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We've left Michigan

After several days of picture perfect fall weather that only Michigan can produce (blue skies, big puffy clouds, and temps in the mid 60s to low 70s), we left the state in a cool drizzle.  This was a small reminder that in a month or so the ground would be covered with snow.  Time to head south.  Not to mention that we haven't been home in almost 3 months.
We are on a Point A to Point B trip.  This meaning that when we stop we take care of the three traveling necessities ( food, gas and nature call) plus one stop for lodging.  Because we do so many of these types of trips, the bike ride was particulary fun.  We have driven far enough to see cotton boles and have the waitress ask what ya'all would like to drink.  Read it and weep, we saw gas for 3.29 a gallon.
The class reunion was great fun!  It was great fun seeing and catching up with people that, quite honestly,  I hadn't given much thought to in about 50 years.  I don't think that this is a mean statement, but rather a fact of life as life and new events and experiences happen.  That's what makes this event special, you pause to remember and take many trips down memory lane.  THANKS to all the people who helped to make this a great party and experience.  Those of us who live distances away can't help much more than help keep the rosters up to date.  I don't think I have always been good at that.
It was great to come home to Owosso!  I'm proud to say "I'm from Owosso".  I use the word, proud, meaning with pride.  In Texas people seem to use proud to mean happy.  I have lived  places that I was happy to be away from, but I''m proud to be able to say I'm from Owosso!  Those of our class who stayed in Owosso have a lot to be proud of for the wonderful community that you have helped develop and preserve.
One more day remains of this grand adventure we began back in July.  Home tomorrow night.

2400 Miles----Border-to-Border

Actually, 2392 but we feel we can take the liberty to round up.  This year the DALMAC offered up wind, cold (by Texas standards) and rain; but never all at the same time.  Much better than last year,but I was hearing that the ride of '84 was much worse that the ride of 2010.  Can't really believe that! The DALMAC as usual was wonderful!  Why we keep coming back.  Thanks to Pat, Robin and Jethro for all you do.  I would like to say that no one has flattened out northern Michigan.
 True to form as we approached Sault Ste. Marie the storm clouds formed.  These clouds were not the thunder heads that we had grown accustomed to but what looked like snow clouds.  Before we reached our camp site at Taquamonin Falls State Park the heavens opened up.  However the rain stopped before we reached the park and we were able to have a wonderful camp fire celebrating our son's 40th birthday and the end of our border to border ride.
What extremes we have faced on the adventure. In the South we would crawl into our tent and strip, lay very still and sweat buckets to the UP where with frost warning we zipped up in our mummie bags, vary cozy.  I have become a fan of the mummie bag.  I think this is the third or fourth time I have ever zipped it up completely.
Before we headed back down State, we enjoyed a wonderful hike from the lower falls to the upper falls and a wonderful four hour kayak paddle on the Taquamonin River.  Both days were crystal clear and crisp.  I love the air of UP North.
We are back in Lansing taking care of business and looking forward to heading to Owosso tomorrow for the Big 50 Reunion.

Ready for the DALMAC

The bikes have been unloaded and cleaned, chains lubed and tires inflated ready for the DALMAC.  The gear is on the truck and not on the bike.  The overnight stops and eating places have been predetermined.  Planning is done.  We'll arrive at Sault Ste. Marie Sunday afternoon  completing our tour from Galveston Bay to the Canadian border.  On the way we will stay at Shepard, Lake City, Central Lake, and Pelston.  Can't wait to get back on the bike tomorrow.

