Destiny Rescue Update

Praising God, donations are still coming in for Destiny Rescue, we are way over $16,000 now!! We are so EXCITED!! Thank you everyone!

Just wanted to post a link to more pictures. Merry Christmas everyone! 

http://www.flickr.com/photos/90322798@N02/sets/

Final Trip Stats

Miles- 2,829

Flats- 44

Destiny Rescue- $10,535 (Praise God!)

Total Days- 40 (38 riding/2 rest)

States- 8

Last Addition to Road Kill- Black Bear Cub

As we write our final blog, we are heading home (IN OUR CAR). There are so many people we would like to thank. Thanks to all who gave to Destiny Rescue, everyone who kept us in their prayers these past six weeks, those who posted comments on the blog and to the many people who showed us kindness along the way. We really would not have made it without you!

THANK YOU AND GOD BLESS YOU!!

Day Forty - We Came We Saw We Conquered!

Thank you to all those who prayed for us today. The weather report was for rain all day. We had gorgeous weather till about 6 miles to the Atlantic. The rain was gentle and it felt wonderful actually!

Rick's parents met us on the route we were on 20 miles into the ride. It was so exciting to see them! They packed our bags in the car so we could ride the majority of the day without the weight of them. We then met up with them later for an early lunch. After lunch we had 56 miles to go, which made our ride today a long 96 miles! Somehow it didn't seem so bad knowing it was our last day.

We made it to St. Augustine and 4 miles before getting to the Atlantic, Zack's tire went flat! He changed the tube and we were on our way. We met the Kratches at the ocean and did the dip! We made it to the Atlantic Ocean and dipped our front tire in the water!

What an adventure we had and today we also celebrated our 26th anniversary!

Tomorrow we drop off Zack in Charleston, SC and then head home. We will post the final stats in tomorrows blog.

Day Thirty Nine - One Day More

Last night we ended up sleeping in the Community Center at the campground for fear that it would rain and be too HOT again! It was air conditioned and dry so we brought our ground pads, sleeping bags and pillows. Rick and Robin slept on the floor and Zack decided to pull two tables together and sleep on them, he was worried that a mouse might have joined him during the night?

We left camp in the dark to get to breakfast down the street and then rode 48 miles through some rain to lunch. There wasn't much excitement today, just lots of logging trucks going back and forth to the paper factory in Perry. Saw a number of dairy farms and smelled a lot of chicken coops!

We totaled 69 miles and are completely exhausted! We are hoteling it because it continues to rain and we want to watch some of the debate (if we can stay awake?).

When it was dinner time, it was pouring rain, so we got umbrellas from the front desk and ventured out to see what restaurant was closest. After dinner we had a taste for ice cream, so we went to McD's and their machine was broke?!?! So we walked to Exxon and bought some Blue Bell Ice Cream and brought it back to the room to enjoy!

Please pray for us tomorrow, we have almost 100 miles to go and are very tired! Pray for great conditions and strength! We can't believe it is our last day and can't wait to dip our front tires in the Atlantic!

Day Thirty Eight - Perfect Riding Conditions

We awoke to sunshine, temps in the high 60's and a tailwind. We took route 98 east along Florida's forgotten coast, a road with a beautiful shoulder meandering along virtually unspoiled coastline. We averaged 16-1/2 miles an hour for the day, totaling 92 miles to Perry, FL. We had an interesting lunch stop at a county park where a convict work crew were mowing, trimming and growing grass in their black and white striped union suits. It was a scene out of "Brother Where Out Thou".

Once at camp, we got cleaned up and played a round at putt-putt golf before dinner at Goodmans Real Pit BQ (a restaurant that Zack ate at 8 months ago during a bike race weekend). The food was great, plentiful and reasonably priced!

Only two biking days left, it's hard to believe!

Day Thirty Seven - Rerouting

Five minutes before leaving our hotel room, a storm whipped through with rain flying sideways (see 1st picture). Thankfully it passed by in five minutes. We rode south from Panama City along the coast. Rain was predicted for most of the day, but we only got soaked once in a downpour that lasted only about four minutes. We fought strong headwinds out of the south for 65 miles before we finally turned northeast picking up a tailwind that made the final 14 miles fly by. We are so thankful to Zack for pulling us through the headwinds!

We are staying in a condo on the intracoastal waterway in Carabelle, FL (see 2nd picture) tonight and are very happy to be indoors as its poured twice since we have been here. We picked up groceries across the street and took advantage of our full kitchen for a wonderful dinner.

