We're home again. Left Carlsbad to drive back south and west into Texas and through the Guadalupe Mountain range with a short stop at the visitor center at Guadalupe National Park to see
what it was all about. Then through El Paso and points west. Drove until dark and stayed one last night at Roper State Park

near Safford, Arizona. Sneaked in a little birding this morning and were rewarded with a good long look at a vagrant Red Throated Loon on the lake. The picture is my attempt to use my camera to take a picture through the lens of my spotting scope. You will have to trust me that it truly was a Red Throated.

Thanks for riding along on our bicycling adventure! Someday we'd like to share with you ALL of the pictures that I took! Happy Trails. . .

Carlsbad Caverns and Christmas on the Pecos

We're in Carlsbad, New Mexico. Went to tour the Carlsbad Caverns today. Really awesome. This one is huge. I'm not the most comfortable in caves but this one is worth the drive off the beaten path to visit. The geology and the enormous amount of geologic time to create this wonderland drop by drop is so interesting to me but at the same time, if I let myself think of the absolute darkness underground I could bolt in a second.
Tonight we took a boat ride on the Pecos River to view the city's Christmas lights of the decorated homes along the river. "Christmas on the Pecos" is a tradition here and they do a admirable job.

Birding at Lake Charles, Louisiana wet lands

Stopped for two days of serious birding near Lake Charles, Louisiana. The inner coastal wet lands here are wintering havens for thousands of snow geese, and literally millions of ducks of various kinds along with resident herons, egrets, and a myriad of shore birds. Feast for the eyes. We spied some alligators also.
This area still shows evidence of Hurricane Rita--another reminder of how devastated the Gulf Coast was from the season of hurricanes. Recovery is ongoing.

Gulf Coast and Baton Rouge

Made our way along the Gulf Coast from Mobile to Bay St Louis (where we spent a night) along hiway 90 through New Orleans and on to Baton Rouge. Was interested in seeing the area 3 years after Katrina. There is much rebuilding going on but still an amazing amount of destruction still evident. The huge piles of rubble are mostly gone but still lots of boarded up buildings, or empty lots with nothing but foundations remaining. We got to go across the two new bridges, (Biloxi and Bay St Louis) that had been destroyed by the hurricane. Both have just recently opened with two lanes of traffic.

We had breakfast at a local restaurant in Waverly, Mississippi and enjoyed an entertaining conversation with the owner. He told us his amazing Katrina story of loss and recovery and more info about the whole area. He was interested in the guy's bicycle odyssey and ended up giving Will one of his named hats (it says, Will's.) It is already his favorite.

Pulled into Baton Rouge mid afternoon in time for Jay and Verna to pack up, Jay had to crate his bike to ship on the plane. One last dinner out together. We took the guys to "Pastimes," the restaurant under the freeway where we gals went for great pizza when we had our girls-night-out a few weeks ago.

Then it was a short night as Jay and Verna had a 6am flight back home. I guess this means it is really finished. Hated to see them go. Seems strange without them. We successfully shared a 10 x 30 space for almost 7 weeks. Was a precious time. Love you guys!!!

Heading toward home

The four of us are leaving Florida together in the RV. Heading west to Baton Rouge again where Will and Linda will drop Jay and Verna to catch a flight back to Washington. Making a little better time this route. Got as far as DeFuniak, Florida last night. We stayed there a week ago also and thought then it was a nice town. The city has decorated their city park around a little lake with millions of Christmas lights and created a colorful holiday spectacle. We got another chance at a local restaurant that was just as yummy the second time.

Today we stopped in Mobile at Bellingrath Gardens for a couple hours and enjoyed the end of the mum display and the Christmas plantings. One of the great gardens of the country for sure.

