July 1, 2010
Rest Day in New Orleans, La
So we slept in today and got some Starbucks and breakfast at the hotel, our plan was to do some shopping and get gifts for a few hours get some lunch and the head out for a 40 mile day. We started going down all the streets and shopping, and just got carried away and ended up not getting lunch till about 2:30pm. On our way back to the hotel we saw some people with bags and all on there bikes going down the street, we flagged them down. As we were talking to them they didn't speak English and were from Granada, Spain. They flew here and started in Jacksonville and are going to California, they were very nice and the little bit of Spanish I knew I could communicate with them and helped them on there map telling them where to go and where to bring more water. We snapped a picture (included) and let them go on there way to there next destination. As we were getting back to our hotel we just decided to stay another night, so we chilled for a bit and walked around some more and saw some sights and bunch of cool streets. We also had to get a tire for my moms bike, so we went to a bike store about a mile from our hotel, the owner Michael was super nice and had a few stories about his touring across Europe. He helped us out big time, we got back to our hotel in time for dinner and another few hours to relax and then get some sleep, all in all New Orleans is an awesome city mixed with San Fran and New York with lots of shops and places to check out. But it has its own vibe and people to make it really different and unique.
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Day 30
July 2, 2010
Start: New Orleans, La
Finish: Gulfport, Ms
Distance: 77 miles
Ascent: 280 ft
So this morning we woke up around 5:30am and started getting all of our stuff ready as we were almost ready I checked the air in our tires. As we were about to leave the room to get some breakfast, my tire popped (actually sounded like a gun shot, surprised no one called security). The tire had to much air and it blew out my sidewall of the tire, so we both just went back to sleep so get some more rest since the bike store doesn't open till 10:00am anyways. So after we got some breakfast and made it to the bike store and got a new tire, then were on our way, now it is 11:00am. So as we got out of the city and onto highway 90, we just kept riding for about 20 miles to make up for the lost time. We went over a few pretty big bridges that crossed over lakes and rivers, we also saw lots of camps set up for the oil. About 30 miles into our ride we crossed the Pearl River and entered Mississippi, our 6th state! We took a few pictures and got on our way, a few minutes earlier when we were stopped at a gas station I asked the lady working there if there was anywhere to eat. The funny thing down here is no one really knows mileage I don't think, because every time I ask a question like that they just say I don't know. She said ya its about 10 minutes down the road, and i was like so about 5 miles?? Oh yea no to far, well it ended up being 13 miles to the next town where we stopped for some Sonic. It was about 3:00pm now but we had gone about 50 miles so we were feeling pretty good, we left there headed for the coast, and around 4:30pm we hit the gulf coast of Mississippi. As we rode down the beach of Mississippi for about 15 miles we saw lots of volunteer clean up people, cleaning the tar balls and oil off the beaches. Today was also the first time we saw a real beach since we left on the first day, so we were pretty stoked to be near the ocean water again for a few days. The beaches were very clean and nobody on them, it was also a pretty overcast day, awesome houses across the street from the beach. After our nice 15 mile ride on the coast we cut inland for a few miles to our hotel, we had to get hotels off the beach the past few days since its 4th of July weekend and all the ones by the beach are very expensive and some are just full. After that pretty long day and getting into our hotel around 7:00pm got some Dominos delivered and then fell asleep!
