The last of the photos are now posted.  I have been back in town for a week now after spending a few days of R & R, well shopping, in St. Augustine.  I drove my car this week for the first time in two months.  I love my washer, dryer and coffee pot.  I like my clean sheets, they don't scare me.  My cats like me again and I am back to work next week.  After a brief check in with the folks at  Rocky Mountain Stroke Association, this ride raised over $18,000.  That's great!  Thank you again for all your support, prayers and donations.  This experience will live in my heart forever, or at least until I decide to do it again, in a different direction maybe?  Northern Tier 2010?  Hmmmm.  Feel free to stay in touch.  This website will be up and running and continuing on with my future adventures.  I have a few in the planning stage.  Hugs-Mary Kay

Tomorrow, Wibley and I complete our bike tour.  I am tired and my legs are worn out.  You want to talk about Lactic Acid!  Whoa!  It takes me 5-10 minutes of pain and agony to get these legs spinning every time we stop.  Darn that hurts.  Tomorrow our last day ride is 45 miles.  We leave by 7-8 am to allow 3-4 hours ride time.  We arrive at the St. Augustine Fire Station by 11 am.  The police will give us an escort into town the last 5 miles.  We arrive at the beach and go for a swim!  That will be great because if we want to cry, we can do  it in the water!  I'm sure all my emotions will just come pouring out.  After the dip, we have a picnic.  Early afternoon we ride our bikes to the bike shop to drop them off for packing and shipping.   We then shuttle to the hotel and get ready for our last banquet and dinner as a group.  

This has been a wonderful journey.  I am so glad we all made it home safely.  Thank you to everyone for your prayers to help keep us safe.  We needed them all.  Thank you everyone that donated funds to Rocky Mountain Stroke Association.  I can't wait to hear how much money was raised.

My first phone call from the beach will be to my sister Kathy, as she inspired me and gave me the strength and courage to complete this ride.  My journey is no comparison to her journey and the path traveled by other stroke victims. 

I arrive back in Denver on Sunday evening to greet my devoted husband that has taken every one of my phone calls and told me how proud he was of me.  Thanks Mom for your weekly calls, they were needed and greatly appreciated.  Thank you Dad and Sandy for coming to New Mexico to visit me early in the trip.  That gave me the boost I needed to finish this ride.  Thank you everyone! Love and Hugs-Mary Kay and Wibley.   Once I get back to Denver next week, I will upload the final photos.  I'm coming home! 

Finished cruising through MS with no further incidents.  Kathy Banks' sister Belinda greeted us with a crawfish spread.  Yum, it was great.  She also had some great attitude juice.  We were able to witness the local prom of Pascagoula High School at our hotel. 

Dauphin Island-AL.  Visited a gator farm at the beginning of our ride today.  Gators are good, crocs are bad.  One of the gators was 30 yrs. old.  Saw a blue heron.  Notice the Katrina Water Line in the photo.  Still having great weather.  Lots of oysters and shrimp in this area.  Saw some guys fishing and they were catching Spanish Mackerel.  Arrived to the gulf shores via a very long bridge to the island.  Candace made it across, with here eyes shut.  Don't know how she did that.  Had lunch a Barnacle Bills. 

Rest day on the island.  Rested by the pool. End.  Check out Southern Lady magazine and Southern Living magazine. 

Florida-Pensacola.  Caught the 8 am ferry from the island.  Did some shopping at the beach shop, need cooler riding shirts.  Had a great snack at the  Crab Shack.   Took a dip in the gulf a Peridio Keys State Park-nice!  Went to Lagoon State Park and luckily I got a map because I got lost and off route in Pensacola.  Fortunately, I was able to visit historic Pensacola and do a little shopping.  Eventually found my way to the hotel following a much better route, so all was good. 

Crestview, Marianna-On the hunt for Amber Jack or Trigger fish.  Hear both are great, however, we are getting away from the gulf coast, might have to wait until the end of the ride. 

Ride to Marianna was a 90 mile day.  Whew, long and hot.  Stopped at Sally's for lunch and saw a cute cat and a duck nesting in a flower pot.    Yuck hotel.  Ick!  I want my own clean bed, etc. 

