Gainesville, FL

WE HAVE PASSED THE 8000 MILE OF THE RIDE!

We left Medart on a very foggy morning on Rt 98 east. There was a nice berm to ride on all day. The temperature was a warm 70 degrees and the fog burned off by mid day. We rode through nice pine (at least I think they were pine trees) trees all day. We didn't go through any towns before getting to Perry at the end of the day, so we stopped at a picnic table on the roadside for a break and snack. There was a guy (who looked like a "street person") sitting at the picnic table. He was riding an old mt bike that one of the pedals hanging down, an old backpack hanging from the backrack, a big blue tarp tied to the handlebars and another backpack that he had on his back. He was very nice and talked alot about the area. He said he was riding from Gainesville to Tallahassee. An interesting fellow he was. We rode on into Perry, stopped at a Winn Dixie for dinner supplies and rode down the road to a KOA campground. It was really a nice one. And it was movie night. They had a TV in the rec room so we put the laundry in the washers and went to the rec room to watch The Tour of California. Levi Leipeimer, an American was leading the race. It was also interesting to watch since alot of the area we had just ridden through. After the race was over, we cooked some rice, green beans and put chicken in it for dinner. We took our dinner over to the rec room and spent the evening watching a movie with all of the other "old" people at the campground.
The next morning we fixed oatmeal for breakfast. It went great with the fresh strawberries and blueberries that I had bought at the grocery store. We left Perry in beautiful sunshine. And the warmest day that we have had for a long time. It was in the 80's. We had a great ride. The road and conditions were perfect. Today we had alot more open terrain with cattle, sheep and chicken farms. In one big field there was a couple of big white dog, probably Great Pyrenees that were guarding the sheep in the field. They ran along the fence line for a long time barking at us. They were just beautiful. We also came across a field of Longhorn Cattle! And here I had been on a gator watch since we had been in LA! I thought these cattle lived in Texas. We stopped in Mayo at the Subway for lunch. While we were there we called our friends Chuck and Annmarie. They were on their way to their trailer in Bradenton. We have been hoping to catch up with them. They decided to find us so we told them we would meet them in Branford. When we arrived in Branford we stopped at a gas station for some healthy ice cream. Branford is on the banks of the Suwannee River. When we rode across the river, Hap started singing the song "Way down upon the Suwannee River..............." I did not realize that this is a big diving area because of all of the springs. Chuck and Annmarie arrived and we all checked into the Steamboat Dive Inn. We took a short walk and then walked next door for dinner. It was so good to see them. We have been biking and running with these two for a long time. We met back in 'ot 82 or so when I was teaching a fitness class at the YMCA. In 1989 we went on a bike tour in Germany with them (along with my brother Jeff). We had so much fun! Annmarie is from Germany so she (and Chuck) spoke the language. We spent a week riding with them and then ventured off on our own. It was great!
This morning we ate breakfast with Chuck and Annmarie before they headed on down to Bradenton. We got on a bike trail in Branford and rode it to Fort White and then got back onto Rt 27. We once again had just a beautiful day to ride in, 80 degrees sunny and a tailwind. We had a nice shoulder to ride on for most of the day. We stopped in High Springs to pick up our weekly mail (thanks mailman George for getting that to us!). Hap also got his hair and beard cut. He was starting to look alittle straggly. Now it's my turn. In High Springs we stopped for a slice of pizza for lunch. When we got closer to Gainesville the traffic picked up. We saw alot of cyclists. When we had to get on a couple of roads with no shoulders that was when the drivers started to do their thing! One trucker yelled something out the window. We couldn't understand what he said but I think that it was something about how pretty our tandem was, and he hoped that we had a very nice day or ....something along those lines.
We are going to detour alittle from our planned route to St Augustine. The Alpha One Organization asked us to go to Miami to the main headquarters. Since they agreed to rent a van for us we said sure. It will be great to put a face with some of the names we have been talking to for the past many months. In addition my brothers are coming to Florida to race their motorcycles this week. We are going to meet them in Ocala. It will be great to see family again. And to top it off. Father Dale and Valerie are in West Palm Beach this week and we hope to see them on our drive down to Miami. It's a win win all the way around. So my next posting will be from a van from somewhere in Florida! We plan to start our ride from Gainesville to St Augustine probably next Tuesday. We'll keep ya posted. In the meantime for everyone back in Ohio, we hope you stay warm and dry! Take care.

