Georgia on My Mind

Here we are in Eufaula Alabama. The intrepid bike drivers have caught up with our original schedule. Today went well and we made better time than I expected. Only a couple of flats helped.

Our motel is just across the street from the river banks of the Chattahoochee river, and the Georgia state line is right here too. So I walked across the street and around the back of the sign, so I was the first of our group to be in Georgia!
Having admitted this act, I got lots of grief from the guys about being a team and togetherness and stuff like that. But I am afraid I failed to feel the guilt.

Georgia only a few feet away!

Georgia across the river/lake.

I don't know if there is a dam downstream, but Lake Eufaula is huge and is basically part of the river here.

We had dinner in a recommended Cajun restaurant and it was really good. Crayfish  was my choice - this is the south after all. Because of the relatively short ride tomorrow, Monty and Dave decided they wanted to go to a movie. Bad news - the closest theater is an hour away. So the motel guy says " why don't you just rent a movie and watch it in our theater room?" Wow, what a great facility. There are 6 reclining chairs and an overhead projection system. We felt like we actually were in a theater, but more comfortable and cozier. No popcorn, but M&Ms worked o.k.

So the day has been a good one. We'll go to Dawson, Georgia tomorrow and spend the weekend there with some old friends of Monty's. Then off for the last 3 days of the trip. Yowser!

More when I get around to it. God bless.

Biking Weather

Today was a good day overall in that the guys covered a lot of territory, even though the roads were pretty bad (no shoulders). It rained hard last night, but by morning things had cleared out. So no wet riding clothes and muddy bikes today. Getting out of Tuscaloosa during rush hour was a little slow and busy. But soon we were on the road, fixing a flat. Just part of the process.

We are in Prattville tonight. That's just north of Montgomery, so we are very nearly back on schedule. There is a Mexican restaurant and a Dairy Queen right next door, so we are pretty much in heaven. However, as much as I hate to complain, the chili relleno (sp? ) was the worst! (I'll probably remember how to spell it right after I publish this.) I guess they don't do it like they do in the southwest. But I was able to get over it with a banana shake.

Lots of Trees

What an Idyllic Setting

The pictures are just some of the Alabama countryside.  It's pretty heavily forested. The timber trucks are plentiful. I almost felt like I was back in Oregon.

Everyone is well and in good spirits. Thanks for the prayers. The end is in sight! God bless.

Into Alabama

Today was a day when I seriously thought about not blogging. In other word, nothing noteworthy happened. The weather was lousy this morning and the bikes didn't get on the road until 9:30. Even then there were some pretty good showers and Monty and Dave got very wet and very muddy, as did their bikes. They also had a few flats, and it is becoming apparent that the tires are wearing out. So we only made it to Tuscaloosa today. That leaves us with some 30 miles to catch up. But no worries, there is at least one scheduled short day ahead. The roads here have been from good to wagon trails. Tough on tires.

We went to a bike shop and bought some new tires. Hopefully they will improve the flat situation.

When we entered Alabama today we were ready to take pictures of the "Welcome to Alabama" sign. but all we got is a regular highway sign telling us we were in Alabama. Dave stopped and found the "Welcome" sign laying in the weeds. I guess things are tough all over.

Don't know where we will get to tomorrow. So we'll all be surprised then.The good news is that the bad weather is supposed to be gone. One week to go! God bless.

And the Rains Came!

Early in the Trip

Rainy Weather

Indeed they did. The early morning was o.k., but then Monty's bike broke another spoke, and his rear wheel was getting pretty wobbly. Then the rain started in earnest. The road shoulder was very narrow and the big trucks were speeding by and making things even wetter. Their ability to see the bikes with all of the spray was a concern too. So we decided it was unsafe to continue, and Monty's bike really needed fixing. So we loaded everything in the truck and went to Starkville where we believed there was a bike shop-and there was. They re-spoked Monty's wheel and aligned everything. Starkville is about 20 miles short of our planned destination, but due to the weather, we made the journey by truck. Later the weather was better, so our bikers made up the distance previously bypassed by biking through the countryside. Bad weather, broken spokes, and a few flat tires made us appreciate yesterday when everything seemed to go well.

