Jacksonville, NC

We had a wonderful stay with Gayle and Larry in Wilmington. They sure went out of their way to take care of us. We felt right at home. It was such a blessing to have a couple of days to spend in a real home. My shingles thanks you! We sure had some great food while we were there. Larry cooked breakfasts of sausage gravy and biscuits because she had seen on the blog that I was missing my mom's. He also fixed some fantastic sweet potato pancakes that we had never had. Yesterday, they loaned us their car and we drove down to Caroline Beach to pick up two mailings. One of them is our last set of maps for the trip. It is so hard to believe that this adventure is down to a few maps. We can hardly wait to see what happens in our remaining time!

Gayle arranged for a Fox and local NBC news came over and taped an interview and of us riding for Alpha One. Cystic Fibrosis is a lung disease many people have heard of, but Alpha One Antitrypsin Deficiency is a disease that is less understood. You can check out the story at :

http://www.wect.com/global/story.asp?s=8065636

We left their house this morning after the taping and it was hard to leave! Larry and Gayle drove out with us. Gayle sitting in the back videotaping our departure. We have a date though! A year from now we are all going to meet somewhere and they will be riding with us! We cannot wait! Thank you guys so much for all you did.

Today's ride was beautiful. We left Wilmington, NC on Rt 133. We thought it wouldn't be so busy because it paralleled I-40. It was a little busy but not bad. The biggest news for today was the sunny, but cooler weather. Perfect for cycling. When we got to Burgaw we turned east on Rt 53 toward Jacksonville. There was less traffic but there were several big logging trucks. We stopped for a snack at a Hardees. Traffic really picked up in Jacksonville. As we were coming into town, there were two big trucks behind us. The first passed just fine. The second, I don't think planned to slow down or move over, so I put my hand out to hopefully let him know we were there. Finally he slowed but as he went by the car coming toward us had to run completely off the road! Then the two trucks got stopped at a light and we passed both of them just up the road! I don't know, doesn't make sense to me!

A Shingles update: The rash is much improved, the pain is lessoning but still in the "I'm not havin any fun and I don't like this category". We plan to take things day to day and just go by how I feel. So we'll see. Would I be dissappointed if we couldn't finish this thing? Of course but my health is first, so we'll just leave it in God's hands and see what happens!

Wilmington, North Carolina

We left Murrells Inlet on a beautiful sunny morning. It turned out to be a warm, 72 degree day with a great tailwind! We at breakfast in the hotel room. So breakfast was leftovers....peanut butter and tortilla, jello and fruit, protein powder, and gatorade. Now that's a...well, not real sure what that is..... We new this day would be one filled with lots of traffic on US 17 that we were riding following most of the day. And yes it was. We rode all day through the beaches area of Myrtle beach and North Myrtle beach. On spring break. We didn't factor this into our trip when we left home. We have been following the adventure cycling map (sort of) as we have come up the east coast. Because of our little "detour" into Georgetown for the little "stayover" (who knew?) we had to ride on US 17 to go north or go out of our way back to the original route. We have been talking with another tandem couple, Jeff and Louise, who are also cycling the east coast via cell phone. Hap ran into them when they were checking out of the hotel we were in at Georgetown. Hap said hi you must be the tandem couple who started in Key West? How did he know? Well, about a week or so ago we stopped for breakfast in the town of Midway, GA and the owner said a tandem couple had been there a few days before and we're traveling north up the coast from Key West. We just happened to be in the same hotel a week (or however long it was) later. Since they we're leaving they exchanged phone numbers. They are also riding north up US 17. US 17 is the main thoroughfare for coast traffic on the east coast. Not our choise for cycling on but that's where we are now! For the two days that I was laid up (or on my side!) Hap talked via phone to them about the route and they also stayed in the hotel we stayed in at Murrells Inlet. Thanks guys! As we were leaving Murrels Inlet we called and they had stayed about 10 miles north of where we were. We talked frequently on the phone and they told us a great route that they were following trying to stay off US 17 as much as possible. Sort of a Tandem / GPS! We finally met up with them, I think in North Myrtle Beach (not sure though). All I know is there was lots of traffic, going somewhere, in a hurry! We ate lunch with them and rode together for awhile. We had quite a time negotiating the traffic and detouring off of US 17 as we could. I wonder if the drivers appreciate the fact that we probably added 15 miles or so to our day but zig zagging? Probably not, but I am sure they got to the beach or bungee jumping or ziplining or eating or who cares, in time........for what?

