Fox Family Cross Country Bike Tour

Postscript

2008-11-06T20:11:00.000-08:00

November 6, 2008, Morgan Hill, California, the Locsins' house
Well, now the journey is over, but the euphoria of the trip is still lingering in my heart and mind. I didn't have too much time to sit back and write the final entries in the blog until now, November 6, 2008. We are staying with the Locsins until we can find jobs and a house to rent. Gloria and I are staying in their studio, a nice, one-room building with a shower, sink, and refrigerator, all we need, next to their house. The children are staying in other rooms in the house that the Locsins have arranged to accommodate us. Such good people. Our trip stuff is spread out in these different locations. The bikes are under a tarp outside. Denise, Mrs. Locsin, has organized chores for all the kids and includes Paul, Vicky, John, and Sarah in her homeschooling groups. Willie is completing a computer-based ninth grade curriculum at Gilroy High School, which should enable him to catch up by the end of the year. He is wrestling in the 112 pound class for the school. Paul and the younger children are all being home-schooled at the Locsins. Gloria is the math teacher/expert to help with math. Becky, Adriana, and I are looking for jobs. Becky already found work assembling medical parts and tutoring math. Adriana is looking to be a waitress when she turns 18 in three weeks. Becky passed her written test for her driving license and has been practicing with me intensively. She is scheduled to take her driving test this Wednesday. Adriana is also practicing with me around the block until she passes the written test to get her permit, probably tomorrow. Both are doing fine. The little ones find they have lots of playmates and new activities to keep them amused. Our lives have changed pace dramatically since we have finished our trip; like a gust of wind we have entered the fast lane, but I think we we're prepared. I have taken the psychological test for the prison (I hope I passed) and should hear from them within 45 days. In the meantime I need to do something to earn money. Adriana is the only one who has begun typing her four journals to chronicle our trip and compile all the information into one book with pictures that we can appreciate for a lifetime. I still haven't read their journals and it will be a treat to do so when they are done. We have a new email address: ninefoxfamily@yahoo.com so that will be a sure way to communicate with us until we get a permanent place of our own. I figured up the total biking mileage: 4,502. The total number of days of the trip was 135; 95 were riding days. The average mileage on riding days was 47 miles. So, a new chapter has begun and the turns in the road are unknown; so in that way, life now is similar to how it was on the bike. Would I do it again? Yes, absolutely! As long as I could. I loved our adventure and our time together. Will we ever do it again. It's unlikely. Normal life is likely to weave its way into our gypsy fabric and conform us to the practical life. Becky and Adriana have discussed riding across Europe sometime in the future. Maybe they will need an old mechanic. I would still like to do my real adventure: cross the country without money, working my way across. It would take years probably, but it would work. Somebody will do it some day and have great experiences to share. What have I learned? I guess the main thing is not to be afraid to live, to dream, to venture into the unknown. Don't let fear paralyze you. You only have one life to live, and it is short. Live it fully with the gifts God has given you. If you trust Him, God will go before you and prepare the way. When you live this way, life is an adventure.

143

2008-10-28T00:29:00.000-07:00

Saturday, October 25, 2008, Locsin's house, Morgan Hill, California: The end of the trip and the beginning of a new chapter in life.
We got up before the crack of dawn and drove into the Grand Canyon National Park. When it got light enough to see, we discovered we were next to a deep river gorge with painted cliff walls. What a sight. We hadn't even gotten to the real Grand Canyon yet and already it was breathtakingly beautiful. We stopped for a short while to take pictures then entered the main park. By then the sun was coming up. We were some of the first ones there, so there were no crowds; we enjoyed the unbelievable views and took lots of picture. There were dozens of places to park and view different vista points, so it took hours to tour and we saw less than half. The museum was great and we discovered that to canoe down the Colorado River on a selected date, you must make reservations two years in advance and it costs about $300 a day, too much for us. The trip to the Grand Canyon was well worth the extra miles. Next time I would like to hike down to the river. When we left, we were hoping to take another short detour and go through Las Vegas and see a couple of our favorite sites: Caesar's Palace and The Rio Hotel (for the buffet). Unfortuneately, it was too late. We wouldn't have made it all the way to Morgan Hill before Sunday late if we did, so we decided against it and made our way directly toward northern California. I took a nap at some point in the early evening, which helped a lot to make it through the night. All of us were eager to make it the rest of the way to California and begin our new, albeit uncertain, chapter of our lives. At least we would be with our good friends, the Locsins, who said we could stay with them until we found a place of our own. We knew we would be arriving late so we told them and they left the studio room open for us when we arrived, at 5:00 am, Saturday morning. They had already laid out blankets and pillows and arranged the room for us to sleep. How good it was to sleep horizontally, in a bed again. We all fell asleep quickly, I think. But the memory of the trip would be etched forever in our minds. I know it is in mine.

142

2008-10-28T00:23:00.000-07:00

Friday, October 24, 2008, near the Grand Canyon, Arizona
We got a pretty late start from the Reynolds' house because of cleaning and packing the van. We finally left at around 11:00 am. The weather was great, sunny and calm. We saw some buffalo in a field. There were a few downhill runs that taxed our brakes, so I had to stop and let them cool for a while. Later in the evening we ended up in Durango, Colorado, at a McDonald's. McCain had been in town for a presidential rally so there were many supporters there and some who were Obama fans. Some stupid girls who were Obama supporters wrote obscenities on their arms against McCain and were flaunting them in peoples faces as they walked past inside of McDonald's. So I told them what I thought of their appearance and intelligence, but didn't waste too much time with them. Like the old saying goes, " A bear can whup a skunk, but it ain't worth it." We ended up driving a lot that night. We stopped at Four Corners (where Colorado, Utah, New Mexico, and Arizona meet at one point) but couldn't go in because it was already closed. We ended up driving all the way to the edge of Grand Canyon National Park and spent the night sitting up in the van by a gift store parking lot at 3:00 am.

141

2008-10-28T00:21:00.000-07:00

Thursday, October 23, 2008, Reynolds' house, Thorton, Colorado
Today Gloria and I had a "date" because Susan wanted us to. She insisted. So we went to see Fireproof at the movies. It was the best movie I have seen in years, good morals, good story, happy ending. Afterwards we went to a sushi place, good but expensive and not filling. It was nice to go out together. The Reynolds asked us to stay the weekend, but we couldn't if we were going to make it to California in time for me to go to my prison psychological test in Fresno on Monday. But if we could, we would have; they're such nice, hospitable people.

140

2008-10-28T00:19:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, October 22, 2008, Reynolds' house, Thorton, Colorado
I had a very uncomfortable sleep last night because by the time I stopped to sleep, it was well past midnight and everyone had gone to sleep... on top of my sleeping bag, and I didn't want to wake them up, so I did what I could. We got an early start (We always get an early start in the car because there is nothing to pack up. I just wake up and drive. The others wake up after that, and we stop when we want to. The wind was howling the whole way against us from the side, gusts up to 55 mph. A blizzard warning was supposed to go in to effect that night near Colorado, so we kept going, not wanting to get caught in the snow before arriving at Emily's house in Thorton. Fortunately we made it around 9:00 pm. John had a dinner waiting for us. Emily arrived around midnight from the airport. I was sleepy, so I went to bed pretty early. Boy, the bed was comfortable.

139

2008-10-28T00:12:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, October 21, 2008,
We woke up and found breakfast waiting for us. We had a variety of cereals, tea, grapefruit, and juice, and Joanna had made homemade bread also. Delicious. We ate plenty then went outdoors to play. Tristan showed us how to launch coke bottles by pumping them full of air. They shot real high. Great science experiment. The kids played on the swing and we took pictures. Finally it was time to go. We will miss them. Hopefully, we will see them again before too long. Before we left we had to see Uncle Herman and Aunt Janet. He gave us apples and some money for the trip, which was helpful. Then we went to see Janet at the corner store where she works. We talked a good while before we had to leave. Everyone has been so good to us. I really hope we can return before too long. Oh, an Amish family was hitching up their wagon when we arrived and were dressed in their distinct garb, which was very amusing for the children. We managed to take some stealth photos before they left. After leaving Uncle Herman, we stopped at KD's Backroads, a restaurant in Salem where Uncle Herman's paintings are displayed on the walls for sale. He had about 30 pictures. Very nice. On the way toward Colorado, we heard Michael Savage for the first time in a long while. He was commenting on the upcoming election between McCain and Obama. It is always amusing and educational to hear him talk. He kept referring to Obama by his initials: B.O. "If we get B.O. in office, God help us." We stopped in Walmart to get a long overdue oil change, then went to Little Caesar's for pizza. I got that backwards. Pizza was first, then Walmart. It started raining in the evening, so we had to cover the trailer with one of the tarps to keep the panniers dry. It kept raining through the night until we stopped to sleep.

138

2008-10-28T00:09:00.000-07:00

Monday, October 20, 2008, The Allen's house, Indiana
We awoke to steamy wet windows as usual. There was a beautiful sunrise to start the day though and the drive was nice. Today we planned to see my cousin Isaac and his fiancee before heading to my cousin Joanna's house to spend the night with her family. We hadn't taken a shower or shaved in quite some time and I for one had been getting funny looks whenever I went to buy something at the gas station, like I just walked over from under the bridge. So I decided to try to take a shower before we arrived in Indiana. I called up a local YMCA in Cincinnati and explained the situation, and the director said we could come there and take showers, no problem. Great! So we found the place and I went in first to check it out. I met the director, a real nice lady, who came out and personally invited the rest of the reluctant family to take showers. She also gave me a card entitling us to use any YMCA in the country as guests while we were traveling. So nice. After showering and feeling 100% better, we all went to the biggest library I have ever been in, the Cincinnati Library, three stories high with one of the best genealogy research collections in the country. I updated the blog a little and we stayed a few hours before making our way to MacDonald's, against my will because we were scheduled to rendezvous with Isaac to eat a milkshake or something and then Joanna was expecting us to eat dinner a couple hours later. But I was overruled and the majority won and we ended up eating there first. Later we met up with Isaac in Clarksville, Indiana, at a Steak and Shake restaurant. We met Teneille (sp?), Isaac's fiance. It was great to see them and talk, even for only an hour or so. Then it was off to Joanna's. She had a big meal waiting for us, as usual. Delicious. Joanna is such a good hostess. Everyone enjoyed each other's company for awhile before going to bed.

137

2008-10-28T00:04:00.000-07:00

Sunday, October 19, 2008, a truck stop somewhere about 200 miles north of Cincinnati, Ohio
It was very cold last night. I'm glad we didn't have to try to sleep in the tent. There was frost on everything in the morning. We got an early start and made it to Niagra Falls around noon. The falls were magnificent, so beautiful and powerful. It was such a clear day. We took lots of pictures. I wish we could have stayed until evening because they put the colored lights on then and they illuminate the falls in a rainbow of color. I also wish we would have had our birth certificates because with a license and birth certificate, you can still cross the Canadian border into Ontario. From there you can see the face of the falls, the best vantage point. Everyone was real hungry when we left, so we went to the Friendly Chinese Buffet and filled our tanks. After that, I was too tired to drive, so we stopped at a rest stop and I took a snooze in the back of the van. After about an hour we continued driving and read the Bible and sang hymns. We drove late into the night again and ended up at a truck stop and tried again to sleep in a sitting position in the car. The two front seats don't recline at all so it was not a very restful sleep.

136

2008-10-28T00:01:00.000-07:00

Saturday, October 18, 2008, at a gas station somewhere in New York
I got up early and went to the store to buy breakfast food before everyone got up, then made breakfast: eggs, bacon, cereal and yogurt. We all ate and enjoyed; then we had to say our goodbyes. Such a nice family. We headed first to the U-Haul dealership to rent a trailer. We got a nine footer to fit the tandem. Everything fit well, not too overcrowded. Then we went to the Portland Headlight, the famous lighthouse. Then we found a place downtown that sold Maine Lobster and bought two, plus two clam chowders and shared them. Expensive, but good. We had to try Maine Lobster before we could leave. Well, now we could officially leave. So we went to get our trailer and said goodbye to Gwyneth and the kids and drove off to begin our return to California. We planned to stop at Niagra Falls in New York, The Allen's house in Indiana, The Reynolds house in Colorado, and The Grand Canyon in Arizona before arriving at the Locsin's house in Morgan Hill, California, where we would be staying until we got a place of our own. Before we could go, we had to eat, since the Lobster dinner didn't fill us up, so we went to Wendy's and filled up on the usual, hamburgers, french fries, and coke, not exactly the food of champions, or is it? The toll roads in New York were expensive. We spent over $30 just in tolls before we left the state. We listened to Karen Carpenter for miles. She's a great singer, but it was the only CD we had so it got a little old after awhile. The plan was to ride as far as possible every day then pull in to a place we could park the van for the night to sleep. We ended up driving until 2:30 am then we pulled in to a gas station to sleep.

135

2008-10-20T09:42:00.000-07:00

Friday, October 17, 2008, home of Jamie and Gwyneth Arrison, PORTLAND, MAINE!
Well, today we finally made it, all the way to the finish line, Portland, Maine. Last night was cold, our coldest so far, but we managed to sleep ok, at least I did. We started out well, eating the breakfast Pastor Humphreys gave us and saying our goodbyes to him and Marsha, a nice lady from the church. He gave us the names of two other pastors he knew in Portland who we should call when we got there. So from there we picked up our bikes at the fire station and rode off toward our final destination. The weather had cleared up by morning and it was a beautifully sunny ride. We passed through York, which was preparing for its annual Harvest Festival. Booths were being set up, food was cooking, all very festive. We stopped by a bike store and I bought a mirror to replace the one broken in yesterday's fall. It was great to see behind myself again while I rode. Next we headed to the Nubble Lighthouse, a picturesque tourist sight on the ocean, and it was beautiful. Everyone rode today, which is what I like best. During the ride I saw an apple tree laden with ripe apples alongside the road, so we loaded up the panniers with them, a nice refreshing, nutritious snack. As we approached Portland, I called Pastor Jamie and he said we could stay with him and his wife. He was even going to make a dinner for us! We were all excited about knowing we had a place to stay in Portland, dinner included. I decided to take the scenic route, knowing that, even though it was longer, it would be safer than the main road, which was already starting to get hectic as it approached rush hour. It turned out to be a lot longer because I took the advice of someone at a store for a more direct route. Oh well. It was ok. It was almost nightfall by the time we crossed the final bridge leading into the town of Portland. What a thrill to finally see the Portland sign! We had made it. We were so excited blowing our horns and celebrating that we didn't realize we had passed up the photo opportunity until a half mile past the signs. So we parked our bikes and ran back to the signs on the bridge for the historic photos. We were all smiles. Later we met up with Gloria, John, and Sarah for a family picture in front of the main welcome sign of Portland and took a nice family picture, capturing our thrill at finally realizing our dream. We rode with our lights on in the dark to Jamie and Gwyneth's house and met their children, Faith, Dena, and Alex and had a nice night talking and sharing with them. Later we went back to the store and bought 5 containers of ice-cream, including a new delicious flavor I had never tried before: New England Blueberry (or something like that). It was great. Unfortunately, I think they only sell it in New England, so we might never taste it again until we return to Maine. The whole evening, I wore a smile on my face, knowing we had arrived at our destination, finished our course, and accomplished our goal. We all were tired by the end of the evening and slept well on the warm floor. I lay on the floor reflecting on the trip before falling asleep.
68 Miles.

134

2008-10-20T09:38:00.000-07:00

Thursday, October 16, 2008, St. Mark's United Methodist Church, Kittery, Maine
Today we wanted to go far, maybe all the way to Portland if we had a good day. Becky's knees have been hurting lately, so Sarah couldn't ride, unfortunately. We rode on a road that paralleled the coast and was lined with old beach style houses. Every day is more fun now that we realize the end is approaching...fast. It's been fun for me. Every day I like to ride and I cherish the moments together on this epic adventure, knowing that such a time will probably never happen again. So, for me, I soak it all in and appreciate it more as time goes on. The kids are very talkative along the way. When we arrived in New Hampshire, we stopped to walk along the beach and collect rocks. We saw lobster for sale at only $3.99 a pound. We saw some gorgeous houses along the coast and took a picture by one of them. Vicky had developed a slow leak in her tire, so we had to stop and refill it at regular intervals, but it had been a while and it was getting low, so the others took a break while Vicky and I rode a mile out of the way to a gas station to fix it. It turned out to be a cracked valve stem, so the repair was faulty at best. But we did manage to pump it up. By then, Mom had arrived and used the time we were repairing the tire to see about fixing the license plate lights which had been out for some time, I guess, because a policeman stopped us the night we went to the Chinese Buffet and told us they were out. He asked for my driver's license, which is the normal procedure, and I discovered it was missing. Where? I don't know. Fortunately, he didn't give me a ticket for not having it but just told us to have the lights fixed. Thank God! I need to find it or get a replacement. So, back to the original story, it was very nice to find out that the mechanic had figured out the problem, a grounded out trailer wire, and had not charged us a cent. Just a kind man. So fortunate. Finally we were on the road again. We saw a recently killed beaver on the way back, a first for me. After awhile it began to rain. We put on our rain gear and continued. As we were crossing over a metal bridge the front wheel slid out from under us and Adriana and I had our first real fall of the trip, a painful one. We both landed on our left thighs and got good bruises and Charley horses. The fall broke my mirror and bent both the pedals on the left side. Fortunately, we could still pedal and no mechanical problems resulted. We were very careful after that. Finally we crossed the border into Kittery, Maine, our last state. The rain was starting to get pretty hard, so we stopped in a library. I updated the blog a little, but we still hadn't found a place to pitch the tent, so we left in search of finding one. We ended up asking a guy at the fire station if we could leave our bikes there over night and slept at the St. Mark's United Methodist Church. Pastor William Humphreys and the leaders of the church were very gracious and generous with us and let us use the facilities and funded our dinner and brought us breakfast donuts and orange juice in the morning. Great people. We took a picture in front of the church bell before leaving.
25 miles.