Lansing arrival celebration

Lansing

Once again we have had good fortune. Friday we rode in picture perfect weather, blue sky, minimal wind, temps in the high seventies to low eighties.  We had intended to ride a 35 mile ride which turned into a 71 mile ride.  We had intended to camp but the two campgrounds we came to were not really to our liking so we decided to move on.  We came to Vermontville where two women graciously tried to help us find a place to stay.  They located a Christian camp outside of town that said we could camp there.  This location sent us down a gravel road with gravel so deep that even the tryke could not make it through.  So both of us are pushing bikes down the road.  Not only are we pushing bikes, but doing it in clouds of mosquitos.  For our southern friends who believe only you have mosquitos, not so.  By this time the sun is on a downward curve, and tempers are short.  We looked at each other and decided this is nuts. The great out doors is not looking so good. We retreated down the road and rode to Charlotte, the nearest place for a motel.  This left us with only a 36 mile ride to Lansing.  The closer we got to our destination the cloudier it became.  Sound familiar?  We arrived at Doug's mother's house in time to have a wonderful celebration with champagne, cake and messages, friends and relative before the heavens opened up and a storm roared through.
We learned that not only is southern Michigan beautiful but also very hilly.  For the most part fun hills.  Maybe you have to move away to realize what has been there all the time.  Eveything is so green and clean looking and the trees are so big!  Everything is bigger in Texas except the trees and mosquitos.
We will be in Lansing until August 31 when we will joining the DALMAC ride to complete our border to border cycling tour.

Entering Michigan Once

Kzoo

Today we are relaxing at our daughter's house in Kalamazoo, where she promised me two ply tp.  It is the little things in life that make a difference.  We arrived after a two day ride from Warsaw through the immaculate fields and farms of the Amish.  Gotta love the Amish!  We rode over 20 miles up highway 5 with shoulders wide enough to accommodate their carriages.  One minor problem they are horse drawn carriages.
We were not aware of the town of Shipshewanna in the heart of Amish country.  This is the merchantile capital for the area Amish. The imbrasion of capitalism was more than evident.  This was a busy and very congested area where you could buy funiture, iron works, leather goods, quilts, home made fresh and canned goods, eat at a variety of restaurants, sleep in a variety of inns.  We were not aware of this town but it seems to be popular for miles around.  The couple in the motel room next to us came over from Ontario to go to Shipshe as we saw it shortened.
We celebrated as we entered Michigan the first time--there was no sign but the first people we saw when we felt we had entered the state confirmed we had crossed the state line and offered to take our picture.  We had planned to stay in Sturgis, MI but learned we needed to go back to Indiana to get a motel.  We liked celebrating entering Michigan so much that we did it twice.
Kim has been a wonderful hostess.  The best thing was the corn on the cob cooked on the grill along with pork chops. We had ridden past many produce stands with corn on the cob for sale and it sounded so good.
Today we had a visit from one of my school mates, Bill Mollema, from K thru 12. I knew him best when he was still Billy.  It was a fun visit!  We have done laundry once again and will leave tomorrow heading towards Lansing making it a two day trip.  Tenting tomorrow.

Warsaw, IN

The best piece of equipment that we have is our Dinotti lights front and back.  As we have traveled along we have had many comments about them.  One of my favorites was the driver of the 18 wheeler who slowed down beside us and yelled out his window that he could really see us.  However, my very favorite was the driver of a tanker truck who we met up with at a quick stop as he was loading fuel.  He had commented to Doug about how well he could see us.  Then while they were talking a guy on a motorcycle pulled in and the tanker driver commented to him about how great our lights were.  Motorcycle guy insisted that they were not as good as his.  The tanker driver said that he would bet him $100 dollars that they were.  Motorcycle guy was greatly insulted!  He drove away discussed.
The storm that hit Indianapolis passed through Iraquois, IN where we were before it reached Indianapolis.  As has been the case for most of our trip, we were very lucky.  Our instructions for Iraquois were to call the Mayor, Jack Karr to stay in the city park.  We thought we were calling for permission to put up our tent.  We thought that we would possibly have a water faucett for water and we were hoping for a picnic table.  You can imagine our surprise when they offered us an air conditioned room, not only indoor plumbing, but a hot shower, fluffy towels, and indoor storage for our bikes.  Yeah! Iraquois.  Thank you to Joe and Carla who on very short notice readied the facility.  We were just about settled in when the storm hit. Good night not to be in a tent.  Also, this town of only 250 people has a wonderful restaurant where I had a meal that is tied for my number 2 spot for favorite meals on the trip.  It was a meal of mouth watering prime rib.
Last night after riding 78 miles we arrived at a campground in the absolute middle of no where on a very small lake.  There were six or seven camper trailers there, campground full, but no one around.  We found a spot of ground and made ourselves at home.  We did have indoor plumbing and a shower.  The sign said "Bicyclists Welcome".  We believed it.  Doug had worked his map reading skills well to get us there. Over the years I know to trust his abilities.  After 78 miles, mistakes were not an option.
Tomorrow, we plan to enter Michigan.  Yeah!  Until yesterday, wind had not been a factor for our travel.  Just when we could benefit from a south wind the wind has shifted to the north.  Yesterday was really windy but we went mostly east dodging rain clouds, sprinkles and rain.  Zero % chance of rain.  When we came out from behind the corn the gusts blew me sideways at times.  I'll take the wind over flats,  2 so far.  Next blog from Kalamazoo where we will be visiting our daughter, Kim.

