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

Met up with Celia Clark, a past dental hygienist of Alex's.  Bless her heart, she was down visiting her mother and sister and nephew.  Her mother lives in Comfort, Tx which was 15 minutes from Kerrville.  They picked me up and we took a quick trip to Fredericksburg.  Fun town with lots of shops, so I did the town in 30 minutes or less, speed shopping. Got to get in in while I can.  Got the purchases put in the mail, had lunch, bada bing, bada boom, done!  Her nephew, Julian who is visiting with his mother, (consequently they live in Japan) wrote in my journal a Japanese saying something like...Not good to hurry too much.   I think I will take his advice and slow down a bit, as we are half way through our adventure.  He took a photo of me with an armadillo.  (To follow.)   Celia met me the next morning in Comfort with a piece of pie to get me on my way.  It was the best pie ever!  Her and her April Fool's pranks.  Sue and I bought out one store in Comfort.  We went crazy!  Look for the cozy in Comfort photo. (To Follow.)   We continued on and visited a candle shop in Sisterville.  We love stores that ship.  Rode through Waring TX visited a gallery and an old Texaco station/general store.

Next day we rode 93 miles.   I am getting worn out riding the high mileage days.  We visited Wimberly, cute town, cute shops, but they were closed on Sun.  I save a ton of money.  No shopping, only ride opportunities.  No pie...we were all very sad.    In Kyle, we found the perfect pie shop, but that was closed too.  Oh my...no P.I.E.

Today we had an easy 39 miles to La Grange.  No pie, but we can get Alligator at Boss's.  Hmm, think I'll pass and have BBQ...darn they are closed on Mon.  I am getting desperate.  Today's ride through Bastrop State Park was wonderful!  Tree lined roads, lot's of wildflowers.  I took a photo of a REALLY BIG BLACK BULL, I was glad there was an electric fence, as he was not happy about the photo.  He had to get up and let me know.  I met a really cute pig and some white Brahma Bulls.  Rode through Winchester, but nothing happening there.  No water, nothing.  Tomorrow we ride to Navasota and have a rest day. 

Half the ladies are doing the laundry olympics tonight...I think I'll pass.  If I can get one last  load done, I am shipping home the snow clothes and the rest I'll do in the tub from here on out.  It's difficul trying to get the clothes dry in the humidity, that's the problem.  Note to self...do not confuse toothpaste for butt cream.  As Hanna says...in her heavy German accent..."Rrreeeady?"  Here I went. MK

Arrived in Bracketville at Fort Davis Springs.  Had a great swim at the pool.  It was wonderful.  We headed to Camp Wood.  The mornings have been misty until 1-2 pm, then it's very hot.  At Camp Wood we stayed in some very cute cottages.  I slept like I was at home.  Felt great!  On the way to Camp Wood we stopped and took a swim in the Nueces River. 

After Camp Wood we rode to Vanderpool.  Great ride, few climbs.  Stopped in Leakey and bought some salami.  Yum it really hit the spot.  Visited with the owner at the Hog Pen biker stop.  I was able to taste test his bbq.  That was good too!  After riding through 3-4 miles of dirt road construction we arrive at the Foxfire Cabins.  Felt like we were at camp.  We did not swim in the river, as it was a bit too cool, rain and overcast.  There was a ghost haunting the cabins...I think it was the ghost from Emery Pass. 

Yesterday we rode from Vanderpool to Kerrville.  We had a great pie stop at Love Creek Orchards.  Yum, the apple pie was out of this world.  I could have stayed there all day.  Fun place.  After one 14% grade climb before the pie, we took off and had one last climb, afterall we are in Texas Hill Country.  It too was 14% grade, only 1 mile long, but still a bit of work.  Makes me wonder what Loveland Pass and Vail are.  The non-hill ladies are not liking these climbs and are anxiously awaiting for the earth to become flat. 

Today is rest day.  Yea!  I am ready to rest.  We all got to do free laundry at Foxfire so no laundry today.  I had a surprise message when I arrived.  Celcia Clark a past employee of Alex's office is here visiting her family.  They are taking me to Fredericksburg today, together with a run to the post office, Walgreens and whatever else I need.  I am so excited.  It's raining so I am glad to have access to a vehicle.  Need to go and do some exploring!  Take care-MK