133

2008-10-20T09:34:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, October 15, 2008, the Driftwood Motel, Salisbury Beach, Massachusetts
Today was a beautiful day for riding, cool, and not too hilly. We took pictures by Walden Lake. We bypassed Boston to avoid traffic and ended up having a much nicer ride. We rode without many breaks because we wanted to make it to the coast of Massachusetts fast to go to the beach before dark. We made it before dark to Salisbury Beach and took pictures. At first we went to the campground and took showers; then later, we ended up staying at the Driftwood motel because I met one of the guys in charge and he let us stay for only $25. So, we had to go back to the campground and take down the tent in the dark; I think it was worth it, though, because it was going to be so much warmer in the motel. After that we went to a pizza shack on the beach boardwalk area. The lady there gave us a good deal on her remaining pizzas since it was right before closing: 4 pizzas for $30. We met a lady there who was crying and wanted to use our cell phone because her boyfriend had been arrested and she needed money to bail him out, so we let her use our phone. After that we went to MacDonald's for a group drink. MacDonald's should have sponsored us considering how many times we have eaten there. One of the justifications for our frequent visits is that we are hoping to win a cash prize for a Monopoly since we only need one more of any color to win. How gullible! It was crowded on the floor of the small motel room, but we managed to sleep warm and comfortably.
80 miles

132

2008-10-20T09:31:00.000-07:00

hi
hi

Tuesday, October 14, 2008, behind fire station, Milford, Massachusetts
Got an early start, about 7:15. The rolling hills tired us slightly but overwhelmed the bottom bracket of the tandem...again, and it was loosening. A major problem if it came undone, so we pedaled as gently as we could and hoped it would remain intact until we could reach a bike shop. Unfortunately, there wasn't one nearby so we rode another 20 miles or so before we could have it looked at. The weather was getting cooler, leaves were falling from the colorful trees; it was quite a pleasant ride, nice and cool. We stopped after crossing the Massachusetts border for pictures. We also take pictures of license plates every time we cross into a new state, Adriana's idea. We made good time to MIlford and made it to the bike store where the mechanic fixed the bottom bracket with Lock Tight to permanently cement the threads. I hope it works. After that, we asked the local fire department if we could pitch the tent around back on the grass; they said yes. So we decided to eat at a Chinese buffet. Gloria didn't want to because of the MSG, but the rest of the kids, minus Becky, did when she said she would only charge us lunchtime prices. Gloria and Becky ate at Quiznos. Then we went back to the tent to sleep.
68 miles.

131

2008-10-20T09:21:00.000-07:00

Monday, October 13, 2008, behind big old white church, Einsfield, Massechusetts
Michelle woke up early and made all of us delicious French toast with their own homemade maple syrup. Uuummm Good! I'm not sure how many I ate, but I was the last to leave the table and was well fed. After breakfast we went for a walk to see the sugar maple trees and see the plugs that were tapped for the syrup. Going down the road with both families looked like a school field trip. A neighborhood dog scared some of the kids, but meant no harm. Before saying goodbye, the Slates accompanied us to a park next to a beautiful lake on our way toward Massachusetts and I gave the kids rides on the back of the tandem. We all had a good time and it was hard to say goodbye to our new friends. They are a great family, and I hope we see them again. The road to Rhode Island was very busy, and we didn't have a detailed map to show us other options, so we decided to bypass R.I. and go directly northeast to Massachusetts. We stopped at a gas station with a picnic table to eat all of the food that our generous friends had given us. When it started getting late, we found a place to stay at a church. The pastor gave us permission to camp behind a big old building out of sight on the grass. I cooked up some egg goulash concoction which everyone seemed to like; then we went to bed. Oh, I forgot to mention that I discovered taped to my handlebars two fifty dollar bills. I don't know for sure who taped it there, but it was another reminder that God provides. 41 miles.

130

2008-10-20T09:18:00.000-07:00

Sunday, October 12, 2008, with the Slate family, New Hartford, Connecticut
We woke up early enough to get ready for the morning church service at 10:00. Actually, we decided to splurge and eat breakfast at a cozy local restaurant, Caralee's. Lots of Green Bay Packers pictures and memorabilia. It was pretty full, so at first, we had to sit at three separate tables, until it cleared out a little. We are pretty frugal and usually share plates, so all the food is always eaten, and the plates are sticky but clean when we finish. We made it to the service early and met the pastor, Melinda, and other members. They were very nice and invited us to their brunch after the service, delicious; smoked salmon and other designer foods, not your typical pot luck items. Afterwards they gave us the leftovers to take with us. We discovered that someone had stolen Paul's gel seat last night, mysterious; the only thing that has been stolen so far. The ride was hilly and beautiful. We were told to watch out for the "foliage followers" who drive around looking at the beauty instead of watching the road. We had one 3-4 mile downhill section that reminded me of the Rockies, the best downhill since Colorado. All the uphill/downhill climbs and descents loosened once again the bottom bracket of the crank of our tandem. Fortunately, it happened a mile from Brumell's Cycling and Fitness. The owner, Randy, was very helpful and although he didn't have the tool he needed, he managed to fix it enough to get us going; all for no charge. The repair stop took some time, so it was time to start looking for a place to tent. Since we were flying downhill fast, I didn't stop at the big church on the left with lots of people; we settled for a smaller older church further down the road. The pastor and his wife were there. He gave us permission to put our tent up in back for the night. So we stayed for the evening service. Only a few families were there, but they were very nice people. We met the Slate family who had four girls and three boys, just like us. They even had a five-year-old daughter, Sarah, just like we did. They invited us to spend the night with them. Dave is a contractor and was remodeling the house. He has lots of unique decor throughout his house. His wife Michelle was from South Africa and had the neatest accent. The children were younger than ours, the oldest was Mariam, 11 years old and the youngest was Elizabeth, only a baby. Such a nice family. They made us feel so welcome and fed us real well. The kids played together. Dave showed us his small, homemade maple syrup factory on the property and we had some with French toast in the morning. The kids slept in their RV and Gloria and I slept on a bed down stairs. The Slates home school their children and they have no television (Hooray for them); the children love to read. We enjoyed our stay with them a lot and wished we could have stayed longer, but we had to press on. I took a relaxing hot tub bath before going to bed. 36 miles.

129

2008-10-20T09:16:00.000-07:00

Saturday, October 11, 2008, First Congregational Church of Kent, Connecticut
Last night I had to get up around midnight and go tell a camper to turn down his "music." He had his car stereo going with the bass reverberating through the mountains. Irritating. Don't people go camping to hear the sounds of nature? Adriana and I are sick, sore throats and congestion, nothing to stop us from riding, just something to deal with. After reconnecting with our bikes, we crossed the Bear Mountain Bridge over the Hudson River into Connecticut. Every day should be a beautiful ride now with Fall in full color. John was having trouble with his bike chain coming off. Apparently, the front sprocket is slightly warped and wobbles enough to throw the chain off. We need to have it bent back. We reached the town of Kent before dusk and found a church with some people standing in front of it, so I asked permission to put up the tent there and after calling the pastor, they said we could spend the night in the church building next door. Ah, warm and cozy, with bathrooms. With the nights being so cold now, it was greatly appreciated. 56 miles.

128

2008-10-20T09:14:00.000-07:00

Friday, October 10, 2008, Beaver Pond Campground, New York
After showering and eating, we got a later start riding today, but all rode, which is always an entertaining treat. It was a sunny, cool morning. I had to stop and get directions from some policemen who were at the site of car accident; a man had run into a telephone pole and had a bloody face. So we were on our way to Connecticut. The autumn scene was beautiful, making a routine ride into a gallery of warm colors. At around 4:30, we stopped at Bear Mountain Lodge to see about staying there for the night. The nice lady in charge said we could put our bikes there if we needed, but there was no place to camp, park rules. So we ended up leaving our bikes there and returning to Beaver Pond Campground one more night. Because it was Friday night, the place was almost full, even though it was cold and almost the middle of October. We found a nice place. That night, Sarah closed the back van hatch on me, bloodying my head; no stitches were needed though. 20 miles.

127

2008-10-16T13:21:00.000-07:00

Thursday, October 9, 2008, Beaver Pond Campground, New York
We wanted to get an early start looking around New York City, but we didn't get out in time. We ended up arriving at 10:02, two minutes past the cheap parking rate. Oh well. After parking, we walked to the subway to begin our tour. It was a bright, cool, sunny day, perfect for walking around. Times square was bustling with activity and sights to see. Just walking down the streets was interesting. We stopped and took pictures of the Empire State Building and Madison Square Garden, then took a ferry to Staten Island and saw the Statue of Liberty. Later we saw Ground Zero where the Twin Towers used to be then ate in China Town. In the evening, we went to the Rockefeller Center, the three-story Toys R Us, and visited Sacs Fifth Avenue with all of its luxurious items. Adriana tried on a fur coat. A famous midget, a Michael Jackson imitator, put on a Billie Jean dance show in the subway. We got a picture of him with John. We saw some wax statues of famous people that we used for photo opportunities. Before we left, we had to eat a New York pizza because we heard they were so good; and boy it was. we visited other things, too many to name here, but the girls wrote them down in their diaries.

126

2008-10-16T13:08:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, October 8, 2008, Beaver Pond Campground, New York
This morning we woke up and cleaned out the van because we had to take the bench seat out to fit the tandem in. The van was a complete mess so it took a couple hours to do it right. Finally we were in New York and at a bike store where the guy tightened up my bottom bracket and charged me only $5. I can't fix it myself without special tools I don't have. Anyway, it gave me peace of mind knowing it was done. We parked the car in an all-day parking garage for only $15, not bad, and walked to Central Park to see the Balto statue. New York seemed like a nice place to visit, so we decided to bite the bullet and come again tomorrow using an all-day subway pass to see the sights. We stopped at Sam's Club and bought pizzas for dinner.

125

2008-10-16T12:52:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, October 7, 2008, Beaver Pond Campground, New York
We finally got to bed around 2:00 am the night before, so getting up early was hard, so we slept in till around 9:30. We all ate a big continental breakfast which the hotel provided. We got on the road before noon and the riding was pretty good until we got boxed in on a freeway. We ended up getting off, but it took us a while to figure out how to get to hwy. 202, the road we needed. Since we started so late and got lost, we didn't ride to much. A policewoman gave us directions to a campground a few miles away. What she didn't tell us was how steep the grade was. Flashbacks of Utah mountains best described the hill, and it took all of our effort to pedal. That's when Adriana mentions that the crank is starting to wobble again. NO, not again!! Yes. I walked the bike the rest of the way up the hill to the campground. We would have to remove the seats and drive the tandem to New York City tomorrow to have it fixed... again. Maybe we could do some sight seeing and kill two birds with one stone. The campground was beautiful, and the foliage was turning colors. We had our pick of camp sites since it wasn't the weekend and in October. 46 miles.

124

2008-10-16T12:10:00.000-07:00

Monday, October 6, 2008, Best Western, near Orange, New York
A lot happened today. After packing up and getting ready to leave, we discovered that Willie's tire was flat again. While we were waiting for Willie to fix it, we had our Bible time. At around 10:30 we pedaled to a McDonalds and it occurred to me that they may have some leftover breakfast items they would like to get rid of. They did and we got them at half price since they were going to throw them out anyway. Because Willie's bike was getting so many flats, I decided to buy a couple new tires to replace them if he got another flat. The whole area leading up to New York City was pretty urbanized and congested, and we passed through some unsavory areas that I wouldn't want to be stuck in close to dark. No maps showed me how to pass safely through the city so I asked a bike shop. Nope, he didn't know either. All of the surrounding areas were seedy. It was getting close to 4:00 and we were too far away to pass safely through the city, so I decided to go around the city and when we got to the other side, we could drive back with the van and go sight seeing. So we headed west. We finally got out of the bad areas and I asked around about places to put up the tent for the night. No camping anywhere. Finally a guy told me about a wooded area that should be good for camping. It was a nice place with a grill and picnic table, pretty secluded too. We put up the tent and grilled up a bunch of chicken and turkey wings. By the time we were done, it was dark and the kids were talking in the van with the light on. Suddenly a police car pulls up and tells us we can't stay there. We explained the situation and he was sympathetic and let us stay, but "officially" told us to go, even though he wasn't going to come back to check. We went to bed late, after 11:00. After midnight, a sheriff car pulls up, then a couple more. To make a long story short, we ended up packing everything up after midnight and the sheriff escorted us to a Best Western, lights flashing. $150 a night. I was mad and wanted to ride to Connecticut through the night rather than pay that amount, but I did. The lady was going to charge us for two rooms because we had nine people, but she made the exception when we began to leave. 51 miles.

123

2008-10-16T11:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I'm finally getting back to updating the blog. It's been almost two weeks! So much has happened. I don't know how long it's going to take to type it all in but I'll try not to leave too much out. We made it to Maine today and tomorrow we should be in Portland. I'll back up, though, and give you a day by day account as always.
Sunday, October 4, 2008, Battlefield Park in Princeton, New Jersey
Well we had a nice breakfast, said our goodbyes to the Foxes and tried to leave but Willies back tire wouldn't cooperate. We discovered it was flat right as we were ready to leave; once it was "fixed" we discovered it was still leaking. After fixing it a second time, we left, but Willie got another flat [The tires are getting thinner; that's part of the problem], so we fixed it in front of a church. Later in the day, Becky noticed that our back tire looked flat; she was right. It had developed a slow leak, so later I stopped to patch it. That's when Paul and Willie took a wrong road while no one was noticing. When we discovered they were not around, they had already gone three miles out of the way. One interesting place we went through was Washington's Crossing. It was were Washington amazingly crossed the Delaware River with his troops during the freezing cold winter and surprised the British in a nearby town and thus began the turning point for the better for the Americans during the Revolutionary War. A little history lesson for you. When we crossed the bridge into New Jersey, it was already getting late so we went another 15 miles to Princeton and began looking for a place to put the tent. We tried the Princeton Seminary, but no go. Next we went to the police station for help and they directed us to the battle field, which was dark and secluded. We ended up riding there in the night and set our tent up in the park where no one could see us. 55 miles.

122

2008-10-04T14:10:00.000-07:00

Saturday, October 4, 2008, Cousin Mark Fox's house, Ardmore, Pennsylvania
We slept well in comfortable beds and I didn't get up till 8:30 to update the blog. Later in the morning, Mark gave me a tour of the area and bought us all some bagels and doughnuts. Then he beat me in a horseshoe type game in the backyard. We had a nice relaxing time resting. In the afternoon, Becky, John, and I rode the bikes from the police station to Mark's house, about 4 miles. Then Mark bought everyone Wendy's lunch. ...
Well, I never finished the day. It's been busy. For dinner that night, Mark picked up some pizzas and Kathy made some brownies and we had ice-cream too.

121

2008-10-04T11:57:00.000-07:00

Friday, October 3, 2008, Cousin Mark Fox's house, Ardmore, Pennsylvania
Today we did quite a few things. We got up kind of early. Steve came by before work and gave us some jackets for the trip. Sarah, Vicky, John, and I went fishing in the morning. We caught some perch using bread. They bite pretty good in the pond using anything. Later in the morning we said goodbye to Mrs. Isles and headed to Independence Hall in Philadelphia, where the Declaration of Independence and the Constitution were signed. We had to pick up tickets in the visitor center and when we got there, we found ourselves in the midst of a big bagel fair/competition. Samples everywhere. Delicious. We stocked up and brought a bag with us. At Independence Hall, a tour guide showed us around the famous building. Then we saw the Liberty Bell. Finally, we visited the Rocky statue and ran up the stairs where he did his training in the movie. After all of that, we drove to my cousin Mark's house and met his wife Kathy and daughter Caroline. They have a nice home and made us feel very welcome and cooked a delicious barbecue dinner. Plenty to eat. I hadn't seen Mark since the last family reunion in 1997. We caught up on the family news and watched a movie. The kids had a blast in the basement playroom playing pool and Foosball. We all had nice bedrooms to sleep in and took showers.

120

2008-10-04T06:15:00.000-07:00

Thursday, October 2, 2008, Mrs. Isles house, Monroeville, New Jersey
We decided to use regular road maps to speed up the process. We got onto Hwy. 30 as soon as possible because it was a straight route to Philadelphia. The wind was at our backs, so we made good time. John rode most of the way. Lancaster was fun. We saw lots of Amish people and businesses. Fall is in the air and it was cool riding even with the sun out. Towards evening, we stopped to eat a picnic dinner before riding the last 20 miles into Philadelphia. It was a Black neighborhood and some neighborhood kids were hanging around our bikes. Finally when it was time to leave, Willie, who had gotten another flat tire, was fixing it while we rode off. One of the kids came up and kicked him in the shoulder and ran off. Willie chased him, but Gloria called him back as there were four of them and she was worried something would happen. Gloria called me and I rode back to them. When I got there, she had already called the police and some neighbors had come out to discuss who did it. Apparently, some knew who did it, so when the police arrived, they wrote down his name. As we were only passing through, we would not return to court to press charges. Willie wasn't hurt anyway. It was just a dumb punk coward who was trying to pick on someone, but then ran off. Afterward I called up my old Liberty wrestling buddy who I hadn't seen in 27 years, Steve Isles, and made arrangements to see him at his mom's house in Monroeville, New Jersey, 30 miles away. During the summer of 1980, I lived at this house with Steve and his parents and attended summer school at Glassboro State University, so it brought back fond memories. After we secured our bikes at a nearby police station, we drove over to his house. It was dark by the time we got the bikes secured and 9:00 by the time we arrived in Monroeville. It was great to see Steve and his mom. I only wish we could have stayed longer, so I could have met the rest of his family. He looked the same, strong and trim. Mrs. Isles was nice as always and the house seemed basically the same. We talked for a while in the living room; then we set up the tent near the pond in a nice grassy area. 80 miles.

119

2008-10-04T05:39:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, October 1, 2008, in front yard of home, Red Lion, Pennsylvania
We got up and ate a few boxes of Lucky Charms. Then Tom helped us with the route toward Philadelphia. He led us to the right road on his motorcycle. It was a nice day, chilly but sunny and pretty. We followed the Adventure Cycling maps onto hilly, scenic terrain. However, at this point we are less interested in the scenery and more interested in speed. Another problem with the maps is, although they are pretty accurate, they make more turns on and off of roads, so you have to pay more attention to street signs. Gloria missed a turn that was hard to reconnect to and some of the kids rode a different route to a rendezvous point in order to meet again, and I missed a turn, tacking on six extra miles of riding for nothing. We rode as long as we could, until almost dusk, then looked for a place to stay. Then we saw a young man standing by his barn/garage and asked if he knew of a place to we could put up a tent. He thought about it a second, then said, "Wait a minute!" He came back a minute later after asking his wife and said we could set up the tent right there on his property. He even made a fire pit for us to warm up. It is starting to get pretty chilly in the tent at night. Gloria made a big soup, using up all of the miscellaneous cans of vegetables and meat that we had. Everyone wolfed it down. Some next-door-neighbor girls came over to talk to us about our trip. After warming up around the fire for awhile, we went to bed. 77 miles.