We left Jeff and Louise as they stopped for the night and kept going north. Our plan for the day was to ride as close to Wilmington, NC as we could get. And to make sure that I was ok. We had an incredible tailwind. It made the day pretty easy. I think that the shingles are alittle better but certainly not clear yet. Our friends Gayle and Larry invited us to spend a few days with them in Wilmington recuperating and to go to Easter Sunday service with them. Thank you Lord. His timing is great isn't it? As we rode we talked to Gayle about our progress. They were going to come and pick us up after Larry got off at 6pm. Oh, I forgot to tell you we crossed into another state, N. Carolina. Number 22! At 5pm we arrived in Shallotte, NC. It was another 8 miles to Supply, NC so we called Gayle and said we would meet them in Supply. As we left Shallotte we did ONE map check (Rule #2,349: Please check the map a minimum of two times. Said reading must be witnessed by both Eaton's or a substitute is allowable). We happily leave town thinking we follow one road all the way and as we are riding. I said where is all this traffic going? The road doesn't really go anywhere? Finally, a certain someone (no names but remember I 'm not driving!) pulls over to look at the map. Mmmm..... (uh oh, I hate it when he does that!) We were supposed to turn about a mile back. Where does this road go? Oh, HOLDEN BEACH! And it's the only route to the beach...no wonder! We turned back and found the best riding of the day. Finally a small country road with no traffic. It was great. We went into Hardees at Supply, called Gayle and planned to meet them. They came bringing, a truck, a car AND FOOD! Gayle had made crab cakes (still warm!), shrimp (still chilled), cole slaw, bananas, and brownies (Still warm!--bonus points for warm brownies). It was getting dark so we sat inside the car and ate. They drove us to their house, where we had a great place to stay, AND a warm oatmeal bath for Mr. Shingle, sir. (I think I need to call him sir, cause I don't want to make him mad again). It was a great day.

As we rode I was thinking about our route, the traffic and wondering why, if we don't really like the beaches, or the traffic, why are we always riding IN the traffic, BY the ocean? I think the next lap do around the US, we are going to take a smaller loop and stay off the coasts. That way everyone can drive to the beach and no one will be in the best place, THE MOUNTAINS!

We are going to stay another day here in Wilmington, see how I feel, pick up mail and maps tomorrow and go from there. So until next time. Happy Easter. HE LIVES!

Murrells Inlet, SC

We had a great ride on a beautiful sunny day into Andrews. The route was great with not much traffic. We rode through a National Forest with lots of pine trees. We stopped for a juice break about mid day for lunch. It was one of those perfect cycling days. We even had a tailwind! We arrived in Andrews with a storm on our heels. There were no campgrounds so we stayed at the Colonial Inn. The only hotel. We rode over to the grocery store for dinner supplies after checking in. We also checked out a few churches for church the next day.

