Day 56: THE LAST STATE

Today we entered the last state of our adventure - Florida.  The ride today was beautiful, most of it along the Gulf coast.  I learned what "sea oats" are and why they are important (the sand dunes build up on them).  This area is SO beautiful (and SO much better than west Texas!!!!).....

Gulf Shores State Park beach, Alabama

Sugar Sand!

For miles & miles....

Sea Oats

We rode highway 292 into Pensacola, FL, home of the Blue Angels, and had lunch at the famous McGuire's Irish Pub with dollar bills (and bras!) all over the ceiling and walls.  We rode along the Bayshore Parkway in Pensacola and hooked up with highway 90 and took that all the way to Milton, FL where we are staying tonight.  The ride was just great -- perfect 65-70 degree temperature, clear blue skies, and lots of beautiful scenery (there are some really well-to-do people who have homes along this route!!!!).

Roadside finds today included a flip-flop and a pair of men's underwear.  Don't see THOSE everyday!

Tomorrow we will head out to DeFuniak Springs where we will meet up with Dennis & Lyndsey Morris for a couple of days of riding companionship.   After that, only 424 miles to go to complete this ride!!!!

Day 55: Have You Ever Been on a Shrimp Boat?

"No, but I've been on a really Big boat..."

-Forest Gump

Today we rode through the seafood capital of Alabama, Bayou la Batre, also the home of "Bubba" Blue who inspired Forest Gump to start the Bubba Gump Shrimp Company.  And they had a lot of shrimp boats there!!

From there we rode highway 188 east then south on highway 193 over the bridge to Dauphin Island.  It was a beautiful clear, crisp and cool autumn day.  At Dauphin Island we stopped for a quick snack and ended up missing the 11:00 a.m. ferry by 1 minute!!  The next ferry wasn't until 12:30 p.m. so we took our time, checking out Fort Gaines.  I learned that most people misunderstood what Admiral Farragut said as he steamed into Mobile Bay....

It was really "Damn the Torpedoes, I'm going to the head!!" (quote from Rick's late sailing friend, Tony Mance).

The ferry ride over to Fort Morgan was an enjoyable 45 minutes.  We were flanked by a band of dolphins and flocks of pelicans.  And we were surprised to learn that just a little over a year ago, on June 14, 2011, President Barrack Obama had been on this very same ferry!!

Rick spent time in his career talking to Air Force 1; he got a big kick out of seeing this "Ferry 1"!!

The last twenty plus miles was a cruise into Gulf Shores, Alabama's "Redneck Riviera".  It was a beautiful ride; the coastline was spotted with many vacation homes and closer into Gulf Shore, high-rise condominiums.  I have never seen sand as white as this.  It truly looks like granulated sugar!

We picked our motel out specifically to be in close proximity to the famous "Lulu's", restaurant of Lucy Anne Buffet, sister of "the" Jimmy Buffet.  There we feasted on a huge platter of deep fried crab claws and okra.  (Beer selection not the greatest but great atmosphere and even a live band -- the first we've heard on this trip!).

Tomorrow morning we will forge on to the LAST STATE of this trip - FLORIDA!!  We hope to make it to Pace or Milton.  Wow, the last state -- it's hard to believe!

Total miles today:  55.86
Time:  3:39
Avg:  15.3  (not too shabby considering our trailer was back with us today!)

Day 54: Bogalusa MS to Mobile AL - THE REST OF THE STORY

Well readers....if you've been reading very closely you might have noticed there were some holes in our normally well chronicled travels.  Here is the "rest of the story" since we were in Bogalusa MS (Day 48).

The day we rode from Amite City to Bogalusa Rick was experiencing pain in his chest.  It had started that morning after breakfast and he couldn't breathe very deep that entire day as we rode about 50 miles.  Later that day the pain in his chest spread up into his shoulders and neck and some into his lower back. Given that he has a family history of early heart disease, it was a great cause for concern.  The "rest day" we took off in Bogalusa we actually spent taking him to the LSU Medical Center emergency room where they did an EKG and blood tests to check for possible heart attack.  All the tests looked really good so we decided not to spend a night in the hospital and just go back to the motel for a good night's rest.