Check out worm fiddling in Alabama.  Very interesting. 

Today was a very short ride, getting ready to dip into the pool.  Saw a dead Copperhead Snake.  Guess they are poisonous.  Today we are having a "poker run" ride.  See who wins the pot at dinner. 

Tips de Tour vs. Re-Entry Hints:  (Provided by Sandra)

1. Utilize any bush, tree or pole as a restroom facility.   Re-entry-Familiarize yourself with the ceramic toilet and the handle that works the flushing mechanism.

2.  Rush to your hotel room with your bike.  Re-entry-Do not rush up the stairs with your bike at home.  Your husband/partner is sick of hearing about your bike trip.  Bikes should not be allowed in the bedroom.

3.  Learn the "guard-rail" tinkle technique.  Re-entry-When you see a guardrail, don't do it.


Quote of the day:
On a cross country journey, movement is your life-blood.    Cheers-St. Augustine Here I come!
(P.S. Look for some new photos.)   Hugs-MK

Simsport to Louisiana-Had another fantastic night in a great hotel in Simsport, yes complete with the Midnight Train to Georgia...we actually had to hold onto the bed as the train passed.  Rode to SF today, everything here is very green, the little mud houses are crawfish colonies.

Louisiana-Arrived in St. Francisville and scoured the town for shopping.  Not much in town, but still enjoyed the rest day.  We are staying at a plantation with various cottages on the property.  I am in the "Pond House" complete with a peacock and duck pond.  We toured the mansion with the owner Ann Butler.  She is a famous author and I purchased a cookbook written by her exclusive to the area, complete with Buttermilk pie recipe, however, she claims the Bourbon pie is much better.  You will notice photos of the MS river as high as the trees and areas where the ferry road is closed.  There are beautiful homes in town not many flowers as summer is hear and the flowers are done already. The next rest day was a ride to town to mail home a few  treasures.  We made dinner at the cottage and got to bed early as next day was 127 mile ride.

The 127 mile ride was long, windy and I am worn out.  All went well. The area is very green, pastures with cows, it all  looks like farm country.  No swamp yet.  No live crocs or armadillos. 

Mississippi-arrived this am in MS.  Short 67 mile ride today.  Good thing, because I am tired.  Had a good day until we were attacked by two dogs.  Unfortunately 2 of my riding partners were bitten.  I  gave an assist to other riders trying to distract the dogs so they could avoid being bitten.  The sheriff came, a complaint was filed, the ladies went to the hospital, got medical care and all is well.  Well, they are sore, but they stayed on their bikes and did not fall down.    Tomorrow we finish MS, hit AL for 2 days of rest at Dauphin Island-we hear white sand and condos!!!  Then we start FL.  We are nearing the end of our journey.  Check out the updated photos.  (Sorry for the dog bite photos.)  Oh, note to family...do not be concerned about the "bridge out" I made it across.

We have finished Texas.  We enjoyed all the wildflowers and missed all the antique fairs.  In Burton TX I visited a cotton gin.  On rest day I mailed home the cold clothes and toured an old house.  The next day we rode in pouring rain that lasted all day long.  I was soaked.  I had to stop to empty the water out of my bike shoes.  I met a duck at the bbq place, that was closed.  I still am in search of TX bbq.  Next day we rode in great weather and stopped and had buttermilk pie.  Yum, it was sooo good.  I'll have to try and find a recipe. Next day we crossed the TX state line.  Last night some ladies from last year's trip brought us gumbo and pecan pie.  It was very good.  Tonight another participant of other tours brought us crawfish and beer.  We had a lot of fun eating the crawfish in the parking lot.  Tomorrow we ride 69 miles (after two 90 day miles in a row.)  After tomorrow, we need to shuttle into St. Francisville, as the Miss. river is running too high and the ferry will not run since the river is too high.  We need to drive North 90 miles to the nearest bridge to cross.  Oh, well...just more shopping time.  It will be great to get off the bike, as we are all very tired, all of our knees hurt and we are a bit worn down.  Tomorrow we stay at the Sportman's Motel...hmmm could be interesting.   More details later.  We are almost done!  Few more weeks!  Hugs-mk