Motorcycle Ride to Okeechobee Flea Market

 When we take the bike and see big black clouds overhead in Washington, we start looking for shelter.  Here in Florida, we have big puffy clouds nearly every day, but they seem to just drift by without drenching us.  

Even big black clouds aren't too concerning.  I thought you might be able to see the thermometer gauge.  It registered a steady 83 from when we started at 10 a.m. for the entire 50 mile trip to Okeechobee.  We were happy when the clouds covered the sun from time to time.

We had spotted a big flea market when we went down to the park and decided to come back to check it out.  Fortunately, the limitations of the bike trunk kept me from buying big potted plants - or much of anything.

This was a good thing as I am a farmers' market junkie and can't seem to stop myself from loading up on all the beautiful fruit and veggies.

We are just days away from deciding to head back to Washington, so stocking up on fruit and veggies is definitely not something I should be doing.

There is a city wide park in the median between the four lane highways through the city.  I wanted to stop at the butterfly garden area, but by the time we left the flea market, the bike told us it was 86, and the clouds were gone.  We took a different highway back to the house, which was nearly identical in length, but that went west and north instead of east and south.  All roads seem to lead to Okeechobee. Great ride - thankful for sunscreen and a few clouds - hard to believe we are still in February.

Lake Okeechobee Bike Trip

For our motorcycle ride today, we decided to head down to Lake Okeechobee, which is about 50 miles away.

We started in the upper left quadrant of this map at our winter home in Lake Placid.  It was the coldest day we've had since we got down here in December, so we began the day with helmets (which aren't required in Florida) and jackets and with the heated seats turned on.  The sky was clear blue and the sun was out, but a north breeze was gusting, and the temperature started at 58 degrees.  

Heading east on Highway 621, we traveled through the caladium fields where things are beginning to grow.  Caladium bulbs are sensitive and have to be planted when nighttime temperatures are consistently above 65 degrees.  For everything you want to know about caladium, visit the website of the largest grower of caladium bulbs in the world Happiness Farms Inc. located in Lake Placid, the caladium capital of the world.

The waterways in Florida are numerous - every road seems to have a large drainage/irrigation ditch on at least one side - sometimes both, and a variety of wildlife abounds - from water fowl to alligators, turtles, and snakes, to human fisherfolk.

The city of Okeechobee is much larger than we expected.  If you are just trying to see the lake, good luck.  There is a huge berm around the entire lake, so you pretty much have to find a park or be in a boat to see the lake.  The main fishing pier and park in town has  a large boat ramp, rest rooms, a large parking lot, and a fishing pier with lots of room to fish and nice benches for seating.

We stopped to talk to the fishermen to see what they were fishing for and what they were catching, and they told us these were "Crappie".

When looking out across the lake from the pier, the vastness of the lake becomes apparent.  It is the largest fresh water lake fully within the United States.  Our motorcycle trip was 147 miles according to MapQuest, and from just looking at our circle and the size of the lake, it looks like the lake must be around 150 miles around.  We've taken a boat into the lake in the past, and it felt like being on the ocean where you couldn't see the shores, and yet it was shallow enough that we needed to pay attention to staying in the channels.