Medart, Florida

When we left the hotel in Destin we felt like we were going into a war zone as we got back on the very busy four lane divided highway Rt 98 east. Ken had told us about an alternate route but we had a few miles on the main route to get there. It was very busy! I am sure that everyone who was in such a hurry to get by us had some type of emergency like getting to the outlet mall asap, or to breakfast or maybe to play golf. We even got yelled at by an ol' lady. I don't think I 've ever heard someone that age say some of "those" words. That's interesting! We got to the turnoff in one piece and onto Old Rt 98 that Ken recommended. There was a bike/walking trail by the main road. But it was full of people so we stayed on the road. It wasn't too bad. Most people were reasonable. It was a beautiful road by the gulf beaches. One thing that I noticed though was there were occasional signs that said "Do not walk on dunes, habitat area". And then right beside these "habitat areas" were huge condos, motels, restaurants etc. I must be missing something. There is some video of us riding through this section at www.youtube.com/outbikin. We had to get back onto the busy Rt 98 for a few more miles before turning onto Rt 30A that had a bike trail along beside it. The bike trail was really nice. There were some sections that were very bumpy and full of gravel so we occasionally got on the road. It was a pretty ride through the small towns of Seaside. There were some beautiful houses. But too many people and cars for us. We did see alot of people cycling on the trail and on the road. We stopped for a banana/peanut butter break and another cyclist stopped to talk. We asked him about a campground that we had seen on the map. He said that was where he was staying but it was only for RV's. AND they were very picky about the RV's they let in. If an "old" RV pulls in they won't let them in. Sooo I guess that means that us riff raff tent people couldn't stay there. No, but there is a state park near there. Yes, we called there and you needed to make a reservation in 2007 to get in! We thanked him for the help and went on down the trail. The trail ended where Rt 30A came back out onto Rt 98 again. We were just west of Panama City. We did have alittle bit of a berm at this time though. Traffic was still pretty heavy. What was interesting though was that there were these signs that said "Cyclists on roadway". Mmm....wonder what that meant? All of a sudden I noticed the rear tire feeling funny and sure enough we had a flat tire. We pulled into a parking lot and Hap changed the flat. While he was changing it a sheriff pulled up and asked if we needed any help. I asked him if he could find the hole in the tube. He said no, but there is a bike shop just up the road. I said thanks I think we are ok. He asked where we are going. I said, that we were going to Panama City. Oh, he said you want to be careful the road is very busy. Do you want a ride? I told him no thanks. It was really nice of him to stop and check on us though. It does make us feel better knowing at least that someone cared. Hap got the tire fixed and we went back out into the war zone. Coming into Panama City we crossed another big bridge. I had found a coupon for a hotel for only $35! It was just on the other side of the bridge. We somehow made it safely to the hotel. It actually was not bad. We were alittle concerned but it was alright. I got the laundry done while Hap did alittle bike maintance. For dinner we ordered a pizza and salad.

The next morning we left in sunshine and cooler temps, 60's. The traffic was much better once we got away from Panama City. There was a nice berm also. We passed a couple of Air Force bases on our way out of town. It seemed like a difficult day for some reason and then we realized that we had a headwind. Oh, no wonder we're workin so hard! Rt 98 was really nice to ride on now. Since it was supposed to storm we decided to stay at the Dixie Belle Motel in Port St Joe. We stopped at a grocery store for dinner supplies. They had a grill at the hotel so we got a steak to cook. As it turned out it didn't rain that night. But when we woke up in the morning it looked like it was going to rain on our heads at any time. I made sure that all of our rain gear was on top and easy to get to before we left. We stopped in Appalachacola for some great calzones for lunch. We asked the waitress to wrap up our leftovers and we took them with us. When we came out it was pouring down rain. We put on our raincoats. At least it was a warm rain! There was a huge bridge to cross over the river. It was 3 miles long. The wind was blowing really hard from the side. It seemed like the more we moved forward the more we moved sideways. We rode into Carrabelle and stopped at a grocery store for dinner supplies. All we needed was a salad to go with our calzone leftover. We checked into the Georgian Hotel. We were alittle wet but it could've been worse. The owner of the hotel let me do our laundry (it was two of our three cycling outfits) which was really nice. Just after we got checked into the hotel, the rains came. There was a terrible storm during the night. Flood warnings were in effect and several tornado warnings were out. As I was looking on a Florida DOT website I found a list of cycling laws in Florida. I thought one of them was really interesting. It said that drivers are required by law to give cyclists three feet distance when passing them. MMM... Either the drivers here hadn't read that law, most people here aren't from Florida OR they think the 3 feet is measured from where the driver is sitting! It was supposed to storm again tomorrow and tomorrow night, so we decided to ride a short day tomorrow as a rest day. And then do a long day the next day when the weather was better. It is nice to have this option! We made a reservation in Medart at the Best Western for tomorrow.