Now the story of where we have been all this week really starts! As you can see everything was fine on Saturday's ride into Andrews. Sat. afternoon I thought I noticed alittle tightness in my left hamstring but nothing really unusual. Sunday morning when I woke up, my left buttock was extremely sore. It was so sore that it was difficult to walk. We decided to take the day off thinking that this was my typical back pain issue that I've had for quite awhile. We also noticed that I had three what looked like "bug bites" on my left gluteus maximus (look it up!!). Mmmm....maybe they are spider bites? So Hap spent some time "googling" spider bites. We had camped out a few nights before so maybe I got bit? All day long I spent in bed as the pain kept getting worse. We were in Andrews, SC which was about 20 miles from the closest hospital. We weren't sure what to do. I hated to call 911 to get a ride to the hospital because I kept thinking someone who is having a heart attack might need the ambulence at the same time. We decided to call one of the local churches to see if there was anything they could help us out. Rev. Stockton and another pastor came over to the motel. They prayed for me and annoited me with oil which was such a blessing to us. It's alittle scary sometime when you are just "out there" and aren't sure what to do. They also suggested that we call 911. After they left I just tried to go to sleep hoping the pain would somehow get better. Well it didn't and by about 4am, I just told Hap to call 911. The ambulence ride was about 30 minutes or so. It seemed like forever to me. When the doctor came in the first thing we talked about was my back problems. I know that I have several bulging discs and my first instinct is to consider the possiblity that I have "blown out a disc". Which would be a disaster. But when Hap mentioned the "bug bites", and the doctor looked at them for about 3 seconds and said, "You have the shingles". I couldn't believe it. On the one hand I was happy(I am not sure I should use the word HAPPY about anything this week!) he was sure it wasn't my back. But on the other hand shingles can be very painful. Ouch! The treatment for shingles? Steroids, Anti viral, and pain meds. Then we had another little problem We are in a hospital 30 miles from our hotel and our bike, no transportation, and no place to stay? Hap ended up renting a van, Enterprise car rental picked him up at the hospital, he came back, picked me up, dropped me at the hotel (that he had found sometime?), picked up prescriptions for me and then rushed back to Andrews to get our bike and gear. He was a very busy boy!

All this week we have been staying at the Jameson Inn in Georgetown, SC. The pain has gradually decreased all week. Yesterday we took a short ride in town just to see how I would feel riding. It wasn't too bad so we decided to move forward tomorrow.

Today we rode a short 20 mile ride to Murrells Inlet. It was a pretty day to ride. We rode alot on US 17 so there was alot of traffic. But the ride went well so I think we feel comfortable with continuing the ride. I wasn't so sure a couple of days ago.

Just in case you have never heard of shingles. Here is some info for you. Shingles is a virus that is caused by the chicken pox virus. It occurs in people who have had chicken pox. For some reason the virus "hibernates" in your nerves and comes out for various reasons. The symptoms? A blistering rash (sooo that's what those bug bites were), usually following a nerve tract, severe pain, tingling or tightness. There is a vaccine for shingles on the market now. I think I am going to do alittle more research on that when we get back home.

Moncks Corner, SC

We have now been through or at least been in 21 states on this little bike ride. And we passed the 8500 mile mark today. We spent a couple of days with Hap's ol' boss from RCA, Nick and his wife, Phyllis. We had a wonderful two days of resting, relaxing and eating some great food. Hap "helped" Nick with a few projects around the house. As you can see by the picture above Nick is "supervising" Hap. Just like the old days. Nick and Phyllis live in Sun City which is really the size of a small city. We were surprised by the amount of traffic and people. Nick took us down to the salt water pool (one of four pools at Sun City) and we also got in the hot tub. It was so good to swim laps again. That is one thing that I really miss. The hot tub felt great. We ate at a Golden Corral Buffet that was awesome. The second night we went to the Greek Table and the third night we ate at a chinese/japanese buffet. It would be great to have so many food options at home. Hap and I made a Walmart run for some supplies.

Yesterday morning we left Sun City and rode to Waltersboro. It was a great ride. The temps were in the 70's and sunny. We rode on some really nice low traffic roads. There isn't much berm here but the S. Carolina drivers have seemed to figure out the "how to pass a bicycle concept". Something the Florida and Louisiana drivers haven't. In Waltersboro we camped at Green Acres Campground. It was a nice little campground that reminded me of the campground we used to go to when I was growning up. Everyone was really friendly. Alot of people came over to find out what the heck we were doing. Another couple named Eaton came over to meet us. We set up camp, cooked noodles, salmon and green beans for dinner. And then went to the community building to read and check email on our computer. There was a group in there. The women were knitting and the men were playing cards. Finally one of the men came over to the women's group and announced to his wife "It's 22 minutes and 47 seconds until 9pm and it is time to go to the trailer." That caused alot of laughter especially from his wife!