Anyway, we are settled in our motel, had a good dinner, and are ready to rest up for tomorrow. Another new state will be entered in a few miles (Alabama) which is always fun.

Ready to Roll!

Tucson Sunset

Some pictures have been requested from early in the trip when I hadn't yet figured out how to add them. So we're hoping for some sun tomorrow and a good trip to our next destination, Brent, Alabama or wherever we decide to make it. God bless.

View From the Cab

Good thing you can't see me cause there is smoke coming out of my ears! I have done this blog twice and lost it both times. I would sure like to tell you why, but if I knew I wouldn't do that any more.

So, we had a good day in Greenville yesterday. Went to church and then had a good Chinese lunch with Pastor James and his family. Later, we were invited to his small group, and after tacos, Monty and Dave were given the devotions time to explain the mission in Haiti and the work going on there. As with everywhere we have been, the people are the best.

We left our temporary home early this morning after a heavy rain last night. It was mostly sunny but a little windy today. Scattered storms are forecast for tomorrow so I hope we can dodge them. Ann, our host at Greenville, wasn't feeling well last night, so we just quietly slipped away this morning. She is a sweet lady and I hope alright today.

The trip to Winona was very smooth and uneventful. The terrain was absolutely flat for maybe 60 miles, then we left the Mississippi delta and the road became hilly immediately. We visited the Baptist church here to thank them for putting us up in a motel tonight. They are without a pastor right now, but a nice lady showed us around the facility. It's very nice, but they are suffering from a declining attendance as are a lot of churches around here. Mississippi has especially suffered from the economic downturn and people have had to move for job reasons. People here tell us they have been hurting since long before the rest of us felt it. Depressing!

Some Railroad History

Anyway, we looked around the town a little a took a couple of pictures. Tomorrow we go to Columbus, which is almost at the Alabama border. There are scattered storms predicted so I hope we can dodge them.

I guess that's it for now. God bless.

Crossing the Mighty Mississippi

Here we are in Greenville, MS. We are staying at the home of Ann Alexander, who provided us with a catfish dinner as well as a place to sleep. Greenville is very close to the east bank of the Mississippi river so we are barely into Mississippi.

Monty lost a spoke today and we don't have a way to fix it until we find a bike shop. The bike operated satisfactorily anyway, though. Just don't know for how long.

The highlight of the day was crossing the Mississippi. They have a new, beautiful  bridge, and the river is always a highlight to see. Monty and Dave were able to stop on the bridge for pictures, but I couldn't do so with the truck. So I'll have to get copies from them. Of course we stopped for pictures at the "Welcome to Mississippi" sign.

Bridge from a distance

We met with the pastor of our host church when we first got into town, and will attend services tomorrow. Monty and Dave did a cleaning job on the bikes. Makes me feel guilty that the truck needs cleaning too. Soon.

Monday we'll move on Winona, MS. One more week and we'll be looking at the finish line (well, almost).

So for now, thats about it. God bless.

Crossett, AR

Fall Colors

Our trip from Magnolia to Crossett was pretty smooth except for a couple of flats on Monty's bike. They came right on top of each other and it was concluded that a spoke was punching through the tube. So a re-taping of the rim inside seems to have fixed the problem. We are in a heavily wooded area. Looks a little like Oregon.

Crossett is not a very big town, but we found a nice motel here and were directed to a Chinese buffet for dinner. Even sold a couple of tee shirts!

One of the things that troubled our pair of bike drivers is that the newly established route does not go through Louisiana as indicated on our tee shirts and the sign on the tailgate of the pickup. We are only 9 miles from the border here, so Monty and Dave decide to go to the Louisiana border and step inside to show we were in that state. Makes you wonder if we have too much time on our hands, doesn't it?

Lots of Trees

Welcome to Louisiana

It was interesting that at the Louisiana border the road shoulder totally disappeared. If all the roads are like that, we are happy to not be riding there. Arkansas gets high marks for road condition. Probably the best we have seen.