Evening in Paris

Rejoice tofu lovers!  After riding through about 200 miles of Illinois through nothing but corn and soy bean fields, it looks like a bumper crop of each.
To our Texas followers, read it and weep.  74 degrees last night at 5:00p.m.  This morning the temps were in the low 60's, jacket weather, todays high was in the low 80's.
Our destination today was Lincoln Trail State Park, however, we were there too early and it was a beautiful riding day so we continued on to Paris and a motel.  We seem to be finding more excuses or opportunities for moteling it.  However, tomorrow we intend to stay at Kick-a-poo State Park.  We like the sound of it.
Last night we had a wonderful visit with The Brickers the parents of Jen of Jen and Nate.  We have known of each other for years and it was great to put faces with names.  We slept in their new camper,quit lovely with all the trains, bells and whistles.  Neither of us had ever slept in one.  They took us to dinner and fed us a great breakfast and sent us on our way.  It was all great fun!
Sharon Bricker did our laundry.  This is the third time we've done laundry, the first time we didn't have soap.
The only time we have used our swim suits is to do laundry so we could wash all of our clothes, because when we have had a motel with a pool we have gone in in our riding clothes.  I figure that a little clorine might be good treatment for anything that we may be harboring in our clothing.  We do wash our days clothes each night in case anyone is wondering how ripe we are.  Now we are pretty fresh.
We started out our trip going under I-10  today we went under I-70.  That gives us a real feeling of progress as we head north across the nation.
Need to get on with my evening in Paris.

We're back

Blog followers we are back after hiding out in a cabin in Illinois Cave in Rock State Park.  We were celebrating being out of the South and in the mid-west.  Granted we were not far into Illinois.  The cabin was high on a bluff overlooking the Ohio River and all we saw looking from our porch was Kentucky.  But hay we were on the north side of the river and feeling quite proud of ourselves.  We had left Grand Rivers, Ky. after checking the weather radar because the local weather was predicting rain all day.  We decided to believe what we were seeing on radar which turned out to be a good decision.  We rode in cloud cover all morning and some sprinkles when we came to the mother of all hills.  We rode 57miles without any services.  In the town of Joy we expected to find food.  But that was not to be.  We needed water.  There was a man standng along the road waving to passersby.  We learned that this was Mr. Lemon.  I asked him if he had a water spikette.  He said that he had city water and to come in and he would give us some.  We don't know if he had running water or not but he filled up our water bottles from gallon jugs.  How his house was standing was a mystery.  I don't believe Mr. Lemon had ever thrown anything away.  His front room consisted of his bed which sat up on a platform, a light and many collectables.  The air was air-conditioned and had no bad smells.  I'm sensitive to smells.  We found Mr. Lemon very interesting. To get into Illinois required a ferry.  Our first and probably last ferry boat crossing.
Fortunatley, we were at Cave in Rock last weekend because they are expecting 10,000 people to converge on them beging Aug.11 for the annual meeting of the Juggalos.  Charlie Sheen is supposed to be one of the presenters at the

