Day 4 & 5 (Severe Rain Delays)

Day 4:

Sorry I'm a little behind on this folks. I arrive in Miami much later than expect, last night after a heavy downpour about the last 11 miles on Alligator Alley. Talk about a little nerve wrecking with semi-tucks speeding past me.

As I previously stated, I stayed at a Holiday Inn Express in Brooksville, FL the third evening and the next day, I took off to H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa Bay, FL. I should tell you that we did not get a confirmation on my visit from the person that we had as a point of contact. So being the persistent person that some of you know me as, I went there anyway and surprised some of the folks that I met. In a nut shell they were wonderful and I really enjoyed meeting many of the people that I did such as Odalsys Capote (Executive Director and Chief of Staff-Office of the President/CEO & Center Director), Cody Northrup (Coordinator, Institutional Advocacy) who along with Terri Hewitt (Coordinator, Public Relations) who came over from the public relations office to give me a very thorough tour of the facilities. Actually, I was very impressed and even got to see one of the actual research labs where doctors, scientists, and lab people try to find a cure and to learn more about the cancers and what causes them. This was my first tour of an actual lab. I also met two other people that are key to Moffitt such as , Alan F. List, M.D. (Clinical Sciences, Physician-In-Chief) and Gary Reuther, Ph.D. I thoroughly enjoyed Gary explaining what is going on at Moffitt from a research prospective.

Unfortunately, because of the unannounced surprise visit to H. Lee Moffitt, this took a little while to coordinate once I got there and to complete the tour so it did put me behind by about a half a day but I am so very glad that I did decide to give it a shot. I should tell you that H. Lee Moffitt is the states primary comprehensive cancer center and very well renowned.

So, back on the road! As you might already know from the weather reports on Weather.com it did rain periodically throughout the trip but nothing like when I arrived at the beginning of the famous Alligator Alley which is 100 miles long. Apparently before the state installed fencing along the everglades and swamp land, alligators would actually be seen right up on the highway which is a problem for vehicles and especially motorcycles but alas they installed fencing. The first 5 miles or so was pretty rainy but then it dried out until the last 11 miles when it dumped mass amounts of rain and then having trucks speed by me made it more even more knuckle-busting for me. Thank God I own a Goldwing with a larger Tulsa windshield and new tires. My motorcycle performed absolutely flawlessly unlike a particular persons bike, that I work with would have in this situation. Hi Jeff Y! Oops, no name dropping. :)

So, I finally made it through Alligator Alley which I did enjoy, overall. I then headed to Miami, where I had a room waiting for me with compliments from my brother-in-law, Greg. I cannot begin to tell you what incredible service I got at the Courtyard by Marriott. The restaurant was still open until 10:00pm and so I took a real fast shower, changed and proceeded to have dinner. I finally went to bed at around 12:00am because I had some e-mails to catch up on and other work to do but I woke up at 4:30am and could not go back to sleep so I got all of my gear ready to depart and after breakfast, pulled out. I want to thank my brother-in-law, Greg Presnol, the evening staff at the Miami Courtyard, in particular to include people like Gregory, Rudy, Jim, and a few other names that I forgot. They really made me feel welcomed and interested in my trip as well.

Day 5:

As I write this, I'm so tired but alas, I will move forward for those of you waiting on an update. I left Miami at about 8:10am and headed towards The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society of Palm Beach Gardens, FL. They knew I was scheduled to arrive at some point and made me feel so welcomed. The ladies all introduced themselves to me and I spoke quite thoroughly with the ladies that are heading up the Team In Training season. They were so nice and eager to find out about my trip so far. I almost forgot that they even gave me a Team In Training t-shirt that I know I will wear during the trip. GO TEAM!

As I proceeded to move north on US I-95 towards my parents home in Port St. Lucie, FL I noticed that another storm front was moving in from the east very quickly so I decided to stay overnight at my parents instead of pushing onward. Because I got behind schedule from the day before, I was contemplating just visiting for a couple hours and then going north toward Jacksonville, FL. It was so nice to see my parents as well as my sister, brother-in-law (same guy), and my niece, Ellie.

Tomorrow morning I will be pulling out by daylight and trying to make up some lost time so I will be out there much longer.

Quick Note:
I realize that I will be arriving at a couple of the facilities later than anticipated but please be patient with me. Riding in really bad weather is not worth rushing. I will make contact with you as quickly as possible.


Pete West
pwestjr@gmail.com
(210) 563-0509 (cell)
http://www.active.com/donate/cruisinforacure (secure donation website)
http://cruisinforacure.blogspot.com (travel blog site)