We have rerouted our last four days in order to conclude our adventure in
St. Augustine rather than Jacksonville to avoid riding through the much larger city.

Sadly we saw a road kill black bear cub today. At first we thought the bear crossing signs were a joke, but apparently they were not. We also lost our last hour of the trip as we finally crossed into the Eastern Time Zone.

Day Thirty Six - Rainy Day Sunday and Five Week Stats

The rain stopped long enough for us to tear down camp and get packed up. We rode ten miles to breakfast at "Another Broken Egg". It was the only breakfast place around and in hindsight we were happy about that because it was amazing (see photos)! It was overcast all day with a light rain much of the time. It only rained hard once and we were able to duck under cover and chill for awhile, so we never got soaked. We rode along some beautiful beaches and towns, as well as some pretty tacky stretches. After sleeping in our "tent saunas" last night, we have opted for an air conditioned hotel room tonight. We've got tents and rain flies draped all over the room so they can dry out. It was a short day - 50 miles - to Panama City.

Stats Through Five Weeks (a day late):

Miles: 2,443

Flats: 42 (only THREE this week)

Additions to Road Kill: chicken

Destiny Rescue TTD: $10,212 WOW!

Riders Added: 1 (Zack, who is keeping us laughing!)

Day Thirty Five - Gorgeous Beaches

The Gulf Coast is absolutely gorgeous! Pensacola, Navarre, Fort Walton, Destin and Santa Rosa beaches had clear greenish blue water and white sand, AMAZINGLY GORGEOUS!

We stopped for lunch at The Slippery Mermaid in Navarre and had the best sushi we have ever had! Then headed to Destin to indulge in some ice cream, but on the way Rick got a flat. While we were fixing the flat, a man named Larry Dean pulled over to see if we needed anything. He had a an air compressor in his trunk, wow! It didnt work at first but he was determined to make it work! Eventually he got it to work and we were on our way. What a kind gentleman!

We made it to camp 79 miles later. The park ranger told us that it would probably rain, so Rick set up a tarp over our picnic table to keep everything but our tents dry. It did rain gently through the night.

Day Thirty Four - Plan B

We spent last night at the Dauphin Island Campground, located across the street from the ferry dock. The first ferry of the day is at 8am, so we made sure we were there by 7:40am. As we left camp, Zack realized he had a flat tire, so he walked his bike to the ferry planning to change it on board. Unfortunately we soon learned that the ferry was shut down due to mechanical problems and would not be running for at least five hours (possibly days). Please understand that the entire reason we had routed our trip through the Island was to avoid having to ride all the way around Mobile Bay and through the city of Mobile, AL, which is exactly what we now had to do! This made today's ride 92 miles rather than the 70 that we had planned. Today's ride would have been even longer had we not taken the tunnel under the Mobile River which added a lot of fear and trepidation to our trip since the tunnel is not intended for bicycles. On the plus side, Mobile turned out to be quite nice and we were able to meet up with Dan Hunter, who works in Mobile, so Zack could get a few important items he had forgotten at their house. Our route also took us by Battleship Memorial Park. We had never seen a battleship before and it was quite impressive!

The last 15 to 20 miles in Alabama were miserable, as we rode on 6"-15" wide shoulder between rumble strips and grass along a busy highway. We prayed that the shoulder would get better once we hit Florida. Thank God once we hit the Florida line, not only was the shoulder better, it was brand new pavement with a 3 foot wide bike lane!

Amazingly we have been in four states in the past three days. We crossed our last state line today, but it will take our final week to get across Florida!

Day Thirty-Three - Sweet Home Alabama

After a wonderful breakfast at the Hunters, we rode out on the beach road following the coast line into Alabama. Eventually our 73 mile route took us over a dramatic causeway bridge to Dauphin Island. We stopped at the only grocery store on the island to pick up food for dinner. A kind gentleman, fellow shopper asked us about out trip. When he learned that we were staying at the campground tonight, he offered to take our groceries to our campsite. As we had room on our bikes, we thanked him, but did not take him up on his offer and rode on to the campground. Once here, we were surprised when the same man pulled up in his pick up truck and offered to take us out on his boat. We accepted and John treated us to a wonderful hour long tour of the island by boat. The padded seats and ocean breezes were heavenly! We are so enjoying southern hospitality!

INCREDIBLE NEWSFLASH.....we have reached our goal for Destiny Rescue!! Thanks so much to all who have given so generously!! We are excited to see how much more will be added to the $10,000, we are in AWE!!