118

2008-09-30T19:52:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, September 30, 2008, Tom Doerr's house, Westminster, Maryland
We slept in today; no reason to get up early because the bike store didn't open until 10 am and they had at least another hour of work to do before they finished. So Tom brought out the bagels, eggs, and ham, and I got a couple more boxes of Lucky Charms and we all had a great big breakfast before we headed out to town. The rest went to the library while I went to the bike shop to see the status of the bike. They had opened up late and were working on it when I came. I decided to use the time to tune up the other bikes. Johnny's front tire had three broken spokes he never told me about. Finally they finished the bike after about 4 hours of labor. They only charged me $100 labor but with the cost of the part and yesterday's labor, the total was over $300. We better get to Maine quickly. Well, by now it was already past 2:00, too late to get many miles in, so we decided to spend another day. Tom told us before we left that we could spend another day with him if we needed to. So we pedaled over to his house and told him, then went to Gettysburg to see the famous historic site. The museum was big and interesting and took longer than we expected to go through. We didn't see everything because it closed after a couple hours, 6:00 pm, so we went to see the actual battlefield before it got dark. It was well preserved in the way it must have looked in the 1860s. The battlefield covered an area of 10 square miles, so it took a long time to see everything. We didn't see it all because the sun went down, but it was interesting. We did see the sight were Lincoln gave his famous Gettysburg address: "Four score and seven years ago...." We got back to the house late around 9:30 because we went to the store first for tomorrows snacks. Hopefully, we will have a good day of riding tomorrow and be able to arrive in Philadelphia in two days.

117

2008-09-29T11:29:00.000-07:00

Monday, September 29, 2008
Well, we got up groggily from inadequate sleep but managed to get everything packed up and in the van by 7:30 before the school children arrived. David, the facilities manager, wished us well before we left and I got a picture. Also, John Zurn came by to say goodbye. A great bunch; we had a great time there at the school. May God bless them for their hospitality. We drove the van over to the restaurant where the bikes were parked and ate three of the eight boxes of Lucky Charms before pedaling off toward the Pennsylvania border 40 miles away. The weather started out clear then changed to overcast after a couple of hours. The road was too busy with little or no shoulder for the first 10 miles, then improved some after that. I ended up missing a turn, so we took an alternate route, Hwy. 97 north. When we were a few miles from Westminster, Adriana's crank, which had been creaking too much, began to wobble slightly, a bad sign. I thought we could hobble in to Westminster before it got worse, but I was wrong. About a mile and a half outside of town, the crank detaches completely. A man who saw what happened offered me tools or a garage to fix it. He gave me directions to the nearest bike shop. He even gave me his card and told me to call him if we needed a place to stay for the night. God provides. I thanked him and coasted almost the whole way to the bike store. While the man at the bike store looked at the problem, the rest of us went to the library.
To be continued...
Well, the problem with the bike was worse than expected. The bike shop tried to fix it, but could only do a band aid repair because they didn't have the right part. Not feeling too good about taking my chances with it, I asked if they knew of a place that had the part. They did. A shop about 20 miles from Westminster had a wide selection in recumbent bicycles and parts. So while the kids stayed in the library, Scott, the nice mechanic, drove me and the bike all the way there in his truck and help work on the bike, swapping out parts. Anyway, we took the bike back to the shop in Westminster to finish the job, and it became more complicated than we thought because I wanted to keep my original gear assembly which had wider gear ratios than the one they were going to replace. It took forever; they didn't get it fixed that night, so I called Tom Doerr, the nice guy who offered me a place to stay. He was very hospitable and made us feel at home. He had a beautiful 100 year old house. He gave us his three upstairs bedrooms and bathroom, and we all slept well. Before going to bed we went to the store and bought rotisserie chickens and food to eat out of the back of the van in the parking lot. We ate well and then went back to Tom's and showered before going to bed. 31 miles.

116

2008-09-28T13:59:00.000-07:00

Sunday, September 28, 2008, St. John's Episcopal School, Olney, Maryland
We slept well last night with the soft mats. We woke up and made it to the church service next door at 9:00. It was similar to the Lutheran Church we went to in Kansas; the congregation and pastor participated in the service by reading alternately seperate parts of the message. After the service, we were invited to partake of their Sunday brunch. Later some of the kids walked across the street to the public library while others went back to the school gym; I took a much appreciated nap for about an hour. Later on John Zurn came by to see how we were doing and let us go back into the school library where I am right now updating this blog. Later tonight I plan to go back to the restaurant where we left our bikes and fix the tire so that we can get an early start tomorrow.
To be continued...
Well, I finally got the back tire patched, 10 pm. I was at the school library till around 9:30 doing the blog, putting on old pictures I couldn't do before. Becky went running. Everyone stayed up late watching Iron Will; we went to bed after midnight.

115

2008-09-28T13:20:00.000-07:00

Saturday, September 27, 2008, St. John's Episcopal School, Olney, Maryland
Well, we finally decided to leave no matter what the weather. Yesterday on TV they called for a 50% chance of showers. This morning Mona made us another delicious breakfast. They have been such friendly hosts. I hope we can see them again some time. After saying our goodbyes, Fuad led us in his car to where we could pick up the trail toward Maryland, only a few miles away. It was a beautiful 14 mile ride through a wooded area. The ground was very soggy and the bike path slick. Johnny fell first and skinned his knee. Later Adriana and I slipped down but didn't get hurt. In places, the path was covered with a mixture of mud, algae, and water, which made an oil-like surface. When we fell, it was on such a surface, on a very slight curve at slow speeds. After that, we went very slowly and carefully. After a few miles, Paul told me I had a low back tire. Sure enough, it couldn't hold air for more than about 10 minutes. That's when the rain started coming down harder and began to dump buckets on us. We found temporary shelter at the Oakley Cabin, a historic cabin built around 1820. Two nice ladies gave us a tour even though it was already 4:00, closing time. After the tour, the rain died down and we pedaled toward Brookville. I asked the manager at a fancy restaurant about a place to stay in the area but he didn't know of one but told me where some churches in town were. He also said we could keep our bikes at a sheltered place out of the rain on the restaurant grounds, so we did (since I had a flat tire anyway) and drove off to investigate the church possibilities. It was still raining when we saw a lot of cars in one of the church parking lots. I went to where the crowd was and asked for the pastor. He wasn't there, but the principal of the school, John Zurn, was. He was very helpful and friendly, giving us permission to sleep in the gym for two nights and use the bathrooms. He even let us use the school library. This was very helpful since I hadn't updated the blog for a week. While we were in the library, he came in and asked for volunteers to help him get some pizza and food. He came back with four pizzas, two salads, a big bowl of fruit, a case of coke, two boxes of ice-creams and a video for after dinner. Everyone was so hungry and appreciative. What a blessing! He had done some bicycle touring himself in England and some sailing in Europe when he was younger and had some interesting stories. After that, we played basketball and watched Star Wars III. We ended up going to bed late, and it was a real treat to sleep on soft exercise mats. 21 miles.

114

2008-09-28T12:42:00.000-07:00

Friday, September 26, 2008, Mona and Fuad and family's house, Washington D.C.
Today we wanted to get an earlier start, so we left at around 8:00 to begin our sight seeing. But first we had to get some food for snacks. We ended up buying 10 boxes of Lucky Charms because they were on sale for $1.88 a box, and if you bought 5 boxes, you saved an additional $5 with the coupon they gave you after you made the initial purchase. The nice clerk let us buy the first five without having a discount coupon, so we paid only 88 cents per box for 10 boxes. Pretty good. It was raining from the start, so, since we didn't have umbrellas, we were soggy all day, off and on. We visited the Lincoln Memorial, Jefferson Memorial, the Archive Museum, the Portrait Gallery, and, my favorite, live sessions of the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives. We saw the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution, the Magna Carta, and the Bill of Rights, among other documents. We saw paintings by famous artists, including Leonardo De Vinci. Very educational. I wish I could spend months visiting the different places. I think if I were homeschooling in D.C., I would spend the entire school year curriculum visiting the different museums, spending plenty of time in each. Seeing the things in person instead of just reading about them in a book makes the information seem more relevant. Because it was raining so much, we couldn't set up the tent, so we stayed with Zaid's family again. So nice. We watched the first presidential debate between McCain and Obama. I thought McCain came across like he had more experience, but the commentators seemed to favor Obama. I don't know how much the debates will sway anyone; I think most have already made up their minds by now.

113

2008-09-28T12:14:00.000-07:00

Thursday, September 25, 2008, Mona and Fuad and family's house (Ziad's parents), Washington D.C.
Mona made us a delicious breakfast before we went sightseeing in D.C. Great way to start the day. We left our bikes at their house, planning to pick them up the day after tomorrow and continue our bike journey and use the van for sight seeing purposes. Parking was a problem. We finally found free parking, but for only 3 hours. It was raining off and on all day. Our first tourist stop was the Washington Monument. At the top were spectacular views of the White House, The Lincoln Memorial, The Jefferson Memorial, and the Capitol. Next we went to the Smithsonian museums. My favorites were the gem and mineral gallery, the aerospace center, and the American art gallery. After we were exhausted walking all day on empty stomachs, we decided to make our way to the only nearby campground about 15 miles away in Maryland and look for a place to eat along the way. We spied a Chevy's Fresh Mex and ate there, eating several bowls of chips and salsa before the main course. We also filled up on their homemade tortillas. All were full when we left. We were planning to spend the next two nights at a campground, but after Chevy's, it was already around 8:00 pm and the rain was coming down pretty hard. Mona had told Gloria we could stay longer if the weather was bad, so we returned to their house for the evening. They were gracious, as always, and made us feel at home.

112

2008-09-27T19:03:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, September 24, 2008, Mona and Fuad and family's house (Ziad's parents), Washington D.C.
We woke up pretty early and went walking in the beautiful forest surrounding our camp. We saw red mushrooms and an outdoor movie theatre, showing movies on Fridays. We finally left the camp pretty late and went to the National Museum of the Marine Corps., very interesting and motivating to make you want to be a marine. We took lots of action shots of the kids in staged battle scenes. Once on the road, we pedaled toward Dale City, where I had to pick up my last set of Adventure Cycling maps. It took forever to find the right post office, delaying us for an hour. The wind and the traffic lights slowed us up too, so we ended up in a race with the sun to make it to Washington D.C. before dark. The maps put us on a scenic route, the Mount Vernon Trail, which was beautiful. We finally made it to the D.C. area and what a thrill to see the Washington Monument. It was big, tall, and majestic, lit up and towering into the fading sunlight. Our biker friend, Ziad, who we met in Kansas, had told us to give his mother a call when we got to the D.C. area and we had called her yesterday, but didn't make final arrangements until tonight. After crossing the Arlington Memorial Bridge to the D.C. Mall, we got directions to her house, 6 miles away through busy night time city traffic - thrilling. I enjoyed it. Finally we arrived at her house around 9:00 pm. They had a delicious dinner awaiting us. We went to bed content and thankful for God's provision. 41 miles.

111

2008-09-27T18:44:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, September 23, 2008, Campground in Prince William Forest Park, Triangle, Virginia
I woke up early and mounted the horns on the bikes. I think it will be important as we enter city areas with lots of pedestrians and bikes. We got a fairly early start, 7:30. Highway 1, sounds like a nice highway, doesn't it? The worst road of the trip: no shoulder on most of it, hilly, with semis and lots of traffic. Unfortunately, the wind was blowing hard against us too. We were stuck on that road for a long time, and I could never relax. No incidents though. We had some safe stretches where we could participate in a bike honking chorus. Willie's was the odd sounding horn and Paul had a bell, which added for more variety in the compositions. We stopped occasionally for snacks, sunflower seeds being a favorite. Since there were few campgrounds, we decided to camp in Triangle and only ended up riding 73 miles.

110

2008-09-27T18:17:00.000-07:00

Monday, September 22, 2008, Grass field behind the fire station, Tappahannock, Virginia
After eating a cereal breakfast, we said goodbye to Mr. Castillo and son, and pedaled off north toward Washington D.C., crossing over the York River bridge which passed by historic Yorktown. We had a nice ride on Hwy. 17, taking a ferry across the James River and stopping at Kentucky Fried Chicken. The weather was nice, blowing a little against us, but sunny and cool. We saw a bunch of vultures devouring a deer off the side of the road, interesting. After about 60 miles, it began to approach sundown so we did the usual; we began looking for a place to stay. Unfortunately, this time we had trouble finding accommodations. Finally Gloria managed to find help from a police dispatcher who contacted the fire department and made arrangements with them to let us stay in their field. They were very nice, opening up their restrooms and letting us set up our tent there. After setting up, we went to the Shoney's Buffet and ate a lot; I liked the fried catfish best. 62 miles.

109

2008-09-27T17:52:00.000-07:00

Sunday, September 21, 2008, Castillo's Garage, Newport News, Virginia
Today, Mr. Castillo brought over breakfast for everyone from Burger King. He also gave each of the children money. So nice. Later we went to to the First Baptist Church and it was an unusual experience for us. The pastor called us up in front and prayed for us and our journey. The congregation participated a lot in the sermon and chimed in on many occasions with "Halleluyah," "Amen," or some other affirmation. Lots of singing and even some dancing, voter registration and eating after the service. After the benediction, one of the members offered to take me to a bike shop and the trailer store because I mentioned I was interested in maybe buying a cheaper trailer in Virginia rather than wait until Maine where they would probably be more expensive. Later we drove the kids to the Barnes and Nobles and Gloria and I went to Best Buy to receive our camera which would replace the unrepairable one we sent in for repairs in Clarksville, Indiana. The new one was a much better camera. Later we drove to Williamsburg to see the historic sites and then to Jamestown. When it got late, we ate four Little Caesar's pizzas, (not enough, we need five now to feed our family). So we stopped at McDonald's and bought more food and sodas. Later we dropped the kids back at Barnes and Nobles while we washed the clothes at a "Laundry and Grill." I had never seen one before. It had a fast food section in the laundromat with TVs and places to sit while you waited for your clothes to finish. A good idea and comfortable.

108

2008-09-20T12:02:00.000-07:00

Saturday, September 20, 2008, Castillo's garage, Newport News, Virginia
Mr. Castillo got on the job right away and found out it was the fuel pump. It was going to be a costly replacement, but we have no choice. We went to the nearby Hardee's to use their restroom. I bought a breakfast burrito that ended up costing me over $3 (including the 11% junk food tax). What a rip off. At around 11:00, the kids and I rode our bikes over to their favorite place, the library. I, like a dummy, forgot the device which enables me to upload photos onto the blog site, so hence, no photos. We didn't leave until late, past 3:00, because I had a lot to catch up on.
To be continued...
When we got back to the Castillo Garage, he had already finished replacing the fuel pump and charged us very little; he wanted to help us; Later, he let us all take showers there. Yes, he had one in his garage. It was so good to finally take a shower after three days. He told us we could stay and tent as long as we needed, no problem. Nice man. We were very hungry and decided to splurge and go to the buffet Mr. Castillo suggested: the Golden Corral. It was delicious and I think my stomach has grown accustomed to stretching far beyond normal on these occasions. I must have eaten six or seven plates of a variety of food. I amazed myself. It reminded me of when I was in college and could eat for hours, continually going back for plate after plate, a bottomless pit. The biking has increased my metabolism a lot. I've lost about 15 to 20 pounds and am at my fighting weight: 160 to 165 pounds. Oh well, I'll enjoy it while I can. I'll probably gain a pound a day when the trip is over. After the buffet, they all wanted to go to one of their favorite places, Barnes and Nobles. I was feeling the after effects of the buffet stuffing, and couldn't stay awake, so I slept in the van for the hour or so they were in the store and went straight to bed when we arrived back at the tent.

107

2008-09-20T11:48:00.000-07:00

Friday, September 19, 2008, Behind Castillo's Garage, Newport News, Virginia
I woke up several times last night to the wind flapping the tarp against the tent. We wanted to drive back to Williamsburg and Jamestown to see them better, but we didn't know where we would stay for the night or how far we should ride. I also needed to stop by the post office and pick up any mail; I knew I should have a card from my mom and the last set of maps to complete the trip to Maine. My mom's letter was there, but the maps weren't. I found out later they were returned to sender because they had been sitting there too long. However, I called explaining I would be arriving at a later date, so this shouldn't have happened. After buying some things at Costco, as we were heading back to get the bikes to resume our riding toward Williamsburg, the van dies on Hwy. 17. I called AAA, but they sent the wrong tow truck; we needed a flat bed because it was an all-wheel drive. It was starting to get late, so we decided to run the five miles back to the bikes. A patrolman who had arrived to help us ended up taking four of us back to ride the bikes, and he put the other two on his rack behind his trunk. We ended up riding to the garage the van was towed to and arrived about the same time as the van. The man who owned the garage said we could put our tent up behind the garage on the grass, a secluded spot. After putting up the tent we walked a quarter mile to a fast food place and lounged around drinking sodas for fun, and it was. Still no shower (3rd day), so another sponge bath.

106

2008-09-20T11:27:00.000-07:00

Thursday, September 18, 2008, Front of Mason Lodge, Yorktown, Virginia
WE MADE IT TO THE EAST COAST! Well, we made a major milestone today, pedaling all the way to the east coast. It was a thrill.
We got up earlier than usual and left about 7:45. I knew we could make it all the way to Yorktown if we had a good day. So we left and Mom packed up to follow us later and feed us snacks. We kept seeing signs in front yards saying "No Olf". No idea what it means. When we got to Waverly, we ate at McDonalds, always a treat, especially the all-you-can-drink sweet ice tea. We were making good time, despite the fact that the breeze was against us. It was exciting to arrive in the town of Scotland, where we took the ferry to historic Jamestown. Such a neat place with so many old buildings. Once there, all the little ones got on bikes, and we rode the old Colonial Parkway, which connected Jamestown with Williamsburg and our final destination, Yorktown. Beautiful, safe, and scenic. We rode through Williamsburg and saw the old buildings and shops, still as they were in the 1600s. As we approached Yorktown, anticipation was building; we all wanted to see the Atlantic Ocean. It was a race against the sun because it was getting late. Finally, we arrived at sundown and stood under the memorial where General Cornwallace surrendered to George Washington, ending the Revolutionary War. Then we headed to the waterfront and dipped our front tires at the mouth of the James River, which flowed into the Atlantic, and took pictures, capturing this important milestone. Unfortunately, because it was such an important place, there were no cheap places to stay and no nearby campgrounds. Finally, after much looking around and unsuccessful attempts, we found a man cutting the grass in front of the Mason Lodge, who let us put up the tent in the corner of the grass for the night. What a relief. It was already late and dark, so we were very appreciative. Still no showers, so I rode to a gas station for a sponge bath. 110 miles.

105

2008-09-20T11:15:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, September 17, 2008, Rick Wilson's field, near Darville, Virginia
Pat and Jimmy told us that a couple of newspaper reporters were interested in our story and would be coming after breakfast. So Pat made everyone a delicious bacon, egg, pancake, and lots more breakfast. Boy was it good! Later I talked with the reporter and she took our picture. She said she would mail a copy to Tia Chela in Ukiah, California, when it was published. With a good meal in our bellies, we got off to a good start. The ride was nice, not too hilly, and the weather was good. Later, around noon, we met with the second reporter in his office in Lunenburg. Besides asking us questions about our trip, he gave us Gatorades and fruit for the journey. His son had ridden cross-country years before and had really enjoyed it. Five miles past Blackstone we saw a teenager, Rick Wilson, riding his four wheeler and asked him if he knew of a place to put up our tent. He invited us to put it up in his field. So that's what we did. 61 miles.

