November 6 , 2001 Tuesday , Day 11-It's 7:15am and we are sitting in a grove of Australian Pines in the middle of Osprey . Not many of these evasive species left . I really like them when the wind blows through them. We had a pretty good night last night , and I feel really rested . Skil's has been wanting to play all morning .It was chilly last night and suppose to be worse tonight . Good sleeping weather! The sun is going to shine today , something I haven't seen for 5 days . Might feel good!
9:05am- We just stumbled on a abandoned camp across from a mall type place. It's behind a billboard sign , and in a very good location , except for having to walk out on 41 to go anywhere.For all the world to see . Whoever had this camp didn't drink and was neat enough not to leave a mess. Neat little camp ,though , Has a ceiling made of wild grapes , I seen one of these ceilings before in Naples . At a guys camp (Danny Mizell) on Skillet Lake . There is a water bowl set into the ground and a little 2ft. high fence , made of plywood , around the site . Must of had a little dog they had to leave alone while they worked . Have also noticed the litter along the road is beginning to accumulate more . Must be coming into Sarasota .
11:15am-We found a cemetery to take a break in , not a whole lot of choices along here . All of these stores along here and not one grocery store . It sure seems that graveyards are a popular place . There are people walking all over the place . Lot's of cars too. There are 2 guys riding around on a little cart , picking up limbs and fixing flowers that have blown over .I need to get out of here and get my little dog something to eat. Found a tick on him today , none were found yesterday.
1:15pm-Boy , it looks like I am in a mess now . Millions of stores and not one grocery store . I ended up getting one of those little cans for a buck at the circle K . I sure didn't want too , but grocery stores are as rare as native Floridians . If I could find a place to stop for awhile , I would wait until dark to proceed. Right now , I am behind a strip mall and people are coming and going . I think I have been spotted . Better book!
2:00pm-I found a place to rest by a construction site , only if it is for a short rest . There is a barking dog on the other side of the fence , he is very annoying , giving my location up .This whole town is crazy! I feel like I'm walking down Biscayne Blvd. in Miami . Just business after business , and just as many of them noisy-assed green parrots as Miami .My arms are hurting and Skil's is one little tired dog . I have to find a way around this place and especially Tampa.I don't think I much like this place , just like Naples ,only bigger .
5:00pm-I foI am sitting in some mangroves on a little creek in the middle of Sarasota . I have a few of the free community local papers to read .I think I'm right by the jail or courthouse . This is at the intersection of 301 & 41 , this is where I say good-bye to 41 for a while . I'll hit it again when I get to the Manatee River .Up above Bradenton , I hope.
8:00pm-We found some high grass on 301 , smack-dab in the middle of the black section of town . There are a whole line of Holly trees on the back side of this lot , but when I walked back there ,I could here voices . Must be a bunch of homeless brothers living back in there. I am in a really bad place . As I was digging in the alarm on the building next door went off. It was a long time before someone came and shut it off . I hear people back in the hollies , people fighting across the street and all sorts of folks coming and going , from every direction . If Skil's doesn't bark , they'll never know I'm here. Needless , to say , I am leaving here very early , gone before the action starts all over again .
November 5 , 2001-Monday-7:30am- I'm sitting on a seawall in Nokomis , just drinking a cup of coffee and contemplating our situation . Have no choice , but to keep heading north until we're out of Florida. I try to find some work that I can do with Skil's so I don't have to leave him alone somewhere . Weather is starting to chill down a might , hope it has an adverse effect on the bugs.
3:30pm- Boy!, todays adventure turned into a nightmare . I tried to avoid Sarasota proper and skirt around the edge . I walked down Laurel Rd. for about 5mi. and I delivered myself to a dead-end . This I don't need today and headed back . I came across another road with pretty good traffic heading north . Ah! Says I ! This one looks good . Two miles down that road I find a gated community . Can anything else go south today .Back to square 41. As it stands at this moment , I have walked 9hrs. and am 5mi. from where I started from this morning . No more guessing a route without looking in a phone book at the map.
I had a feeling today would be like no other I have experienced , this morning starting out , after my coffee ,I tried to cross 41 . Skil's is always anxious to get to the other side and this time he bolted and the leash broke . A million cars coming down the road . I dove for him , but missed , landed really hard too. Me hitting the ground so hard was enough for him to come see if I was alright . The cars coming down the road had enough time to see what was happening and braked hard.
5:30pm-We just walked into the woods next to Oscar Schearer State Park , this is it for today. I'm in the town of Osprey . I think Sarasota is next and I sure ain't looking forward to that . I am going to try and get on U.S.301 , if I can find it . Maybe, it will take me around the city part . I am still carrying that unused bar of soap and I am also sitting here with an empty water bottle . So much for planning ahead .
Sure is a lot of traffic trying to get into the park after hours . I saw the ranger lock the gate at 6:00pm . These people park in front of the gate and walk in to get a key , or someone with a key . Only one RV pulled up , but he got in . Be nice to have a tent !
