ARRIVED IN ST. AUGUSTINE

We are finished!  We arrived this morning at Anastasia State Park and dipped our tires in the Atlantic Ocean.  We had a police escort through downtown for the last 6 miles in the pouring rain.
We started the trip in the rain and we ended in the rain with no rain to speak of in between.
Ben, my son, was here to greet me and has photos that I will post later.
We fly home Saturday morning.

 Leaving Palatka for St. Augustine at 6:30 AM.  Just getting light.
Nancy, Judi and Cher

Cher and Nancy at the Fire station awaiting our police escort.

OUR LAST WEEK!!

 On our day off yesterday I went to the Edward Ball Wakulla State Park.  The park contains the Wakulla River which is formed from a spring.  The photo above shows how clear the water is and the boat that we went on for a tour of the river.  Edward Ball owned the land and built a lodge which is still in use.  The State of Florida purchased the land from him.  The lodge sits on limestone cave system.

 There are turtles everywhere.

 One of 5 alligators we saw from the boat.

 People have lived on this site for 15,000 years.

Today we rode 51 miles from Crawfordville to Perry,  Florida.  The ride was flat and straight on Route 98.  We stopped at a gas station for chicken wings.  It is a nice change from our peanut butter and jelly sandwiches.
We ate at Mama's Italian Restaurant tonight and had a delightful time.  The owner made sure that we all had good food and great service.
We have 3 more days of riding before we arrive in St. Augustine.
It is hard to believe we started almost two months ago in San Diego.

DAYS 48, 49, 50 ,51

Wednesday found us biking from Pensacola to Crestview, Florida.
This was a trip of 65 miles, mostly flat and some along a very nice bike trail.  The scenery is pretty much the same, lots of pines and quiet roads. 
Thursday was our last day of over 90 miles.  We did "90 on the 90"from Crestview to Marianna.
Route 90 is the original road across the southern US and we have been on and off it the whole trip.  Today we did 90 miles on it.  It is quiet with a nice shoulder and goes through a few small towns.  Interstate 10 has replaced this road as the main route and parallels the 90.  There is not much in the little towns anymore.  We did stop at Sally's for an early lunch and meet a nice local couple who bought us lunch.

Sally's

Friday we rode from Marianna to Quincy.  We are in the middle of the Florida panhandle and it is not flat.  We crossed the Chattahochee river which is line between Central Standard Time and Eastern Standard Time.  We are now back in the easter time zone.  

Today, Saturday, we rode 47 miles from Quincy to Crawfordsville.

Some hills today but flat at the end.  Some people went to the state park to swim and see alligators.  I am going to tomorrow on our rest day.  We have a van that will take us in the afternoon.

We have had great weather in the low 80s.

Only 4 more riding days!!  We never want to see another hotel breakfast!

DAYS 45, 46 AND 47

Two states since I last blogged!  We spent two nights in Dauphin Island, Alabama and then cycled into Florida today.
Our rest day was at Beach Club condominiums on Dauphin Island.
They are right on the beach and a highlight of the tour.   The beach is beautiful and the island very pretty.  We rode bikes around and ate good seafood.
Today we rode 58 miles from Dauphin Island to Pensacola, Florida.  We are finally in Florida!  The trip is nearing the end.  We took a 45 minute ferry ride off of the island. The ferry goes past the largest the oil rig in the US.  It is hard to gauge the scale of the rigs out in the ocean. 

The rest of the ride was along the coast.  We saw mostly beach houses and in Florida, hi-rises along the beach.  This is not my favorite part of the country.  We did stop at a good seafood restaurant and ate very good shrimp.  The riding is good as we had a bike lane for most of the day.  Bike lanes in Alabama and MIssissippi were pretty much nonexistent.

Judi, Cher and I entering Alabama

 A red flounder and a drum fish

 Pelican off the pier waiting for fish bits

 Our condominiums (mine was at right on 2nd floor)

 Beach in front of Condos on Dauphin Island

 Our whole group ready to board the ferry to mainland Alabama

 Oil Rig-the largest in the US

Finally, entering Florida!

Day 41, 42, 43 and 44

 Cher, Carla and Lucy in Louisiana

 Welcome to Mississippi

 Our lunch stop at Scooter's

Rural Mississippi, I believe this is in the National Forest 

Ice cream stop in Fort Ramsay.