OUR PIT CREW AND ATHELETIC SUPPORTERS

Jay and I would like to recognize the wonderful ladies that have made our bicycle trip possible and comfortable. A special thanks to Linda for driving the RV day after day and blogging for us each day. Thanks to Verna for being with us the first week of our trip and then from Baton Rouge to the end. Thanks to Helene for joining us from San Antonio to Baton Rouge. It was great to have all the siblings together for this length of time. These ladies bought the groceries, cooked, dumped the septic system, washed our clothes, hooked and unhooked the car. Fabulous meals were made in our small RV galley. They were there every day to greet us with Gatorade. They were psychologist in knowing when to greet us cheerfully and when to leave us alone for a few minutes to recover. They enjoyed each others company, complemented each other with tasks, and pushed through their comfort zone in operating the motorhome. They did things that they didn't think they could do and things that (maybe) we thought they couldn't do. "Towanda baby". Will and Jay.

Yea!! San Diego to St Augustine

Hurray!! They rode the last 5 miles this morning to St Augustine Beach. Bob and Karen, Verna and Linda were waiting for them with all the fan fare we could muster! The pictures tell the story. Great fun for all.

We all went out for lunch at "Hurricane Patty's" for a great seafood meal. Lots of laughing as they told story after story about the last 40 days of biking. Thanks Bob and Karen for sharing in a great ending.

We had the opportunity to attend Flagler Memorial Presbyterian Church in St Augustine this morning. The oldest Presbyterian church in Florida. It is an amazing historic building with a dynamite pipe organ. Enjoyed chatting with Dr Weaver, the senior pastor who told us all about the history of the church and gave us a tour of the old manse which is now church offices. Dynamite sermon also.

We spent the afternoon being tourists in St Augustine. Flagler College is a amazing campus. The buildings were originally a luxury resort hotel built in 1880's by an oil baron and they are really something to see. Restored in the 60's and turned into a liberal arts college. Tons of architecturally interesting buildings here. An old Spanish fort, shops and a beach front--could spend several days here looking around.

Alachua to (just short of) St Augustine Beach

One last big day. Started it off with a big Waffle House breakfast in Alachua. Then off for a 90 mile day through Gainesville and east to the coast. Flat, flat Florida through scrub forests, agriculture fields of vegetables, and 20 miles of a rails-to-trails bike trail through a scenic hardwood forest. Pulled into Indian Forest RV Park mid afternoon just 5 miles short of the beach!

Going to save the last few miles for tomorrow so we can savor the moment! Verna and Linda have to get positioned at the end for the optimum photo shots.

The RV has gone as far as it is going to go. I think we should have a little celebration for that accomplishment also. Maybe we should break a bottle of wine over the grill--on second thought, terrible waste, lets drink it instead! No mechanical problems, no dents or bumps, a couple of minor turn arounds, (one major turn around that Helene will long remember). Pretty amazing in 3000 miles. It served us well. The four of us (and for a while 5) lived very comfortably together for something like 40 days. Maybe there is a Biblical analogy here somewhere.

Bob and Karen Mulder, friends of Jay and Verna from Washington pulled into the park this evening to be here for the grand finale. They have been close to meeting up with us several times in Texas and Louisiana but then went on to visit family in Florida for the holiday and finally made the rendezvous here.

White Springs to Alachua

This was a short 60 mile day through mostly wooded countryside and a few rural towns. Sun came out mid morning and they even enjoyed a tail wind. Yesterday they passed tomato and melon fields but today they left agriculture fields behind in favor of state natural areas north of Gainsville. The campground is absolutely full tonight, most everyone is here because of the big football game tomorrow at University of Florida. Big rival game between the "Gators" and Florida State "Seminoles."
Soon as the biking was finished for the day, Jay and Verna took off and drove south to Leesburg to spend a couple of hours with Verna's Aunt Mitsy and Aunt Syl and Uncle Ed, celebrating Syl and Ed's 68th wedding anniversary! Aunt Mitsy killed the fatted calf and during her fabulous meal we heard wonderful stories of how these treasured people met their spouses, worked and played in Roseland, working and growing up, and of course caught up on all the cousins! Finally, while sharing Aunt Syl's pie, Uncle Ed declared that he and Syl have decided not to have any more children! (93 and still has that delightful Uncle Ed humor) We chuckled all the way back to camp. Considering that twinkle in Mitsy's eyes during her story telling we will loving refer to this time together as Aunt Mitsy's Believe it or Not? Aunt Syl just smiles quietly but does no editing! We love you Mitsy, Syl and Ed. Thank you for a blessed time.