November 4 , 2001_ Sunday Day 9-At our first reststop of the morning , just over the Myacca River .We are sitting in the woods by a tower and I see a lot of hog sign around this area .Skil's seems to be in better spirits this morning . Slowing down , helps the little guy adapt to the rigourus trek we have undertaken . Whatever I thought about my luck changing for the better , sure is taking its time showing up . This sign here reads 80 miles to Tampa and 8 til Venice .
9:10 AM- Somewhere between North Port and Venice , and there isn't a whole lot of life on this road at all.There does happen to be a lot of strange flies , though. I have never seen the likes of these things .They aren't scared at all , I try to brush them off Skil's back and they just jump over my hand and re-land . I almost have to scrape them off. Really strange pests ! I forgot to get water at the Myacca store , hope something comes along soon . Skil's is having a tick problem , but not a catastrophe yet!
11:45 AM-I know how Columbus must have felt when he discovered America . I feel like that being here in the first sign of civilization , I have seen today. I suppose this is S Venice and I found a little spot behind a Hess station . I promised Skil's he could rest awhile and its not a great place , but it will do . I figure we have made 12-14 miles today and the only life (other than the flies) that we encountered were a family of otters , Skil's sure wanted to get 'em too! Gonna leave here at 3:00PM . We have been here 3hrs. now , that's a pretty good rest . We'll see whats on down the road . We may not be in Venice yet , but soon will be .
5:10 PM- Just walked 2hrs. in what I thought was Venice . We stopped behind a Shell station just passed a sign that said "Entering Venice". I wonder how big this town is? I don't think anybody has ever heard of it except fot Danny Rust . If I would have known this , I wouldn't have taken a three hour break .
Another day , I didn't get to wash up , have to do something to get cleaned up before the cold front gets here. As far as today's news goes , there is no war yet , Skil's caught a squirrel (it got away) , my goodluck I'm expecting is running late and been rained on once . The worst rain is yet to come .
6:00 PM- And the rains came! We are sitting under a scaffold at a construction job waiting on the rain to quit . It's a good sized job with a lot of foam work and in a little while I am going to borrow a few sheets of their foam and make a bed out of it . The Motel 6 that me and Laura stayed at once is across the street , at least I kind of know where I am now .
Rain has stopped and we made a bed back in the woods behind the construction job . I got me a quart of beer and Skil's a can of food from the store across the street . Just sitting here watching the world go by. A cop keeps riding up and down the street . Wonder what he's looking for ? Maybe , the big styrofoam bandit , me . About 3:00AM , a cop pulled into the store parking lot next to a van that had parked there fifteen minutes earlier . They talked for a bit , then left together down another side street . Strange going's on around here.
Nov. 3 , 2001-We are just taking an easy stroll down 41 this morning , we probably won't make many miles this week-end. I have to take it on the little guy for a few days. Monday we will get back on the (hr. on - hr. off ) schedule. It is a really nice morning , and I feel like my luck is going to change for the better. I sure hope so , I hope I'm just not intoxicated by the beautiful weather today.
The place we stayed last night had some really weird critters , to say the least. A great big ole' cattarpiller about the size of an average dick , fell out of the tree onto my bed last night . Ugliest damn thing I have ever seen . I wanted no part of that booger. It was hard to sleep after that. Jeez! What next? Fucking Jurassic Park! Damned thing looked dangerous too.Never seen anything like it in Fla. before. It wasn't the beer I wasted my money on either. Which also was very dumb, but it helped me relax.
We are at the Sarasota Co. line now , I am letting Skil's rest a bit , even at this pace he needs rest. Probably won't get 10 miles today. I don't care either. We are just shy of N. Port and it should be easy enough to cross. The paper said a cold front was passing through on Monday. Down in the 40's . That's pretty brisk for Fla. I feel like I am about to have some uncomfortable days ahead. The good side is it ain't cold enough to kill me.
I went off the road for a bit and did some exploring and I found a blanket. Will wonders never cease? It has "Mary and her little Lamb" on it . Could be embarrassing , if I'm seen. Can't really walk down the road like that. I'll have to find a plastic bag to put it in or something to camoflouge it.
North Port and just laying in the woods under an oak tree enjoying the breeze. Of course on my newly acquired blanket. Very,very comfortable! I am on the north side of town now and I'll go no further today. Theres a church with a big field over there and that is where we'll stay tonight . Right out in the middle of the field. I almost stopped to wash my clothes at a coin laundry , but no place to leave Skil's. So I guess I'll deal with these clothes another day or two. ASHVILLE by Xmas . I doubt it!!!
Nov. 2 , 2001- We ended up staying behind a Scotty's hardware store last night. Might as well been in the Zoo. Wasn't a really cool place to be at all. There were varmits all over the place. Cats , coons , possums , armadillo's and no telling what else passed by.But, Skillet kept everything at bay, Good Dog! We left at 5:30am and we are across the bridge already. That would put us at a 25 mile hike yesterday. We are just gonna chill under this tree until 8:00 and get back on our schedule.