This morning we packed up and rode to the Cracker Barrel for breakfast. I tried the biscuits and gravy hoping they would be as good as mom's. But they weren't! Guess I'll have to wait until I get home. We had another good ride today on low traffic roads. We are once again following the Adventure Cycling East Coast route. They do try to keep you off of the major highways. It was alittle more overcast today but the temps were still in the 70's. It is supposed to storm tonight so we are thinking of staying at a hotel once we reach Moncks Corner. We got into town about 5pm and found a hotel. We had to walk down the street to get our laundry done. So we just ordered a pizza for dinner. Now we're just headed for bed. Later.

Sun City (Hilton Head), South Carolina

We ate breakfast in the hotel. The big story for the day's ride is the WIND. 20-30 mph with 40 mph gusts from the west. We are heading north and out of Florida finally! Another state down, how many to go? Well, that really depends on how we are getting home. I hope we decide soon....... We hope to stay along the coast as long as possible to hopefully have warmer weather until the spring weather arrives in Ohio! We got on Rt 17 and headed north. It turned out to be a nice road for riding on. We just had to hang on and wait for the wind gusts. It wasn't as bad as we thought it would be though. The temps were cooler in the 50's. But I guess if you consider that Circleville had a foot of snow fall and blizzard conditions we won't complain about having to wear our tights today. We stopped in Yulee FL to pick up our mail. Before we left Florida a carload of kids threw a deck of cards at us. That was a first. Glad it wasn't a bottle because they hit Hap right on the side of his head. Good bye Florida! Before crossing into Georgia on Rt 17. We discovered that we were on an actual bike route. We saw signs that said Georgia Route 95 Bike Route. That's a good sign. We rode to Brunswick for the night. We both were pretty tired after riding in the wind all day. We stopped at a grocery store and got some chicken, green beans and corn for dinner. We had a scare also. I discovered that I didn't have my cell phone. I quickly called the hotel in Jacksonville and they didn't have it. Then Hap remembered that I had put it in my pocket when we went to breakfast and THAT pocket was packed inside the trailer. So we called "the trailer" and sure enough "the trailer" rang.

The next morning we continued on Rt 17 north. The road continued to be a great road for riding. The wind had died down which was nice. Traffic was light too. We stopped for a snack along the road. While we were stopped another cyclist road up. He was a 78 yr old man who said he rides 25 miles every day. I said well you've got a nice road to ride on. He said it is today but you it is really busy during the week (it was sunday). I said oh so you don't ride this road all the time. He said sure I do. I don't care if they do throw stuff at me or yell at me I'm still gonna ride my bike. I guess if you're 78 and still riding you can ride anywhere you want to! We spent the night at the Midway Motel. It was supposed to get down into the 20's. All I have to say about the Midway motel is that the towels had hair on them. Yuch. I showed Hap and he just started to pick the hair off! Hap stop that. Please just go get me some clean towels. For dinner we walked down to Captain Joe's restaurant and had some great seafood and salad bar. I'm not sure going to an all you can eat salad bar is such a good idea for us. We were stuffed!

We left Midway in our usual "early morning" fashion. 11:00am. We stopped for breakfast. Then got back on Rt 17 heading for Savannah. We decided not to ride into Savannah but stay on the outskirts of town. We road out near the airport and stopped at gas station for a snack. While riding we the traffic did it's usual thing when you get near a bigger city. Even though there were four lanes, we're in the right hand lane, left lane is clear, cars would fly up behind us and just sit there. Some day someone will explain this to me. I"m not asking for anything special. Can't they just drive their vehicles? They wouldn't even have to slow down. It's called turn the wheel slightly to the left and keep going. After leaving Savannah we went through the Savannah Wildlife Refuge. It was pretty. But it went right by a big factory. And that means big trucks. But they were all pretty good and gave us room. Not too bad. The only really bad traffic we found today was when we were just a few miles from Sun City which is just west of Hilton Head. On Rt 170 there was no shoulder and lots of very important drivers. I know they were important because them getting to wherever they were going was much more important than us surving riding on the road. But we made it. Oh and when we were just getting ready to merge onto Rt 278 with alot of traffic, a van pulled up next to us and a guy leaned out the window and started asking us questions about where we are going etc. Uh, would you mind if we pull over to have this conversation? Finally the van went on and we managed to get to Sun City in one piece. We arrived at Nick and Phyllis's house. Hap and Nick worked together at RCA in Circleville. It is so good to see them again. We plan to spend a couple of days here before heading north.