This morning we were prepared to wake up to more rain, but were pleasantly surprised to find the rain had stopped. But it was extremely foggy out. It was a warm 70's just a soggy one. The fog reminded us of the west coast fog. The big difference was that it was a warm fog instead of a cold fog. It was a really nice ride inspite of the fog. We had all of our bright rain covers on the panniers. All of the drivers gave us plenty of room as they passed. I think they were probably trying to figure out what we were! There was hardly any traffic and the scenery was really pretty. The only downside was that one of my migraines decided today was the day. Oh well. We rode into Medart, stopped for dinner stuff and at a Dollar Store. The hotel was a new one so it was especially nice and clean. It makes you really appreciate having a clean place to sleep in! I think I am going to have to change my housekeeping habits when I get home!

Destin, Florida

We ate dinner at the hotel. We had Latino food. Not really sure what made it latino except that it said "Latino food". It tasted good but then again when you ride every day all food is good. Except for that spicy texan/mexican last month. Tomorrow's weather is supposed to be stormy thundershowers with possible tornadoes. So Hap signed us up for another night at the Day's Inn. We spent most of the day off, doing nada. Watchin tv, playing games, doing laundry, washing our sleeping bag. Big Agnes was gettin kind of dirty so we through her in the tub and dryer. We were alittle concerned about washing our expensive down sleeping bag but she seemed to come through it just fine. Hap was feeling down from his cold, so it was a good day of rest. The weather report was accurate as the storm hit about 1 pm. There were several tornadoes but none in our area. They stayed north of us thankfully. We ordered some chinese food to be delivered for dinner. The wind really blew all night long. It was supposed to change direction so that we would have a tailwind or wind from the northwest tomorrow. Sounds good to me.

Today we woke up to beautiful sunshine. It was in the 60's and yes we did have a tailwind! We headed east on Rt 98 along the coast. We decided to take Rt 399 toward the city of Gulf Breeze on Santa Rosa Island. About half way down the island there was a sign that said "road ends in four miles." Hey Hap what do you think that sign means? Isn't there another bridge at the end of this island that we can take back to Rt 98? There sure is! So why does that sign say THAT? Oh, I'm sure it's just a guideline. It doesn't really mean that the road ends for bicycles. So we kept riding east and sure enough there was a big gate and very big signs that said road ends. Mmmm...we asked some walkers if a bike could ride the road and they said yes. And that some other bikes just went through. We called the police dept, a bike shop and neither of them knew if we could get through. So we called the park ranger for Gulf Shore. Yes, the road is for sure closed. MMmm....if we have to go back that is going to add at least 20 miles. What do you think?? Let's keep going. The road was there, it was just chewed up in places and had sand across it. We had to push across some sections. It was damaged in Hurricane Ivan in 2005. Finally we came to the end of the road and into the town of Navarre Beach. One thing we did notice was all of the houses for sale. We stopped for lunch at a restaurant and had a New Orleans Shrimp Po Boy. It seemed funny that we were in LA near New Orleans and had not had a PO Boy. I asked Hap if it was worth riding 1000 miles for and he said no. But it was ok. We rode across the intercoastal bridge to Rt 98 and headed east. We had about a foot berm to ride on. There was alot of traffic but everyone gave us room until we got into the town of Fort Walton. Then things got interesting. The shoulder went away and traffic picked up. It was interesting that there were signs up that said "Bicycles on roadway". I'm not sure why they had the signs up because no one seemed to pay them any mind. I think they are JUST A GUIDELINE or something. We had a couple of bridges to cross before we got to Destin. I think the best way to ride a bridge is to just claim the lane and go. It was alittle dicey. We got to the hotel and had a bonus of a whirlpool. We went out to dinner with some friends from Circleville. It sure was great to see some familiar faces. We had some great seafood. Ken and Connie took us down Rt 98 and showed us a detour that we could take tomorrow that would get us off of Rt 98 for awhile. And they told us about a 27 mile long bike trail. We are heading to Panama City tomorrow. Until then...........