104

2008-09-20T10:56:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, September 16, 2008, Jim and Pat Harding's house, Phenix, Virginia
It has been such a blessing staying with the Bonheims; they are so hospitable, we felt right at home. We finally said our goodbyes around 12:00 and headed to Liberty to pick up our bikes, which had been sitting there in the bike rack in front of the Schilling Building for the last four days. They were fine, but Becky's still had the flat tire I didn't want to fix on Friday, so I had to fix that. We had to go a little off course and take back roads to Rustburg. We saw two lost lonely adorable kittens which ran over to us while we were riding. It was hard to finally say goodbye to them since they were running after us when we left. Paul, especially, had a hard time; he wanted to keep them. We found a roadside tree loaded with crisp apples; so we stocked up on them. As it started to get late, we asked some guys in a car if they knew of a place to pitch a tent. They suggested visiting a lady in the nearby house who might be able to direct us. She made some phone calls and after a while, Jim and Pat Harding come over and invite us to their beautiful house. They all made us a delicious dinner and let us take baths and sleep in their beds. What a wonderful day it has been. God has really provided. 42 miles.

103

2008-09-20T10:33:00.000-07:00

Monday, September 15, 2008, Bonheims' house, Lynchburg, Virginia
Today the whole family got up early and went on an official tour of the Liberty campus, hosted by the recruiting department. It was thorough, but before it ended, I had an appointment with Dr. Rist about employment possibilities. I submitted my application and talked with him awhile. Nothing definite, but maybe something will open up in the future. After the tour ended, we ended with an all-you-can-eat meal in the school cafeteria, lots of variety and delicious. I saw an old college friend, Monica Parsons, who had completed her doctorate and was teaching at Liberty. She introduced me to others in the education department. I also saw Dr. Horton, my good physiology of exercise professor who is an amazing and accomplished runner, just as chipper as I remember him, and "pretty well preserved" :) Inside joke. We stopped by and saw Jesse before leaving. It has been great returning to the school that has been such an inspiration to me and seeing many familiar people. After Liberty, we rendezvoused with Beth Castro and family at the one dollar theater for the fifty-cent family day. That's right half off for all families; all tickets for 50 cents. So we splurged and bought two giant refillable pop corns to go with it and saw The Mummy (I think). I fell asleep half way through. Not a bad deal, a nap for fifty cents. That evening when we returned to the Bonheims, she had spaghetti ready with salad and garlic bread. Ummm good. We watched an interesting football game, the Eagles and the Cowboys, a high scoring, topsy turvy, game with lots of humor and drama. In the end, the cowboys won, making Coach Bonheim happy.

102

2008-09-20T09:57:00.000-07:00

Sunday, September 14, 2008, Bonheim's house, Lynchburg, Virginia
We woke up to delicious homemade waffles with maple syrup that Brenda Bonheim had made. Nice way to start off the day. At church, I saw Jesse Castro and family, Pat Sole and family, Dan Wilson, Doug Aires, and a few others I remembered. I also saw Jonathon Falwell preach. When I left Liberty in '81, I remember him as a goof-off high schooler; now he's the main pastor of a great congregation. Like his father, he put out the call for action on the part of believers, to DO something with your faith, put it in to practice in a practical way, not just sit comfortably in your belief. Good message. Afterwards, all of us old-timers went out to eat together. It was great to spend a little time together. I will go to Liberty tomorrow and submit an application to Dr. Rist, who is a friend of Coach Bonheim and influential in hiring; you never know. After eating, we went to Jesse and Beth's house to spend the evening with them. What a great family! All are homeschooled and are so friendly. We had a good time talking and reminiscing, and the kids playing. We ate barbecued hot dogs and Jesse lent me some nice clothes to wear to my meeting with Dr. Rist at Liberty tomorrow. I hope we can see more of each other.

101

2008-09-20T09:43:00.000-07:00

Saturday, September 13, 2008, Bonheims house, Lynchburg, Virginia
Well, It's been over a week since I have updated the blog, and still no pictures to add because I don't have the right attachment to upload pictures to the blog. Sorry. I will try to give a daily summary until today. On Saturday, after breakfast at the Bonheims, we went with Coach Bonheim to Liberty for a tour of the campus. It was a walk down memory lane on one hand, but on the other, it had grown so much that I could only really recognize a little bit. Very impressive school now, about 13,000 day students, and still growing. Then Coach Bonheim showed us the new Thomas Road Baptist Church. Afterwards, we went to the all-you-can-eat pizza place, Cici's. Goooood. Then we hobbled over to the one dollar (you heard right) movie theatre, within walking distance, and saw Indiana Jones & the Kingdom of the Crystal Skull. Only $9 for the whole family. Later in the evening when we returned to the Bonheims, we watched the USC football team slaughter Ohio State, not a very good game. Great day though.

101

2008-09-16T07:57:00.000-07:00

100

2008-09-16T07:20:00.000-07:00

Friday, September 12, 2008, Coach Bonheim's house, Lynchburg, Virginia
Well, today marked the 100th day of our trip, and it ended in an eventful way, staying the night at my old college wrestling coach's house.
Gloria and I had to get up in the middle of the night because it started to sprinkle, so we set up the tarp. I didn't sleep very well last night. I was still feeling under the weather, and last night I woke up three times in sweaty clothes. After the third time, I had to take a shower, but I felt better. The rest of the gang got up pretty early because we wanted to make it to Liberty University before the admission offices closed so that we could show Becky and Adriana around. We had hills with lots of climbing at first, but we finally made it to the beautiful Blue Ridge Parkway, which was right along the ridge of the mountains. Very nice. We all rode and Gloria drove the van. There were some fun long descents and a tunnel, which the kids liked a lot. About 15 miles from Lynchburg, we saw a guy directing traffic into a gas station. Kinda strange. Turns out the gas prices were set to go up to over $5.00 at 5:00 pm and there was a "gas run" going on. Apparently Hurricane Ike in Texas was affecting the refineries, which affected the prices. Lucky for us we had a full tank. Getting into Lynchburg, we had to detour because of bike restrictions. After getting complicated directions, and Becky's flat tire, we finally arrived at Liberty University, my old Alma Mater, at around 7:30 pm. By the time we parked, dinner in the cafeteria had closed. Everyone was hungry and we didn't have a place to stay, so I tried to take care of sleeping arrangements while everyone went to Little Caesar's to eat. The college had grown unbelievably. I only recognized a few of the buildings, one of them was the old building we used to practice wrestling. Still the same, but the wrestling room had been changed into a dance studio. So I went looking for the new wrestling room. Finally, I found it - it was in the field house of the football stadium. Once in there, I saw names of people I knew on the wall, including my own, who were All Americans, had won a certain number of matches, and were team captains. After reminiscing, I got permission to keep the bikes locked in a bike rack overnight. I still hadn't found a place to camp because I hadn't made plans with Jesse, so I called Coach Bonheim, and he invited us to stay with him. It was great to see him and Brenda again. Not only was he my coach, I had spent several summers with them in Maui in the 70s and 80s, when they were directing summer camps there. Actually, it was in 1978, right after finishing Sacramento City College, while visiting my dad and sister in Maui, that I decided to come to Liberty. The students on the summer team were so gung-ho about their school and the Lord that I couldn't resist trying it out, so I enrolled. It was one of the best decisions I ever made. A great school with great people. 61 miles.

99

2008-09-16T06:44:00.000-07:00

Thursday, September 11, 2008, Long's Campground, 5 miles north of Lexington, Virginia
Well, quite a bit of interesting things happened today. After our usual morning routine of eating, packing, Bible reading, and prayer, we headed out of White Sulfer Springs, West Virginia, toward the Virginia border only a few miles away on Hwy. 60, at around 9:30 am. After only a mile or two, Hwy. 60 merged with Interstate 64. Not wanting to deviate from Hwy. 60 and not seeing any signs prohibiting bicycles, I continued on. The shoulder was nice and wide and the grade was smooth with only gradual climbs, a nice road to bike on. Right before the Virginia border, a West Virginia patrolman pulled us over and said we couldn't be on the interstate. I told him the two roads merged and that we had no choice. After going back and forth like this a little, he let us go, saying that in a mile we would be out of his jurisdiction. We continued for about 5 miles, gradually going uphill; then we began a long, gradual decent for about 5 miles until another patrolman, this time from Virginia, pulled us over and said the same thing. This time, however, he wouldn't let us continue, and after making a phone call said he would escort us to the next exit and explain how we could catch Hwy. 60 outside of following I-64. It was a blessing; the road was good and the directions easy, plus we saw some interesting things along the way. The best was the Island Ford Cave. As we were pedaling along, we suddenly noticed a wide opening on the left side of the road, a cave. It went in about 150 feet, so far you couldn't see the far end without a flashlight. We had plenty of those for the bikes, so we went in and marveled and took pictures. It was fun. Right before we were ready to leave, Paul came up and said, "Dad, I found another opening!" It was a narrow passage on the right side, low to the ground, but big enough to fit through if you tried. So Willie, Paul, Adriana, and I went in. The space opened up once we were in and had a narrow but passable passageway that wound its way through the mountain. The walls and ground were slick and muddy, and there was a creek winding beneath us also. We kept going. It was unlikely we would get lost because the passage led in only one direction, as far as we could tell. We went in about 100 yards before turning back because we didn't want Gloria to worry too much; we had already gone so far that we couldn't hear her voice any more. What a thrill following a cave to unknown places and adventure! I had never explored a cave either so it was just as fun for me as it was for the kids. At one point, we turned off our flashlights and experienced total blackness. After we left, we continued riding and shortly came upon fresh water springing from a pipe sticking out of the mountain. Delicious and refreshing, the best water! We filled our water bottles up and continued riding. We made a stop at Hardee's for food and drink. By the time we arrived in Lexington, it was getting late with only about an hour left of daylight riding, so we continued on to the campground 5 miles away and made it right before it got dark. 68 miles.

98

2008-09-10T10:42:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, September 10, 2008, Campground, White Sulphur Springs, West Virginia
It rained a little last night but not on the tent since we put it on the concrete under the pavilion. It was a little hard though, even with the air mattress. Phil Dawson rode out today on Billie his horse to continue his journey cross country. We left the park at 9:15 under a thick overcast sky, and the bank thermometer said 50 degrees. I was feeling tired, not my self, and cold. The terrain was gentle for the first 8 miles east then began to get hilly. We made a long hour rest stop after about 28 miles, and I just lay down and tried to sleep. Closing my eyes probably did me good. A mile later, in the town of Lewisburg, we took another break at a gas station for popcorn and soda. I just tried to sleep. Now we are at the Lewisburg library taking another break after less than a mile. Lots of breaks. Actually, I have to correct an error in the blog that Adriana reminded me of: Phil and Nona's dog Sophie is a BULLDOG, not a boxer [Sorry it took me so long Phil]. Hopefully, we will make it to Virginia today.
To be continued...
Well, we rode to White Sulphur Springs, only 5 miles from the Virginia border, and found a motel where the lady said she would charge us only $15 and open a room to let us use the shower. So we did it, even though we quit early. I was glad because I was run down. I need a good sleep. So after setting up the tent and showering, we went back to the library where I am now. I took a picture of a silver painted car... done by an amateur. Earlier, I emailed Jesse Castro, my old Liberty wrestling buddy to see if we could meet tomorrow or the next day when we arrive in Lynchburg, only 70 miles away.
To be continued...
Before going to bed, we stopped at a grocery store and bought food for dinner. Everyone was hungry. I was tired, so I went to bed right after. 42 miles.

97

2008-09-09T12:46:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, September 9, 2008, city park, Rainelle, West Virginia
Well, at about 3:30 am I woke up to the distant thunder of an approaching storm. Gloria and I dug out the tarps and set them over the tent just before the downpour started. We placed towells in strategic places throughout the tent floor because the two tarps we have don't entirely protect the tent from a side wind. We made it through the night with only a few of the sleeping bags getting partially wet. Since I knew we wouldn't be riding through the rain, we all slept in, something everyone appreciated. After eating and hanging the wet items on the picnic tables to dry under the pavilion, we packed up and headed to the library, where I am right now, updating the blog. It takes a while when I haven't posted anything for a week.
To be continued...
At night I started feeling tired, like I was coming down with something, so I ate some soup and went to bed early.

96

2008-09-09T12:14:00.000-07:00

Monday, September 8, 2008, city park, Rainelle, West Virginia
We slept in. I woke up first and went to the store to buy some milk. It was amusing to watch a man in line glaring at his mischievous son who obviously had both parents wrapped around his finger, unable to control him. After monkeying around, he finally drops the soda which explodes over everything within 3 feet, luckily not me. I had to laugh, but those poor parents have to live with him, but it's their own fault. A fisherman showed us his big catfish he caught today and John took a picture with it.
I think the Appalachians started today. Up, up, down a little, up, up, repeat. It was a hard 30+ miles today, pretty though. The kids wanted to go to the library, but it was closed on Mondays; the next town's was too. Oh well. We finally arrived in Rainelle at around 5:30. After finding no nearby campgrounds or police to ask, a nice lady told us where the mayor lived; he might be able to help. So I went to his house and he told us we could camp in the city park. When we got there, there were three horsemen, and two of them, Phil and Patty Dawson, were riding horses across the country from Idaho to Virginia, raising money for families with children with diseases, a great cause, and Dennis was their support man. I was very interested in talking with them, so we camped next to them. Such an interesting group, and they had a lot of amazing stories to tell of all kinds of people helping them along the way. They were a great encouragement and they let me use their grill to cook up some pork chops. The kids liked their puppy, Shortstop, and played with her. Before we went to bed, they brought over a chocolate cake for us, delicious. Before going to bed, I called my mom. It was great to talk with her and update her on our trip. About 35 miles.

95

2008-09-09T11:34:00.000-07:00

Sunday, September 7, 2008, New River Campground, Grauley Bridge, West Virginia
We got up around 8 am. We wanted to make it to church by 9:00. Everyone pretty much knows the routine by now. We all work like ants until everything is put away, so it doesn't take too long. We were planning to go to the nice lady's church that led us to her son, but it was across town and it was about 9:00 when we were ready, so we just walked across the street to the Diamond Baptist Church. The early parishioners had already noticed us cleaning up the campsite as they were walking up to the church, so some introduced themselves. Leisa was the first and she showed us in and introduced us to others. During the service, I was asked to explain to the congregation why we were going on this trip. I mentioned various reasons: family bonding, vacation, challenge, seeing God provide and care for us. During the Sunday school intermission, a nice man named Mike gave each person in the family some key ring crosses and cross lapel pins. He was recovering from cancer and it was part of his ministry. We all adorned our bikes with them. After the service, a woman took our picture and another told us of the "World's Strongest Man" competition taking place that afternoon in Charleston, only 10 miles away, so we planned to go. Before leaving, John Williams gave me 100 dollars and said the people at the church liked to see families doing this kind of thing and wanted to help us out. He also told me how to get to a good buffet not far from Charleston. [I think it's good for us to eat a lot of good food at least once a week on our rest day to replenish and revive us after a week of hard riding. If it's a cheap buffet, we definitely get our money's worth]. Leisa gave us some extra snack food she had and also guided us with her son Joshua to the restaurant since they were going that way. After we had already begun eating, Leisa came back to the restaurant with a card for us, wishing us well and giving us $100. Such a nice person. As I've said many times, God is meeting us up with fantastic people!
The strong man competition was crowded and it was hard to watch, but finally we perched ourselves on top of a multi-storied parking lot and saw some of the competitors from all over the world. We saw the local boy from Charleston, Phil Pfister, pull into the lead in the truck pulling competition. A couple couldn't even budge the coal-filled load at all, a little embarrassing. After we got on the bikes again, we followed the beautiful, picturesque New River (the only American river that runs entirely north downstream) which made the climb gradual not too taxing. We passed the Kanawha Falls, beautiful. Finally, we arrived at the New River Campground, on the outskirts of Grauley, West Virginia. Nice campsite on the river, expensive though, $39. We found a bunch of logs, so we took advantage of the free fuel and boiled up the bag of potatoes. Ummm good, and a great break snack. 25 miles.

94

2008-09-09T11:02:00.000-07:00

Saturday, September 6, 2008, Elementary School, Diamond, West Virginia
Well, we made it to West Virginia today, and what a great day it was! We had to leave the hair salon early before the patrons started arriving, so we were out of there about 7:45. It was a drizzley morning, so we put on our rain gear. We crossed the bridge into Ohio (which I wasn't expecting) and headed along Hwy. 52 toward Charleston, West Virginia. After about 10 miles we got back on 60 east, following the river, and before long we were pedaling across the bridge into West Virginia. We were making pretty good time, but got hungry, so we ended up picnicing on all our goodies under a church pavilion, delicious. But there is a downside to feasting at lunch - the midday slump; all I wanted was to nap for miles after that. I actually almost fall asleep, just like when I'm driving a car under sleepy conditions. After about 50 miles, Adriana and I were ahead of the others so we took another break by an old closed store. I relished laying horizontal on the concrete (my favorite position on this trip) and closing my eyes with blindfold in place and going to sleep. When I awoke, all were there, including Gloria and the van, and eating and laughing (usual activities once off the bike). Once back on the bikes, riding through the poor sections of Charleston was interesting. We rode a lot of miles again because we couldn't find a nearby campground. At around 7 pm, we were in Diamond, West Virginia, and didn't know where to stay, so Gloria asked a nice lady if she knew the way to the police station. She did and her son James was a state police officer, so she called him up and he made several phone calls to help us out, but we ended up staying next to his house at the elementary school playground. Nice grass, privacy, security, and a place for the kids to play basketball, which James provided. His wife Sarah made us some sweet bread and delicious vegetables which he brought out to us. Nice people God has placed in our path. We all devoured it like birds. We also cooked up two huge packages of chicken in our pot. We eat a lot. 87 miles.

93

2008-09-09T10:36:00.000-07:00

Friday, September 5, 2008, behind The Hair Loft, Ashland, Kentucky
Today marks three months since we left Castroville, California, on June 5th. The ride was hilly and cold. Near Owingsville, Willie got a flat tire. Not wanting to wait, Gloria loaded his bike in the van and deposited him 10 miles up the road, giving him enough time to repair it and rejoin the riders without slowing the group down. We got soaked once from a cloudburst; luckily we were close to an antique store that we ducked in for cover. Later in the day, Willie stopped again to fix his flat tire. Apparently there wasn't enough glue on the patch the first time, so it came off. He had to wait for Mom again, and this time had to buy some more rubber cement before he could fix it. By the time we got to Ashland, it was dusk and there were no campgrounds, so we used our lights and began looking for possible places to ask permission for an emergency tenting site for the night. At last we came to a hair salon and the nice lady who owned it, Sheri McCormick, gave us permission to camp behind the shop. Also, a generous patron gave us $20 dollars to buy the family McDonald's hamburgers across the street. Rick Reed, one of the stylists who worked there, drove across the street and returned with a large box of McDonald's burgers, fries, sundaes, and drinks (He must have contributed a lot himself) that we thoroughly enjoyed as we were all hungry after today's long ride. One message, one lesson, we have been learning and should be clear: God takes care of His children one way or the other and usually in unexpected ways. 103 miles.

