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.