Close to the legitimate mid-west

Tomorrow we expect to cross the Ohio River by ferry and spend the night in Illinois at the Cave in the Rock State Park.
Once again we have had a very fortunate day.  We crawled out of our tent at Rushing Creek campground along the Land Between the Lakes and packed up a dry tent.  We had been riding about two miles when we came to places where significant amounts of rain had fallen.  As we approached The Golden Pond information center about twelve miles up the road, we were trying to out run a violent storm.  We made it to the center about three minutes before the heavens opened up.  We stayed there about 1and 1/2 hours before heading out in the sprinkles.  As we approached the village of Grand Rivers the air became oppressive and the sky was once again looking menacing.  We were headed for a campground but decided a motel would be in order.  Only one problem.  There are big boat races on Kentucky Lake this weekend.  We have managed to find a room but if the weather is bad tomorrow, this room probably would not be available.  Once again we were here about five minutes before the heavens opened up.
Today I replaced my brake pads.  The downhills in Tenn. scared me to death!  They were steep, curvy and shaded, but for the most part a good road surface.
FYI the next tour you may see me on a tryke.  Doug has pedaled up every hill we have come to.

Waverly, Tenn.

All of you who continue to pray for our safety and well-being keep up the good work.  Once again what we needed happened.
We started out our morning with our new friend Shelah Sandefer bringing us goodies for the ride; hard boiled eggs, home made peanutbutter cookies, peanutbutter, jelly, and wholesome bread.  What a treat!  It served for breakfast and our mid-morning coffee break.
The roads today were fun with two killer hills, but the fun out weighed the bad.  We wheeled into Bucksnort, Tenn. in mid-morning.  At the quick stop we were told that finding lodging any where in the area would be difficult.  It turns out that there are 25,000 people here for a national motocross competition.  We had concidered staying at the Lorretta Lynn Ranch, but that is the headquarters for the competition.  So we called the only motel for miles.  At first he had no rooms, but it seems that he has a soft spot for bicyclists--all of a sudden he had a room.  Yea!  We only rode a short distance today, but other lodging was too far for us.  Today was the first day that we really felt the heat.  We were in our air-conditioned motel, very pricey room, by 2:00.
Heading out early tomorrow and looking forward to The Land Between the Lakes.  We should be camping for the next 5 or 6 nights.

Centerville, Tenn.

This evening finds us in Centerville, Tenn.  The home of Minnie Pearl.  As I was riding along today I realized that every day something has happened to make each day special.  Maybe with the exception of the day in the motel when the weather forecast was for 80% chance of rain when we chose not to ride.  It did not rain until 6:00p.m.

 Last night we spent our last night on the Trace.  We stayed at Fall Hallow Bed and Breakfast and Campground.  The proprioritors Bill and Kathy Roper were wonderful host and hostess.  We had called asking about the bed and breakfast, but we were unable to do indoor camping because the rooms were taken up with a broadast crew from the travel channel.  They are doing a series of three shows on the Wild Roads of the South.  One is the Natchez Trace.They were there primarily to interview Bill, but they were very interested in our adventure.  They interviewed us and took lots of pictures and our moment of fame will be sometime in November on the Travel Channel.

Today we really reached the hills of Tenn.!  With the hills our forward progress is done to about 40 miles per day.  The going has gotten very slow and I am not ashamed to admit that I met a few hills that I could not drag my 65 pounds of gear up.  Walking is hard to but it gets me up the hill.  I just kept hoping that my achilles tendon was firmly attached..

While stopped along the road today, a woman approached Doug and started talking.  It turns out that she is a writer and was very curious about us.  She was also very concerned about where we would stay when we got to Centerville.  The motels did not have a good reputation.  So she made some phone calls on our behalf.
One option would have been to stay at the funeral home, but the mortician was out of town.  We did manage to find the motel had changed hands and is a very desireable place to stay.  This very curious ladies name is Shelah Sandefer.  We had dinner with her this evening while she interviewed us for the story she plans to write.  Another moment of fame.
Tomorrow we are headed to Waverly, Tenn.
We are missing the Trace.  What a wonderful place to ride, visit, and have a wonderful history lesson.  The Trace dates back to an animal trail before the mound builder Indians that were around about the time of Christ's birth.  It played a role in two wars, the Revolutionary War and the Civil War. It was a major route for the Kaintucks, and now a wonderful National Park.

