Miami: Something stormy comes your way.
Taking the most random route I could I made my way back up to Miami beach, looking for a beach with a shower on the way and failing miserably. I was driving through some of the most expensive and exclusive property in the US and public facilities were just not there for hobos like me. I had to be at some club for 6pm for a couchsurfing gathering where there would be a drag show and fancy dress was encouraged. Seems like the North Americans love to get dressed up at lot, perhaps I should sort myself out with a costume… Hopefully I would find somewhere nicer to sleep than my minivan but in the meantime I needed to get a shower. Eventually I found a public beach near Miami Beach and went off for a swim, sunbathe and a shower. When I came back there had been a break in….
I wanted to get changed out of my wet clothes in the back of my minivan but these two people were constantly walking around it and talking on their mobiles. I figured it out when the police showed up and realised they had had their car broken into sometime before. This naturally gives me cause for concern about the goodies that usually sit in my car waiting to be taken. The privacy glass is a bonus and my new curtains help too but I can’t help but worry about someone getting in and robbing me. I guess I have the advantage of them not being able to carry half the stuff I have in there as it is now pretty much kitted out for an extensive road trip and there is loads of gear to take. Ah my beautiful car 
I still need a few things and have to get more prepared for Mexico with a proper spare wheel, puncture repair kit, tire pump, spare brake pads and the like. Also I need to think about getting out of soft ground and fuel cannisters and the like. These are things I can pick up on the way but my main concern is security and the break in at the car park only reminded me about this. I guess I could weld some locks into the inside of the main doors but this wont stop people smashing the windows. Even alarms are not much use as most people just ignore them. Maybe I should get an air horn and wire it up with a 10 second delay to just keep blasting out, that might scare em off and make someone investigate. I guess the best thing I can do for now is to hide everything in the front section and keep my curtains down when Im not nearby. Fingers crossed!
I was fashionably late to the bar at 7pm and it seems I was the first one there. I watched some guy dressed as Cat Woman dance about for a bit. He could get his leg completely vertical which was impressive, very flexible for a transsexual. I asked a few people but didn’t really recognise anyone so went and moved my car a bit closer. Then a few people turned up, a few more and then the main gang. Only about 10 people. Seems the CS community in Miami isn’t that active and there isn’t much hosting going on. Roy, another surfer from Israel, was staying in a hostel.
I had emailed Miriam earlier on in the day as she said she could maybe host someone and I think I persuaded her by getting her to jump in the pool with me, fully clothed. We decided to abandon the pool when I found a nappy in there. God knows where that came from, so we sneaked off to the beach across the road and nearly drowned in the now huge surf. Seems a storm was brewing somewhere out in the Atlantic….