It's after 10:00 and we are just about out of Port Charlotte and pointed in the right direction.Skil's is acting weird so I am going to let him rest a bit. This is the place my daughter is supposed to be a cop. I sure hope she doesn't see me like this. I haven't seen any blonde cops yet . I would like to hang around and see if I could find her , but I am in pretty bad shape right now. It appears that the homeless isn't harassed too much here , they are all over the place. Panhandlers , drunks , bag ladies, a real mixture of world's downtrodden. Not one has the desire to have a dog . One thing I can't stand , is derelicts like me with no class. Everybody needs a best friend !
We are out of town now and stopped for a constitution break , in the woods of course . Sort of says the whole world is a good place to take a shit . Reminds me of a little note I read in the local paper "Do not go where the path may lead , But go instead where there is no trail and leave a path" Well , I'm going right here and there ain't no trail .
It is only noon and I am resting at a abandoned camp next to a closed shopping center . Don't say much for the economy around these parts. A bus just pulled up and unloading a swarm of people . I ask myself , What kind of place is this? Got to keep Skil's quiet , don't need him letting on that we're here. I suppose I'll see a few more strange going's on before this adventure is through.
I have gone as far as I plan to go today , its 5:00pm and I am passed the 2nd crossing of Toledo Blade . I found a big ole' oak tree , that is out of sight of the nosy folks . I found a place to stay for the night , but I'll have to be quiet , its just a few feet from the road . Skil's can get some much needed rest if I hang out here for the night . I have no idea how far the next sign of civilization is going to be . Never got up this way much . The next big town is Sarasota , I just don't know what's in between .I am running real low on funds , but that is my fault , cause I have this devil-may-care attitude . I'll probably pay for it later. I feel something interesting is going to happen soon. It's about time . I am not looking to get into any messes , maybe once I am in Georgia , I'll change my priorities some. I have only found one penny this whole trip . Lady Luck must be on vacation or over on the other coast. Skil's is really worn down , got to take it easy for a couple days. DAMN THE TORPEDO"S , FULL SPEED AHEAD !
Nov. 1 , 2001- Wow! , we are making tracks today . We have at least 10 miles in and its only 10:00am . But, the bad news is , we are both dead tired . I'm over the river and just can't imagine what awaits us . Our first break is at a Ranger station and I don't see anyone around . Probably won't come out here with these bugs . They are keeping me company , pretty good. I am just going to rest here for a few hours , I don't know why I won't to hurry except to get to safe territory. I stopped a ways back at a farmers market and filled up our water bottle. They tried to give me a soda , but I paid them for it. They wished us luck on our adventure and hoped I made it to Asheville.
It is really odd that I don't find anything along the road up this way. If I was walking in Naples I would be finding all kinds of stuff. Must be the prison that keeps the road so clean. I have been here 2 hrs. now and am going to wait one more. Finally shaved today (dry) I don't have a mirror , so I'm not sure how well I did. It feels better , though. I will be changing tactics from now on. No more 4 hr. walks. Just to much for the little guy. My plan is to walk an hr. and rest an hr. That should work out okay.
It is 2:00pm and we are at Curly's Corner , about 4 miles to K-Mart, they said. I'll get Skil's food there and maybe a can of beans for me . I guess I better try to eat something once in awhile, too!
Arrival in Punta Gorda , wow, that really seems like an accomplishment. Just sitting in a field next to a Kash-N-Karry. Got dog food and a can of Bush Beans Wish I had something to smoke . I'll have to see about getting some Top or Bugler. Got to start looking for our camping spot before it gets dark. Tomorrow I'll be on the other side of the Peace River and northbound. Ain't no stoppin me now!
Oct. 31 , 2001-This is as far as I came last time, also where I turned around. We'll not have any of that foolishness this time. It's one way , all the way! I stopped to feed Skil's behind the Juicy Lucy, where I stalled due to my foot problem last attempt. It is going to be a long walk right thru the middle of this "hell-hole". I should make it today all the way to N. Ft. Myers. I will feel better about my chances then. Don't really know why I'm worried so much, the scum that lives in this town should take the heat off me. I am not planning on breaking any laws.
Somewhere ,today I need to find a place to get cleaned up a bit. At least shave.Talk about scum! It's a little after 10:00am and I am already to Page Field. Hell!, I'm doing alright. I found a belt that fits me , now I don't have to walk around like one of the boys from the hood.Lucky me, moving good and a belt . What more could a body ask for?
Crossed the bridge a little after 2:00pm , what a relief . Now lets see if I can make Goodwill and find a blanket. Those sleeping bags are just to heavy. Maybe the Flea-Mkt. is open , I don't remember which day it is open. I may have messed up leaving my sleeping bag.I have this feeling that a blanket will be something , I wish I had, instead of something I have.Pretty smart of me ,Huh?
Yessir that was a major miscalculation on my part, no blankets at Goodwill and no Flea-Mkt.. I guess I'll try to stay around the Shell Factory tonight , rather than get out on the open road this late. I hope I can find some socks along the road! Boy, this is getting worrisome. Skil's is starting to look at me like I'm nuts. Well, such is life. HAPPY HALLOWEEN !!