Collinwood, TN

We arrived in Collinwood, TN after peddling in three states today; Mississippi, Alabama, and Tennessee, and spending the nights in two State Parks.  They were Elvis Presley State Park and Tishomingo State Park.  The hill up to Elvis Presley State Park about did us in!  We rode the next day to Tishomingo State Park and arrived late after riding once again in the rain.  Everything wet!  Decided to take a day off and dry out, pay bills, grocery shop, and mail unneeded materials to Lansing.
Before leaving Tupelo we visited the boyhood home of Elvis.  The home sits on its's original site.  They have moved the church of his childhood that influenced so much of his music so a near by site.  In the church they have surrounding screens that make you feel like you are attending a church service as it would have been in Elivis's day.  Pretty cool!  This was a worthwhile visit.
Today was a fun ride but for some reason Doug and I are feeling like we rode a hundred miles.  We're pooped.  But we had a great day.  It was fun to enter two new states.  When we got to the Alabama State line there were signs alerting vehicles to bike traffic.  We thought how great that Alabama was so concerned about bicycle safety.  Come to find out the signs where there because of an organized day ride called The W.C. Handy Bike Ride sponsored by the Shoals Cycling Club of Muscell Shoals, AL.  They welcomed us to two of their rest areas.  Great hospitality!
Along the way we met Jim McCullough, a frequent Trace rider, he told us about The Wall.  This is a wall being constructed by Tom Henricks in honor of his great, great, Grandmother who was an Indian moved to Oklohoma by the U.S. government.  She was U.S. #59.  Somehow she was able to get away and walked back to Alabama.  The trek took her 5 years and she is the only person that there is proof  of having completed the journey. Tom has been building The Wall for thirty years and it is still a work in progress. His web site is http://ifthelegendsfade.com/.  Tom is 80 years old, doesn't look it.  We had a very interesting visit.
Yes we did ride in rain to get here, not bad.  We had re-met Jim McCullough at one of the ride rest-stops and he accompanied us to Collinwood.  We had reservations for Rochell Rooms.  Our instructions were to check in at the Coast to Coast store.  This turned out to be a very large and homey room in a very small but very friendly town.  They do have to traffic lights, however one block apart.
Tomorrow night the tent.
We have now ridden over 1000 miles and are approximately half way to Lansing.
We'll just keep pedaling.

My cell phone is dead

My cell phone died 2 days ago.  You can reach me by calling Doug.  His number is the same as mine with a 10 at the end.

77 miles closer

Tonight we are in Houston.  Houston,MS.  This brings us 77 miles closer to our destination.  We had planned to stop 30 miles back but the only motel was NASTY!  Nasty enough to compel us to ride 30 more miles.  Fourtunately we were at the 1st place mid-afternoon.  There are no pictures today because I left the memory stick in the computer.  I realized this when we were about 6 miles into our ride.  There was a big fallen tree across the road.  We were able to manuver around it on the right shoulder, but not without incidence.  It took both of us to push my bike through the mud.  The biggest problem was Doug's tryke.  There was a steep drop-off.  His tryke went rolling down the hill, rolled over about four times before being stopped by a tree. The best thing was that he was not on it!  His cargo was really on good because nothing came lose.  That's how our day started.  We continued to see damage from the last nights thunder storms.  It was definately a good night for a motel.  There was a detour on the Trace due to the clean up from the spring tornados.  We did ride by some tornado damage along the Trace.  Amazing how swaths were carved out through the forest.  This day was quite hilly.

Tomorrow we are heading for Elvis Presley Lake and Campground in Tupelo, about a 50 mile ride and stay for two nights.

Oops

Don't why there are two of each of these pictures.  Don't know how to delete just one.

Great Ride!

Today we finally made some northern progress after being in Ridgeland, MS for three nights.  We started out at 6:35a.m. and rode along the Ross Barnett Reservior for twenty miles. We rode a flat, I mean flat not relatively flat 63 miles with cloud cover and no rain until 20 miles before arriving at this interesting town of Kosciusko, MS.  While it was raining we did find a shelter along the way and pulled in.  Because it was wet and damp a cup of coffee sounded good.  We got out our jet boil and Star Bucks instant coffee and made coffee.  We are really enjoying the Star Bucks instant coffee.  One of the best things we brought with us.