Pensacola, Florida

It was a cool start to the days ride, but it was sunny and beautiful. It was a really nice ride to the ferry from Dauphin Island. There wasn't much traffic and what traffic there is gave us plenty of room. The 10% rule didn't even apply here! Now it really feels like we are riding in the southern US. We had to cross a big bridge to get over to Dauphin Island. It was huge. And the only hill we've seen for a while. The spokes on the rear wheel loosened up as we were riding across the bridge so we stopped and Hap tightened them up. Dauphin Island was a pretty little place with lots of what looked like new condos. We arrived at the ferry that would take us across Mobile Bay just as it was arriving. It cost $5.00/each for the short 20 minute (or so) ride. When we got off the ferry we ate our snack that we had with us. Peanut butter and bagels. Then we headed east on Rt 180 to Gulf Shores. It was a beautiful ride along the coast. And the really good news was that there wasn't any traffic except when the ferry came and went about every hour or so. We ran in to a couple of other cyclists that were headed west. We stopped and chatted for quite awhile. It is fun to run into other people who are doing what we are. Then we headed on to Gulf Shores State Park. It was a huge place. I think it had 250 campsites, 11 bathhouses! We set up our tent as fast as we could because it was getting dark. We had stopped at a Walmart just before the park and picked up a rotissere (sp?) chicken and some broccoli salad for dinner. After setting up the tent, we cycled over to the laundromat. We ate while our laundry was getting done. Then rode to the shower house for a much needed shower. It was pretty chilly by this time. I 'm really glad I decided to bring back those fleece jackets! Once we got in the tent though Big Agnes kept us plenty warm. Sleeping was not a problem!
The next morning we woke up to a beautiful sunny day. It would've looked alot better to me if I had not woken up with a migraine. I don't know if anyone else has migraines but they are just "yucky". Sorry for the technical medical language. Thank goodness for a medication called Imitrex. I can give myself a shot of this and the headache is usually gone within 10 minutes. Because of me we got a really late start. I think it was noon by the time we finally got on the bike. It was a chilly 50 some degrees but at least the sun was shining. We headed east on Rt 182 and only made it as far as Big Lagoon State Park near Gulf Beach. We sure didn't break any speed records today with the headwind! Isn't there something somewhere about a prevailing wind out of the west???? We also ran into another cyclist who was headed west. His name was Paul and he had left New York City on New Year's Day! Brrrrr..... He was headed to Tucson. Good luck Paul! We had a great campsite in Big Lagoon. I tried cooking something new for dinner. Salmon. In our frying pan. I hadn't tried that before. It was delicious along with the rice and green beans. We had a great hot shower too and headed to bed. Tomorrow we planned a short day to the Naval Museum in Pensacola.
This morning we woke up to sunshine and warmer temperatures. But once again, a migraine! But once again the Imitrex did it's thing! I cooked pancakes this morning. This was my first try at pancakes on our whisper light stove. They were so-so! I learned a few things. Like make sure you use enough water (Hap did you bring the measuring cup), make sure you shake it very well (I didn't SEE any clumps), make sure you use enough oil, make sure you have the fire adjusted juusst rrriiigghhttt.......... Maybe I'll do better next time! But with enough peanut butter and syrup on them you wouldn't know they weren't perfect pancakes. Hap said, they're just the way I like them..................
It was a short ride to the Navy Museum. We really enjoyed the museum. It is facinating seeing all of the different types, shapes and sizes of planes and their evolution. We really liked the IMAX movie of "Fighter Pilot". Since Hap wasn't feeling very well (he is getting a cold, the first time either of us have been sick since we left.....my headaches don't count, those are NORMAL), we decided to stay in a motel in Pensacola and take the next day off. Hopefully he will feel better by then. And hopefully I won't be getting the cold. Our next goal.....head east towards Gainesvill and St Augustine and then make our last left hand turn towards home, Ohio! Later.

