Last autumn, my partner and I said goodbye to Carbondale. We packed our belongings into a rental trailer and began the long drive to Florida.
We left Carbondale at 3 a.m. Glenwood Canyon had just been cleared of fallen rock and the pavement was still a broken mess, but there was virtually no traffic on I-70. Before the sun rose that morning, we discovered that you can’t safely haul a full trailer behind a Jeep any faster than 55 mph. To do otherwise, would risk total disaster. We were forced to modify our intended travel schedule before we even cleared Glenwood Canyon.
We had spent hours planning our trip. We compared the possible routes and booked all of our hotel rooms prior to leaving Colorado. But, due to our reduced top speed, our daily drive time had to be extended to 10 hours rather than the eight we had originally planned for.
So, we drove on, passing through Colorado, Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia. Finally, we crossed the Florida state line. We were exhausted.
Although we had no mechanical problems with the Jeep, COVID kept things interesting by forcing the closure of many restaurants along our planned route. At one large hotel in Illinois, the only food that was available consisted of cups of dehydrated macaroni and cheese from the hotel’s snack selection. Despite some minor surprises, after five days on the road, we pulled into Delray Beach, Florida, unloaded our belongings and returned the rented trailer.
Since our arrival in Delray Beach, I have been learning a lot about Florida. My prior visits had been by air to tourist destinations, but there is a completely different state between Key West and Disney World.
Florida is populated by good people who are not all wearing mouse ears and singing Jimmy Buffet songs. We have a number of good friends nearby that we have known for years and they have helped us learn more about all that is available in our new hometown. Nearly every kind of cuisine is available and the seafood is delicious!
As for unexpected challenges accompanying our move, relearning to drive “Florida-style” has been difficult. The pace of traffic is much faster than in Colorado and Florida drivers are not shy about using their car’s horn. Where posted speed limits exist, drivers only consider them a suggestion. Many “local streets” are three lanes wide in each direction.
I was surprised by the sheer number of gated communities that exist in the area. These communities typically have many recreational options for residents and most have guards at their entrances.
Acclimating to Florida’s climate has been a bit of a challenge. While my son in Carbondale was shoveling snow off his roof, the temperature in Delray Beach reached 85 degrees. Santa Claus wears shorts when he comes to town. I look at some of the clothes hanging in my closet and think, “Why did I bring that?”
The flora and fauna around my new home are also quite different. Gone are the deer, squirrels and magpies. They have been replaced by unfamiliar plants, exotic birds, and scores of small lizards that hide in the roots of the palm trees outside our bedroom window.
When we first arrived in Delray Beach, I didn’t recognize any of the birds in our neighborhood — none of them! I had to do a bit of research to learn their names. One of the more interesting avian neighbors walked by our house yesterday. I had no clue what the bird was, so I looked him up and discovered that it was actually a duck. I know that sounds crazy, but this bird does not resemble any duck I have ever seen. Locate a color photograph of a Muscovy Duck and you’ll see what I mean.
Another new neighbor of ours is a large iguana who I have named Spot. Spot warms himself in the sun in our backyard almost every day. I briefly considered trying to become Spot’s human friend and thought we might be destined to become buddies. I imagined that I could put a leash on Spot and take him out for walks. I gave up on that idea when I read that iguanas are fast and have razor-sharp teeth. I since dropped the idea of becoming friendly with Spot.
A Florida friend recently suggested that I consider riding the bike trail in Alligator Alley. The name seemed a little suspicious, so I pulled Alligator Alley up on the Internet. I immediately found a photo of a large alligator blocking a bike path not more than 20 feet from the closest bicycle rider. I hope she made it past the gator.
Well, this is Florida, folks. And, as I recall, they even have gators in the water at Disney World. I guess it’s only fair to remember that they were here first and I am just a newcomer.
