Just a few pictures I couldn’t resist.
Off to the Great White North -homebound
Off to the Great White North – Monday
Monday – We left around 8:30 AM to head for our adventures today because we had an 11:00 slot for our first outing – The Chena Ice Museum. This was located on the Chena resort out in the middle of nowhere. We drove almost 2 hours to get there. It had started snowing which made the roads a little slick so we drove a little slower to be safe. Whenever a car passed us going the other way it kicked up a huge cloud of snow. Think dirt road vibes. Kinda like driving into fog. We had been told that we might see moose along this highway, but you guessed it – we didn’t. Although when we got back to the lodge I heard a lady say that they had seen a mama moose with 2 babies. Figures!
The road to nowhere… I mean to Chena Resort.
Sadly the actual ice museum was kinda underwhelming. I think everything on the brochure was actually everything in the museum. You had an option of buying a $20 appletini to drink in a glass carved from ice. Although this could have been a fun photo op, we decided we didn’t need an appletini at 11:00 AM. We weren’t sure how cold it would be in there so we all wore our warm stuff. They also provided big warm parkas if you needed them. The Ice Museum was kind of like going into a big Iglue Freezer. It might have lost a little of the coolness factor because it was 0 degrees outside anyway so we were basically going from freezing outside to freezing inside. It might have felt like a bigger deal if we had gone in the summer and walked from warmth into the freezer. Who knows. Anywhoo … We walked in and there were a few sculptures on one side and an ice bar area on the other. The main attractions seemed to be flowers encased in ice blocks. These were neat but I had kind of expected more sculptures or ice furniture or something. We may have appreciated this more if we had not seen the amazing ice sculptures at the Fairbanks World Competition yesterday. And by “we” I mean “me”. No one else was complaining.
We left the 45 minute Ice Museum Tour after about 20 minutes and headed over for lunch in the lodge.
The menu was full of lots of interesting info about how they grow veggies there year round in greenhouses using the hot springs to heat it.
After lunch at the resort it was time for the grand finale. The hot springs. I had envisioned us having to plod through snow in our boots, coat and swimsuit to get to the springs and jump in. Thankfully it was a well-oiled machine. We went into a building where we were instructed to take off our boots and put on flip flops, which luckily Jennifer had thought ahead to remind us to bring. From there we rented towels and went back to the heated locker rooms to change. They had a covered walkway back to the springs which was surprisingly warm in only our swimsuits considering it was 12 degrees out. You stepped out from the covered walkway directly into the hot water. Not bad at all. It was wild to be in our swimsuits with snow all around us. Bruce checked the water temp on his watch and it was 102 degrees. Somehow it felt great and even kept our heads warm out of the water. I was told that my hair would freeze from the freezing mist but it didn’t. It was just the right amount of crowded. We talked to a lot of interesting people including some newlyweds and a cousins reunion.
Of course you know Bruce was not content to just hang out in the hot springs like everyone else. He had to get out and sit on a snow covered rock and then swim the butterfly through the misty hot spring pool (which thoroughly impressed some of the cousins). When we were getting out Bruce noticed that the minerals in the pool had completely tarnished his silver ring.
We were a little nervous about the drive home because it had been lightly snowing the whole time so we wanted to be sure to leave in time to get home before dark. Plus we had realized upon our arrival that there were no gas stations near here. The locker rooms had showers with shampoo, soap and blow dryers. We headed home around 3:00 and had no trouble.
My inner introvert was kicking in so I was glad to have some time to chill in our room and order pizza to eat in the lobby. After dinner we noticed that they had some games including Rummikub, which is my favorite. We taught the Lettes to play and now my trip was complete. Even though Chris won both games. I think it was beginners luck. Sadly I didn’t take any pictures of our delicious pizza, the RumiKub game, Chris gloating, or the Australians. I guess you’ll just have to use you imagination.