92

2008-09-09T10:17:00.000-07:00

Thursday, September 4, 2008, Boonsboro State Park, near Winchester, Kentucky
We got up late since I was so tired from staying up burning the DVDs. After eating, we discussed how we could continue to make it to Maine on our limited funds: we would have to go faster for the money to hold out, so we talked about how to streamline our operation and increase our riding time through better planned breaks and longer days. So we took our first food break in Frankfort after 21 miles. Then we got off of Hwy. 60 and pedaled along the Old Frankfort Pike to Lexington. It was a pretty drive but hard for bikes because of the hills and the traffic we encountered at 5:00. We got through it though and at 42 miles had our next big break. After about 60 miles we were in Winchester and began asking about a place to put a tent. Nothing. But a nice policeman let us put our bikes in the police garage so we could drive to Boonsboro State Park and camp there. 67 miles.

91

2008-09-09T09:31:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, September 3, 2008, campground, Shelbyville, Kentucky
We slept in a little bit since it was a luxury to be in a cabin. After eating, we biked through downtown Louisville on Hwy. 60 in the direction of St. Matthews where we would find a Best Buy [I had reluctantly agreed to buy another video camera, the cheapest one, so we could continue videoing the journey]. Riding through the city was fun. It's a diversion from the beautiful countryside and spices up the journey. Maybe everyone isn't this way, but I always love to cycle through downtown areas of cities because the traffic offers an interesting challenge, and it's usually not too fast, and it's fun to look at the shops and people along the way. It started to rain lightly on us right about the time we passed by a bike shop. I bought Paul a new front fender, which he definitely needed for the rainy weather, and tightened up my handlebars with some new nuts (my quick release had bent from repeated tightening and wouldn't work). Shortly after we left the bike store, a truck with a load of angle iron spilled its contents on the road as it was coming to a red light, so I helped them reload it. Before long we were near St. Matthews, so we locked the bikes at a Steak n Shake and drove to Best Buy. Unfortunately, they didn't have any open-box-specials, so we went to Circuit City. We ended up buying a machine that could make DVDs from cameras and video cameras for only $169 (another open-box special). Then we went to Wendy's before arriving back at the bikes. We rode through thoroughbred country, past some beautiful houses today. After awhile we stopped at Kentucky Fried Chicken [Everyone wanted to eat there since we were in Kentucky] and drinking our family large soda, which we refill about 5-10 times before finishing. It's quite a sight: All the children have large straws and huddle around the cup drinking together as the cup quickly drains into their stomachs. Repeat. Repeat. Repeat... We met some nice ladies there who gave us directions to a campground, but we decided to go past there to Shelbyville, where Colonel Sanders had his family restaurant (The Colonel's Lady) next to his house before he died. [I had eaten there as a boy visiting my grandmother in the 70s when Colonel Sanders was still alive, but I never saw him.] We looked around the restaurant but didn't eat. The rain started falling before we found the campground, but stopped while we were setting up the tent. The mosquitoes were bad. They can't easily get through the barb wire on my legs, but had a feast on my smooth feet and ankles. I started downloading the video camera's 30 gig hard drive onto DVDs under a pavilion. It took seven and I was up till 2 am burning them. It was worth it though, even with the mosquito bites. Now we have a fresh hard drive to record up to seven hours of video. 40 miles.

90

2008-09-02T20:32:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, September 2, 2008, KOA Campground, Clarksville, Indiana
Well, we said our goodbyes today to our loved ones in Indiana. It was sad to leave; I wish we could have stayed with everyone longer. We finally got going after eating breakfast and packing at Uncle Paul's house about 10:30 am. After a five day layoff, we were well rested, but my legs got tired anyway by the time we arrived in Clarksville. Becky's back tire lost its valve, so we had to replace her inner tube. When we arrived in Clarksville, we went to Best Buy to give them my broken camera (I have an upgraded warranty so they will fix anything short of a steam roller crushing it). They will send the repared camera to General Delivery in Yorktown, Virginia, where I am picking up my next batch of mail. Unfortunately, they would not burn DVDs for me from my video camera, so it is still full and I cannot reformat the hard drive to take more videos. I will keep trying to find someone or some place to do it. The kids went to the library while Gloria and I ran around town looking for a place that could do it. Finally it was getting late, so we were forced to go to an expensive KOA campground. We ended up spending an extra $10 ($64) to upgrade to a cabin. It had air conditioning and would be a treat. After snacking, we went to Holiday Inn where KOA had an arrangement for its clients to use the pool. The kids all swam. I took a shower and now am updating the blog. It's getting late though so I guess I'll close. 52 miles.
P.S. I added older pictures, I think from post #75 up.

89

2008-09-02T19:04:00.000-07:00

Monday, September 1 (Labor Day), 2008, Uncle Paul's house, Salem, Indiana
We woke up and Joanna, Robbie, and Tessa prepared a DELICIOUS breakfast: apple pancakes, scrambled eggs, sausage, peaches with whipped cream and juice. So nice. Then in the afternoon, we all drove to Buffalo Trace Park in Palmyra. Danny's family (except Ben and Beth in college) was there. Also there were Phil and Nona, Uncle Paul and Aunt Harriet, Mr. and Mrs. Allen (Robbie's parents) and Stephan Allen. Everyone played games: badminton, horseshoes, football, and Stephen brought a unique set of walking boards for a group challenge. The food was great and plentiful. Best of all was just being together with everyone I've missed for so long. After all left, we went back to Uncle Paul's house and worked some more on the bikes, getting them ready for tomorrow. Then we stayed up and talked until late, as usual.

88

2008-08-31T20:49:00.000-07:00

Sunday, August 31, 2008, Robbie and Joanna's house, Salem, Indiana.
Today we overslept a little. Aunt Janet had a delicious breakfast ready before we headed out to the meeting at Joanna (my cousin) and Robbie's house. Uncle Paul and Aunt Harriot were there also, along with Sam Manly. We studied the book of Job. I always appreciate the Salem meetings and the spontaneous sharing of the Lord's insights that occur in the group. So encouraging. After the meeting, we all sat down to a delicious lunch. Later Sam helped me plan my route to the east coast. After everyone left, the rest of us sat down and talked while some of the kids swam in the pool. At 6:00 pm, we drove to see Mark and Donna Avery, our friends we met in Fallon, Nevada, who were also traveling around the country - by motorcycle. We had a great time with them and their church family at their house talking and eating. Later in the evening, we returned to Robbie and Joanna's. Another great day!

87

2008-08-31T20:32:00.000-07:00

Saturday, August 30, 2008, Uncle Herman's house, Salem, Indiana
We started off the day with a delicious waffle breakfast that Uncle Paul and Aunt Harriot made. We spent the morning sharing our thoughts on a variety of topics. At about 2pm, we went to Uncle Herman's house. It was great to see them. We spent the first hour catching up on family news. The kids played croquet outside while we talked inside. We also saw some of Uncle Herman's more recent paintings and Janet made us a delicious meal with three desserts (we're all developing a new protective layer of fat to prepare us for the next several weeks of biking). Before going to bed we all sat in the living room and sang hymns - a wonderful day.

86

2008-08-31T20:17:00.000-07:00

Friday, August 29, 2008, Uncle Paul's house, Salem, Indiana
Today we went to see Aunt Martha, my dad's sister, in Louisville, Kentucky. I used to spend summers there since I was 10 years old until after graduating from college, so it was a summer home away from home. Almost nothing in the house had changed. The trees were bigger and the house was more run down but the furniture was all the same, so it was like stepping into a time machine and returning to the 70s when I walked through the door. Aunt Martha was older and thinner and she needs cataract surgery, but she was cheerful and happy to see us. We went for lunch at Bob Evans then returned to her house for a couple of hours. Great to see her. Next, we drove to see my cousin Nona and her husband Phil and their prize-winning bulldog, Sophie. After playing pinball and getting a dog show demonstration, we all rendezvoused with my other cousins, Danny and Joanna and their families at Cici's, an all-you-can-eat pizza parlor. It was great to see everyone again and fill up on delicious pizza. We made plans to have a picnic at the park on Labor Day.

85

2008-08-31T20:01:00.000-07:00

Thursday, August 28, 2008, Uncle Paul's house, Salem, Indiana
It was nice to sleep in a bed again. Aunt Harriet made us a delicious lunch. Uncle Paul and I went into town to buy some DVDs. I have completely used up the video camera's hard drive, so I have to download the seven hours of movies onto DVDs. We also worked on the bikes a little and took a spin on the tandem. Mostly, we talked. So much to talk about after all these years. A great day!

84

2008-08-31T19:37:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, August 27, 2008, Uncle Paul's house, Salem, Indiana
Well, I goofed up on the date on the last few posts; this is the correct date. Today we made it farther than we planned - all the way to Salem, a milestone in our trip. We started rather late after eating breakfast. We left Mom to finish the packing and headed out around 10:30. We headed out on Hwy. 150. Unfortunately, it had a rumble strip going the full way across the shoulder, which was wide, about 10 feet. So even though we were safe, we were putting unwanted wear and tear on our bikes, especially the tires. After awhile it started raining on us, but not too hard. We made pretty good time to Pauli and planned to camp there but couldn't find a place, so we decided to go all the way into Salem, a couple hour's ride away. By the time we got to Salem, it was almost dark, and before we arrived to Uncle Paul's house, he drove up and escorted us to his house. Before going to bed, Uncle Paul and the rest of us went to Wendy's for fast food. It was great to see him and Aunt Harriet again. 95 miles.

83

2008-08-28T23:11:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, August 27, 2008, Wabash Campground, Vicennes, Indiana
Well, today we made it all the way into Indiana. We rode Hwy. 50 most of the way because even though it was busy, it had a good shoulder most of the way, had fewer climbs, and was more direct. Actually, I think the draft created by passing trucks on the same side of the road help offset the breeze against us which tends to slow us down. Lots of riding today with minimal rest. An annonymous nice man paid for our campsite when he saw us pedal in. Nice. 87 miles.

82

2008-08-28T22:49:00.000-07:00

Monday, August 26, Stephan Forbes Lake, Illinois
I woke up to discover that destructive raccoons had ripped open a hole in my bike seat fabric during the night, looking for who knows what. Oh well, it still works. We greased our chains and headed out hoping to make it all pretty far. We were told that Hwy. 50 was dangerous in that area so we opted for the smaller country roads. With the wind against us, it took forever, and we made slow progress; however the roads were peaceful and the conversations were lively, but I felt pretty tired from the day before. The end result was we didn’t get too far, so we settled for a shorter day to Forbes Lake. We tried fishing before going to bed, but no luck. I stumbled off to bed rather early after showering, but couldn't get to sleep because the kids stayed up throwing rocks at the stubborn raccoons who were determined to make off with some of our food. 45 miles.

81

2008-08-28T22:46:00.000-07:00

Sunday, August 25, 2008, Hazlet Campground, Carlyle Lake, Illinois
After our Bible time, we pedaled east along a nice bike trail and road. Wille, Adriana, and I raced a guy for about 5 miles who passed us. It was kind of funny because he didn’t acknowledge it was a race but everyone knew it was. In the end we won; he pooped out. We saw these big caves about 15 mile past Grafton. Later we saw a very nice Visitor Center for Lewis and Clark. It was very interesting with life-size replicas of various tools and materials they used, lots of information, and even a movie. We couldn’t stay very long, however, because Mom wasn’t answering her phone and would be waiting for us and worrying that we were not there. Near Granite City we all stopped for drinks, and we also decided to finally hose off our mud-caked bikes, dirty since the rainy night ride on Katy Trail (I ended up forgetting my panniers there, and Gloria had to go back and pick them up 20 miles later). Gloria had new tires put on the van and also changed the oil. The kids and I passed a White Castle hamburger place, and since they had never eaten one, we all bought some for snacks. Good, but now they’re 67 cents, when they used to be less than a quarter when I used to buy them. Towards the end of the day, we found ourselves winding our way along country roads, not really passing through towns. With no good place to pitch our tent, we decided to make it all the way to Carlyle Lake, about 15 miles away. So we mounted our headlights on the bikes and went as fast as we could. We ended up going about 8 miles out of our way, but finally made it by around 9:30 pm. After eating and setting up camp, we went to bed. 94 miles.

80

2008-08-28T22:23:00.001-07:00

Saturday, August 23, 2008, Campground six miles west of Grafton, Illinois
We got up early for our big day. We wanted to make it to the Saint Louis zoo by 8:00 am to get in free to the children’s petting section (after 9:00 it’s $4.00). The entrance is free to the other sections and we really enjoyed it. The penguin display was my favorite; it was a cool place in more ways than one. I also liked the big cage you could walk through and see hundreds of beautiful and colorful butterflies. By 12:30 we were all getting tired and hungry because we hadn’t eaten anything before we left, so we ate lunch at the Emperor’s Wok, a Chinese buffet, and got our money’s worth. After eating we went to the Science Center, which was a hands-on center with lots of interesting things to see and do, kind of like the Exploratorium in San Francisco. I was so tired, though, that I fell asleep on a bean bag chair. By the time we left, it was about 3:30 and we still had to see the St. Louis Arch, so we drove there and the kids all got out to walk up the steps while I got bike directions out of the city. We finally left the city about 4:30 and headed for the town of Grafton at the Illinois border. We had to take a ferry to cross into Illinois; that was fun. On the ferry a nice couple told us of a good campground 6 miles outside of Grafton in the opposite direction of what we were going. However, it was getting dark and we needed a place to stay, so we pedaled over to where the police station was supposed to be to ask if we could park our bikes there for the night. Unfortunately, it wasn’t there so I asked some people at a store if they knew how I could get in touch with the police, and a nice teenager, Cody Sutton, said he could help us. He ended up letting us store the bikes in his uncle’s shop and told us to call him in the morning. Nice guy.
Then we drove to the campground, set up the tent, took showers, and went to bed. 18 miles.

79

2008-08-28T21:43:00.000-07:00

Friday, August 22, 2008, St. Charles City Park, Missouri
Sorry I have to be so abbreviated with these entries [Quite a bit actually happens each day, but I am falling behind], but I want to update our progress before too much more time passes. I will try to go back in the near future and attach pictures to these posts as soon as possible...
After exchanging goodbyes and taking pictures with Maggie, we rode the rest of the way on the Katy trail to St. Charles- the farthest point- so we traveled the entire 234 miles on the trail. It was nice because we could talk as a group the whole way and we played Password. It was almost dusk by the time we arrived there, so I asked two patrolmen where we could put up the tent for the night and they directed me to the city park pavilion area a mile or so down the road. It was pretty secluded with picnic tables but no open restrooms, so we had to make doo the best we could. We ate well and went to sleep on the grass next to the pavilion. 48 miles.

77

2008-08-22T09:21:00.000-07:00

Wednesday/Thursday, August 20/21, 2008, Concord Hill Bed and Breakfast, Marthasville, Missouri
Today was the day we began our night ride, so we weren’t in any hurry to start real early. When we finally had finished eating and packing and were pedaling away, my back support on my seat gave way. So back to Walmart for some replacement screws. By the time we left, it was 11:30. The sky was overcast and there was a slight breeze against us, but not too bad. It was cool with a slight mist covering the ground, perfect weather for cycling. Trees and greenery were everywhere, almost a tropical feel to the place. Bunches of caterpillar nests in dense web-like cocoons were clustered in the branches all around. Nobody was on the trail, so it was ours the whole way to be as loud and entertaining as we wanted. Of course, Sarah is always entertaining on the back of Becky’s bike, dancing instead of pedaling, and John is always asking and talking about hysterical things. As the day wore on, I thought it would be best to buy more lights, so we stopped again at another Walmart and I bought a regular flashlight and one that took a 6 volt battery to tape to my bike since I was going to be the first one in line in case we hit something. The trail was so much fun for the group because it was safe to ride abreast and entertaining to listen to all the conversations along the way. At dusk we prepared for the night ride by making lots of sandwiches and putting Vicky, John, and Sarah’s bikes on top of the van. The rest of us headed out into the dark around 8:30. It had begun to sprinkle, but not too bad. It was a blast. I had four headlights taped our attached to my bike and the others all had one. Riding abreast and close together, we sent out quite a beam, making everything in front visible, and we never came close to hitting anything. For about 2 hours all was great. Then the rain came. And came. And never ceased. With our rain gear on, we were still getting wetter by the mile. At every stop under the shelters at every trailhead, we would eat, drink, and redo anything loose before heading out again. We didn’t take long stops after awhile because of the cold. Being wet all the time for hours takes its toll, even when riding. The only way to stay warm was to ride. After hours of riding in the rain, I got a rash, which wasn’t pleasant. By 4:30 am, all were soaked and sleepy. All the towns we went through were small and shut down for the night. So we decided to sleep in the warmest place we could find – a portapotty. It was made of cement and had a door. There wasn’t enough room for us to lie down, so we sat against one another and the walls. Surprisingly it didn’t stink, too bad, so we all fell asleep. We woke up after a couple of hours and the sky was light so we headed out, still wet and raining. To be continued…
I was very tired and sleepy, plus my handlebars had loosened slightly which made the steering a little unstable. We managed to go on to Treloar Trailhead and finished up our riding there. Gloria had met Maggie, who ran the Concord Hill Bed and Breakfast in Marthasville beautiful bed and breakfast, and she was willing to let us stay in the bed and breakfast for only $50, what a bargain, so we agreed. We were too tired to ride even though it was only a few miles, so we asked the local restaurant help if we could lock the bikes up under their porch for the night; they agreed. So we got a bite to eat there while watching some Olympic wrestling before going to Marthasville. The house was beautiful and Maggie was such a good hostess, we felt right at home. Some of the kids went in the hot tub. After my shower, I melted on the bed at around 7:00 pm and didn’t wake up until about 8:30 in the morning. I hadn’t slept so well in ages; I needed it too. All in all we had ridden 148 miles.

76

2008-08-22T08:15:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, August 19, 2008, State Fair Grounds camping area, Sedalia, Missouri
I got up and went to Walmart to buy milk for the cereal. The tomatoes the nice lady gave us were starting to go bad, so we ate those too. Next we went to the library to update the blog, and the kids love to go. I was there about 3 hours on the computer. We weren’t in a hurry because Paul starting feeling sick and had a fever, so we postponed our “through the night ride” until tomorrow. So we went back to the state park and unpacked everything and set up the tent for another night at the campground. After setting everything up, we went back to the library until it closed, then drove around Sedalia for entertainment and our main filler up food – Caesar’s Pizza. We usually eat four but today only three. When we got back, some took showers and we all relaxed. Before bed, we had our Bible time and some wrote in their journals.