The next day we rode from Bogalusa to Aunt Betty Jean's house in Saucier (which we blogged about) and there were no problems other than Rick still was experiencing chest discomfort which we had decided was an upper respiratory infection.  Probably sleeping outside in the tent that night in the dampness didn't help matters.  The next day we headed out, hoping to make VanCleave.  About 1/2 hour into the ride, without really any strenuous exertion, Rick's heart rate shot up to 165 and there is stayed until we stopped for lunch. After lunch it dropped back down to normal, but then, once we started riding again it went back up again.  (We wear heart rate monitors when we ride.)  We thought perhaps his monitor was malfunctioning, so about 20 miles into the ride, we decided to put my monitor on him and see what it said.  It said the same thing.  I listened to his heart and it was beating very rapidly and somewhat irregularly.  At this point, we just STOPPED.  This was out in the middle of nowhere Mississippi.  We weren't even sure how close we were to any kind of town.  We remembered passing a fire department a mile or so back, so we rode back to it.  Nobody was there (it was a volunteer department) but there were some folks doing some work at the Baptist church next door.  We went over there and explained what was going on and asked if they knew of anyone who might be able to give us a ride to an emergency room somewhere.  One of the guys, Mark Seymore, a  firefighter himself, offered to take us to Biloxi or Ocean Springs or wherever we needed to go.  It turned out he drove us all the way to Mamie's house (Vicki's sister) in Theodore (a suburb of Mobile, AL).  Within 15 minutes of  stopping riding, Rick's heart rate went back down, so we decided we might be better to forego the emergency room and see about getting into see a cardiologist on Monday.  (Mamie works for a cardiology group.)

So Monday afternoon, Rick got into to see the head cardiologist at the Cardiology Associates next to Spring Hill Hospital.  After a calcium CT scan, and a cardiac stress test, they found...NOTHING WRONG.  No blockage whatsoever and of course, Rick's heart rate behaved just fine this day.  The doctor said the experience of the irregular rapid heartbeat might have been triggered by an electrolyte imbalance.

So we went back home to Mamie's house, quite relieved with the news, and spent Tuesday getting ready to hit the road again.  We had to figure out how to get back to where we had sagged in from (highway 15 and Bethel Road in Mississippi).  We ended up buying a bike rack at Walmart and Joan, Vicki's niece, drove us back to that point this morning, and then we rode the 56 miles from there back to Mamie's house.  It was a great ride today; it felt really good to be back on the bike and we both felt energetic and rested.  Also we had left the our 100+ pound trailer at the house, so we just flew on that 56 miles ride.

Total miles today:  56.08
Time:  3:18
Avg:  17 mph (at this rate we could've finished this ride two weeks ago!!)

Tomorrow we will head out for Gulf Shores, Alabama, then Pace on Friday, then DeFuniak Springs, FLORIDA on Saturday.

We want to give a HUGE THANK YOU to Mamie and Joan -- for their hospitality, concern, use of the car, and the great fun time we've had with them during the past four days.  They truly have been the greatest.

Hear the music!!!

Rick & Joan messing around

Mamie & great-granddaughter Ansley Marie

Mississippi Swamp

STATELINE -- 2nd to LAST STATE!!!!!

Day 52: Immobilized in Mobile

Today we are at Vicki's sister Mamie's house and enjoying the visit with her, Joan, Ansley (great granddaughter), and Jerome.  Yesterday afternoon, Rick's nephew Ben and his wife, Katie, and kids Koa and Amelia came by on their way to Gulf Shores.  We all had a nice visit at the Buchaneer Yacht Club.

We have decided to take a couple of days off while we're here since Rick is still not over what appears to be an upper respiratory infection that he picked up just before Bogalusa.  This will put us a few days behind on our anticipated finish date, but what the heck, we have nothing but time.  And the weird thing is....the closer we get to being finished with this ride, I am realizing that I am going to miss this adventure when it's over.  It will seem strange to go back to "real life"!!!

