Aug 2007

Our last stretch was a few days drive through Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia, and Florida. There was a lot to see on that drive - including a glimpse of southern living - lots of barbeque and confederate flags.

We stopped at the Grand Ole Opry House in Nashville, but weren't really sure what the attraction was. Lots of stores and tourist traps - I think we must've missed something.

This was but one of the many Florida bridges we crossed, very pretty:

Naples was a nice town - pretty beach and a groovy place we stayed - and the beginning of the lizard sightings. They are everywhere now.

The Everglades are amazing - 1.5 million acres and we saw but a very small fraction of it on our way. The signs are funny and unlike other NPS signs I've seen. Our first sighting of a alligator in nature was here. Lots of birds - including vultures and pelicans and cranes, and this tree looks an awful lot like olives to me. We were on the north side of the park, and the visitor's centers weren't what I expected - they lacked from any other. Hopefully on the southeast side it will be better.

Miami is so big. Bays, harbor, beaches, city, ocean, everywhere. We were in the Biscayne Bay and the view was spectacular. South Beach was pretty, as promised. Drove by UM campus, who just announced the move away from the Orange Bowl, which is enciting all kinds of college football controversy down here.

Southern Florida is somewhat similar to Hawaii and California, in that it's pretty and expensive. However, there are stark contrasts I see too, just in the short time we've been here. The majority of beaches on the Keys are private - people live on the beach and their fenceline goes along it. You have to look for, travel to, and pay admission (generally) to a beach that you can actually go on. In fact, on the local channel, there is a segment called "Where's the Beach?", which is a damn good question. There is a lot of construction, which I could've guessed if I had actually thought about it a minute, especially now with all the news articles on the 15 year anniversary of Hurricane Andrew. However, there is a lack of road work signs. On a 45 mph road, a big bobcat will just pop out onto the street. Dangerous driving. The vast majority of people don't signal lane changes, and don't smile either. We were welcomed to the area with a $100 red light ticket on the first day. Made it 2600 miles, *then* get a ticket?!

The job site is near the Homestead-Miami Speedway and the parking area there is huge in itself!

The Turkey Point site has a picturesque entrance.

And this is the view from our rental, where we have a lovely lime tree, dozens of chameleons, amazing lightning views, and a spectacular sunrise:

We spent a great few days in Bonne Terre with great food and great company.

It was turtle nation there - Papa Joe found a turtle on the road and brought it back home so he wouldn't be ran over by a car. We named him E.T. - he looked like him, and he was on Highway E. Isn't he cute?

Looking for E.T. later, Cujo found Mini - let's all do an 'ahhhh' together now - so adorable! E.T. ran away from home fairly quickly, but Mini hung out for a while for our entertainment.

Also entertaining:

This section of Missouri has a great vineyard area, surprisingly! We hit a few of them. You can tell the progress from the beginning of our trip to the end of our trip, hehe. One of them had a cool cave you took a bottle down to enjoy in, another was a micro brewery as well.

Even though it's not spelled right, I had to take this picture for mom:

Luckily, we made it to Omaha just in time to see Wendy and Daniela before their big trip to NYC. Even though we missed them for a few days, we still got to hang out with Dennis during that time who always takes great care of us!

The Joslyn Art Museum has a Jazz on Green event each week where you bring a chair or blanket, and the wine of your choice - it was a lot of fun and relaxing, no wonder there are so many people that attend.

The Henry Dorley Omaha Zoo is really incredible - hadn't been there in 10+ years, so we tagged along with Tracy, Brian, Maddy and Danny.

Which one does not belong?

Elephants - Tracy and Mom's favorite! Now Cujo can say he rode an elephant.

This display is due to Barb's parents!

Will *never* grow up! Look at the kid on the floor looking at him - funny!

Grandma and Cujo cruisin around town on the hog:

We rode over to Lincoln, where an old junior high school friend of mine lives now - hadn't seen her in ages and just found out she lived there! It was great to see her again, and meet some of her family - adorable kids!

The Rib Cookoff was being held in Lincoln that day, so OF COURSE we stopped for that - mmmmmmm.

We all (minus Lauren) went out to Manawa for a great bike ride. Poor Kristen was on a skinny tube cruiser and the trails weren't nice to her, but it was still a blast. I saw squirrels and birds and frogs on our trail. Jack and Kirsten did awesome!

Tried to go to the Plain White T's concert in Memorial Park but got severe thunderstorm warning'd out. Packed up just in time for the downpour. Went back after the majority of the rain, but a very wet and unhappy guy walking away from the park told us the concert had been changed from rain delay to cancelled. Went home then, but found out later that they actually played. ARGH.
But....we held our own mini-concert back at home.

We welcomed (embarassed) the Bentz ladies back home at the airport:

Elvis and Mocha trying to make the great escape:

Daniela has a bloody billboard - how groovy is that?!

Such a hard life in Omaha - this is relaxing - sun, pool, and wine!

We hadn't been back to Sturgis bike week since 2003, but it was the same feeling four years later. Totally surrounded by bikes of all makes and models, outragous outfits (or lack of), respect for veterans, beautiful scenery to ride in, and the play hard attitude.

Met up with Stewart in Deadwood - he just happened to park right outside of the breakfast joint we were at - what are the odds - we had no plans but only to meet in Deadwood. Hundreds of other places he could've pulled up to. Beautiful short ride - lots of sun and blue skies.

Since we stayed at the Lamphere this time instead of the Buffalo Chip, the Full Throttle was just across the street. We got to meet up with Jess from Minnesota here.

Our lovely campground:

Just one of the strange sights we saw in Sturgis:

Leaving Sturgis, road trip to Omaha - of course it rained. 550 miles. And rain. Poor guys didn't have rain gear or a windshield. Nice rainbow, eh?

Happy ending, home sweet home!