The town of Kosciusko is named after a Polish General who served under George Washington during the American Revolution.  He was the engineer who designed West Point and Saratoga plus others.  This is the only town in the country by this name.  This is also the child hood home of Oprah Winfrey and Roy Oswalt.

Things we learned today:
A tupelo is a tree.  Silly me, I just thought it meant where Elvis was born. 
Beavers mate for life and pair in the spring.  I guess the term "pair" is a politically correct non-offensive term.
The Natchez Trace is all asphalt except for 13 miles of chip seal, from mile 181 to 194. 

We are in a motel this evening while a thunder storm is raging.

The bike repairs were the budget buster.

Budget Buster Day

To all you blog followers who are praying for our safety and well-being, keep up the good work!  When we needed lodging Susan Hayes appeared.  When we needed major bike repairs we were conviently located by probably the best bike shop along our route.  When the heavens opened up and dumped 1 and 3/4 inches of rain we had not reached the Natchez Trace that has no shelter.  We were able to head to a quick stop for shelter, where we stayed for about and hour and a half.  Because of all this rain we have returned to the same motel we were in last night.  I'm not complaining but you could have arranged for a better place to change a flat than in a very long two lane bridge with heavy traffic and no shoulder.

We have gotten bogged down in MS.  Because of an off the route trip to the Vicksburg Battleground, bike repairs and rain.  The area around Vicksburg was very hilly!  As we struggled with the terrain, we kept commenting that no wonder Grant had such a hard time.  We do feel the effort to get to Vicksburg was worth the challenge.

Yesterday we met our first cycling tourists.  They were a couple of young men from Francewho are traveling the US by bike for three months.  They said that they have met several cycling tourists.  All if them foreigners.  We had decided that other people thought that it was too hot at this time of year.

Observations:
The tobacco industry is alive and well in MS.  Looking around it looks like something out of a fifties movie.
With the building slow-down the logging industry seems to be doing well, judging from the number of logging trucks on the road.
Quick stops do an amazing business!  We have been at many and the coming and going is unbelievable.

It has rained all but three days so far.  There is an 80% chance if rain tomorrow and 70% the next day.  What can you expect, I'm traveling with Doug.  He brings rain everywhere except home.  I was telling this to a local and he wants Doug to stay around as they have been in a drought situation here.

We'll do a weather check in the a.m. and decide what to do.

Oh the raccoons.  We are experienced campers and we do know to put away food.  However, we had both forgot about trail mix and a granola bar in our bike bags.  They gnawed holes in both bags and in doing so left there muddy paw prints all over our laundry.  We were not personally attacked.  They did disturb our sleep.

Jackson, MS

Hello blog followers.  I am relaxed and not too anxious to get to bed so hopefully this will go better.

First of all let me tell you it is the humidity and not the heat that is getting to us.  We have been wet since leaving our drive way 718 miles ago.  Using plenty of fungacide and antibacteria products.

In a nut shell what we have learned is two things.  First of all we have learned why they call the maps Adventure Cycling and why they put all those gears on a bike.

Our most amazing adventure to date was in a an area called Rosetta, MS.  This town has far more people in it's cemetery than living in the area.  We found ourselves there after riding 60 miles in hills at 6:00p.m. in a thunder storm 34 miles away from anywhere.  We were under a shelter of a truck parts and service store.  What to do!  We had decided that we had water, food, and a tent and this would be where we needed to spend the night.  As we started to set up our tent our guardian angel appeared and offered us a dry bed and a hot shower.  Susan and Steve Hayes welcomed us into there home, fed us cat fish from the river and fresh grilled vegetables from their garden, and cereal and fresh fruit for breakfast.  The hospitality was great but best of all we met to wonderful new people.

Yesterday a ride that should have been a 25 mile ride turned into a 56 mile ride thanks to the American Development Reinvestment Program.  Bridge out over the Big Black River.  We made it to The Rocky Springs campground on the Natchez Trace. We were the only campers in the park.  Very remote, no cell service.