I am finally getting caught up on my blog.
Wednesday was another long day, 88 miles from St. Francesville to Hammond, LA.  It was a really lovely ride almost all on back roads through the countryside.  I even had a catfish sandwich for lunch.  
Thursday we rode from Hammond to Bogalosa, LA.  This was a shorter day, only 55 miles but again through very pretty rural countryside.
Friday we rode 61 miles to Wiggins, Mississippi.  We woke up to cold and very cloudy weather.  During the night I thought there was a tornado going through my room.  It didn't rain during the ride but it never got above 55 degrees.  We have the a great variety of weather on this tour.  We have found the people and the drivers in Mississippi very friendly.  They give us lots of space on the roads and often stop to let us cross a road.
Today we rode to Moss Point, MS, a ride of 75 miles.  Again, all through rural countryside.  Fortunately the weather was in the 70's.  We did go over two very high bridges.  A number of people had flats on the bridges due to the metal bridge joints.  I have been lucky to only have two flats and one broken valve stem but the trip isn't over yet!
Dogs in Louisiana and Mississippi can be a real problem as people do not keep them chained or fenced in.  I have found that yelling go home loudly seems to work.  So far no one in our group has been injured by a bike-chasing dog.

DAY 40 REST DAY AT THE BUTLER GREENWOOD BED AND BREAKFAST DAY 41 ST. FRANCISVILLE TO HAMMOND, LA

We had a great rest day at an old plantation.  The main house has been inhabited by nine generations of the same family since 1790. It was an indigo and cotton plantation before the Civil War.  Now they support it through several cottages that they rent out.  Two of them are the original cook's house and the kitchen.  We had a tour of the main house which has a lot of the original furnishings.  The trees on the property are gorgeous.  I had a room in a the Pond House with Mel and Marilyn.  We had a lovely porch and a deck.
Every cottage was unique.
I did not go into St. Francesville but we did go out to dinner.  I had crawfish ettoufee which was delicious.  A great rest day.

 The Mississippi River

 New bridge over the Mississippi

 Original child's bed in the plantation house

1792 Plantation house with old oaks.

Today we rode 88 miles to Hammond, LA. It was lovely ride through several towns and pretty countryside.

DAY 39 103 MILES!!

I did my first century ride.  I now can cross that off my bucket list.
We rode through Louisiana bayou country.  The highlight for me was crossing over the Mississippi river on a new high bridge.
We are in St. Francisville tonight and tomorrow night.  We have a rest day here.  We are staying on an old plantation.
I will post photos tomorrow.

DAYS 35, 36, 37, 38

 My Texas bike socks

 Our guides at our morning snack table

 At the Louisiana state line

Johnny Johnson, with his veteran's cap
I am finally able to log on to the internet.  It seems when we get to a hotel everyone logs on and I can't get on.
Thursday we rode from Navasota to Cleveland, Texas, a 75 mile trip.  It started off cold with a bit of drizzle but turned into a nice day.  The ride was lovely and went through the Sam Houston National Forest which is full of tall pines.  The roads were good and the logging trucks always give us lots of room.

Friday we rode to Silsbee, Texas.  The ride was pretty featureless and was supposed to be 64 miles.  Cher and I missed a very obvious turn and did what we call "bonus" miles which amounted to 6 extra miles.  

Saturday we finally left Texas and entered Louisiana.  The roads are a bit rougher but not bad.  We really like the people. They are very friendly.  Cher had a nail through her tire early in the ride which involved changing both the tire and the tube.  Several people offered to help but she changed it with help from our SAG vehicle driver, Moira.

This is where I meet Johnny Johnson out in front of a small post office.  He wanted to know what we were doing and asked if we were fundraising.  He told me that he lost his wife of 45 years four months ago.  I told him about my fundraiser and he gave me $5.
I asked if I could take his photo and he asked if he could give me a hug.  I just love meeting people on the road and consider this a very special $5.

We spent the night in Lake St. Charles, LA.

Today is Sunday and we are in Lafayette, LA, a town of about 200,000 people.  I took the day off to get ready to try and ride a century ride tomorrow.  Our scheduled ride is 94 miles and another rider, Judy, and I are going to add 6 miles and see if we can do this.  Hopefully, there will be no headwinds.  I will report on my progress tomorrow.  I did ride around Lafayette a bit today.

DAY 33 AND 34

Lucy in the blue bonnets with her koala friends.  Apparently every baby in Texas gets photographed in the Texas blue bonnets.

Yesterday was a lovely 70 mile day through more hill country.  It was one of the best riding days I have had.  There were lots of rolling hills and good road surfaces.  The only challenge was the south wind which gave us a strong crosswind most of the day.  It did keep us cooler which was nice as we are back in hot humid weather.
We rode from La Grange to Navasota where we have a rest day today.  We rode through Navasota on the way to the hotel.  It is town with a lot of empty store fronts.  We are expecting rain today with cooler weather moving for tomorrow.  Just when I think I send home all cold-weather clothing!