While hanging out in the lobby we met some people from Australia. They were on quite an epic vacation. They had flown to California and spent some time in LA and Disneyland. Then flown to New York for a week. Then off to Florida and a cruise to the Bahamas. Back to California and now here in Alaska for a week. And one of the highlights of their trip? Wait for it … seeing all the squirrels in Central Park in NYC. Apparently, they do not have squirrels in Australia. Who knew? I always love talking to people from other places to hear their point of view on things we take for granted and things that they do. It was a fun way to end our adventure.
Off to the Great White North – Sunday
Sunday –
Today was another fun day. We met the Lette’s friend, Joseph at his church, First Baptist Church of North Pole, AK. But since church didn’t start until 11:00 we decided to hit Santa’s workshop first. You can’t go to North Pole without visiting Santa’s house, can you? It was just a huge Christmas store but Santa was there so Jennifer and I got our picture with him. Most of the town is decorated for Christmas year round. Can you blame them?
Bruce had also invited some other friends with a Wichita connection, Mike & Shari Mullen, to join us because they just moved here in July and hadn’t found a church home yet. I loved this church. Everyone was so friendly, the music was just what l like – praise songs that actually say something and don’t just repeat the same line 14 times AND a few old hymns that I knew accompanied by the praise band. And the pastor’s message was great and thought provoking at the time. But sadly my old lady brain did not retain it (this is being written on Monday – only 24 hours later – embarrassing!)
Doesn’t this just look like a picturesque Baptist Church
After church we all went to lunch at a little place in North Pole called the Country Cafe. Bruce had a Reuben – he has to get these when we eat out since I refuse to make him one at home because I can’t stand the smell of sauerkraut. I had a very delicious egg scramble. Our group was an interesting combination because Mike is the 2nd in command on the base and this is 23 year old Joseph’s first base after graduating from LSU ROTC program. But everyone was so nice it was a really enjoyable lunch with lots of great stories – that I can’t remember now – uh oh, is this a pattern?
After lunch we (Jennifer, Chris, Bruce and I) headed out to Rod’s Alaskan Adventures to do some mushing. We piled on all our warmest clothes because it was 6 degrees out. They loaned us Bunny Boots because they are the warmest. We had all brought really warm boots, but why turn down THE WARMEST boots?
While we were waiting for our turn, 2 dog teams came in (not IN to the building but IN to the field area by the building) and laid down to rest. Next thing I know I look out the window and Bruce and Jennifer are out there talking to the musher (who we later found out was Cooper) and petting the dogs. Well that looked like fun. I was getting FOMO so I started to go join them. But then I saw the sign. And then the lady in charge saw me. And immediately came out to tell me that we weren’t supposed to be out there because the dogs needed to rest. Rats! I had to watch from afar as Bruce and Jennifer got to hear all the good stories.
Our 2 dog mushers both had interesting stories. Cooper was from Georgia but has lived here in Alaska in a cabin with no running water or electricity for several years. I asked him why no water and electricity. He said it was too much of a hassle to keep the pipes from freezing. I think I would still choose the frozen pipe hassle over no water. He has around 40 dog sled dogs. He said he’s not interested in actually racing them himself but trains them for other mushers. I’m not sure if they are actually called “mushers” but it works for me. Last year Cooper’s dogs got 2nd in the Iditarod mushed by Matt Hall. Lauro is about to do the Iditarod again in 2 weeks. Last year he placed 26th. He is also a model and was featured in the show Mountain Men, which I think is reality TV. I’ll watch it when I get home.
We learned that the Iditarod is over 1,000 miles and takes around 9-10 days. They go for around 5 hours, groom, feed and rest the dogs for 3-4 hours and then repeat. The mushers only get around 45 minutes of sleep at each break. There are supply stops all along the way where everyone reloads and sometimes sleep there. Lauro doesn’t like to sleep at those because there are too many dogs and too much commotion and he doesn’t feel like his dogs get enough rest. The dogs have little booties that they wear and the owners give them doggie massages during each rest stop. The dogs actually love to run and pulling the sled seemed to be fun for them. We only had 9 dogs, but for the Iditarod they usually use 16. If a dog gets injured they leave it at the supply stop and someone from their team comes and picks it up.