Happenings:
My bike fell over and the GPS holder broke.
I tripped backing out of the tent and fell against a metal box and scraped up my arm.  That's why I get tetinus shots.
My glasses I got especially for the trip came out of the case in two pieces.
Replaced our first cable.
One flat.
Raccoon attack last night.

Vicksburg, MS

Too many computer problems.  Going to bed.  Having fun except when I get near this computer.  Fortunately my riding skills are better than my computer skills.  Bedtime.

Simmsport,LA

Today we rode through cotton fields with scattered corn and maze fields, after riding through rice fields yesterday.  Our ride yesterday  was 90 miles long in a heat index of 111 degrees.  It was by accident.  The town we had intended to stay in had all the motel rooms booked up due to a funeral.  Guess all the kin came home.  This actually turned out to be a happy situation.  We stayed in a wonderful B&B in Washington, LA.  The propriator was a very interesting artist who lived in Paris and on a LA plantation.  So we had a late start after touring her art gallery and parts of her home built in 1903.  We met many fun people along the way before landing at the Sportsman Motel.  It certainly is not up-scale but the hospitality could not be any better.

Over 300

In Louisiana

Day three finds us in Louisiana after a 76 mile day. We left Texas after experiencing a lot of Texas hospitality.  We camped two nights in RV parks.  They both offered us wonderful hospitality.    This is big because normally RV parks don't want to have us tenting rif-raf on their premises.  The first night was at Cedar Grove RV Park in Ames, TX.  The second was at Thompson Lake RV Park.  Jean Thompson says she loves to have tenters because she loves to hear their stories.  This park even had coffee available in the morning.  Later in the morning we made a stop at Mama's kitchen before leaving  Texas.  There we met Kaylon Booker who was very gracious with his Texas hospitality.  He introduced us to Organo Gold Coffee.  He gave us packets to try.  It may be just what we need for travel coffee.

Just when we thought you couldn't beat Texas hospitality we entered Louisiana.  We stopped for lunch at the only resturant in Merryville.  A gentleman there liked hearing our story and wanted to buy our lunch,  However, we had already paid so he had his grandson hand us $10.

Thanks to Doug's insomnia in the heat last night tonight we are in an air conditioned motel.  He should be careful, I could get used to this.  Although, I do love my tent.

Cross Country Bicycle Trip

After conceieving the idea of riding to my 50th high school class reunion 3 years ago, the time has come to put that plan in action.  Tomorrow morning Doug and I will start from our home in Baytown, Texas on a bike ride to attend my high school reunion in Owosso, Michigan.  Our ride has  come to the attention of The Baytown Sun.  The link to the article can be found here:http://baytownsun.com/lifestyle/article_d2e2aa62-a524-11e0-99e9-001cc4c002e0.html

Christmas Crafts

Henrik and I have completed our project.

Things learned

While traveling the coastal plains of Texas we learned that you can readily find Hunt Brother's Pizza and tacos to eat.  Cell phone service is very iffy.  Therefore, the cell phone gps is worthless.  We need a satilite gps.  Doug who is a great believer in the old fashion map way has decided that a gps will be of value added to the maps.  My one creature comfort that I have allowed myself, rei wine glasses will remain on the equipment list.

Shake down bike ride

Doug and I have just returned from a 380 mile self contained bike ride to test out our equipment for our ride to Sault Saint Marie, Mich.  The equipment worked well.  We have some tweeking to do but we seem to have the situation under control.

Production Manager Duties

Today, I couldn't believe it --I was driving in LA.

California here we come

This is our first actual travel post.  Tuesday, March 1 we flew from Houston to Burbank.  I have decided that SW is the way to fly for seniors.  Although I love the hustle and bustle  of the major airports the smaller ones used by SW are far less intimidating and nagotiable.  So we have arrived in not so sunny southern California.  We are here to help were ever we can preparing for a long trip up the West Coast to Everett Washington for then Jen and Nate show.

Other adventures

Bridge Walk

Past travels.