journal

Walking Miami Beaches

Walking Miami Beaches

Greg Fuller

I spent a few hours today walking around Haulover and Miami Beaches.  My plan was to drive along the beaches to see what the area was like, then park in a Publix lot a few miles away and explore the beach area via bicycle.  But the roads were not bike friendly.  So when I saw the first “Beach Parking” sign I pulled in. That was Haulover.  Later in the day I parked in a lot close to North Miami beach and started walking again.

It was the kind of day where the sun was hot but the shade was cool.  The beige sand was speckled with black sand.  And the sand was deep enough to sink in with every step.  The pictures are mostly just typical beach pictures – nothing special.

miami-beaches-1020409
see the pics

Very Vegan Miami Meetup

Greg Fuller

After leaving Bahia Honda State Park, I stopped at a Tom Thumb in Key Largo to fill up and try to figure out where the heck to go next, and where I might sleep for the night. I thought I remembered from some earlier googling that there was a vegan meetup happening somewhere in the area.

I found that the meetup was at 6:30 at  Alaska Coffee in North Miami.  Siri told me I could make it in time, but barely.  So I lucked out.  I had a great time with the very first Very Vegan Miami Meetup.  The organizer Janay and all the folks were great.  Not only that,  Alaska Coffee’s Jose gave me permission to overnight in the parking lot.

very-vegan-miami-first-meetup-2-1

A Visit to Bahia Honda State Park

A Visit to Bahia Honda State Park

Greg Fuller

Lazy Lakes and Key West were good to me, but it’s time to go. On the way back I came across Bahia Honda State Park. I had read a review that called it the most beautiful state park in Florida, so I decided to stop and see for myself. If all of the campsites weren’t taken, I would have stayed the night. Instead, I took the pictures you see here and headed on, without knowing exactly where I would go next or where I would overnight.

bahia-honda-florida-feature-1020334
see more photos

Exploring Key West

Exploring Key West

Greg Fuller

Today I biked from Summerland Key to Key West, explored the area, and then rode back. This stretch of the Overseas Highway, as it’s called, is very bicycle friendly. For most of the distance, a separate side road was available for cyclists and pedestrians.

The wind was fierce. A strong tail wind on the way gave me illusions of grandeur. But I was put in my place on the way back by the headwind.

Enjoy the pictures.

P1020070-3

22 More Pictures

This Site is Online Now

Greg Fuller

This site is mostly a personal journal.  Although you couldn’t reach this site until now, for the last few weeks when I posted to Facebook, I might also have posted here.  From the next non-trivial post on, I’ll post here first, and let a WordPress plugin automatically post to Facebook and Twitter.  I hope that works – we’ll see.

I’ve gone back and done some retro posting here from my Facebook entries.  And there are a few very old posts predating Facebook which were brought over from my old blog. It’s a work in progress – there are still some improvements and more retro posts to be done. Please bear with me while I get the kinks worked out.

One of the motivations for this is so Facebook won’t have an exclusive grip on what is essentially a personal diary and photos.  Who knows how long Facebook will be around, and what would replace it.

Campground at Summerland Key

Greg Fuller

I woke early this morning at 5 a.m. and drove from Pembroke Pines to Key Largo.  I stopped at a Starbucks at mile marker 100 to work a few hours before driving to my campsite at Summerland Key.  This is the campsite, overlooking Lazy Lake.  This is the first time I have stayed at a campground on this trip. I have full hookups (electricity, water, and sewer)  as well as wifi.  Tomorrow I plan to bicycle the 20 miles to Key West and explore.

summerland-key-campground-1020145

The Experiment Continues

Greg Fuller

The experiment continues. I don’t know how much I’ll like this way of living, but by the time I return to Birmingham on February 14th I should have a better idea. Today was a totally non-touristy day.

I worked remotely via wifi at the very comfortable Starkbucks in “The Shops at Pembroke Gardens.” Afterward, I prepared my lunch using the propane burner in the Roadtrek. I got a flu shot at a Wallgreens. Then I worked out at the Y you see in the picture. After a long, hot shower, I had a veggie-delight at the Subway inside the Y.

ymca-florida-2-2014

The most pleasant part of the day was meeting Carlos Gonzalez-Rosquet. He pointed out the best attractions in the area, along with interesting pieces of history that went with them. More on that later.

I don’t know where I’ll overnight tonight, but I have a couple of possibilities in mind. I don’t want to repeat a stay in the same place more often than every 4 or 5 nights.