We opted for the 30 minute dog sled ride instead of the 2 hour ride and we definitely made the right choice. For some reason I thought we would actually DO the mushing, but of course it makes since that we didn’t. We could potentially still be lost in the woods if we haw-ed when we should have gee-ed or hiked when we should have whoa-ed.
As we were walking back to our cars I saw this cool snow mobile. As I was wondering if that’s what we would have gotten if we had rented some, I noticed something else in the back ground. Look at your own discretion. I am only including this pic because I guess I am actually kind of a sicko. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.
And since I don’t want to leave the dog sledding adventure on that note, here are some funny bathroom signs
After our dog sledding we picked up Joseph again and he took us on a tour of the base. .
We ended the evening with dinner at a little diner called Little Leonard’s Family Diner. The walls were covered with funny signs. And you know I always love the signs!
Off to the Great White North – Saturday
Saturday –
Today was a fun chill day. We were pretty tired after getting home at 3:00 AM from seeing the Northern Lights so we slept in until a little after 8:00. I fully intended to take a nap, but that never happened. After showering we went down to breakfast right away. It was really crowded down there. I’m not sure if it was because it was 8:30 instead of 6:30 or because it was Saturday and people were in town for the weekend.
After breakfast I texted Annie to see if Kinsley could facetime sometime to see the reindeer on the property. She said that right now would be best because they had plans later. So we went back to our room and got on our snow bibs and other warm stuff since it was 0 degrees. We facetimed with Kinsley and showed her the reindeer. I think she was underwhelmed by them. As were we. They offered a Reindeer Experience that was supposed to be “magical” but we declined.
Walking back to the main hotel we noticed a little sled run complete with sleds that we hadn’t seen before. Bruce & Chris had already gone in and Jennifer was regretting her glove choice and needed to go in to upgrade. But I couldn’t pass up a fun little sled run. The first time I went down it I thought it was extremely bumpy. I’m pretty sure my backside acquired several new bruises. When I was bringing the sled back up I realized that they had dug little steps into the side of the hill and I had actually just slid down the stairs. Right next to them were 2 nicely groomed sled runs. I went down them a couple of times and then felt satisfied enough to go inside.
I was kinda ready for a little nap before we started the day. Bruce and I went upstairs to chill and nap while Chris and Jennifer made another little trip into town to hit the bowl factory store and the tea place.
We met downstairs at 1:45 to head out for “Linner” before the Art Sculpting Competition. We ate at Fenders which was pretty much a sports bar but the food was decent. They had a sign on the door that it was Woman owned. So I guess that’s important. We all shared fried okra for an appetizer. We ate it with our fingers and dipped it in ranch and another sauce. Not sure I’ve ever had it like that before. I had a marginal chicken sandwich and wished and I gotten Halibut like Jennifer.
After our meal we bundled up again and headed for the Ice Park. It was so fun!! They had several slides that you could sled down with sleds that they provided. They had ice sculptures of the ring and hook game, corn hoe (very hard because the bean bags like to just slide right off the back), a checkerboard table, a ping pong table and even a one hole ice mini golf course. We walked through and played some of those games. The next section was full of huge amazing sculptures in the multi-sculpture category that had already been judged. It was amazing how intricate of details they could carve. The last section was a 3 day 2 artist competition that had just started today. Most of these sculptures were just getting started. It was cool to see the artists sawing on their ice with chain saws or fancy picks and scrapers.