Day 49: Bye-Bye Bogalusa, Hello Aunt Betty Jean

Friday, November 2, 2012

Today we headed out from Bogalusa and navigated our way through the backroads of Mississippi (yes, we are the third to last state of this trip!).  We went off the ACA route to get down to Saucier, MS, where Rick's Aunt Betty Jean lives, having gotten the route from Google maps (bicycle).  There were only about 40 turns in this route (!!!!) and it looked like it would take us out in the middle of nowhere (which it did, but out here, people live out in the middle of nowhere).   We saw some interesting cattle out on these back roads today -- true "skinny cows"....

 But good old Google maps got us there.  Rick hadn't written down Aunt Betty's address, just the road she lived on, but he had seen the house on Google earth, so when we got to what he thought was her house, I went up to the door and knocked.  When she came to the door, I asked if she was Rick's Aunt Betty Jean.  She looked at me like "who are you?" and then replied "Yes.  Tell Ricky to come in here!".

We had a really nice visit with Aunt Betty Jean.  She was very hospitable and the first blood relative of Rick's that I've met.  I really liked her;; at 81, she's still got a lot of spunk.  We stayed overnight,  and were sorry we had to push on the next morning (Saturday) so we can make Gulf Shores when Ben & Katie are there.  Saturday (Nov. 3), we will get back on the ACA route, head for VanCleave, camp overnight, then head on Sunday  to Mobile to visit Vicki's sister & niece, Mamie & Joan.

Total Miles:  63.28
Time:  4:35
Avg:  13.81  mph

Day 48: Rest Day in Bogalusa

Yep, we decided to rest up a day here in old Bogalusa.  It's not that bad as long as you stay indoors and don't go out to smell the papermill (!!!!).    Since we are so far out from any services in town, we called good ole Enterprise Rentals and got a car for the day.  Went out for breakfast and then went shopping for some decent food -- Veggie Delite sandwich (Subway), and fresh Salmon, potatoes, and salad for dinner (I'm getting pretty good at cooking in motel microwaves).  There's some decent wine in this town (from California, no less) and the Shiner Wild Hare IPA is halfway decent for Rick.

Reviewing our log, it's been 708 miles since our last day off.  This day was totally deserved I think, even though it's not in the best city.  But the bed is comfy and the cable TV came back on today (it was out yesterday) and there's internet and we have have good food ---  that's a whole lot more than a lot of people back east dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Sandy!

Day 47: Boogiemanville (aka: Bogalusa, LA)

Written Wednesday, October 31, 2012

It's Halloween!!  Today we rode from Amite City to Bogalusa on highways 16 and 10.  Nothing fancy, just LA highways.  Rick woke up this morning with muscle pains in his shoulders and chest, probably due to jarring road conditions and the long mileage yesterday.  It was a LONG day, for sure.

Bogalusa is nothing to write home about.  It's a papermill town and smells of such.  The area of town that has all the services - Walmart, Walgreens, CVS, fast foods, etc. and the Budget Motel -- wasn't the greatest.  The Budget Motel (listed in the ACA map) is a pretty scary place.  There was a girl sitting on the curb there probably waiting for her drug fix. The room we looked at was small, dingy, and smelled of cigarette smoke.  I asked if there was a non-smoking room and the guy (with a dot in the middle of his forehead) looked at me like "what? you expect people not to smoke?".  So...we rode past all the services to a more distant part of town, past the country club, past the paper mill and the "other side of the tracks" to the Traveler's Rest Motel.  An okay place but the only food/grocery within walking distance (just across the street) is a gas station with a cajun deli (i.e., fried crawfish/catfish).  Some halfway decent fried shrimp/catfish and boiled shrimp & crab, but very limited (non-existent) on any other type of grocery.

We have been riding hard and long for about 12 days now....I think we need a rest day.  This isn't the greatest town to take a rest day in, but when you need one, you just need one and the motel's not bad.