Thunderstorms Happen

Sunday, June 26th

My plan for the day was simple.  Ride to Miami.  But thunderstorms had a different plan.  Also a simple plan.  Wait.  And wait.  And wait.  It was lightly raining when I left Tampa, which is not a problem.  Eventually the sun came out, and I took my rain gear off, grateful for the sunny ride to Miami I'd imagined it would be.  But a thunderstorm seemed to must have seen the smile on my face, and was disgusted by it.  The thunderstorm quickly dumped buckets of rain and threw lightning bolts that looked like jail cell bars in the distance.  Straight up and down lightning, directly in the path I wanted to travel.  I found a safe place to sit and wait out the storm, and that's what I did for hours.  When I felt it was safe enough to keep going, I did.  I reached the town of Clewiston, about 85 miles from Miami.  It was now eight o'clock in the evening, I had left Tampa 9 hours ago, ridden 205 miles, and in front of me was another wall of thunderstorms.  So I stopped for the night, and decided that the next day I would skip Miami, and head straight for Corner 3, Key West.  Florida in June.  Thunderstorms happen.  Deal with it.