Around 5:20 we went back to our car and peeled off our winter gear and then headed to the Army vs Airforce hockey game. The Lette’s friends’ son Joseph is stationed here at the Eielson Air Force Base and he invited us. Since it was a free game, we were told to get there a little before the gates opened at 6:00. We obeyed and got there about 5:45. The doors were not un-opened yet then so Bruce, Jennifer and Chris walked right in. When I walked up, after taking my snowbibs off in the car, the doors were locked. I could see Bruce inside but couldn’t get in. As I was waiting with the crowd another guy went up and knocked on the door and someone from inside came over to let him in. I grabbed my chance and went up with him. They were like, “are you with him?” (apparently he was the announcer for the game) I told them I wasn’t, but my husband was already inside. Someone came up behind me and started asking him questions so I took my opportunity and scooted inside and off to where Bruce & the Lettes were. This was my first hockey game so I was pretty excited but didn’t really know what to expect. Our friends, the Mullens were at the game also. I need to clarify here, we thought it was Army vs Air Force like the college football games you see on tv. This was actually 2 club type teams made up of Army and Navy people. It was pretty interesting. Almost as interesting as watching the drunk Army guys a few rows in front of us who got kicked out for repeatedly banging on the protective glass but then somehow kept getting back in. Maybe they just sent them to time-out. I was actually embarrassed for them, acting like this was there first time drinking beer (one guy had all his plastic cups stacked up, drinking from the top one with beer in it – seriously?) while simultaneously representing our country. Air Force won 8-2.
Off to the Great White North – Friday
Friday Night Lights
Friday – After breakfast we hopped in our car to explore the town. I criticized Chris’s driving so from then on he called me Miss Daisy. We saw a winter clothing store called Ray’s. We decided to check out Ray’s in honor of our friend, Ray in Wichita. They had tons of warm winter stuff. I’m sure it’s essential for everyone and every age to have appropriate boots, gloves, socks and various other hat and face covering options. We clearly were on vacation with no agenda because we spent way longer than necessary perusing every section. I think our only purchase was a sweatshirt by Bruce. And some grandkid gifts for the Lette’s.
Several people had recommended that we go to the Museum of the North on the Fairbanks University campus. It was pretty close to our hotel. We looked around for a while and then decided we needed to go to lunch. None of us were huge museum people, but since we had seen a few cute things in the gift shop, we made plans to go back after lunch.
We had chili and grilled cheese at a little café called River City Cafe in a building that had been divided into several little shops. Jennifer and I also had these delicious cherry almond chocolate coffees. She doesn’t like coffee so hers was pretty much a fancy hot chocolate. Yum!! No calories there I’m sure. I did not do a good job of taking pictures of any of this.
As we finished praying for our food, a guy stopped by our table and said, “That is so nice to see. Thank you!” We weren’t sure what the correct response to that is so we all just kind of smiled awkwardly. Later as he was walking by to leave I asked him if he was from there. Turns out he lives about an hour away in a cabin in the woods and works as a trapper in the winter and a big game (moose, elk, bear, etc) hunting guide in the summer. As he was telling us about his 4 kids that his wife homeschooled. I said “wow, you must have an awesome wife!” To which he answered, “well, I did. I actually just came from Divorce Court. My wife had enough and left.” Oh my gosh. Can someone please help me get my foot out of my mouth? It’s lodged pretty deep. He was very straight forward about the whole thing. I guess even though it was official today, it’s been a while and not fresh wounds. We continued talking for another 15 minutes or so, so I guess he didn’t hate me too bad. I gave him a cookie. Bruce got his card. If any of you would like to do a little big game hunting, just hit us up.
We browsed the cute little shop across the hall with pricey original art from Alaskans. I guess they have to find creative ways to support themselves in the wilderness. Upstairs was a museum dedicated to the Iditarod. Very educational. One time there was an epidemic in Nome or some place and the only way to get medicine to them quick enough was by using sled dogs. They had to run almost straight through with little sleep to get the medicine there in time, but they saved the day.