Tomorrow we will be of to Greenville, Mississippi. It is on the east bank of the Mississippi river, and I suspect a few pictures will be taken there.

So I cant think of anything else, so until tomorrow - God bless.

Almost Out of Texas

We  awoke this morning to some pretty serious fog, so the guys were a little late getting started. But we arrived in Texarkana without incident. The last few miles were a little scary though because there was no shoulder and enough traffic to prompt a little extra praying. But we are safely here in Texarkana. Not quite out of Texas, but close. Don't get me wrong, we have met a lot of nice people, the weather has been good, and the roads are o.k. (most of the time). But it's just too BIG!

We are staying with Steve Winegeart tonight. He and his family are former Mountain Ridgers. Steve's wife, Andra is away so its just us guys. Monty is meeting with Steve's pastor so I am just vegging here with my computer and the cat.

Tomorrow we'll really be in Arkansas. Hopefully  there will be something to talk about. At least I'll have a picture of the "Welcome to Arkansas" sign.

Some of you know that I am a dog person. Wouldn't you know it-the cat jumps up on the couch a cuddles right up to me. Well, as cats go, she is a pretty nice one, so I guess I'll be good to her. Don't tell Colleen though.

I guess thats all for today. God bless.

October in Paris

Chisholm

The 3 Stooges

Here we are in Paris! Not quite the "real" Paris, but a pretty interesting town anyway. We arrived fairly early and had a good visit with some of the folks at our host church. After getting cleaned up at our hotel,we went to see some of the local sites. Nancy is still with us, so she acted as chauffeur and we went to see the Eiffle tower (small version) and the Chisholm monument (remember the Chisholm trail?). We were told that there was a statue of Jesus with cowboy boots on at the local cemetery. We couldn't find it and can't help but wonder if we were on a snipe hunt?!

Methodist Church

Fountain

We also went downtown to see a fountain imported from France (so we are told), and the Methodist Church. What a classic old building!

Ice Cream!

After the sight seeing we went to a recommended fish and steak restaurant for dinner. I had Cajun broiled catfish. Best ever! Dave's birthday was today, and that event couldn't go without some celebration.

Nancy had an ice cream 40th treat for him when we got to the hotel. Then at dinner another present. I don't know how to tell you what it is in a dignified way; but if you can imagine the chaffing that goes on when a biker spends many hours pedaling-well, you get the idea.

So we had a good day. Lots of things to photograph, unlike the last couple of days. Tomorrow we go to Texarkana, and may be in Texas or may be in Arkansas depending on which part of town we stay in.

I hope you are all well. We continue to covet your prayers, and pray for God's blessings on you as well. Please pray for Dave's sore knee. Today was a tough day for him. (Well, he is 40 now, so the body may be feeling it.) More later.

Deep in the Heart of Texas

Yesterday was a good day of rest for our intrepid bikers, and me too. We all went to church at Cornerstone Baptist just down the road from our motel. Afterwards we were invited to go to lunch with a group from church at a nice restaurant in a town we had just come through. Apparently it's an after church affair every Sunday. We had a nice visit and met a lot of nice people.

Today was an uneventful day as the guys pedaled to Sherman, TX. We met with the pastor at North Park Baptist Church who took us to dinner and put us up in the Hampton Inn for the night. Dinner was some great Mexican food and good conversation.

Pastor Dave Murphy and family

Gainsville

We didn't see much to take pictures of today except Pastor Dave Murphy and his family. I saw an interesting historical court house in Gainsville earlier in the day, and someone was in the season with their decoration of what I presume was once a scarecrow.

As you see,I was desperate for subject matter today. Tomorrow it's off to Paris. We found out that's the home of the chain saw massacre. That has just got to have something interesting to photograph!?

God bless. That's it for now.

Another Week Done

Here we are safely arrived in Decatur, TX. The trip was without incident other than Dave's 2 flats. There was a lot of pretty scenery along the way-especially around Bridgeport Lake between Runaway Bay (what a neat name for a town) and Bridgeport. A restaurant/gas station on the lake was advertising their burgers with some sort of critter as part of the outdoor sign. There was a clear increase in the evident prosperity of the ranches as we got closer to the Dallas area. Big, nice homes.