Bayou La Batre, Alabama

We spent most of Monday hoping that our new rim was going to show up at the post office. But it did not. It could be worse though. It was a beautiful sunny 70 degrees so we sat by the pool and just relaxed. I could tell you that we played a game of cards but then I would have to tell you who won. Doug and Dinah called and invited us to eat at an italian buffet restaurant. I forgot to tell you about Dinah's service dog, Casey, a beautiful black lab. What a sweetie. Casey showed us how she would pick up anything that Dinah dropped and that included her leash! We had a great dinner and they took us back to the hotel.
Tuesday morning the post office called first thing to tell us that the rim was here. We met a couple from Michigan at breakfast at the hotel who offered to take Hap to the post office to pick up the rim. Hap spent the day rebuilding the wheel at the hotel. Thanks to Doug who brought us a wheel truing stand. Thanks Doug!! For dinner we walked across the street to Denny's for soup and salad. Some terrible storms passed through the area. Thankfully the worst of the storms stayed north of us. A tornado touched down in a town north of us. It hit a hospital. A patient was killed when he/she went outside after the hospital had a lockdown and called a code grey (tornado warning). That's a scary thought!
This morning we woke up to a cold, sunny day. Doug had dropped off some fresh donuts to the front desk on his way to work. Thanks Doug!! We decided to ship the cracked rim home with some other things we needed to send home. I think it will make a great picture frame. Don't you?? When we left it was about 40 degrees and a strong north wind. The picture above shows how we tired the box on the bike to get to the post office. It's amazing how much stuff you can tie on a bike! We headed east on Rt 90. Most of the day we rode on a nice four lane highway. The berm was a little rough but not bad. There was quite a bit of traffic but most of the people were reasonable. I think I like the drivers in Mississippis than Louisiana. We stopped at the Waffle House for lunch. Just after crossing into Alabama we got to the town of Grand Bay where we needed to pick up mail from home. We called the post office to get directions and was told, "We are right beside the old hardware store". OK that's helpful. So we stopped at a gas station and they said, "turn left and go to the old hardware store, it's right beside there". Got it. Turn left. We found the old hardware store AND the post office, got our mail and rode east on Rt 188 to Bayou La Batre. We went to the grocery store and got some salad fixins for dinner and headed to a hotel. It was supposed to be down in the 20's tonight. Brrrrr.........
Until next time!

Ocean Springs, Mississippi

We had a great breakfast at the hotel in Hammond. It was nice to be in a clean place for once. There must have been a lot of wind that went through last night. Storms had been predicted but most of them went nort of us. There were alot of tornadoes throughout the south. Thankfully none in Hammond. It was alittle cool when we started riding, but fairly warm in the 50's. We intended to take Rt 64 back to east Rt 190. There was alot of traffic all day and no berm at all. I am getting pretty good at riding sitting backwards on the tandem. The road was really pretty to ride on. Maybe that's why there was so much traffic. We had to do alot of map checking today because it wasn't quite a straight shot back to Rt 190. We stopped for sandwiches at Arby's for lunch. Once we got back onto Rt 190 we were on a four lane road. Now wouldn't ya'll think that if there are four lanes and cars can drive in two of them, that if there is a car (or bicycle...i.e. slower vehicle) in the right hand lane you would just go ahead and move into the left lane?? It's not brain surgery we're asking people to do, just drive the car! People would come zooming right up behind us, even though it was clear in the left hand lane, and just sit there. Finally, and sometimes with my help, they would decide, oh maybe I should drive in the other lane....what do ya think Ethyl should I pass in the lane that's open?? Uh.........ok.............here we go......... Ok I'm done venting now. We rode into Hammond on Rt 190, found the hotel and shut the door. It was an exhausting day, not the riding, that was the easy part. Jim and Sue (pictured above) picked us up and took us for Crawdads, or is that crayfish.....not sure...but anyway they were good. Sue gave us a quick "how to eat them" lesson. We had a great time with Jim and Sue. Hap was in the Purdue Drill Team with Jim a couple of years ago.............