Since I always talk about Bruce losing stuff I guess I should fess up about me as well. When I was waiting in line to use the restroom I chatted with this nice lady from Texas. As we were pulling out I realized that I had forgotten my phone in the restroom. We drove around the block and I jumped out and ran back in. Just as I was walking by a little knife shop I heard someone say, “I think it’s the lady that went in before me.” I looked in the window and sure enough, the lady who had been after me was handing my phone to the guy working in the knife shop. I went in and thanked them. The guy said, “You were lucky. Lots of times people keep them and sell them on ebay.” I guess it pays to be friendly to the lady in line behind you. I gave them each a cookie.
We went back to the museum to buy a few things from the gift shop. They are raising money for a new exhibit about a guy who got lost in the woods and lived in an abandoned bus out in the wilderness for months. He kept a diary of his time out there until he ate some poison berries and died. They eventually had to remove the bus because dumb adventurers were going out to try to find the bus and live there and the powers that be got tired of rescuing them. I bought a book about it. We also had to go to “The Place to Listen” an exhibit in this room that was music supposedly caused by the inner workings of the earth. We aren’t buying it. But we still went in.
After resting a bit back at the lodge we went to dinner at The Pumphouse. Very unlike the Pumphouse in Wichita. This was more along the fine dining lines. I had Alaskan Salmon because a guy on the plane said that we had to try it and we would never want to eat regular salmon again. It was good. My non-foody mouth could not really tell the difference. Now I can check that off my list and go back to eating beef and chicken. And french fries.
Back at the lodge we got ready for the main event. On my phone it looked like it was going to be cloudy all week. I was mentally preparing myself to go home without seeing the Northern Lights, even though this was the main reason that we came. Everything that you read says there are no guarantees. Our seatmate on the plane to Seattle was from Anchorage (actually from the country of Colombia, but she had lived in Anchorage the last 15 years. She now goes back to Colombia during the winters and was heading back to Alaska when we sat with her. I guess that’s a sign that spring is coming. Kinda like the birds migrating back to the north.) She told us about apps that were supposed to let you know when the Northern Lights were most likely viewable and where. Of course we all downloaded them. We piled into our guide’s van around 9:40 PM along with 8 other people and headed out to his little cabin in the woods. He called it Husky Lodge but I’m not sure what exactly distinguishes a cabin from a lodge. I chose this trip from among the many offered because you wait in a lodge instead of in someone’s van or truck. I’m all about the bathroom. Plus they had couches and hot chocolate. And one room had huge windows that you could watch from.
We bundled up and went outside to practice taking pictures in the dark. Our guide showed us how to set our phones for night and then hold VERY still for the 10 seconds it took to take the picture. It was a beautiful clear night sky. I got a picture of Mars.
This picture does not do it justice. That sky was amazing. Literally AWEsome in the very real meaning of that word. I can never look at a clear night sky like that without thinking of the majesty of God. The heavens truly do declare the glory of God! Psalm 19.1
It was really cold. We had to keep going back inside to warm up.
After awhile our guide came running in and told us to come outside because you could see the lights. Our guide (I have to keep calling him “our guide” because I can’t remember his name) told us that there are 5 stages of the Northern Lights. Number 1 is where you see the lights, but they are just white and look like a big band in the sky. Number 2 is when they start “dancing”. Number 3 is when you can see a little color with the naked eye. Number 4 is when you can see a little color with the naked eye but can see a lot of color with a photograph. Number 5 is when you see a lot of vibrant color with the naked eye. We got to see all of them but 5. It was also explained to us that the earth’s atmosphere is the canvas, the radioactive particles are the paint and the magnetism is the paintbrush. Fascinating. We took a lot of pictures and then headed home around 2:30 AM. Yawn!! This adventure was on my bucket list so I was very pleased to have seen the Lights!
Off to the Great White North – Thursday
Since I still have the blog account until July I figured I would do one last blog. Let’s see if I still remember how …
Thursday – We’re off!