We got settled in our motel for tonight (and tomorrow as well) and Dave wanted to have his bike checked for a "squeak". He found a shop nearby and we took the bike there. It was basically a garage in front of a house. The proprietor we later found out is 85 (or 86) years old, and had a pretty severe case of shakiness. It was painful to watch him try to get a wrench on a nut, but he was otherwise sharp and really knows bikes. He has a young assistant, and they checked everything they could think of, including some disassembly of the pedal system. He had pictures of the same type of WWII aircraft around, so I assumed he had been a pilot. Sure enough, he was,and we had a good time listening to him reminisce. The bill? - nada!

Monty's wife, Nancy, flew in from Phoenix for the weekend, and his parents drove down from Oklahoma. So the whole gang had a nice dinner at Chilli's (sp?), thanks to Bruce (Monty's dad). We'll go to church somewhere tomorrow, and otherwise just chill out for the day. Monday it's back on the road. The weather has been fine and we are all well. The only complaint by Monty and Dave is that the wind is always in their face, and the road is always up hill. Isn't that amazing? Can't think of anything else for now, so until next time - God bless.

Pedalling in Texas

We had another uneventful day. No flats and no-one got lost. Scary! It was a relatively short run today; maybe 74 miles, to our home for tonight, Graham, TX. There is very little to tell, but we did pass an old cemetery that was kind of interesting. After looking at the historical marker, the bike drivers headed down the road. With some time to kill, I noticed that there were some pretty old grave sites. One, pictured below, was for a civil war vet. The stone looked relatively new, so I'm assuming it was replaced. Most of the head stones that looked really old were not readable. The one recognizing a common grave was also interesting.

Our travels took us through the town of Throckmorton, which everyone knows was the home of football great, Bob Lilly. Now I have to admit, it could be New Castle, but I don't think so. Those little villages are pretty much alike.

It seems like I always think of long horn steers being associated with Texas. But the Black Angus seems to be the cow of choice around here.

The restaurant picture has no significants except I thought it was a real picture of rural Texas-catfish and BBQ.

Tomorrow we are off to Decatur for the weekend. Decatur is very near Dallas and Monty's wife will fly in to spend some time with him.  Monty's parents will also come down to see him so I'll get to meet them. We're almost half way to Georgia!

Until tomorrow- God bless.

Deeper in the Heart of Texas

Today was a good day. Although our record of over three days without a flat came to an end as Monty had one early today. About 39 miles out of Post we came to the town of Clairmont which has been largely abandoned. But in it's past it was apparently a county seat or something because the old courthouse and jail are still there and maintained as historical sites I guess. Kind of interesting and photogenic (pictures below). If you really squint at the Clairmont sign you'll see it says "Gone But Not Forgotten". Then there was the town of Old Glory which needed a little exploring while the bike drivers were headed down the road. There wasn't much there except the plaque I took a picture of, but I doubt you can read it.

The original schedule had us stopping for the night in the town of Aspermont. That equated to a seventy something trip. But it also left us with 105 miles tomorrow. Monty and Dave were feeling good so decided to go another 32 miles to Haskell, which is where we are now. They were pooped when we got here though. Monty was hoping we would get to our next stop (Graham) early enough to catch a Friday night High School football game. Of course, we don't even know if their HS team is playing a home game. We asked some folks here, but Graham is too far away for anyone to know.

So, after dinner and the obligatory stop at Dairy Queen, we're all tucked in for the night. More later. God bless!