75

2008-08-19T13:03:00.001-07:00

Monday, August 18, Fairgrounds Campground, Sedalia, Missouri
We had to be at the church this morning at 9:00 to pick up the bikes. The pastor met us and let us in and before we left, a nice lady arrived to give us some of her garden tomatoes and corn. Nice. We rode to Marilyn’s fixit shop, Clinton Mower and Saw Shop, and her son Sam helped us a lot with the bikes, fixing my chain, Vicky’s crank and Willie’s bottle holder, all for almost no charge. Nice people. The kids were at the library while the bikes were being worked on. Adriana updated the blog for August 12 and 13, so you may find those entries more interesting than usual. After the bikes were done, a newspaper man interviewed us at their shop about our trip and wanted us to keep in contact with him when we arrive in Maine. Before beginning the Katy Trail, we stopped at Wendy’s for some filler food. All rode today. The trail was great. I think we saw two or three people the whole way. It was quiet, composed of fine compacted gravel with plenty of room to ride abreast and talk the whole way. So we sang, played games and talked/argued the whole way. It’s always so much fun when all are riding, but especially when we can have the whole trail to ourselves and be sheltered along the way by a shaded tree canopy. We stopped at the trail heads which were marked by a real box car or caboose, and set at the locations of the same rail stops that were formerly used by the old trains. There was historical information at every trail head at each town, which made it interesting. We ended up riding into the night and I hooked up the bikes with headlights. It was the first time the kids and I had ridden at night. Fun. We ended up staying at the town fairground campground and didn’t get to sleep until almost midnight. 46 miles.

74

2008-08-19T13:00:00.000-07:00

Sunday, August 17, 2008, Sparrowfoot Campground, Clinton, Missouri
We woke up pretty early to go to a church service. I thought it would be nice if the kids attended a Church of Christ service since their great-grandparents were missionaries with the Church of Christ and it would be good for them to be a little familiar with it. We arrived on time, unusual for us, for Sunday school at 9:00 am and stayed for the main service at 10:00 am. There was communion and all the songs were sung without musical accompaniment. We met some nice people there. Marilyn, one of the members who cycles, told us we could come to her shop and have her son Sam look at Vicky’s troublesome crank and any other problems. So we decided to take a break from riding until tomorrow in order to fix up the bikes. We went back to the camp to grill up the rest of the catfish – delicious. Later Vicky, John, Willie, and I went swimming in the lake – warm. After that we tried fishing, but no luck. Oh, by the way, any mail can be sent to the following address:
Bill Fox
General Delivery
Yorkstown, Virginia

73

2008-08-19T12:59:00.000-07:00

Saturday, August 16, 2008, Sparrowfoot Campground, Clinton, Missouri
We drug ourselves out of bed at 8:30 to make it to the continental breakfast before it closed at 9:00. We ate as much as we could and then headed back to the room to lounge around a little before we packed up. All I wanted to do was sleep, but we had to be out by 11:00. We finally left at just past 12:00. Not too far out of town we passed a cemetery with a sign that announced “Ripley’s Smallest Tomb,” but we never found it and there was nobody around to ask. The hills were like yesterday, up and down, but not too long, but the road had no shoulder whatsoever, so we had to be careful. Fortunately, there was little traffic. Now that we are doing our own routing to Indiana, off the Transamerica trail, we will probably be on more difficult roads. We were looking forward to going to Clinton because that’s where we begin the Katy Trail - the longest rails/trails bike path in the country, 264 miles – and it heads in the direction we want to go to see Uncle Herman and Uncle Paul in Indiana and ends about 20 miles from St. Louis. It should be a lot of fun. When we arrived in Clinton, we had to camp outside of town because there are no campgrounds there. The policeman let us put our bikes in the police garage and we drove 7 miles to Sparrowfoot Campground, a nice green shady campground with shower and laundry facilities, plus it had lake fishing. That night we ate the catfish we had caught in Pleasanton with rice. 44 miles.

72

2008-08-19T12:56:00.001-07:00

Friday, August 15, 2008, Super 8 Motel, Butler, Missouri,
Well, we made it to Missouri today, and even though we didn’t ride too many miles, it wasn’t that easy, lots of continual little hills. I woke up and wanted to go fishing. Willie and I started around 7:15 am using the stinky bait with stew meat and boy did it work. Our hooks weren’t the right kind so we would miss lots of bites but we did catch some eventually. I went back to get the rest of the kids so that we could catch more. When I was leaving a park ranger came and said that three of the catfish were under the required length of 15 inches. He ended up telling me to throw the three undersized fish back and didn’t give us a ticket. I was very thankful and began carefully measuring them. Vicky caught the biggest fish right before we left, about 19 inches. We ended up with nine nice-sized ones but we smelt pretty bad from handling the bait, so the kids took cold hose showers at the campsite. It was pretty late by the time we left on our bikes, about 4:00 pm. Vicky couldn’t ride until we fixed her crank. We took back roads, some unpaved, to make it to Butler. We didn’t even see a Welcome to Missouri sign as we entered. The roads were very hilly, but at least they were short hills, not huge mountain passes like we had in the Rockies. We arrived in Butler around 7:30 and eventually decided to stay in our second motel of the trip and watch some of the Olympics, something we all have been wanting to do. We saw Michael Phelps win his 7th gold and saw some women’s gymnastics, diving, track, and beach volleyball. Therefore, it was not a restful evening because we didn’t turn off the TV until almost 3 am. 38 miles.

71

2008-08-19T12:51:00.000-07:00

Thursday, August 14, 2008, City Park by the lake, Pleasanton, Kansas
We woke up early, about 6 am. It was starting to sprinkle slightly so we wanted to get an early dry start. We rode our bikes to McDonalds for breakfast, but unfortunately, wouldn’t be able to wait around until 10:00 am for the opening of the Russell Stover chocolate factory to get samples or see a tour. The weather was mild, not much wind. We have seen about 5 dead armadillos since we crossed into eastern Kansas. I’ve eaten them before in El Salvador, and of course, I liked them. Vicky’s crank arm on her bike loosened and I didn’t have a socket to fix it, so she had to ride in the car towards the end of the journey. I must mention that it seems like everyone you meet in Kansas is helpful and friendly. We stopped at the police station to ask directions to picnic and he helped us fix Vicky’s bike (temporarily). As we were heading there, we saw a small local museum that got our attention and as soon as we got in, a nice lady gave us a private tour of the displays. We were very hungry during the tour since we had pedaled over 50 miles and hadn’t eaten lunch yet, so when we were finished, we found a grocery store, bought a bunch of stuff, and headed for the park for a picnic, which turned out to be right behind the museum. After eating, I asked the museum lady if she knew of a sheltered place we could put the tent. She made a couple of phone calls and waited for someone to call back. Finally, the same policeman who helped us earlier showed up and took me around the city in his squad car showing me the possible sites we could set up camp around the lake. Really nice. The rest of the family set up the tent while the younger kids and I went fishing. The lake was stocked with different fish and they were fed regularly with feeders placed in the lake. When the feeders went off, we could see the boiling water of fish teeming near the surface. It was frustrating because there were two men who were fishing near one of the feeders who were catching big catfish left and right and we weren’t even getting bites. At dusk before we left, I went over to them to ask them how they were catching them and what they were using. One of the old guys gave me the rest of his jar of Premo- stinky catfish bait- mixed with stew meat. I’m going to use it tomorrow morning. 53 miles.

70

2008-08-18T10:30:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, August 13, 2008, Campground, Iola, Kansas
We got to sleep in a little late this morning which was most pleasant. The rolling hills began as soon as we left the church. The mountains were nice because we got nice long downhills for a reward after trying so hard. With little downhills you don't really get a reward. However the hills are getting us stronger and are a challenge I'm sure. When we arrived in Eureka we took a break and stopped at the gas station. While I was in there I met some National Guard soldiers that were going to a funeral of an eighteen-year-old soldier who had died in the war and whose hometown was Eureka. They had to be there to hold off the protestors if there were any. With the information that there would be a funeral procession also before the funeral we all wanted to watch it. We rode our bikes to the library and waited for it to begin. People of the community were lined all along the streets with American flags. The procession included at least fifty motorcyclists riding down the street with flags and then the mourners. The kids and I wanted to watch the funeral so we left our bikes at the library parking lot and drove the car there. The ceremony had already begun by the time we arrived. Some soldiers in uniform were folding a flag that had been covering the cascat in a very precise way. When the folding was over one soldier invited everyone to refreshments but we walked back so we could get going. As we walked away we heard bagpipes playing Amazing Grace. It was a sad event. We rode again with the next town being Yates Center. There were no showers at this town either so we decided to keep riding to Iola. It was now dusk. Adriana and I waited for the others to arrive at the Iola campground at the campsite. There was no one in the office, only a sign that said for tents to be placed by the big tree so that's what we did. When they arrived Gloria began to prepare some spaghetti. There was a Wal Mart in town so everyone wanted to go, of course. By the time we got back to the campsite after our trip to Wal Mart it was 11:00 pm. Tomorrow we hope to make it to at least Pleasanton and maybe Missouri! 66 miles.

69

2008-08-18T10:05:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, August 12, 2008, Rosalia Christian Church, Kansas
We left the Wiebe's house today headed toward Cassoday, the Praire Chicken captial of the world. There are a lot of Mennonite families in this community and there are a lot of churches in the area. Even with good weather and good time everyone was getting hungry so we took our first break after only ten miles. When we began again Adriana and I could surprisingly go pretty fast and not get very tired even though there was a slight headwind. It was cool and the weather was still nice. Even though the goal in the beginning was Cassoday there wasn't a campground with showers so we decided to keep riding to Rossalia with was twenty-eight miles away. The wind was now with us and it was still sunny. I found a man who told me that the church nearby called Rosalia Christian Church always had its doors open for any weary traveler. I knocked on the door of a church member and sure enough it was fine with them. After we settled ourselves inside the church I began to cook dinner with Gloria. There was entertainment the whole night with John and Sarah dancing. When we were done eating we had our Bible time. It's going to be great to sleep in an air-conditioned room. God has been very good to us.

68

2008-08-11T22:25:00.000-07:00

Monday, August 11, Weibe residence, Newton, Kansas
Jim came over to see how we were doing and talk a while before we left. We faced a headwind as usual and didn't make real good time to Newton, but finally arrived around 2:30. We looked up the couple in Newton, 35 miles away, whose names were mentioned on the bike bulletin board at Zion church, as people who liked to host cyclists. They were very nice and hospitable and served us a delicious meal. They were Mennonites. I talked with them some about their religious beliefs; one thing they believe in is being servants. They share their gifts, talents, and resources with others. We enjoyed talking and laughing with them about all kinds of things. We met their neighbors, a family with five children, who homeschool. Very nice. We also were interviewed by another one of their friends who was a newspaper reporter, so maybe we'll see an article about us. Another friend came over, Lee, who likes cycling and is a member of their church. All in all, it was a very social evening, and enjoyable. Also, earlier in the evening, we went to the public pool and swam and showered. Later we went to the library, but only for a short time because it was closing. Finally, we stopped at Little Caesar's Pizza to feast on pizza. A very enjoyable day. 35 miles.

67

2008-08-11T21:55:00.000-07:00

Sunday, August 10, 2008, city park in Buhler, Kansas
It was nice sleeping again on a mattress. We slept in till about 8:30, then started getting ready for church. I hadn't ever attended a Lutheran service before and was pleasantly surprised. It had more rituals than I was used to, but more participation from the congregation too. Lots of scripture reading and scripted congregation responsive reading. Prayer time, children's time, communion, all more formal, but relaxed at the same time. And many friendly people there made us feel at home. Afterwards we went to the Cosmosphere attraction, a huge collection of space artifacts, the third largest in the world. All of us loved it. Then we went to the famous salt mine in Hutchinson. Later we went to the zoo. The kids loved it. We finally had to go because Kenneth Burgess, the fire chief, was expecting us around 3pm and it was almost 4:00. We finally got our bikes and headed for Buhler. Before we could leave the town, I needed directions, so I asked this nice couple in front of a building. They ended up feeding our whole family the desserts from their baby shower goodies. After about 5 miles, we met up with Allen Short, a local cyclist who helped me chart my Missouri route, away from the Ozarks and along the longest American bike trail -almost 300 miles long -- all the way to St. Louis. We also met Jim McIver, who was very helpful and told us where we could camp and contacted the local paper to run a story on us. He also clandestinely placed $20 in a map he gave us. Nice man. 20 miles.

66

2008-08-11T21:17:00.000-07:00

Saturday, August 9, 2008, Zion Lutheran Church, Hutchinson, Kansas
Well, today we rode to Nickerson. The wind was against us again. The locals tell us that the prevailing winds are usually from the south/southwest but because of the hurricane in the gulf, it is affecting the wind direction here. We made it 60 miles, but it was hard. The sky was overcast, which helped. When we got to Nickerson, we looked for a place to put our bikes for the night because we were supposed to spend the night at the in Hutchinson, but it was too far out of the way so we were going to drive there instead and come back for our bikes the next day, back to Nickerson. So we called up the church that Nathan, one of the three college cyclists we met a couple of days ago, had told us about that houses cross-country cyclists. We made arrangements with them to spend the night in the church basement. Then I began looking for a place to store the bikes in Nickerson. I asked a man at the store if he knew of a place in town to store the bikes for the night, and he said he could open the fire station since he was the fire chief. That worked out great. So then we drove to the church in Hutchinson and met one of the members who gave us a key and showed us around the church. Part of the church's ministry is helping the cross-country cyclists who pass through. They offered us showers and a place to sleep in the basement. It was great. We signed a guest book with other cyclists' testimonials. After getting situated there, we went to a delicious buffet - Sirloin Stockade. I overdid it. We all ate well before going to bed. 60 miles.

65

2008-08-08T15:20:00.000-07:00

Friday, August 08, 2008, Campground on hwy. 156, Larned, Kansas
After eating cereal, we headed out, around 8:30. The wind was against us, like usual, but it was sort of a crosswind and not blowing too hard. We met Brian, a guy riding to Idaho, and two cyclists traveling together to Santa Barbara, Isaac and Dave. They were not on any time schedule, so they had complete freedom to take as long as they needed. That’s the way to go to really be spontaneous and enjoy the trip, in my opinion. After 25 miles or so, Adriana and I stopped at Fort Larned, a national historic site. Unfortunately, we couldn’t stay too long because the others didn’t know to stop, so we couldn’t keep them waiting. We finally arrived in Larned around 12:30 and rested and snacked at the park. Then Gloria dropped the boys off at the library and we went around town to find the best place to camp. We ended up choosing a regular camp ground with a pool, laundry facility, and showers; all for $10. Pretty good. After setting up the tent, the younger ones went swimming, while the older ones rode the bikes to the library. I played Becky a couple games of checkers there and updated the blog. Later, Sarah helped cook up the dinner. 31 miles.
To be continued.

64

2008-08-07T08:36:00.000-07:00

Thursday, August 7, 2008, Rush City, Kansas
At around 6:30 am, it started raining on us in the tent. We were pitched under a large tree, so it took awhile for the tent to get saturated to the point of leaking. When that happened, we quickly rolled up the bags, took everything out to the covered picnic table area, and waited for the rain to subside. I drove the van to Perry’s Body Shop, where Gloria had made an appointment for 8:00 the day before. When I got there, it was still raining pretty hard. He wasn’t there, so I waited inside and there was a 1949 Chevy being restored with only 60,000 miles on it. It had seat covers and was in very good condition, considering the age. It had been sitting for 30 years in a garage. Finally Perry arrived and he had his assistant fix it, a broken rod, and charged me only $10.00 – very fair deal. I asked about a sheltered place we could unload and reload the van (a necessary procedure in order to fit us and all our stuff in whenever we have hurriedly packed). Then I drove to the place and unpacked most of the stuff and then headed back to the others, who were still huddled around the covered picnic table with the sleeping bags. I shuttled the younger kids to the new location where I had unloaded most of the stuff and returned to the rest of the gang to wait out the rain so we could ride the bikes there. An hour later the rain stopped so we made our move, transporting everything except the wet tent, which we left standing. Then we pedaled over to the library to see how the weather would hold. If it stopped raining, we would ride, hopefully at least to Alexander 20 miles away, preferably farther.
To be continued….
We ended up riding through the rain all the way to Rush City. The semis drag a sea of mist with them in the rain and when they pass by you, you get blasted. So we were pretty wet when we arrived in Alexander, our first stop, to pick up my birthday card from Mama I had forwarded from Pueblo. It was a nice card and she sent me $100. Thanks, Mom. Then we rode to the next town, Rush City, where a crowd in the store told me where we could pitch our tent under cover – the shed across the street where the gas station went out of business. It was a very large garage with a rocky ground, but pretty clean, with an old truck parked inside, and best of all, it would keep us dry if it rained. The coop across the street left its restroom open 24 hours, so we could use it. So we cooked up more pork chops (the cheapest meat we can find) and potatoes and ate whatever we had in the cooler. After eating and our Bible time, three guys rode up who were going to Denver, Dan, Nathan, and Ziod. Nice guys. We talked a while, but then they had to go. They like to ride at night and have lights. Dan is from Philadelphia and Ziod is from Washington D.C., so we will plan to visit them when we get there. We ended up bedding down around 10 pm. 32 miles.

63

2008-08-06T09:15:00.001-07:00

Wednesday, August 06, 2008, Dighton, Kansas
Well, today we got up very late for us, around 10:00, but it was worth it. The bed was so comfortable; we just melted in the sheets. I let everyone sleep in. The weather looks the same as yesterday, overcast and windy blowing against us. Oh well. I’m not sure how far we’ll go today, but I hope we make it about 30 miles; we’ll see. This morning, Becky and I went to the store to buy more milk. Now I’m here at the library while the rest of the gang is packing stuff up at the B&B. I’ll continue this later....
Well, we made it to Dighton, Kansas. The weather was overcast most of the way, and, unfortunately, the wind was against us. All rode, which is always more fun. A truck driver who saw the kids a ways back from the rest, stopped and gave them some bottles of water and Gatorade. Nice. The hatch door on the van wouldn't open, so we decided to stop at Dighton instead of a town further on because Dighton was bigger, population 1,000+, than those which followed, and finding a reliable mechanic might be harder. When we arrived, we stopped to find a place to set up the tent and the city park was the only place. Because we had had bad experiences at city parks, we were reluctant, but the friendly guy at the store assured us it was safe. It was right next to the public pool, which was still open for another hour and a half, so we headed there to swim and shower. By the time we got there, they decided to close because of threatening weather; however, they did let us shower there for free, which was great, even if it was only with cold water. There was supposed to be a pretty good fishing lake only 9 miles away, so we went to try it out. We caught about 18 small perch and bass and kept only about half of them. After setting up the tent and eating fish and hot dogs in the park, we went to bed. 32 miles.