Got up at 3:45, showered and headed to the airport around 4:30. We arrived and had plenty of time even though it always makes me nervous to cut it that close. One of the perks of our little Wichita airport. 13 Gates. We parked in long term parking and took the shuttle over to the airport, so naturally Bruce knew the one other person on the shuttle, Scott.
I had baked, decorated and individually bagged a bunch of heart sugar cookies because I was originally going to give them to our neighbors for Valentine’s. But since I was sick all week and never did it, I began giving them to other people around Wichita. I had wanted to add a sticker with a Bible verse, but our printer wasn’t working So I decided to hand write stickers for the remaining cookies that said, “You are loved by God!” Ephesians 2:10 and bring them to Alaska. It will be so fun being able to hand them out along the way.
We had mostly uneventful flights. Wichita to Dallas to Seattle to Fairbanks. I did get stuck in the bathroom which has never happened to me before. I flicked the little switch to unlock the door but it wouldn’t budge. For a minute I thought I would be flying the rest of the way on the toilet seat. Luckily there was a girl waiting in the aisle who jumped into action when she heard me saying, “I think I’m stuck in the bathroom!” She was able to yank the door from the outside. My hero!
After arriving in Fairbanks around 3:30. we rented a car and piled in for the mile and a half drive to our lodge. We are so glad the Lette’s wanted to come on this adventure also. Most of our friends said, “WHY would you want to go to Alaska in the WINTER?” We stayed at Pike’s Waterfront Lodge. It was perfect! A little weathered but full of homey amenities. We had a balcony off our room where we could go to see the Northern Lights if they were viewable. We set up a Northern Lights Alert call from the front desk for if they were sighted or predicted on one of the apps. We never got a call. They also had a glass domed viewing room with a movie screen, library and pool table to stay busy while you waited for the light show. Also on property were reindeer, a sledding area, a library, a restaurant, lots of fire places both indoors and outdoors, a telescope, a lounge with lots of games, a gift shop and a little ice cream shop.
We ate dinner in the restaurant on the property because we were all a little tired and didn’t feel like finding a fun restaurant in town. Bruce and I both had Halibut chowder for dinner. It was pretty good. I also ordered their special Alaskan Berry Blast martini. The waiter asked if I wanted a big or small one and then convinced me to get the big one since it was only $2 more. I guess everything’s bigger in Alaska because this looked like a small fish bowl. It could have easily fed (drank?) the whole table. And no, I did NOT finish it. Even with help from my friends. I did influence the ladies at the table next to us to get one also. Am I a pusher?
One day away – it’s getting REAL!
Friday Sept 10, 2020
Well it’s been a full day of packing the RV and figuring out where stuff fits best. I’m happy to report that I finally! figured out where to put my dishes that I could reach them easily. #shortpeopleproblems
Got the RV all loaded except for the refrigerated stuff. It took a little bit longer due to my extra special Kinsley helper. She was very enthusiastic about helping but had her own ideas on where things should go. I am sure going to miss that sweet girl!
I’ve made reservations for the first week’s RV Parks. Bruce and I both got hair cuts. RV is gassed up, tires checked, new battery and ready to go.
Pastor Mike Goolsby is coming over to pray for us at 2:00 tomorrow afternoon and then we plan to take off between 2:30-3:00. We were originally leaving Sat morning, then Friday after work, but somehow it keeps moving up. This. Is. Getting. REAL!
we’re off!
Thanks Pastor Mike and everyone who came by to pray for us! We pulled out around 3:45. We are going to boondock in a WalMart parking lot in Springield, MO tonight. Odometer = 19,670.
Wallydocking, a visit from my mom and on to Florida!