Day Thirty Two - Zack Attack/Tours by Tonia

Today's ride breaks down into two chapters: Chapter 1- Leaving Louisiana and Chapter 2- Mississippi.

We rode out through the French Quarter and got onto 90 East. We spent most of the morning drafting behind Zack. Thirty five miles into the ride Zack went through his initiation by getting his first flat tire (our only one of the day). Once we crossed the Pearl River, entering Mississippi, we met up with Tonia Miller who rode with us the rest of the day. It was a real treat to have a local guide us through some lovely back roads. She even treated us to lunch (huge muffaletta sandwiches). She got us to the home of Dan and Lee Ann Hunter where we enjoyed their beautiful pool overlooking the bay before being treated to a spectacular meal!

Today's total mileage was 89. It was fun having others to ride with today. The scenery was gorgeous! We have been very impressed by the Mississippi Gulf Coast.

Day Thirty One - Grand Tour of New Orleans

We met up with Brian today who lead us on a bicycle tour of New Orleans. We saw it all, from the warehouse district to the garden district, Tulane University to New Orleans sculpture garden, and out to the lower 9th ward, which was so badly devastated by hurricane Katrina. Although it was our day off, we ended up riding 28 miles, but it was a great way to see the city!

We ended the day with a wonderful dinner out at Nola, an Emeril Lagasse restaurant. Perfect ending to a perfect day! Now packing up for another early start and heading to Biloxi, MS tomorrow!

Day Thirty - Now with Fifty Percent More

Linda and Mark gave us a great send off this morning. We jumped on Airline Highway and rode it all the way to New Orleans. It now seems humorous, but on the first Louisiana bridge we've seen that has a shoulder, we were pulled over by an officer who told us that it is illegal to cross any bridge in Louisiana on bicycle. Oh the irony!

We made the 75 miles to New
Orleans in great time and with no flats. As we walked into our hotel lobby we were greeted by our son Zack, who flew in from Charleston today. He will join us for the remainder of the bike trip.

We met up with Brian Sands, one of Rick's friends from college who lives here. We enjoyed dinner together, followed by coffee and beignets at Cafe du Monde. Brian then gave us a tour of the French Quarter. We are looking forward to a rest day tomorrow.

Day Twenty Nine - Water Crossings

The challenge in Louisiana is getting across bodies of water. Today presented two such challenges. The first was the Atchafalaya Basin - a huge swath of real estate (swamp) covering much of south central Louisiana. There are only three roads that cross it and only two go to Baton Rouge. I-10 would have been a direct shot, but since bikes aren't allowed we had to ride 28 miles north to pick up 190 and then head east. The second challenge was getting across the Mississippi River on a huge bridge with no shoulder.

Louisiana roads are the absolute worst! Today was long (95 miles), hot (101.5 degrees) and traffic was crazy busy! At certain points of the ride we would lose the shoulder, mainly when we would go over super long bridges (5 miles long!!!).

When we finally got to Mark and Linda Hunter's in Baton Rouge, we were so happy to see them! Linda made us an unbelievable dinner which included crawfish pie, jambalaya, and even homemade bread, it was so delicious!

Day Twenty Eight - Smooth Sailing and Four Week Stats

Today we stayed on Route 90 all day, riding 70 miles to Scott, LA, a suburb of Lafayette, LA. 90 was a welcome respite from the insanity of I-10 where bicycles are not allowed in Louisiana (after yesterday, we understand why). We fought a modest headwind again all day but managed to average 15mph for over three hours and had knocked off 52 miles before lunch.

We are spending the night at an awesome campground after making a delicious dinner, which included pork chops, potatoes, and zucchini.

Our RKOTD (road kill of the day) was the armadillo. As we saw three of them - that's three times the number we saw in two weeks in Texas!

Today marks the end of our fourth week with only 12 days remaining and 11 days of riding left! The fourth week stats are as follows:

Miles: 1,914

Flats: 39 (have not had to change a tire in the last 36 hours!)

Road Kill Zoo: alligator, armadillos, frogs, wild boar, turtles

Live Animals: tons of birds, dolphins

Unbelievable Sightings: virtually every city we come to, there are both a Dollar General store and Family Dollar store! Also, at the grocery store today, we saw the ad for bird cleaning services, WHAT?

Gatorade: stats remain the same, but we are thankful that through the month of September, most stations offer two 32oz. Gatorades for $3!!

Destiny Rescue TTD: $8,755!!