62

2008-08-05T10:32:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, August 5, 2008, Bed and Breakfast in Dighton, Kansas
I'm going to try this method of keeping the journal up: I'm going to enter information in it whenever possible, even before I finish the day, and I will add additional information later. Right now we are in a library in Dighton, Kansas, taking a break. We haven’t decided if we are going to stay here for the night or go on. The wind has been against us all day and we’ve only gone 24 miles since we left Scott City this morning. We’ll see. We got up a little later than usual because I got up around 5:30 and noticed it was overcast and the wind blowing against us, westerly, so I didn’t think we needed to start early because we might not go too far today. Randy and Jonelle got up and we talked a lot about the trip. They want to sell their belongings and travel around the country in an RV next year, so they could identify with a lot of our feelings. We finally got going around 8:30 under full cloud cover, cool skies, and a headwind. After about 10 miles, the kids called out for me to stop. I thought one of them was having bike trouble. When I turned around, I saw Randy running over to me. Did we forget something at his house? He reaches out his hand to me, and as I shake his hand, he deposits a 100 dollar bill in it, Then he smiled and left. What a blessing! God is surely taking care of us, and may we somehow be a blessing to others. We averaged around 9 mph, quite a contrast to yesterday, and most of us never really felt too energized. When we finally arrived in Dighton, I was glad to stop. We made our usual stop at a convenience store for drinks and to relax a bit, then we went to the library, where we are now. A few minutes ago, a woman came in, looked at me, and asked, “Are you the ones with the bikes?” and then offers us a place to stay a block or two away. It was an old home she was making into a bed and breakfast but it wasn't finished completely. I asked her how much it would be and she said, "Oh, $30 would be fine.
I haven’t even told Gloria yet. I’ll see what she wants to do. I’ll update this entry later........
Well, after she left, I told Gloria about the proposition and she wanted to see the house, so we called the woman and rendezvoused with her there. It was beautiful on the inside, but the outside needed a paint job. Built in the late 1800s, it had high ceilings and plenty of space. There were two bedrooms and two bathrooms, a kitchen, living room and parlor. It was clean and newly remodeled on the inside. She gave us the keys and we went to the store to buy some meat for the evening meal. We all enjoyed lounging around on the beds and couches and listening to different kinds of music on the CD player. After eating and showering, we had our Bible time and finally used the hymnals the nice lady from the Austin Baptist Church had given us and had a nice long time singing the good old hymns. So today was a short riding day, only 24 miles, but we really enjoyed the change of pace and relaxation of staying in the old bed and breakfast (only without the breakfast).

61

2008-08-04T16:49:00.000-07:00

Monday, August 4, 2008, Randy and Joanelle Ryan’s backyard, Scott City, Kansas
Well, we made it to Kansas today. I’m writing this before the day is over just to keep the blog more up to date. Lane got us up when he woke up around 5:00 am. Gloria and I had a good night sleep in a bed, the third since California. After eating breakfast and taking pictures, we headed over to the church building to pick up our bikes and head out for Kansas. We didn’t get a real early start, just before 8:00, but an unseasonable wind was blowing in our direction, east, so we made real good time, the best so far this trip, probably averaging close to 20 mph the whole way. We stopped after 2 miles at the Kansas border for a picture then headed all the way to Leoti, 40 miles away, before stopping at a Convenient type store for drinks and French fries. We rested there for about an hour before continuing on to our final destination, Scott City, population almost 4,000, the biggest we would encounter for some time. We were going to stay at the city athletic club, which had a nice pool and showers, but it was too expensive. Even though the owner was going to cut the price by almost 50%, it was going to cost us $80. So we decided to look around and saw a man standing outside a church (Randy Ryan). We asked him if he knew a place we could set up a tent and he said, “Yeah, in my backyard!” So, we put some of our stuff there at his house, then headed for the public pool to swim and take showers. It was only $1.00 per person. Big black clouds were approaching fast, so we hurried to beat the closing of the pool. When we got there, it began to sprinkle, and before everyone could get in, lightning started, so they shut down the pool, but not before we could shower, so everyone got a shower. Afterwards, the man who worked there walks up and gives me back my money since we couldn’t swim. Nice gesture. Then it began to pour, so we waited out the worst of it, then headed to the library, where I am now. I will update the day tomorrow if there is anything noteworthy to say....
...Continued. Well, we left the library at 7:45 because it was still raining and the wind was blowing pretty hard and it didn't look like we would be able to set up the tent in a dry place, so we hurried back to the athletic club before it closed at 8:00 to see if we could work out a deal with the owner. He could go no lower than $45, so we decided against it. Instead, we went to a cheap Chinese all-you-can-eat and filled up there, hoping the rain would pass in the meantime. It did, and we set up the tent in the Ryan's backyard. This was the first time we have used the tent in over a week. We put the tarp over in case it rained. We got everything set up in the dark and went to bed with the wind gusting pretty hard, flapping the tarp loudly all night, but it didn't rain. Sarah got sick after all that food. We didn't get such a good rest after that. 66 miles.

60

2008-08-04T16:30:00.000-07:00

Sunday, August 3 (Gloria’s birthday), 2008, Stum’s house, Towner, Colorado
We all slept well and got up early enough to pick up everything before the people started arriving for breakfast at the church. Every Sunday they bring over different breakfast food and eat before Sunday school. Lots of good food. The group was fairly small, maybe 30 people total, but the Bible discussion was good and insightful. Afterwards we all headed upstairs to the main sanctuary for the sermon, delivered by a man who preaches at another church in Kansas later in the morning. Afterwards, Chris’s dad, Lane, invited us to his house to spend the day with them. Lane and his family are farmers who raise wheat, sunflowers, and birdseed. They also are very knowledgeable, like most farmers are, about machinery, mechanics, construction, and business, and had their hands full with different projects. The family was very hospitable. We also met two sisters who are working with the Stums for the summer, Martha and Joy. Nice girls. We ate lunch and dinner with them and they asked us to spend the night. The kids played cards, Pit (I have never played it), swam, and watched a movie. Lane managed to reconstruct Paul’s broken chain link from welding rod, and helped us fix the van’s faulty headlight. He also showed us around Towner. Nice people. Lane’s dad came over in the evening and we talked politics mostly. Fun time. Some took showers. All in all, it was a restful, relaxing, enjoyable day. God has placed good people in our path.

59

2008-08-04T15:52:00.000-07:00

Saturday, August 2, 2008, Methodist Church, Towner, Colorado
Finally after a restless night, the phone alarm went off at 4:15 am. It was still dark, and I got up to use the portapotty, As I was walking, I noticed a guy standing across the street in a black shirt looking my way. I thought it was a little strange, but didn’t think much of it as I entered. After a few seconds –BAM. Something hit the side of the portapotty hard. I bolted out and saw the guy running away, so I dashed after him. Once I entered the back yard it was too dark to see well and littered with all kinds of junk, parts, furniture, so as I was working my way through it, he got away or hid and remained quiet. Too bad. We haven’t had very good luck in the city parks, and we probably won’t stay in another one. After eating cereal we left, around 5:15, before sunrise. The wind was slightly with us, and by the crack of dawn, we had already pedaled 10 miles. After about 15 miles, Vicky turned too sharp on a street with gravel and fell. She was a little hurt and after a while, couldn’t keep up, so she rode with the van. Shortly thereafter, we saw two women cycling to Oregon; one was on a recumbent. Later, we saw a guy, Rocco, going to San Francisco. By then it was 11:00 and starting to get real hot; plus the crosswind was starting to become a headwind. When we finally stopped riding at around 12:00, we had gone 73 miles and were very hot, tired, and thirsty. We found shade under a tree, but it was still HOT – too hot to really rest well. I wet myself and kept a wet towel on my head. It worked, and after a while, I could rest. I wasn’t really very hungry but kept drinking. While waiting, I called Uncle Herman and Joe McCroskey. We stayed around 4 hours to wait out the heat and finally got going around 4:30. By then, the crosswind was blowing hard. It’s too bad our direction wasn’t just 5 degrees more to the north. It would have changed to a slight tailwind and made all the difference in the world. As it was, it was slow going, about 10 mph, and we had 30 miles to go. One mile from a small town, Sheradon Lake, Paul’s chain broke. I can’t believe I forgot a master link. Fortunately, we were close to town. Paul walked the bike the remaining mile to the only business, a gas station with a small store. Gloria was already there when I arrived, and the guy at the gas station had already her and us to stay at his church building in Towner, only two miles from the Kansas border, for the night. It was a blessing, especially since it was getting late. He also said he would check for any spare chains and bring them to church tomorrow. It was great that we would be able to attend a church meeting. I like doing that whenever we can. It was only 11 miles to Towner and by dusk, we were there and the odometer read 102 miles. Paul made it too. He wanted to complete the century ride, so he rode Vicky’s bike the last 11 miles. Once there, we ate cold food outside the church and hauled our panniers and sleeping bags to the church basement where we would sleep on the floor for the night. A cleaning lady came over around 8:30 and cleaned up. Once she left, we went to bed. 102 miles.

58

2008-08-04T15:30:00.000-07:00

Friday, August 1, 2008, Ordway City Park, Colorado
Well, we’ve heard after the fact that Ordway is home to many drug affected weirdos. I wish we had known that before we stayed there. We all got up quickly once the first Pueblo Park maintenance worker arrived at 5:30. Since the tent wasn’t set up, we packed up everything and left just after 6:00. The riding was pretty nice – flat and not too windy and the traffic moderate. Johnny rode part of the way; Vicky the whole way. There was a crosswind which probably didn’t affect us much, but the heat really oppressed us, over 100, and by 11:00 am, we were hot and tired, so we stopped in the first café we saw in the town of Ordway. The waitress gave us a cyclists’ welcome brochure with a map and pertinent information for the journey. Apparently they try to cater to the many summer cyclists who pass through. After eating and relaxing there for about an hour, we drove to Lake Henry to swim. The water was warm but refreshing. Later we went to the town store and bought pork chops but came to find out that there were no grills in the park, so we had to use the propane stove. We decided not to set up the tent because it was warm and it didn’t look like it was going to rain, so we just laid down the tarp and sleeping bags. The plan was to ride 100+ miles tomorrow, so we went to bed fairly early, but we didn’t realize the weirdos congregate at the park after dark. First, the athletic weirdos at the basketball court who can’t communicate without screaming at the top of their lungs and find only unsavory subjects to scream about. Then the motorized lowlifes who screeched around the park for 1 ½ hours burning rubber and shouting obscenities out the window at who knows who, maybe us. The police station was at the corner of the park but seemed oblivious. At one point Gloria got in the car and followed the car to get the license plate but no luck. Needless to say, we didn’t sleep well that night. 52 miles.

57

2008-08-01T13:30:00.001-07:00

Thursday, July 31, 2008, Maintenance Facility, Pueblo City Park, Colorado
Like yesterday, I got up around 8:30 am and everyone was asleep except Sarah, who was sitting in the living room quietly reading magazines. I finally perused my bike maps and got a general idea of what to expect on the route to Virginia: the roads will be windier as we head east, more congested, narrower, and in poorer repair than what we’ve had so far. So in many respects, it will be more difficult and more dangerous as we head eastward. I’ll have to buy replacement mirrors for the ones that have broken off the kids’ bikes since we started. Later in the morning, Gloria gave me a haircut, the first one she has ever given me. It turned out good according to all reports. Then we organized the van and filled a box of unneeded items to leave with Emily until we head back west. At 2:30 we left back toward Pueblo. On the way, we stopped at Focus on the Family Headquarters in Colorado Springs. It’s a big place with lots of fun displays and activities for kids. James Dobson was in California, so there was no hope of meeting him. At 6:30 we arrived back at Pueblo. We stopped by the tennis facility to get our bikes and give Ed a bag of pistachios. He gave us all t-shirts from the youth tournament he was holding. After that, we all went to the amusement park and used the free tickets the director had given us. The rides were a great deal: $.25 a ride, the same price I paid for carnival rides as a kid. By 9:00 pm when the park closed, we were hungry so we decided to go to McDonalds, a mistake. It was the worst one I have ever been in. Why? Here are the ten reasons: 1) It was dirty, floors, table tops, counters 2) No ketchup in dispensers 3) Got order wrong 4) Got order wrong the second time 5) Slow, took forever. Some people in line even left 6) Didn’t tell us of specials until after we had ordered and eaten our food 7) Hamburgers were very lopsided, thrown together without any care 8) The ice-cream machine was broken 9) Some employees were openly hostile to one another in full view of the public and 10) The employees were young “cool” teenagers who didn’t like working. So, it took forever to get our poor quality food and it was late when we finally left to Walmart for addition food. By the time we arrived back at our evening resting place, the maintenance facility, and went to bed, it was past midnight, too late to get a good rest for our planned early start tomorrow. I’m tired and tomorrow is supposed to be a scorcher – 105 degrees.

56

2008-08-01T13:27:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, July 30, 2008, (my birthday), Reynolds’ house, Denver, Colorado
I got up at 8:30 after a nice, restful, and therapeutic sleep. Sarah had already gotten up and was out walking their dog, Angel, with Susan. John was up and we ate cereal and blueberries (I’d forgotten how delicious blueberries in cereal were). By 9:30 all were up, and Susan made French toast. Such a hostess! After eating, I was relaxing on the swing on the back porch gazing out at the Rockies, and two hours later I woke up. Then we all went to John’s school where he is principal and had a tour. He wanted us to surprise his secretary by saying we wanted to enroll all seven in the small Christian school as this would be a significant increase in the enrollment. We did and she reacted as expected, happy and excited; then John let her in on the gag. Later, Emily, Haley, and our family went tubing down a river in Boulder. What fun. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my bathing suit, but everyone else did and had a good (and cold) time. On the way back, we stopped at Costco (our first one since Carson City, Nevada) to stock up on biking food. Once home, everyone relaxed and snacked until John came home. I barbequed steaks and we had a delicious meal. After dinner they had a German chocolate cake (my favorite) for my birthday along with some presents. Later, the kids stayed out at the park until past 1:00 am playing Blind Man’s Bluff, while we stayed up talking. A great time. Again, another late night, but refreshing to the soul.

55

2008-08-01T12:48:00.001-07:00

Tuesday, July 29, 2008, The Reynolds’ house, Denver, Colorado
We woke up one by one to the sound of park workers arriving. At around 7am, I got up and walked around the park looking at the zoo, amusement park, and open restrooms for the family. Soon all of us were up so we went to the park office where the director gave me another key and several dollars worth of amusement park tickets for the family. Nice guy. Then we drove to the Laundromat where we washed clothes and dishes; then it was off to two different libraries; the first one had no Internet service. I updated almost all of my journal, but couldn’t upload pictures. Some libraries are very limited in this respect; it’s been an ongoing problem. After the second library, we stopped at Little Caesars for lunch. Then we dropped everyone but Becky off at the movie theater to watch Batman – The Dark Night. Becky’s friend, Emily Reynolds, was driving over from Denver, 130 miles away, to see her, so Becky wanted to be here when she arrived. We went back to the post office to see if my mom’s card had arrived. It hadn’t, so I gave a forwarding address to Alexander, Kansas, where we should be in about a week. Then we went back to the library where I finished updating the blog. Emily called later and came to meet us at the library. She brought another friend with her who was visiting from Georgia: Haley. Emily convinced us to change our plans and stay at her house for a couple of days. Before we could accept, we had to make arrangements for our bikes because they were at the maintenance facility and we were supposed to be out of there by tomorrow morning. It was already past 6pm, so the park director would normally be already gone. If we could not get permission, we wouldn’t be able to leave them there. It was already raining again when we arrived back at the park and the director had already left. [The normal summer weather pattern so far here in Colorado seems to be clear and sunny in the morning, cloudy weather in the afternoon, thunderstorms in the late afternoon and early evening, and clearing skies in the later evening]. We needed someone of authority to give us permission to leave the bikes. The only one available was Ed, the tennis director; he was still in his office by the tennis courts. The youth tennis class had just been cancelled and the lobby was teeming with kids and parents scrambling to get out of the rain and into their cars. I waited for the bustling to simmer down then asked Ed if he could help. He did. He said we could keep our bikes in the tennis lobby and pick them up when we returned. Nice guy, real helpful. So, off we went to pick up the kids from the movies and ride our bikes over to the tennis facility. Then we were off to Denver to stay with Emily’s family. It was already dusk when we left and I was sleepy, so Gloria drove. We got there around 10:45 and Mr. Reynolds, John, had already cooked up a bunch of hamburgers and Mrs. Reynolds, Susan, had prepared other food. Everything was delicious and even though it was late, the food, activity and conversation energized us and we ended up staying up till after midnight. The Reynolds had beds or mattresses for everyone. What a treat! I hadn’t slept in a bed since Nevada.

54

2008-07-29T12:51:00.000-07:00

Monday, July 28, 2008, Porch of Park Maintenance, Pueblo, Colorado
I am the alarm clock every day. Nobody gets up before me. I’m not sure if anyone ever wakes up before me, but if they do, they don’t let on because they want the extra rest. Most stay up too late writing in their journals. We got ready pretty fast this morning and left at 6:50. We had knocked 5 miles off the journey by riding late last night, so we had only about 75 miles to Pueblo. Johnny and Sarah were too tired to ride, so the six of us took off without them on a beautiful ride under clear skies. We had a gradual climb for most of the first 30 miles to the summit, which was under 10,000 feet. One of my chains fell off about seven times, lack of tension, which I must adjust soon. We made pretty good time up. I think everyone was giving extra effort because we were looking forward to finishing the Rockies and all the mountain climbs. As beautiful as it was, we all will be looking forward to flat land. When we hit the summit, we had 10 miles of downhill coasting. It’s so enjoyable to coast for miles at 30+ mph. You feel like you’re riding a motorcycle, all without pedaling and it’s especially exhilarating after grinding slowly up a mountain for hours at 4 mph. The cool breeze flowing past your pores rejuvenates your weary body. We saw four groups of cyclists today, the most ever, a British couple, Keith from North Carolina going to San Francisco, two recumbent cyclists from Virginia, and a trio of teenagers going it alone cross country, unsupported. Pueblo is where the Western Express and Transcontinental routes converge, so we will probably be seeing many more cyclists crossing our paths. The terrain changed dramatically from mountains to plains, green and wet to brown and dry, cool weather to hot. It was hard hot riding; the last 10 miles to Pueblo and I was glad when we stopped at the first gas station store (saw the cheapest gas so far - $3.79 a gallon). Adriana and I bought the largest cherry Icee (64 oz.) they sold and refilled it twice. Gloria drove back to Vicky and the boys who were 8 miles back wilting in the hot wind and brought them cold drinks. They eventually arrived wore out but we all needed to ride ½ mile to the city park where, according to the map, the campground was. After arriving at the park, Gloria and I drove to the p.o. to pick up our mail addressed to General Delivery. My maps and Cathy’s letter with Adriana’s camera card were there, but not my mom’s. A huge storm front was moving in quickly, and before we arrived back at the park, big powerful raindrops were shooting down from the clouds. As we pulled up, we saw the kids running for shelter by the park pool. They didn’t hear our honking over the raging storm, but finally one of them heard us and signaled the others. They ran back amidst streaks of lightning and peals of thunder. We left the bikes where they were [even the most opportunistic of thieves wouldn’t have braved the weather] and drove to locate a suitable shelter for the night. After inquiring a couple of places, Ed, the tennis director, gave us permission and a key to set up for the night in the park maintenance facility, on the porch, which had a 12’ awning, enough to shield us from the rain, should it come. After situating our bikes on the porch, we drove off, with the help of NUVI, our GPS, to find a Chinese buffet and we did – Panda Buffet. We arrived at 7:00 and didn’t leave till 8:45, eating and drinking almost continuously. Oh so good! The waitress was very attentive and the food was great, and coupled with the fact we were famished from the long ride, it was a very enjoyable meal. It turns out the waitress has a cyclist son who has toured cross country to raise money for leukemia. She returned our tip at the end of the evening and said, “Buy something for the children with it.” Then everyone went to Walmart to shop, except me; I stayed in the van and wrote in the journal. I had a couple of days of catching up to do. When we arrived back at the maintenance facility, I called Mama and gave her an update. Finally at around midnight, we began looking for the “always open” public park restrooms. They were locked, so we went back to the maintenance and used their hose to clean up before hitting the deck. 74 miles.

