up. In a surprise to only me, almost every campground in the state is booked on the weekends in and around spring break. A hotel will certainly be expensive, and I didn't have internet in the park to search for a last minute Warmshower. So, I tried my best to become friendly.

I'm really bad at asking people for help. Really bad. Example, when it comes to asking people to donate to my MS Bike Ride fundraising, I always feel super awkward. This situation is no different.

Luckily for me, I ran into my long time friend, Tom. (As far as the park is concerned we are friends) Tom, his wife and his daughter are camping at the park on Thursday and Friday night, and were gracious enough to let me use the back corner of their campsite. Way cool!

In yet another instance of people being awesome, my accommodation crisis has been averted again. Big thanks! Maybe Mrs. "B's" 5th grade class can follow my progress on a map, and I owe them a postcard from San Diego once I finally get there.

Day 16 - 42 Miles
Trip to date - 704 miles