It was
late afternoon when the Greyhound bus dropped me off in North Miami Beach. I
left from York, Pennsylvania a day and a half ago and I’ve only slept a few
hours on the bus and during some of the long layovers. As the bus pulls away I
look around at my surroundings. There’s palm trees! I’m in an urban area. It
will be dark soon, and this doesn’t look like a great place to be after dark,
so I should figure something out soon. There’s several parks and golf courses near
the coast; that’s where I’m hoping to find work, so I start walking as the sun
sets. It’s just over 8 miles; I’ve been on a bus since yesterday morning, so I’m
not low on energy, but I’ve hardly slept more than a couple random hours since
then, so I’m pretty sleepy. A nice little playground area offers a picnic table
where I pull over for a snack. My luggage was in the cargo hold under the bus,
so I haven’t eaten since… uh… well, I don’t remember when, but I’m hungry, that’s
for sure. I go ahead and pull out the camp stove and boil up a generous pot of
oatmeal. A nearby drinking fountain fills up my water bottles and I’m back on
my feet. There’s a little Baptist church, I’ll have to remember that’s there… Finally
signs indicate that I’m within a few miles of the beach. Towering high-rise
condominiums come into view lit up like disco-balls. Wow! There’s some money in
this place! A little room in one of those towers would probably cost more than
everything I’ve got to my name! Good thing I have a tent and a sleeping bag!
Now if I can just find a place to set them up…
I
finally come to the beach at the base of the fancy hotels. I can hear the surf!
The parks I saw on the map are just south of here so I turn right and head that
way. Another half mile or so and the Massive hotels give way to a Haulover Park
with trees and bushes. It’s thick and shrubby though; not really anything I can
lash a hammock to and no good place to set up a tent. As I follow a trail along
the coast I come to a covered pavilion with picnic tables. I’m pretty beat at
this point so I take a break to think about what to do next. I’ve hardly sat
down when the wind suddenly becomes fierce and a downpour starts. Wow. It’s
very providential that I just happened to reach a covered shelter as it started
to rain! “Thank you Lord!” I guess I’m spending the night here. Two of the
picnic tables are pulled together so that their two seats make a place to lay
down that is off the ground, but less conspicuous than I would have been on the
top of a table. After a little snack and a drink, I roll out my sleeping pad
and lay down. It’s warm, but with that high wind and rain it’s not quite warm
enough, so I pull out my sleeping bag and zip myself inside. I didn’t think I’d
be using this in Florida, but that wind is chilly! The sleeping bag flaps
loudly in the wind and the nearby road carries a steady drone of heavy traffic,
but none of this is going to disturb my sleep. I’m bone tired and sleep
deprived. I’m down like a rock within minutes.
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