Jacksonville, Florida

We rode to a cafe for breakfast before leaving the town of Hawthorne. It was alot cooler than it had been. It was clear down in the 60's! Brrr.... Yes, we have been watching the weather back home in Ohio! In Hawthorne we decided to take Rt 20 instead of following the Adventure Cycling Route. As it turned out Rt 20 seemed to be a nice route. There was alittle traffic on it but nothing too bad. We stopped for lunch at Palatka. Traffic picked up as we moved closer to the big city! We debated on which route to take into St Augustine. While we were at lunch we called four different campgrounds. Two of them were full and the other two wanted $45 to camp! I don't think so. We called a hotel and found one for $49. I think it was a better deal! We took Rt 207 into St Augustine. It was a nice wide four lane highway with a really nice berm and not much traffic. We saw a couple of cyclists that were riding. They pulled over and stopped right beside of us. We said hello and they sort of said hi and then turned away. Mmm..... Hap do I stink?? Riding into St Augustine was alot better than we anticipated. We had ridden through there a couple of times before and didn't have fond memories of it. We only got tooted at a few times and maybe one yell at so I think that is a pretty good ratio. When we checked into our hotel, I got the laundry done while Hap did some bike maintance. He put on a new back tire, tightened up some nuts and bolts and lubed a pedal. We have been hearing a creaking noise for awhile and we can't seem to find it. Doesn't that just drive you crazy? Maybe it's the OLD bodies starting to creak? I'm not sure that WD 40 will help! For dinner we walked next door to IHOP.

We ate oatmeal and fruit in the room for breakfast and then started our left turn north. The day was beautiful. Sunny! 70's. We had a headwind but it wasn't so bad. We rode up A1A along the shore all day. It was really pretty. We stopped for a snack on the beach. While we were stopped mailman George called to go over our mail with Hap. We were going to have him send it to our friends in Hilton Head that we will be visiting in the next week. But first we have mail to pick up in Yulee, FL. As we got into Jacksonville Beach the weather became more cloudy but the temp was still warm. We got alittle lost or should I say I didn't tell Hap where to turn and we went way out of the way and had to turn around so it made for a much more fun ride! And that's what it's all about right! We finally found the right road and headed for the ferry to cross the St Johns River near Jacksonville. On the way to the ferry many drivers passed us alittle too close for comfort. One particular car, which was full of....let's say alot of silver haired people, seemed to make a special effort to see the writing on our bicycle. What was sort of funny depending on who ya talk to was that we were all going to the same place. So when we got to the ferry terminal ALL those cars with ALL that silver hair was sittin and waitin. And to make it even better. When the ferry came they told US to get on the ferry FIRST. So ALL those people had to wait while WE walked onto the ferry! I call that BLIND JUSTICE! The man who was directing traffic getting cars on and off was a character. When he walked off the ferry he looked at our bike and started talkin very fast....we couldn't understand a word he said. What we heard was ....bike.....long.....must..be.....on..first....go.... WHAT!?