More Texas

Well, today was the day I should have taken a break from blogging. The only thing worth mentioning is that we sort of forgot we drove into the central time zone yesterday. So we got ready to leave at 7 and it was still pitch dark. But the bikes still started about 7:45 so not so bad. Got to see the sun rise. Don't really want to make a habit of it though. Lot and lots of flat land and cotton fields. We made it to Post, TX and are spending the night in a nice Best Western motel. On the way, we stopped in the little town of Seminole for refreshments. While I waited for Monty and Dave to get down the road a ways, a lady knocked on my window. She had seen the sign on the tailgate of the truck and wanted to know if she and her co-workers could help. She and two other ladies worked just across the street, at some sort of help for new mothers I think. They had our web site on the computer already and said they would faithfully follow us. Later, Monty got an order from them for several tee shirts. You never know when you'll meet some neat people!

So that's it. All continues to go well. Wind was a little tough today though. We head for Aspermont, TX tomorrow. Some good news is that it's a shorter ride than today.

New Mexico to Texas

As you know if you are a regular reader of this blog, I took yesterday off. So this one will take us from Cloudcroft to Texas. The trip from Cloudcroft was pretty uneventful. We did stop at a roadside Zoo/snack shack/souvenir shop that was kind of interesting - mostly because of the animals. They had sheep, goats, a camel, a pig, alpacas, and I don't remember what else. Maybe the pictures below will show others.

Our stop for the night was Artesia, NM where we stayed with Ann and Ernesto Navarette, and their sweet dog. I have been fortunate that most of our hosts have nice dogs, so I can get my doggie fix playing with them. Sure miss my Colleen though! We had the whole upstairs in their lovely home - three bedrooms for us! Ernesto was working nights so we didn't get too much time with him, but Ann and her mother made us feel right at home. We went out for Mexican dinner, and afterward, Ann showed us around downtown a little. What a neat downtown district they have made. Lots of statuary, some depicting their oil heritage, and a "Heritage Walk" that was just beautiful. The Heritage Walk was closed up when we left this morning so I couldn't get pictures.

So we said goodbye to our new friends, and goodbye, and goodbye - Dave had left his shaving kit, and then we discovered some laundry had also been forgotten. Of course, I was the retriever. We had an uneventful trip to Lovington, NM where we stopped and had a little lunch. Next (and last) stop was supposed to be Plains, TX. But the road wasn't marked especially well, and going straight through town put you on tanother highway going to Denver City, Tx. which is 15 miles due south of Plains. I missed the turn off, but quickly recognized that I wasn't on the right road, so I u-turned and got back on track. The bikes and I were supposed to meet about 15 miles out, but it was soon apparent that the bikes weren't there! So we finally made contact by cell phone, and as you have probably already guessed, they were on the other road. Consequently, it was easier for us to meet in Denver City. That was a blessing it turns out, because when I went through Plains there was NOTHING there! Conversely, Denver City had an acceptable motel and eating places. So that's where we are, and we can readily get to our next scheduled stop from here. So its all good! We will go to Post, TX tomorrow if all goes well. Crossing into Texas today gave us another psychological milestone, which is nice. Of course, we'll be awhile getting out the other side. Lots of oil wells and lots of cotton. But, hallelujah, we have had NO flats for two days!

Getting pictures to go where I want them has been a tussle. The other guys have had problems too, so it's either a "Blogger" problem, or we are just dumb. Anyway, that's why the pictures are all following the text. Sorry. Until next time, God bless. We are well and still talking to each other.

Road to Cloudcroft

We had a great dinner at the Miller's who put up with us last night. They and their son went way overboard to make us comfortable and, as usual, we are very appreciative! Dave and I made a trip to Wal Mart for a few items we needed (or wanted). The evening consisted to great conversation and strawberry shortcake.
Today we attended church at Bethel Baptist, and Monty and Dave gave a nice presentation on our trip and the needs in Haiti. I think it was well received based on the after-church interest we had. Got to do it at both a.m. services. Nice church and nice time overall.

We had a (too large) lunch with the Millers and another family, then packed up and made the clime to Cloudcroft. We're at 9000 feet, more or less, and we still have 90 miles to cover tomorrow. Some will be going back down the east side of the mountains, so the guys are looking forward to some coasting. For those who may not know, Cloudcroft is a little resort/recreation area and looks like you might see in any winter sports area. We are at a hotel that's pretty rustic, but comfortable.

So long for now. Keep praying!