We spent alot of the evening and into the night debating whether or not to go back north and get on Adventure Cycling's route through this area or to go south and ride along the gulf coast. Jim and Sue both said the drive along the coast is really interesting and we did want to see what the coast and what Hurricane Katrina damage was still there. I did a search for local cycling clubs. Sometimes the best info comes from talking to people in the area about routes. This doesn't always include bike shops. I know that sounds strange but I am not sure that everyone who works in a shop knows much about actual riding. One of the websites I came across was Gulf Coast Bicycle Club. I emailed Doug from the club about routes. In the meantime we talked to another bike shop about a route and he said that he would ride the southern route. He told us to ride east to Silbee following Rt 190 to Rt 90. With all of that input we decided to do a short day to Covington, LA and then do more research about which way to go. The guy at the bike shop told us that Rt 190 was fine for riding on. We were very surprised to find out that once again we were on a very busy two lane road with no shoulder, lots of traffic and drivers who obviously did not like cyclists on their road. It wasn't a fun day of riding. Although the weather was good, so that was a blessing. I just have to get used to riding backwards on the tandem! I feel like more of a lookout than anything else. We arrived in Covington and went to a McDonald's to grab something to eat and to the grocery store for dinner supplies. The traffic in town was particularly heavy. Since we couldn't find a campground (again!) we headed to a hotel about a mile out of town. As we were leaving town we saw a bike trail. Mmmm.....wonder where that goes?? We got to the hotel and asked the owner. He said that goes all the way to Silbee! Right where we wanted to be if we took the south route. When we got into the room, we knew we had made a bad choice. But by that time it was too late to go anywhere else. It smelled terrible. I don't think that I have ever smelled anything like it. I think it must have been mold or mildew or something. Maybe this hotel was underwater from Katrina or something. We got an email from Jim with the Gulf Coast Bicycle Club. http://www.gulfcoastbicycleclub.com/ We called him and he said that riding the south route could be safe as long as we were careful. There was alot of traffic and construction. There were also two bridges that needed to be crossed. One in Bay St Louis allowed bicycles and the other did not. We decided that we had been fighting traffic all along in LA anyway so what the heck. We decided to take the south route on the Gulf Coast. If you look at a map we are just northeast of New Orleans.

The next morning we got up early. I opened the door asap. I needed some fresh air! We got out of there as fast as possible. We rode to the bike trail and stopped for breakfast. It was sunny and 60-70 degrees. Breakfast was peanut butter, bagels, and bananas. The bike trail we stumbled on was the Tamany Trace trail. It ended up being about 30 miles long. We couldn't figure out why no one had mentioned it to us. It sure was nice to ride without traffic for awhile. It was a beautiful sunny day. We saw several cyclists and rollerbladers on the trail. One of the best parts was that there were bathrooms along the trail. We rode to the end of the trail in Silsbee. We had to ride through the middle of town which of course was busy. We got alittle lost and stopped for directions. We finally found our way back to Rt 190 and rode out of the town. There wasn't a shoulder but there wasn't alot of traffic thank goodness. We came to the intersection of Rt 90 and turned towards the coast and Mississippi. The area we were riding in was mostly marshland with some houses. We are starting to see some of the damage from Katrina. We crossed into Mississippi and promptly had a flat tire. Then things started to go bad. Hap noticed a crack in the rear wheel rim as we was changing the tire. Uh oh! It's amazing how quickly your mood can change. One minute we were hustling to get to our next stop and the next we were trying to figure out how we could keep moving forward. He decided that it was ok to ride on it. So off we went for Bay St Louis. The last 10 miles or so were on another four lane highway. So of course we went back to cars whizzing up behind us, sitting there, open left lane, you get the idea don't you?? There weren't any campgrounds available again so we stayed at a Knights Inn. It sure was nice to stay at a place where people actually speak english. I don't have anything against people who don't...all I'm saying is that if you are coming to the US to manage a hotel you should be able to understand a simple question like: "do you have a room for the night?" That's all I want. We called several local bike shops to see if they had a 48 spoke rim which we need for the tandem and of course they didn't. So we made a call to Tandems Ltd. http://www.tandemsltd.com/ Jack had helped us in the past. He said sure he could help. He would put a rim in the mail tomorrow and have it overnighted to Ocean Springs. Of course it was Sat so that meant we should have the rim on Monday by 10am. Hap could rebuild it, problem solved!

The next morning we took Rt 90 across the first bridge at Bay St Louis. We were pleasantly surprised by the lack of traffic and the nice wide berms on the bridge. Once over the bridge the road narrowed and there was construction but we were able to either pull over so people could pass or they slowed down and went by. It was fine. No worries. Riding along Rt 90 was beautiful. We were very glad that we had come this way. Instead of going over the second big bridge we went around the bay. The post office was north of the city so this made more sense. We had been in contact with Doug of the Gulf Coast Bicycle Club so he came out and met us on his bike and escorted us to the hotel. It was nice to be able to take some backroads and to meet and talk with a local cyclist. Later Doug and his wife Dinah took us out to THE SHED for some great BarbQ. We sat outside and listened to some good music. The Gulf Coast Bicycle Club is busy trying to get a bike lane that runs from bridge to bridge.