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Day 31
July 3, 2010
Start: Gulfport, Ms
Finish: Gulf Shores, Al
Distance: 105 miles
Ascent: 1160 ft
We started out today leaving Gulfport at around 7:15am, we rode a few miles down the way and hoped on a road next to the beach again. We stayed on the 90 for awhile and passed a bunch of big hotels in Biloxi, and then crossed a few big bridges, as we stopped for a bit we saw a group of cycler's go by and they were all saying come ride with us!!! But unfortunately we were heading the opposite way, but first group we've seen in a few weeks. We kept on going and around mile 35 we stopped for lunch at waffle house, a few miles later I got a flat on my rear tire again, haha doesn't matter what kinda tire you put on its bound to happen going this kinda mileage. So fixed that real quick and kept on the 90 east, at mile 50 we crossed into Alabama, and as we were working on taking a picture by the sign a nice man pulled over and gave us some Gatorade's. He was awesome and lived nearby and said welcome to Alabama and here's some southern hospitality, we talked for awhile about our trip and thanked him and let him go on his way. Another 5 miles ahead we stopped to fill up the ice and water in our drinks and met a nice guy named Josh, who lives nearby and also cycles, he was very excited on what we were doing. Him and a few friends have wanted to ride across the US as we are, we told him to just go for it and see what happens, its definitely an experience of a life time. We then went another few miles and hooked a right going south east towards Dauphin Island, by the it is a very cool little island. To get to it you take the 188 east and it goes through a few small towns before heading south through bayou's and over bridges, then over a very big one and onto the island. The island is a cool little tourist destination with houses on it also, kinda reminds me of Balboa Island but a bit bigger and spread out, from there we had to wait for about a half hour for a ferry to cross the Mobile Bay and onto the mainland again. As we got across it was already 7:30pm, after riding for another little bit it started getting dark, so we put our headlights on and kept on going another 14 miles to our hotel. This was the first time we had to ride in the night, it was a very long day because the head wind all day slowed us down, plus going over bridges and stopping to talk to some nice people.
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Day 32
July 4, 2010
Start: Gulf Shores, Al
Finish: Fort Walton, Fl
Distance: 63 miles
Ascent: 440 ft
Today was a very long one, we left Fort Walton at around 10:00am, we needed to sleep in from the day before. But as soon as we got to the coast(a few miles) the wind hit us and didn't stop all day! It was blowing about 10-20mph from the east, so right in our face all day, we could barely get up to 10mph. As we made our way down the coast on the 292 we got to one of the most awesome places on our trip, the state line of Florida! We were very excited and got some great pictures of the sign and the beach around us, we got another few miles and stopped at a place called Lulian's, awesome Italian restaurant with good food right across from the beach. as we got more into Florida we went through the Perdido Key and into Pensacola. By the Panama City have amazing beaches, pure white sand and lots of space with no one around. We got through Pensacola and crossed the bridge onto the island and Pensacola Beach where all the hotels and resorts are. Once we got past all that we had 20 miles of just state beaches and not much, except lots of wind that slowed us down to about 6-7mph! We were getting very tired very fast, and my mom's neck was killing her. At the other end of the island we still had 18 miles to go till our hotel and it was already 7:00pm, we were both done and very tired from the day before.
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Day 33
July 5, 2010
Start: Fort Walton, Fl
Finish: Bonifay, Fl
Distance: 84 miles
Ascent: 600 ft
Today was actually very good, left around 8:30am after breakfast at the waffle house. Went down the 98 east near the ocean for about 20 miles, then cut inland for a bit onto the 331 north towards Defuniak Springs. We saw our first Jersey Mike's Sub shop we've seen on the trip, at home is one of our favorites and a few friends of mine work there. We made our way up the 331 and I have been seen signs for Hardee's(which is Carl's in the east, for some reason they change the name). So about 14 miles up the 331 we stopped off and had some good burgers and fries and filled up our drinks. Talked to a few nice people and got on our way. The clouds looked pretty intimidating and we hit some rain for a bit awhile back, but nothing to bad. As we got to Defuniak Springs we decided if we should keep going to the next town and take the chance of hitting a storm or stay the night there. we had only gone about 55 miles by that time and we really needed to go more so the next few days wouldn't be so bad. So we decided to go another 30 miles to the town of Bonifay, it ended up being a good decision there was only a bit of sprinkling, and it was great scenery. It went by fast and we got to Bonifay and a cool little Bed and Breakfast called The Fig Tree by 6:00pm. Got a nice steak dinner from a close place and watched our favorite monday night shows.