When we got off the ferry we stopped at a gas station for some dinner supplies. What can you buy at a gas station for dinner? OK here's my healthy tip of the day. We already had rice and a can of chicken. So we bought a can of green beans (yes, they have them at gas stions check it out!), a beer, powerade and some chips. There ya go. Dinner! Hap refilled our fuel bottles for our stove with unleaded gas. The lady at the gas station said that was the least amount of gas that she had ever had. It was .76 cents! We had about a mile to ride to Hugeonot Memorial Park. Now they had campsites for $7 bucks. Now we're talkin. And that included the shower. It was pretty late so we quickly set up the tent and cooked dinner. The bugs came out about that time which speeded up the dinner process! As we were walking to the showers it started raining. So that's why it was getting dark so early. We were in the tent by 7pm because it was dark by then. It was a long night. During the night a storm hit and the wind was just wicked. We had to get out of the tent several times to batten down the hatches. The wind even pulled our stakes out of the ground. I woke up in the morning to Hap saying "We gotta get out of here! There's a bad storm coming. It had been raining all night. He was looking at weather.com on the computer. I think the red stuff is the really bad stuff and that is what was coming. We quickly started packing up. In the middle of that it started to rain again so we jumped back into the tent until it slowed down. Does anyone think this is fun? We stopped at the bathroom before heading out and a couple of people told us that their tents had blown away during the night and they had slept in their car! MMmmmm.... And several motorhomes had packed up and left during the night. MMMmmm....maybe we should be worried?? We had planned to stay along the coast until Fernandina Beach which was 25 miles north. But looking at the Adventure Cycling map we were only 12 miles from the Jacksonville Airport. So we decided to ride to the closer place. Afterall it's only 12 miles. That's nothing. Never mind the howling winds, or the pouring rain....we're tough....we love this stuff..... As we were riding I was debating whether I would rather be doing this ride today or be at work! I never reached a conclusion because we were really moving along and I couldn't breathe. And of course there was the several turns that we missed. That helped the plan also. We finally got within striking distance of the airport and stopped at a gas station to get directions and call some hotels. We have found if you call first you can get a better rate. The manager in the gas station was so helpful. She called a hotel for us and even said she would take us. Oh and a guy walked in and said you guys better be getting somewhere it is going to get worse in about 30 minutes. We only had a mile or so to go so we thanked her for the help and went out into a downpour. I hate it when my feet get wet! When we got to the hotel we were drenched and everything we had was also. When Hap opened the trailer there was a big puddle of water in it. We opened everything up and I headed to the laundry room. My brothers and wives called and were heading home from Daytona so they stopped by to say good bye. They left us some left over grilled chicken that was great for supper. Tomorrow we will be leaving Florida and into Georgia. Another state closer to home! Oh yeah, did I mention that the 12 miles was actually 25 miles! A few more miles of fun!

Hawthorne, Florida

We're back! We have had quite a busy week driving all over Florida. We couldn't have planned this week because everything fit together too well. We rented a mini van threw the tandem and gear in and headed to Miami to visit the main offices of Alpha One. It sure seemed like we were moving awfully fast! It was a beautiful sunny 80 degree day. As we were riding we got a call from Alpha telling us that there was a major power outage in Miami, maybe we should consider not coming or staying outside of the city. As it turned out we had been talking with Father Dale and Val from Grace Church in Circleville and they were in West Palm Beach. We arranged to stop and spend some time with them and their daughter, son in law and grandson. We had a wonderful visit. It was such a blessing to see them. We didn't get to see Val, she had the flu. By the time we left West Palm Beach, the power was restored and we drove into Miami. I am not sure we would ever get used to the traffic in Miami. We found out the hardway if you are not moving a split second after the light turns green, someone will let you know! I am really glad we are not on the bike down here! Yiomara, her husband and daughter picked us up at the hotel and we went to a great seafood place for dinner.