When we got up this morning, the plan was for Doug to pick us up, take us to the post office, pick up the rim, Hap rebuild the wheel, use Doug's truing stand to true it up, and head on down the road tomorrow. Things started to go south! Hey, I made a funny...... when we called the post office and they didn't have it. Even though the tracking number said that it had arrived in Gulfport (just down the road from here) last night. We have been on the phone with them all day and they can't seem to find the rim. That's interesting. The last person said "well maybe it will show up tomorrow.........." Oh thanks so much for the help.............so now we are on hold until the post office finds the rim. Maybe it will show up tomorrow and maybe it won't. The bright side? We are safe, the weather is beautiful. Stay tuned.....................

Zachary, LA

The hotel in Opelousas was certainly an adventure. Hap, why is the floor and carpet all wet?? Why is the water IN THE TOILET HOT? Diane, how do you know the water is hot in the toilet? Because when I sit on it, I feel heat. Try it! I guess you're right! That's interesting! When we woke up in the morning we intended to get an early start for no other reason than to get out of the hotel room. We packed up and then discovered a flat tire on the trailer. And the owner of the hotel kept walking by the room to see if we were out. By the time we (or Hap) changed the tire, the owner was standing outside the door, waiting. I'm not sure what time check out was but it was only 10am when we walked out the door. We stopped at a restaurant for breakfast before heading east on Rt 190. The weather was beautiful, sunny and 70 degrees. Rt 190 was nice for riding on. Most of it was four lane with a nice berm and not much traffic. The wind was blowing in our faces of course. I thought the prevailing winds were supposed to be west to east? Whassup with this? In Krotz Springs we stopped at a Dollar Store to buy some laundry detergent. We crossed a big bridge over the Atchafalaya River. Coming up to it, the bridge looked like it went straight up. But it wasn't that bad. See the picture above. In Livonia we stopped at a gas station for some cokes, bananas and peanut butter. Then we turned north on Rt 78 to head up to New Roads and the ferry across the Mississippi River. The road up to New Roads was a beautiful two lane road. And the tailwind was nice too! We stopped at a DQ only because Hap wanted to try out their new Chocolate Cherry Blizzard. He gave it an outstanding rating. We called Jim's Place Campground for directions. When we arrived there, we found that Jim's Place was actually a Bar/campground/RV park/fishing pier/party central/Mardi Gras float building area. We pitched our tent by the river and headed to the showers. Let's just say....I didn't take my shoes off or touch the walls! But the water was wet and warm. For dinner we went into the bar for some pizza.

This morning we got up very early for us, about 7:30am to pack up. Today is Fat Tuesday, Mardi Gras and after seeing the partying from last night, and seeing the partying starting before we left we really wanted to get on and off the road before it got too late. We also discovered that in New Roads they have two huge Mardi Gras parades. The first one started at 11am. As we rode through New Roads we rode through the parade route, which was already starting to fill up. You can check out some video at www. youtube.com/outbikin of our ride. Later on the news we heard that 17,000 people were in New Roads today for the parades. Glad we got out of there. We had about an 8 mile ride to the ferry across the Mississippi River to St Francesville. We stopped at the post office for our mail that our postman, we'll call him George, had sent to us. Then we got some breakfast. I called a hotel in Zachary to make sure that we had a place to stay before leaving town. The girl at the hotel said you are going to have to detour because a bridge is out. Uh oh. She wasn't sure where the detour was so we stopped at a gas station. I went into the gas station to ask about the detour. The first girl I talked to couldn't find St Francesville on the map........Maybe she couldn't see past her FOUR inch fingernails. She said yes the bridge is out you are going to have to go all the way around here to get to Zachary. I said can't we just go across this road? No, you can't get to that road. Then she called for back up. Bobby. So where do ya'll wanna to go? Zachary. Oh, to get there you need to take this road and go all the way around......but what about this road......no, you can't get.....So are there detour signs?? (says me). Yes, there are by the .....plant (couldn't understand that part)... You know the .....plant? We're not from here, we're from Ohio....oh sorry...then you need to go all the way around......can we get through the detour??? Oh, sure you can just ride around the detour and continue on south down Rt 61 (where we wanted to be!) So after a 15 min. conversation I discovered, yes there was a detour, but we could ride around it. Then a delivery guy came in.....Bobby says to him "Hey Buzzsaw these people are from OH and they are riding their bikes back to Ohio!". Buzzsaw answers "tonight?" OK time for me to go......................We got on Rt 61, got to the detour, talked to the sheriff who was routing traffic through the detour and said can we just ride across the bridge? He said, "You might be able to!" You might?? What does that mean? What if we can't................we took our chances and headed south to the bridge. When we got there two TV stations were there filming the bridge that was still there but was ready to fall in. When we left the bridge we had quite a ride down Rt 61 south. The wind was really blowing, in our faces of course. It also seemed very hot and humid. We discovered when we got to Zachary that it was 83 degrees and winds were out of the south at 35 mph. Well, no wonder! We checked into a nice, new, clean Best Western! I got the laundry done, and Hap replaced the rear cogset that had been shipped to us. It sure is nice to be in a clean place! You know I don't mind wearing the same clothes for this year, but I refuse to wear dirty clothes.

