Fort Lauderdale

 

We have enjoyed our time in Fort Lauderdale.  More than I expected, I admit.  I thought it would feel like a holding pattern, but in fact it felt like we got underneath the glossy exterior a bit.  I would come back.

After dropping the motorcycle and trailer at the port last week, and a second night in an airport Ramada, we took the van to Markham State Park at the edge of the Everglades.  The campground was beautiful, though they don't rent mountain bikes as their website had advertised.  Instead, we went down to Oleta State Park in North Miami for a great day of mountain bike riding on amazing trails. Everyone was very friendly and helpful, especially the guy who rode us out of a difficult section when we were lost. There were all levels of trails there (they have more novice and intermediate trails than at Marhkam, apparently) and all levels of riders.  It was the Saturday before school started, so the beaches and pavilions were also full of families and church groups and friends out for the day together.

Back at the campsite, we enjoyed papayas, mangos, tiny bananas, palm trees and our resident iguanas.  It is amazing to me how much of Florida is covered with a rubbery, water-retaining skin.  Once I noticed this, of course, it was everywhere.  The local produce. The fruit of palm trees on the ground.  The plants at our campsite.  The leathery-skinned men drinking together on their stoops in the heat.  Our resident iguanas.

We visited the place in Miami where Luc came every winter as a boy with his grandparents, now demolished and replaced by a high rise Hilton Hotel.  The places across the street, however, retained their identity, and the park was still there.

We also had a beach day in Ft. Lauderdale.  Luc found a perfect parking spot next to the boardwalk, with a palm tree for shade.  How nice to be at the beach and be able to run home to the fridge or to grab your kindle!

 

Surprisingly, one of my favorite days was a day of errands.  We finally got away from the endless duplication of identical intersections - thruway on-ramp, Walgreens, Dollar General, Waffle House, Gas Station - and saw what felt like real neighborhoods.  After much searching, Luc found exactly what he was looking for in a chain for the motorcycle (7 feet of 3/8 inch security chain with sleeve - tougher than grade 100 - can not cut, can not saw) at a great place called Miami Cordage in Miami.  The guys there were great, and there was all sorts of interesting chains and rope and pulleys and links hanging on the wall.  Once Luc got his chain they directed us to U-Haul for a hitch lock, and then to a nearby Post Office to mail back the 5/8” ultra-heavy chain that we have been hauling from van to picnic table every night since we started.  Flat rate box – yes!  I was the only white woman in the Post Office, but I wasn’t the only one cheering when an older guy got up to the counter to buy his stamps.  Apparently they were short of stamps that day (really) and they only ones had were flags and Lydia Mendoza.  “Don’t you got no stamps with black people on them?  I don’t want no white woman on my envelope.  And I ain't putting no America flags neither".  He stormed out.  They had to call the supervisor to back the transaction out of the register.  Worth the wait!

Today we left the van at Port Everglade.  The guy from SC Lines, who later gave us a ride to the airport for the shuttle, checked our van in by taking photos with his iPad.  He described the van on the dock receipt as “dirty, scratches, dent, rust, damages all round (this van is loaded with miscellaneous).”  All of these are true enough but that is not what we see.  When we say “home” now we think of the RoadTrek with no hesitation, with all the sentiments that go with thinking of home.  And we definitely are strongly attached to a lot of that miscellaneous!  We can't wait to see our scratched and dented van, with all its missellaneous, in Cartegena on September 8th!

Back at the Ramada, we got upgraded this time to a room with a fridge by the pool (surrounded by rubbery plants, and full of tan, rubbery children).  We are headed to Colombia in the morning on Spirit Airlines.  Just yesterday I reconnected with Ana Maria Casasfranco, who lived with my family in Connecticut over 30 years ago.  I recognized her immediately on Facebook, and we have been exchanging photos and news.  She and her family live in Cali, where we are looking forward to visiting them in September.  In the meantime, she has offered us the use of an apartment in Cartagena while we are there!

In the words of Gaston Etchart of SamericaXplorer who is helping us with our shipping arrangements and with whom we hope to ride in Chile this summer:

Now start the beginning of a long journey and the best of your lives together. We wish the best of the best on the route. It will change your lives and the vision of a wonderful Latin America that have so much to offer, mainly from the people and their charm. You'll be in good hands every kilometer made to Tierra del Fuego. 

Clearly, we are in good hands before we even arrive!