Three bad jokes

My trip has definitely taken a turn. The whole southerly portion kept me away from humanity to a great extent, but now I’m in boat central. At least 60 boats have been anchored in Pelican Bay today. This is a very popular spot! After breakfast I loaded my as-yet unused folding bicycle into the dinghy and went over to the state park. There I met a couple that was being seen off by a flock of onlookers. I understood that I was witnessing an event, and asked around. This couple, a Quebecan man in his mid-40s and his wife who was very attractive and looked no more than 25, had kayaked down the Tennessee-Tom Bigby waterway from the great lakes. They are on their way through the thousand islands in the everglades and on into the Keys. They want to make Dry Tortugas before turning around and going up the east coast to finish before next winter. These are serious travelers whose exploits far exceed anything that I’ve ever done. This was an incredible sounding trip, and to think that gentleman has such a lovely companion. To top it off they had a 40 pound wolf dog with them. Fantastic! I acquired some local knowledge through the circuitous path of asking a park ranger with a sense of humor. I had to tell him three bad jokes and listen to more of his before it could be made understood that I should avoid the south end of the island on my bike, but have fun up north. I set off listening to tunes from my cell and had a great ride all over the island. I made a few calls and had an on-the-fly job interview. We’ll see if anything comes of that. At lunchtime I headed back to the boat for turkey leftovers. I’m getting antsy already, feeling like it’s time to move again. I tried looking on the internet on my phone to learn about cool places to go while I’m here but it’s so hard to get the right answers from google. I guess it’s time to go talk to people. I hopped in the dinghy and waved down an older couple belonging to a Gemini Catamaran in their dinghy. Once they understood that I didn’t need mechanical assistance (I rowed over to them) they explained to me all the locally good cruising locations. So, rather than waste another day, next stop Sarasota and Marina Jack’s!