Tomorrow we are headed to Hammond, LA to meet up with a friend of Hap's from his days at Purdue! Later.

Opelousas, Louisiana

Yes, it is possible to ride across Texas in one year! We finally made it out of Texas. We left Kirbeyville in beautiful sunshine and 50 degree temps. We stopped at a donut shop for some "healthy" donuts for breakfast before heading out of town. We left town on 2 lane road with no berm. There was a plywood mill along the road so we saw lots of logging trucks. Our favorite! Most of them were "biker friendly" except for one. Why does there always have to be one? We were thankful there wasn't alot of traffic on the road. The road was a really pretty tree lined road. It was a beautiful day for riding. When we got into DeRidder we stopped at the grocery store for dinner supplies and to do our usual yellow pages lodging shopping. We found a hotel and fought the traffic through town to it. For dinner we had a salad with tomatoes, avacado and salmon. Mmmgooodd....

In the morning we started the day with a pancake breakfast at McDonald's. We met Naomi and Lonnie while we were eating. What a nice couple! We had a great chat with them and then took off for a great ride in sunny and 70 degree weather! The road was once again a tree lined road with a nice berm for riding. There wasn't much traffic so it was just a great ride. Oh, I forgot to mention the headwind. But then I am riding with Headwind Hap. While riding past a gas station we saw another couple on bikes so we stopped to talk for awhile. Stefan and Sheri have been on the road for four years. They said they had been hearing about us from several people for a few days. They also told us about a guy they had seen who was SKATEBOARDING across the US! And you all thought we were crazy! We rode into Oberlin and stopped at a grocery store (are you seeing a theme here?) to look at options and pick up some food (of course). The Adventure Cycling route we had been following went through a little town of Mamou which would have been the next place to stay. I called the RV Park/Motel and asked about either a room or camping. I just didn't get a good feeling about the place. When I asked about the room rate she said "oh it's uh $60. We'll try to have one for you....." Where are you located?? Seems like a simple question to me. She couldn't really tell me.....ok thanks! We decided to go off the Adventure Cycling route and head south to Kinder. There were more choices for lodging there. It looked like a simple route to get there, just ride south on Rt 165. But what we didn't figure on was the road construction. That always adds just that much more fun. We had about a 2 ft strip of pavement that had gravel all over it. And lots of traffic. Oh, yeah and a headwind. When we got to Kinder we found a hotel, they were calling for storms the next day. We walked across the street to a grocery store. They had a deli so we decided to get some fried chicken. We were going to get four pieces for $1.50 each. But the lady said "how about 8 pieces for $2.50?" Sounds like some of that new math to me, but we'll take it, along with some of that corn and green beans.

This morning we woke up to warm temps, 70's, but rain. We had breakfast at the hotel and headed east on Rt 190 toward Opelousas. Rt 190 was really nice for riding on. There was either a berm to ride on or at times the road was a four lane road. We stopped in Eunice for lunch. Just before we got to Opelousas it started to rain alittle. We got into town, only to discover that both of our spare tires (one for the tandem and one for the trailer) had fallen off of the trailer. Great! We backtracked a mile or two and found both of the tires. Thank you Lord. We rode to the Budget Inn. It was a $35/night hotel. I think it would have been better to camp! I didn't take my shoes off in the room. But we wanted to watch the Super Bowl. We walked next door to get our laundry done. Then we walked down the street for take out. We had some great steaks. Hap had pepper steak and I had Pecan Steak. Mmmmgoooddd. As I was riding today I got to thinking about the difference in riding in LA and TX. So here is my list of HOW DO YOU KNOW WHEN YOU ARE OUT OF TEXAS! 1. Not everyone is driving a pick up truck. 2. Instead of seeing horse "exhaust" on the streets we saw Mardi Gras beads all over the place. 3. Restaurants serve PO Boys instead of Tex Mex. 4. LSU fans instead of TX Longhorns. 5. Crawfish instead of Barbeque.