Will and Linda hardly knew we were gone. Hmmm?

Monticello to White Springs - Happy Thanksgiving

We woke up to the pitter-patter of rain on the roof. Thought about trying to wait it out but after an hour delay it was time to go in spite of the showers. Florida is in the midst of a drought so find it hard to be complaining about rain. See the weather map from this mornings tv?

any guesses where we are--right under that rain cloud!

But it cleared up mid day so they could shed their rain gear. 85 miles today. Verna and I enjoyed a nice hike along the Suwanee River near White Springs.

suited up in rain gear.

A pileated woodpecker

We managed to enjoy a great Thanksgiving meal with all the trimmings. We cooked a turkey roast in the crock pot and and sat down to a tasty Thanksgiving dinner.

Chatahoochee to Monticello

The route has taken us through lots of Florida towns and small cities and we’ve enjoyed the huge live oak lined streets and older homes with big porches, just what you expect a Florida house to be. The guys biked through Tallahassee today while we took the motor home around on the

interstate to a KOA in Monticello.

We could write a book about the variety of campgrounds and RV parks along the way. We have become quite discriminating in our choices. We don’t always have a choice of where we stay because of the route restrictions but we have become pretty vocal about the amenities that we find at the various parks. We have had some really memorable experiences and some we would just as soon forget. Price in no way dictates comfort.

Speaking of prices—and comfort—we have been watching gas prices rise steadily as we motor along. Today was highest so far at $3.11 a gallon and we have a suspicion that that will not be the upper limit.

And then there are the life lessons that a trip like this teaches. Like taking each day as it comes and be thankful for what it presents. Each day has been unlike the last. Weather changes, accommodations change, wind direction changes, cell phones sometimes work sometimes don't, roads change but somehow we have always managed to adapt to whatever and finish the day successfully. We do not take safety for granted for a second and end each day with a prayer of thanksgiving for drivers and bikers.

DeFuniak Springs to Chatahoochee

The route continues to follow hiway 90 across the Panhandle of Florida heading pretty much east. Another beautiful Florida day, temps in low to mid 70's and warm sunshine. The road is flat, only hills are the bridges over rivers. In fact they passed the highest point in Florida yesterday--345 feet above sea level. 85 mile day. They are in the final countdown--5 biking days left--can you believe it!?!
They stopped biking tonight in Chatahoochee, Florida but we are camped across the border into Georgia at a Corp of Engeneers campground at Seminole Lake which is a extremely large reservoir in Georgia. Its a beautiful setting with all kinds of water fowl to watch in the lake. I dug the spotting scope out and saw Scaup, mallards, pied billed grebe, canadian geese, herons, egrets, and two million coots among others.


All the way across Texas Linda said she wanted to see an Armadillo because she had never seen one before. There were several in pretty poor condition along the roads as road kill, but today Will finally saw one with minimal damage and stopped to take a picture with his cell phone. So nice to know he was thinking of me!

We finally crossed over into Eastern Time Zone here at Chatahoochee. Now somebody has to tell us what the deal is--we zoomed thru pacific and mountain zones and then crossed into central time zone way back in west Texas. When you crawl across the time zones the way we have it seems as though the central one is much wider than the rest.

Milton to DeFuniak, Fl

This was a short, enjoyable day. Just 65 miles. First part of the day was actually off road, on a bike trail through Black Water State Forest and then they hopped onto hiway 90 all the way to the "old Florida" town of DeFuniak. The guys both had rolled into camp by 1:15 and had time to play and relax for the rest of the day. We ate out tonight at McLain's, a local buffet restaurant. Plenty of yummy food to fill those bottomless biker stomachs.

Will is tuning up his bike for tomorrow's ride