The next morning Yiomara and Katie met us for breakfast along with a photographer. We went across the street to the University of Miami to take some neat pictures. When we left Ohio many months ago, on our mission to spread the word about Alpha One we never expected the very warm welcome we received from the whole Alpha One organization. Yiomara brought her bike and rode with us over to the Alpha one offices. It was a mere 3.5 miles BUT we SURVIVED! It was some ride. We rode on and off the sidewalk trying to avoid as much traffic possible. Ha Ha! That was a joke. When we rode up to the Alpha office we were greeted by all the employees standing outside with noise makes, and confetti. Boy we're we surprised! It was awesome. Then they took us inside for an incredible meal and to talk about our trip. We also got to learn about the function of the Alpha Organization. It was a wonderful surprise. What I didn't realize was how much the Alpha organization was a family. We felt like we were part of a big family. We loved it and appreciated it so much. We rode back to the hotel and Yiomara picked us up and we met several of the Alpha group for dinner at a great seafood house. We had raw bar with trays of fresh oysters, stone crabs and shrimp. I had my very first raw oyster and I liked it! We also got to know alot of the people that we have been talking with for the past many months. We left there feeling like we were leaving our family. Thank you Alpha for all that you did for us in Miami! We are looking forward to doing anything we can to spread awareness and help Alpha patients.

We left Miami and drove west toward the gulf coast. We stopped to look at some alligators and neat birds at a sanctuary on the way. In Fort Myers we found a hotel and went to the grocery for dinner stuff.

The next day we spent on Fort Myers beach. We thought we should at least get on one beach while we were in Florida. It was fun for a couple of hours. Then we headed north to Palmetto (by Bradenton) to stay with our friends Chuck and Annmarie that we had seen on their way south. It was som much fun to see them. We had a great time. The first night we went to a chinese buffet. The next day we spent the day on Anna Marie Island. It was a beautiful beach. And it wasn't as "touristy" as the other beach. Chuck let me drive his "sportscar". It is a BMW Z4 convertable. We drove across the big bridge to Tampa. Just as we were coming up to the bridge a Carnival Cruise ship was going under the bridge. That was pretty cool! It didn't look like it was going to fit but it did. When we had 3 clear lanes in front of us, Chuck said "Punch It!" So I gave it alittle gas. He said "no all the way to the floor". So I did! Wow! We took off like a rocket. It was neat. But then I've been traveling along at 15 mph instead of the 95 mph!

On Sunday morning we went to the Baptist church with Chuck, Annmarie and another couple from Ohio. After chuch they had a fish fry so of course we had to eat. What can you do? We didn't want to be rude! Then we relunctantly left them to head to Ocala to meet my brothers and wives at the Ocala Speedway. There came down to race their motorcycles. They race vintage motorcycles. My family has always been into motorcycle racing. My dad raced back in the 60's. They have been coming down to Daytona for Bike week in March since I can remember. In fact the way Hap and I met is Hap sold Mike a motorcycle when Mike decided to go roadracing instead of dirt track racing. They started racing together back in the mid 70's. I sort of tagged along to the races when I could. It was really fun to see them race again. We stayed at the track with them in Jeff and Peggy's RV. So THIS is what "camping" is?

Yesterday we drove back to Gainesville and checked into a motel to repack and get ready for the last leg of our journey. And it has been a journey. I think it is funny when people ask us how we planned for this trip. Believe me there is no way to plan something like this. Like the note at the top of the blog "Everyday is an adventure and God is always there". Ya never know what will happen next. We spent the day just relaxing at the hotel. Although, I did get a massage and a haircut.

This morning we woke up to a threat of severe storms, so we decided that our fallback plan would be to do a short ride to Hawthorne mostly on the Gainesville-Hawthorne Trail. It was a nice trail. We checked into a motel just as the rain came. But we lucked out again. The awful storms they predicted never happened. Just some heavy rain. After the rain we walked down the street and went to the Dollar Store. Ok so now I am worried about me. I realized how excited I was to be able to go "shopping?" At the Dollar Store?? And I was looking at underware?? Anybody else see a problem. And then when we checked out the girl said, "Do you ride bikes?" I thought how does she know that? Is it obvious? Maybe she saw me looking at the underware??? I asked how she knew and she answered "Because your legs look strong!". Oh, ok. Tomorrow is supposed to be beautiful clear warm day. We will be riding to St Augustine and the "left ocean" tomorrow for our next left turn. We have one more before reaching Ohio.

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.....................