53

2008-07-29T12:17:00.000-07:00

Sunday, July 27, 2008, Field near Cotapaxi, Colorado
The fire pit was great; it kept us warm during the cold night. I woke up to sunlight beaming on the teepee walls, 7 am, late for me, but after getting up and starting the morning routine and throwing a fishing line in the creek, I decided to let the kids sleep in; they had had a hard ride yesterday and a real late night. The first child up was the first to konk out the night before, Sarah, and she needed to go to the restroom but didn’t make it in time. She then took a shower while I wrote in the journal. All wanted to ride today to conquer the tallest pass we would encounter the whole trip. We immediately started our steep ascent toward Monarch Pass. For seven miles we plugged along slowly, about 3-4 mph. It was sunny, but at that altitude the air was so cool that you didn’t overheat. We took one rest stop, then climbed the rest of the way to the top of the pass. At the summit was a museum of mountain wildlife and a snack shop. We didn’t stay too long before we headed down the mountain. For fourteen miles we didn’t pedal, but snaked our way down the mountains at breakneck speed, at least me and Adriana did. What a thrill! Like usual, Adriana and I arrived at the bottom in Poncha Springs way ahead of the others, so I took the opportunity to take a nap on the ground in front of a closed ski rental store. When I woke up, everyone was there, so was the van, and all were snacking. All I wanted to do was sleep, but I reluctantly got up and eventually we all headed off as a group toward the town of Salida. The wind had changed and now was at our backs, so we were flying; however, big dark clouds were forming and moving toward us fast. As we were entering the town, big drops started pelting us. Fortunately, for Adriana and me, we found cover right away because we were 5-10 minutes ahead of the others. But the others got wet. Eventually we all ducked into a sheltered store front porch to wait out the downpour. After a while, most all of the bad stuff had passed, so we suited up our rain gear and headed out behind the storm which was going east like we were but had blown past us, so we followed it at a safe distance. As we made gains on the clouds, we could see the rain balling in sheets not too far off in the distance, so we took a half hour break to let it go away. The plan worked, and we managed to stay out of the downpour all the way to Cotapaxi. When we arrived at 6pm, our first order of business was to find a camp site. Unfortunately, KOA was the only one in town and they always charge extra for more than four people, which we can’t afford, so we pedaled on in the direction of our final destination tomorrow, Pueblo, 80 miles away. Gloria was starting to get nervous because it was already 7:00 pm and we didn’t know where we were going to stay. The areas lining the road were bordered by fences and not too suitable for throwing up a tent, so I stopped at a nearby farmhouse and asked if I could put up a tent anywhere. The man of the house gave us permission to camp in one of his secluded fields. It was almost dusk when we finally arrived, so we all did our part to set up the tent, organize our belongings and cook. I usually do the cooking. Today we splurged again and ate almost everything we had: a dozen eggs, tortillas, lettuce, stew items (pork, leftover spaghetti sauce, onion, corn, potatoes), and, of course, drinks, drinks, and more drinks of every flavored beverage we could create using a variety of flavored powders, sodas, and water. All were full, but not clean, when we finally turned in for the night. Tomorrow would be a big day – 75 miles, including the last Rocky Mountain climb, to Pueblo, where I would pick up my next map series all the way to Virginia and letters from my mom and sister. 60 miles.

52

2008-07-29T11:47:00.000-07:00

Saturday, July 26, 2008, Sargents RV Campground, Colorado
All of us rode today, which was great. Becky rode Willie’s bike with Sarah behind. We rode next to the beautiful big Blue Mesa Reservoir for 30 miles, most of the way to the large town of Gunnison, population 5,000+. The weather was perfect for summer riding, calm breeze, and cloud cover from the scorching sun. We had only one summit to climb today, leaving only two left for the Rockies. We arrived in Gunnison around 2:00 pm and went to Safeway for food: rotisserie chicken and turkey, lettuce, Arizona teas (the big ones, 44 oz. for only $1.00), cheese, ham, bananas, granola bars, carrots, an onion, and liter sodas (only $.79). Then we rode in the right direction until we found a shady grassy area to picnic – this time a park. We planned to eat our fill then begin riding again another 32 miles to the town of Sargents, at the foot of the highest summit of the trip – Monarch Pass, 11,312 feet. Everyone was hungry and it was great to feast on everything we had. Afterwards we stopped at a McDonalds for a sundae to top it off. It was 5:15 pm before we finally left, so we had to make good time. The conditions were perfect – almost no wind, cool, and we felt well-fed and strong. My chain fell off a few times; maybe the derailer needs adjusting again. For the last five miles, it sprinkled and the wind started blowing against us, but Adriana and I made it at 8:00 pm, right before the store closed. The guy running the place let us in on a special treat – He let us stay in one of the teepees which was great, not only for the novelty, but because we wouldn’t have to set up and take down our tent in the rain. Gloria arrived about 15 minutes later, worried about the rest of the group riding so late and against the wind, 5 miles back, so we drove the van back to them and put on the hazard lights and drove in front of them and let them draft off the van at 13 mph. It was starting to get dark, but they made good time this way and before long, they were there and were so thrilled when they saw the teepee. We had showers and snacks before we went to sleep. The teepee had electrical plugs to charge our cameras and cell phones too. It even had a propane fire pit in the center which we used to keep us entertained during our Bible time (something about watching a mesmerizing flame) and warm in our sleeping bags during the cold night at that high altitude. It was after midnight when most of us finally hit the sack. Very nice day. I like arranging our day with a big meal in the middle, followed by more evening riding. It enables us to ride at the best times of the day and also alleviates hunger in the evening after a long day’s ride. 78 miles.

51

2008-07-29T11:35:00.000-07:00

Friday, July 25, 2008, Campground, Cimarron, Colorado
We woke up around 6:30 and took down the tent and got ready to go. After our Bible time, we decided to splurge and go to the best breakfast place in town (according to Belinda, the camp manager) – Nana’s Country Cooking, only 2 miles out of the way. We ordered two extra plates of pancakes. The food was delicious. We ate our normal amount and we left little for the dishwasher to clean. We finally left at 10:00. The wind was against us and we were climbing our fourth-to-the-last summit. The going was slow. I thought the breakfast would help, but I’m not sure. Everyone was sleepy and lethargic. It took about 3 ½ hours to climb the summit; finally, the downhill.We coasted down into Cimarron. We were planning to go further, but all of the sudden a huge wind storm blew against us and brought in big grey clouds. Thinking it would rain on us, we made camp at the only campground in Cimarron for $12.00 – no showers, but they had a grill. At least we were there early, around 2:00 pm, so we had time to look around. There was a beautiful clear river that wound its way through a canyon next to a dam. We went fishing there, but no luck. I had one on all the way to the bank before it shook out the hook. Too bad. Becky went running on a nearby trail. At dusk we returned and cooked up 10 lbs. of potatoes. It took forever to cook. 25 miles.

50

2008-07-29T11:05:00.000-07:00

Thursday, July 24, 2008, 1st campground in Montrose, Colorado, site of the town’s first hanging tree.
I got up around 6:30 and woke up the others. The bike seats were wet. We packed up most things and headed out. Willie didn’t come because he was sick, but John and Vicky did. It was really cold, and going downhill, I couldn’t keep from shivering. The commuter traffic to Telluride was pretty bad coming at us and much of the time, there was no shoulder. Also, there was a lot of commercial traffic and semis, making it a harrowing ride. I was glad after 15 miles when we took another, less traveled road. The gradual climb seemed easy, and as the morning wore on, the sun warmed us and dried all our wet gear. Gloria stopped along the way and dried out the tent and tarp. Adriana and I made great time to Montrose, arriving at around 2:00 pm. We waited for the others, drinking sodas and refills. After everyone came, we did the usual routine: the others rested while Gloria and I scoped out the city to determine where we would camp and where we would shop. Once that was decided, we set up camp. Then I drove to Home Depot and bought another tarp (also too small, but combining the two should work) to supplement the one we have and keep the tent totally dry in the rain. Back at the camp, we cooked up the lentils, pork and beans, and spaghetti. Everyone got plenty. Then we took COLD showers. For some reason the hot water wasn’t working. Next we visited the original “hanging tree.” Later we went to Dairy Queen and Wendys, depending on your preference, for some ice-cream; then we went off to Walmart. I slept in the van while everyone else went shopping. When we got back to camp, I went right to sleep. Later I found out that John and Sarah had accidentally walked into a water filled ditch and soaked themselves before going to bed. 64 miles.

49

2008-07-29T10:33:00.000-07:00

Wednesday, July 23, 2008, Sunshine Campground, Colorado
We slept in till 9:00, nice. The sun was out and drying the tent. Today we drove off to Telluride to see the famous resort for the day. Beautiful place, bikes everywhere, 15 mph speed limit in town. First we stopped at a grocery store for food, expensive, but the grapes were not, only $1.29 a pound, and firm, fresh, and delicious, so we bought about six pounds and some bananas. There was free parking next to the river, so we parked and walked along the river trail to the gondolas, free also, that took you high above the city, up to the top of the mountain. A fun ride, fast too; the kids loved it, so did I. Mountain bikes are allowed on the gondolas, and some people bike down the ski runs. Sounds like fun. At the top, we went to a nature museum where a ranger taught us about trees and wildlife. From there we boarded another gondola to Mountain Village where John, Sarah, and I did trampoline bungee jumping. Fun. After many double back flips at that altitude, I was pooped. Again, all free. After all had had enough, we took the two gondolas back down to Telluride and walked around the city. One of the clothing stores used to be the bank that Butch Cassidy robbed $10,000 from at gunpoint in the 1800s. Across the street was the original vault that housed the money. We took pictures in front of it, of course. By then it had begun to rain, so we went to the library, everyone’s favorite place. Unfortunately, I didn’t have my journal with me, so I read the blog and tried to respond to the messages, but no luck. I’m going to have to ask someone who knows, so he can show me. After a couple of hours, we decided to leave. It was still raining, but the public bus came by shortly, and we all boarded. Again, no charge. The driver of had dreadlocks and was playing jazz music. Kinda soothing. He dropped us off at our van and we rode back to the campground. Telluride turned out to be such a nice place to visit with so many interesting things to see and do for free. Unfortunately, it never stopped raining, but at just the right time there was a lull in the rain which allowed us to start a fire in the dampness by carefully constructing a fine stick pyramid and setting it on fire. It’s hard enough to start a fire when it’s damp, but at high elevations, there is less oxygen and it always seems harder. I’m going to buy some lighter fluid. Finally we got the fire going and managed to cook and eat in the rain, hot dogs and potatoes. The stuff we had inside the tent got wet because the tarp didn’t fully cover it, so lots of clothes and two sleeping bags got wet. After everyone had eaten and gone to bed, I stayed up trying to dry my much needed sweatshirt by dangling it over the fire for 45 minutes; it worked and I got an upper body workout. I’m not sure when I finally went to bed, but it was late.

48

2008-07-29T09:54:00.000-07:00

Tuesday, July 22, 2008, Sunshine Campground, past Lizard Head Pass, Colorado
We got a fairly early start, 7:20 and headed out under clear skies up the 50 mile climb to the 10, 222 ft. summit – Lizard Head Pass. It would be the third highest summit of the trip but probably the longest continual climb. According to the profile map, there was supposed to be a fairly steep grade immediately leaving Dolores. I kept waiting for it – 3 miles, 5 miles, 8 miles – no steep climb. Could it be this way the whole way to Rico, past the halfway point? Yes!! What a great discovery. The grade followed a river and was so gradual that it took little effort to climb, and the scenery was beautiful – green hills, trees, ranch houses nestled in the meadows. Chris met us about 15 miles up the road. We took his picture and interviewed him on the video and gave him a cool drink. On the way, we saw a dead black bear alongside the road which stunk to high heaven. I held my breath and videoed it a short time before I needed air. When we got to Rico, it began to rain so we left to try to beat the worst of it over the summit 13 miles away. After getting wet, we donned our rain gear, [all except Willie who must have thought it was a sign of weakness to need protection against the elements and, thus, unfitting for a teenage boy eager to enter manhood] but got drenched anyway. Five miles from the summit, it became very cold, the sky darkened and it began to pour. We didn’t take any more breaks because we would have only gotten colder, so we pressed on. Actually the cold helped motivate us; it made me appreciate the hard climbs because more effort = more warmth. The rain began to subside a little when we reached the pass, but it was still cold and going downhill through the wind with wet bodies was going to be a torturing test of cold endurance. In addition, the wet brakes wouldn’t work as well, so we had to keep our speed down, prolonging the agony. My arms were shivering uncontrollably, so I had to concentrate on steadying the bike more. Fortunately, the traffic was careful and traveled by us slowly and gave us space. We passed by the pristine Trout Lake, nestled amidst majestic mountains. It reminded me of Switzerland, so beautiful. Finally we saw the sign, “Sunshine Campground” and pulled over to check it out. We were only 8 miles from Telluride, the famous tourist resort, so we waited to decide until we could compare the two. The Telluride campground was all full so we set up at Sunshine. We decided to stay there two days so that we could spend an extra day in Telluride tomorrow. Next week, I plan to be in Pueblo to pick up my mail. Mama said she was going to send me a birthday card (July 30) there. I’ll put my next General Delivery address in the blog once we get to Pueblo. 56 miles.

47

2008-07-29T09:37:00.000-07:00

Monday, July 21, 2008, Cozy Comfort RV Park, Dolores, Colorado
I got up around 7:30 and took a walk around town near the campground. After eating cereal, the four oldest children and I went to the library and I updated the blog. We could only stay till around 10:30 because we had to go back to the hospital in Cortez to fill out some paperwork for yesterday’s visit. After that, we went to the library where I did more work on the blog. Unfortunately, it’s often impossible for me to upload pictures to the blogsite because the libraries have restrictions on CD use and I don’t have the right cord to connect from the computer to the camera. That’s why I have so few pictures on the website. Since we were in Cortez, we stopped again at Walmart and bought shoes for John and sandals for Vicky and three ½ gallons of ice-cream for everyone; we ate at the same spot as yesterday, in the shade under the tree and wolfed it down directly from the carton, all nine of us. It reminded me of watching one of those National Geographic specials featuring the lifestyles of African lions in the wild devouring a recent kill, heads buried deep in the carcass, each crowding the others out to get as much as possible. In a few minutes, two of the half gallons were gone. When we arrived back in Dolores, the kids went back to the library and I started the fire to grill the chicken. Once the fire was going, I picked up Paul, Vicky, and John and we went fishing. Vicky caught the only keeper, a bass, but I hooked a BIG fish that broke the line; the drag was set too tight. Too bad; it was probably the biggest fish I ever hooked in a lake. When we arrived back at the camp, we met Chris, a cyclist from London who was heading the same direction as we were, so we invited him for dinner and showed him our bike maps, which were better than the one he was using. The kids enjoyed listening to his accent.

46

2008-07-21T11:23:00.000-07:00

Sunday, July 20, 2008, Cozy Comfort RV Park, Dolores, Colorado
We slept in till 9:00, then got ready ot go to First Baptist Church in Cortez. The church there is breaking away from the American Baptist Church association because of the association's tolerance of the gay life style and its departure from biblical authority, so they are taking a stand for what's right. Sarah was sick, so after the service, we drove to the hospital and it turns out she has strep throat. We filled the prescription of antibiotics and then decided to splurge and go to a Chinese buffet. The selection was small, but the food was good. I methodically packed it in, plate after plate of main dishes followed by plates of fruit and desserts. By 3:30 we were done. It's now 10:15 pm and I'm still satisfied. After the meal, I was extremely sleepy, so as soon as we arrived back at the tent, I took a nice 2 ½ hour nap, which was just as wonderful as the meal, just what the doctor ordered. The younger ones, except Sarah, went fishing again tonight, but Willie was the only one who caught anything, a small bass. Oh, I forgot, Paul caught a small green water snake too.

45

2008-07-21T11:07:00.000-07:00

Saturday, July 19, 2008, Cozy Comfort RV Park, Dolores, Colorado
After eating cereal and cleaning up, we pedaled off toward Dolores. Sarah threw up last night and has a sore throat and a fever, so we are going to look for a clinic to take her to as soon as possible. Johnny and Vicky rode again today. This area is a major migratory route for deer and we saw some along the way. The ride was a constant series of rolling hills punctuated by putrid smells of decomposing deer alongside the road every ½ mile or so. Yesterday we saw a hurt deer sitting alongside the road; it wasn't bleeding, but apparently it had been grazed by a car. Unfortunately, there wasn't anything we could do. Even though the ride wasn't far, it was hot, and I was glad when we arrived in Dolores, population 857. One of the two campgrounds was full, but fortunately there was one tent site still left at the other campground at the end of town. After setting up camp, we drove to the larger town of Cortez, where we went shopping at Walmart, first one in a long time. We stocked up on needed supplies and bought a rotisserie chicken and fruit for a late lunch, which we ate under some shade trees on the grass next to the Walmart parking lot. Right before dusk, the kids and I went fishing at McPhee Reservoir and Vicky caught a bass. 36 miles.