 Blue bonnets and indian paintbrush (the orange flowers)

 Lunch break at a church in Gay Hill

 Ice cream break

 My buddies photographing blue bonnets.

DAYS 30, 31 AND 32

This trip is always full of surprises and for me they have usually been delightful ones.
I have a special request from my father-in-law, Richard, for photos of what he calls "our life-support vehicle".  He is printing out my blog for all the folks at Gorham House, a the retirement community where they live.    Our SAG  really is our life support.  They supply water, food and most importantly cheer us up and wait on us when we really need it.

Julie, in the lovely apron, is our SAG driver on this sunny day in central Texas.  
Day 30 we rode 65 miles from Kerrville to Blanco (rhymes with Plano).  It was a beautiful ride on ranch and farm roads.  The chip seal wasn't too bad and there were some nice rolling hills.  The weather has been cool which is great for riding.  I am really enjoying Texas.
Day 31 was from Blanco to Blastrop, just outside of Austin.  I had planned to meet the Bixler's, of Austin, for dinner.  About 15 miles into the 93 mile ride I developed brake problems.  I called our guide Carol and she tried talking me through a repair.   Cher and I are the only two with the center pull brakes (on our Terry bikes) but we couldn't fix the problem with my trusty multi-tool.  The SAG took us to the van and Carol couldn't fix them either.  We even were sent to a local hardware store where one of the employees who races bikes tried to fix but to no avail.
The Bixler's are my new bike angels.  The bike store in Blanco had a fire so they are out of service for awhile.  The Bixler's picked me up, took me out to dinner and I spent the night in Austin.  We are headed to a bike store this morning.  Bill, their son, diagnosed the problem last night.  I also had called Georgena Terry (the designer of my bike) who gave some advice on the brakes.  I still need some work on the cables so we are headed to a bike shop this morning.  Bill will then deliver me to La Grange in time for one of Linda's delicious dinners.  Many thanks to the Bixler's.

 A nice restroom at our lunch stop in Waring, Texas
Texas ranch below.

DAY 29 REST DAY IN KERRVILLE, TEXAS

We are on a rest day in Kerrville, Texas.  Cher and I went shopping and bought cowboy hats (crushable to fit in our luggage) and COWBOY BOOTS. 

We spent Wednesday night in Vanderpool at the Foxfire Cabins.  They are a small group of cabins next to the Sabine River.  We are in the Texas Hill country which is green and lovely.  Spring is just coming and the trees are starting to bloom.  I didn't ride Wednesday which was cold, rainy and hilly.  I am still recovering from whatever plagued me.
Thursday I rode half the ride from Vanderpool to Kerrville.  It was for me the most beautiful ride so far.  It was through the hill country on windy, steep roads.  The weather was about 65 degrees and no wind.  One mile long hill was reportedly 14% grade.  I took one look and promptly dismounted the bike and walked.  The views were stunning and I enjoyed the even slower pace of walking.
I got into Kerrville early and had my bike tuned up at a wonderful bike shop, Hill Country Bicycle Works.  They were expecting our large group and had lots of people to work on bikes.  The owner (who spent 3 years bike touring the world with his wife) replaced my chained, trued my wheel and adjusted my brakes.  She is now running very smoothly.
We are staying at the YO Ranch Resort which apparently has a game ranch associated with the hotel.

 Texas hill country

 Longhorn cattle

 Top of a roughly 10% downhill
Below: Lucy and I at the Apple Store in Medina, TX

DAY 25 AND DAY 26

 Javelina in Fort Davis, TX

 Moira helping Barb with water at our SAG stop

 Riding buddy Cher

 Off the interstate!

 Hiking at Fort Davis (MacDonald Observatory in the distance)

 Chip seal, a most lovely riding surface

 Indian Lodge at Fort Davis

 My room at Gage Hotel

Lunch stop on Easter Sunday, great little place with stone tables
We were in Fort Clark yesterday.  An old historic fort that has been renovated into housing and a motel.  It also has a natural spring fed swimming pool which felt great on a hot day.  I took a rest day to recover and had a nice swim.
The Fort has lovely limestone houses built in the 1870's
We also were invited to an ice cream social with Bubba's Pampered Tours.  Great outfit.  They have helped several of our riders.  They camp but have 24 riders and 11 support staff! Check out their website.
I rode today, 30 miles of the 43 mile trip to Camp Wood.
Lovely ranch country.  We saw sheep but no houses, just the entrance gates to the ranches.
I am feeling better but the ride was tough.
Being called to dinner.