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Day 34
July 6, 2010
Start: Bonifay, Fl
Finish: Tallahassee, Fl
Distance: 98 miles
Ascent: 1000 ft
Last night we stayed in an awesome little bed and breakfast in the town of Bonifay, the owner was a very nice lady with a cool old house that she has renovated. We gota great nights sleep, and woke up this morning to a pancake breakfast, as we ate we chatted with her and her cook about our trip. We got on our way at about 9:00am after snapping a few pictures with all of them. We stayed on the 90 all day going through some awesome little small towns and back country with trees everywhere. We made it about 50 miles all the way to the town of Chattahoochee haha, yes very long funny name, about a mile before the town we crossed over a river that was also the border of the central and eastern time zones, so we are now 3 hours ahead! In town we took a break and got some Subway, as we were about to leave we saw some dark clouds and looked as if it was about to start raining. So we geared up putting the covers on our bags, electronics in ziplocks, and out rain jackets on. About a mile out of town it just starts pouring on us, but not for to long then it turns to a light rain, and about an hour later its done. It wasn't to bad and cooled us both off, the rest of the day was perfect 80 degrees and sunny. The back roads of the 90 highway leading to Tallahassee were awesome, great shoulder, not to many cars and great little towns. We arrived in the city around 7:00pm and made our way another 6 miles or so to our hotel which we conveniently placed across from Olive Garden, one of our favorite restaurants. Got a quick shower and some good food, but got to bed late considering the time change haha. Tomorrow will be our second to last day, hopefully making it about 85 miles to the town of Live Oak then 100 the next day to Jacksonville Beach!
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Day 35
July 7, 2010
Start: Tallahassee, Fl
Finish: Live Oak, Fl
Distance: 87 miles
Ascent: 1330 ft
We left Tallahassee after breakfast in the Comfort Suites at around 9:20am headed for the 90 east as usual. We hoped on there for about 10 miles till we got outta the city and suburbs, then we were on the country roads again. We went through some cool little towns then we got to Monticello, we stopped at The Brick House eatery and had a nice little lunch. It was about 1:00pm now and we had only got 30 miles in, and we needed to go another 55ish more. So we just put our heads down and started pedaling again trying to not stop to much, as we got to Greenville we stopped for a bit to fill up our waters and get some snacks then back on the road. Today wasn't to out of the ordinary other than the amazing weather about 85 to 90 degrees not to humid and very sunny. the scenery around was just lot of trees and open meadows, also lots of birds and nests in the trees next to the road. we were trying to get to the room early so we could get some food and then check our rooms for thursday and friday night. We got in around 6:30pm, got a quick shower, and some food at a restaurant next door, and also booked a room for two nights on the beach in Jacksonville Beach. So tomorrow will be our last day of riding and we'll be getting to our destination of the Atlantic Ocean in Jacksonville Beach, Fl. It should be about a 105 mile ride on the 90 basically the whole way into the city then hope on Beach Blvd which takes us straight to the beach and ocean!
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Day 36
July 8, 2010
Start: Live Oak, Fl
Finish: Jacksonville, Fl
Distance: 110 miles
Ascent: 400 ft
We started out our last day leaving Live Oak for an over 100 mile day, so we started on the 90 keeping up good speed around 16-17 miles an hour. We had great roads and nice scenery around, and also not to many hills, the last few days we had rolling hills climbing over 1000 ft per day. We made it pretty far about 40 miles without taking a break, but we did stop for some slushies and filled up our drinks. We went another 15 miles or so and stopped at a Hardee's for lunch, also got some fruit from the store next door. At lunch we called a few friend and family to tell them how our day was going, and how far we were from the finish. We got outside and the weather had gotten super hot, it was not almost 100 degrees outside! We just hoped on the bikes and started riding again, we had about 20 miles till we hit the outskirts of the city of Jacksonville. As we got into the city we had to go over another pretty big bridge to get over a large river near downtown. The 90 turns into Beach Blvd(ironically, we have one near our house also), so we took that for another 13 miles or so until we got close to the ocean. We got closer and closer and i could smell the salt air finally after 5 weeks! We got to the beach and went up to the sand to just look around for a moment but then we rode another mile and a half north to where our hotel was. In front of our hotel we got onto the sand and took our bikes to the water, we found a family and asked them to take a few pictures for us. They were very nice and we also stoked for us about our journey, we got lots of good pictures and videos, after we both just stood there and looked at the ocean and thought about everything we had been through. The journey had been so long and so much we've seen and worked through and felt very weird to actually not have to ride anymore.
Accomplished!
