So, they got the guy and shot him. His brother gave them the address of his hideout. I got a brother like that, too. Didn't they know he was really hiding underwater right beside them, breathing through a hollow reed? Marion called, I'm leaving for Orlando now. Return next week for the details. Adios. Here is a picture of a tree, I miss real trees.
I made it. What’s more, I made it in just over three and a half-hours (driving time) taking side roads all the way. For most of the time, I was the only car on the road. I left here at 2:30 p.m. and was on West Vine in Kissimmee at 6:30 p.m. How people get 5-1/2 hours on the Turnpike is unknown. I’ll clear up some other inaccuracies as well, like Disneyworld is in Orlando when it is actually just seven miles from Kissimmee. My drive took me through Indiantown, get your atlas. It seems to have a private banking system and telephone exchange. From there to Okeechobee, which I’ve driven past twice before and didn’t know it was there. Quite a large town that you cannot see from the road around the lake. Then up through Ft. Drum, where empty lots sell for $59,900 and over the Turnpike at a place called Yeehaw Junction.
Smile a bit, because although there is a small pub at Desert Wells, not even on the map, and the Turnpike is completely sealed off. You cannot get there from here, whoever built the road made damn sure nobody could sneak in, even on horseback. Um, I did stop and look down on the Turnpike and was so glad I was not caught in that traffic down there. The back roads I took are all new, clean all-weather roads in better condition than the Interstates.
It was still daylight when I turned west (on Route 192, 5:58 p.m.) toward Kissimmee. I had already stopped twice for coffee at this relaxed place. I realized how much I miss driving in the pines, since there is a stunted variety of long-needle species that grows north of the lake. Occasionally I would see a street named things like “Holopaw United Baptist Church Drive” and would think, “Gee, I wonder what’s down there?”
Here is a summary of the trip, leaving at precisely 2:30 p.m. Indiantown Road was hard to find, as usual because work crews love to rip up the roads here and take forever to finish the job. I found it by mistake, almost getting lost 36 miles South-east of Okeechobee near the St. Lucie canal. Leaving Okeechobee, the sign says 91 miles to Kissimmee, I slowed down for I’m over half-way there already. The trip reminded me of small town living and how the locals drive. I don’t miss that part of it. Actually, small towns can be okay if you are either the smartest richest or dumbest poorest bastard. Anything in between is hell. They drive 80 on the open stretches so you’d have to risk your life to pass ‘em and they slow to 40 when you can’t. It’s coming back to me, if you have no idea what I’m talking about, you are guilty as charges.
At 6:34 p.m. four minutes behind schedule, I passed Main Street in Kissimmee. It took another hour to find the condo, between locals who had no idea where anything was and that curious Florida tourist town tactic of making you hit every red light. Best sign: “Clinic now accepting new patients”. (Er, where do I apply, or do I have to break my leg first?) I reached “Townhouse L”, making Disneyworld 219.8 miles from here.
Marion and I promptly sat down on the patio until past midnight and decided everything was pretty much okay with the world. Allistair, fortunately it turns out, researched Disneyworld to the nines and was a walking reference book on the place. There have been 17 deaths, of which only one was not due to stupidit… er, I mean, only one was Disney’s fault. They quickly settle out of court. (An inexperienced boat driver yanked an anchor or something into a rider’s skull.)
The answer to the obvious question of when am I coming back is that I don’t know. Another question is what ever happened to the people that name roads in Florida. Here is a typical set of signs along a single road. This is not that bad, considering that in Miami a road can have up to six different names. This sign is on the northbound stretch on the east bank of Lake Okeechobee. I suspect the real problem is letting such people make their own decisions.
The one big surprise today was the excellent condition of the unused roads once you get past the I-95 perpetual construction zone. The lack of traffic made it a most pleasant journey. The coffee along the way was bad in each instance. It was all I could do not to just keep on driving straight to Texas.
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