Day 1 Gator Hell Week

We awoke to 60-degree temps this morning in Fort Myers, so any thoughts of vests, arm warmers, and booties were quickly dashed and put on hold. This was summer-like weather, and sunblock was the potion of choice this morning as we headed out at 8:28am.

And although the wind blew steadily from the southeast all day, it did not seem to slow folks down very much. More than anything, it was the heat…which topped out in the mid- to upper-80s this afternoon. Our 102-mile ride to Clewiston was simply gorgeous. It was about as flat as you could find (aside from your kitchen table). My GPS seldom rose above 20 feet elevation.

And so our route took us out of Fort Myers, past the airport, and into the Lehigh Acres are, and then across the Caloosahatchee River. We paralleled the river to Route 29, and then crossed the river to Labelle, where we had lunch. And from there we headed south 11 miles, and then east into swamp land. I caught a gator out of the corner of my eye as Dave and I startled it. The resulting splash in the canal was loud.

Then the smell took an acrid turn as we caught the aroma of burning sugar cane fields. Huge trucks occasionally passed us, laden with cut cane. And in a short while, we reached our destination, the Best Western in Clewiston. Everyone rolled in between 4pm and 4:35pm, which made crewing quite simple today.

We’re off to dinner in a few minutes…in fact, everyone is standing around me looking very hungry. So…with that in mind, I’m outa here!