When we decided that we would be spending the night in Springfield, MO in a WalMart parking lot (which Annie informed me this morning is officially called “Wallydocking”), my mom jumped in her car and drove 1 1/2 hours from her home in Rolla, MO to spend the night with us. We ordered take-out Italian from Digiacinta’s (their dining room was closed due to Covid) and played a few quick rounds of Rumikub last night. This morning we took off in separate directions at 7:45 AM.
It was about 10:30 on a sunny Saturday morning. We were somewhere in Missouri, cruising down a beautiful, curvy, back road 2 lane highway with no shoulder. Just as Bruce said, “wow! This gas gauge dropped from 1/2 to almost empty really quick. We better get gas in the next town,” Harvey (the RV) lost power. Trying not to panic but seeing nothing but curves ahead, I immediately began praying! In God’s awesomeness, He not only provided a little gravel driveway to coast into, but it ended up being a little road that we could drive straight out of and not even have to back out on the highway. Bruce hopped on the cycle and found a gas station barely 2 miles down the road. Being the thrifty guy he is, Bruce wasn’t about to pay $13 a piece for 1 gallon gas cans, so he bought 2 gallon jugs of Fresh Spring Water, filled up a few water bottles for the bikers (motorcycle) hanging outside the Valero and then filled the empty jugs with gas. Ron would be proud! Twenty minutes later we were gassed up and on our way! Thank you to all our prayer warriors! We can totally feel God’s hand on our journey already! So now we know when the gage says half empty, it’s time to fill up!
**Oopsy – now I’ve been told this is against the law. Do not use water jugs for gas!
From Springfield we headed south on Hwy 65 to I-40 into Memphis. We were pretty excited about going to Memphis because we had such fond memories of the last time we were there with the kids. In a car. We had explored Beale St and downtown Memphis and had eaten great barbecue. It was a little different in Harvey. We found a barbecue place on Google that looked good, not too far off I-40. Unfortunately Memphis has a lot of roads that seem to dive under low overpasses. They were all marked with signs telling the heights. Which we assumed meant they were very low. So we chose to avoid them. We were sure wishing we knew how tall Harvey was! We came to one narrow road that seemed high enough that we could attempt to slowly go under rather than back up and turn around. As we were debating this, a UPS truck zipped on under without even slowing down. Surely we were shorter than a UPS truck! Bruce drove slowly under while I watched the roof clearance from outside. We made it under the 12’3” bridge with less than a foot to spare. We decided that we were safe to slowly go under anything over 12′. As long as we were loaded down. And had a full tank of gas. And didn’t bounce.
We went on a couple of wild goose chases following Siri to BBQ joints that had apparently moved or been out of business for a while. We finally decided that Memphis just wasn’t as fun in an RV and headed back to the interstate.
We passed into Alabama on I-22, not sure where we would spend the night, but heading towards Columbus, Georgia.
The further south we got, the more we were reminded that a hurricane was on it’s way. We continued through Birmingham without stopping. I had originally thought we would stop in all these cool cities, but after our not-so-fun-experience in Memphis, we just wanted to keep going. In Montgomery, AL we had dinner at a Chrystal’s Burgers because it looked like a local favorite. Unfortunately their lobby was closed due to Covid, and only the drive-thru was open. Harvey obviously couldn’t attempt a drive-thru, so we ended up knocking on the door to the lobby and begging the manager to let us order there. She begrudgingly agreed, took our order and money and then brought our food to us at the door. I’m pretty sure she was convinced we had Covid. Or were roaming scoundrels up to no good.
We found a place to dump our tanks (that’s RV speak for get rid of the sewage in Harvey’s black & gray tanks) that wasn’t too far from a Walmart that wasn’t too far from our route. The beauty of Wallydocking is that when you stop at 11:45 PM you don’t have to worry about hooking anything up. You just find a flat spot, turn off the key, close the curtains and go to bed.
Sunday morning I called all the RV Parks where we were scheduled to stop the next few days. Ft Clinch and Monticello didn’t expect to be affected by the hurricane at all. Defuniak Springs, Pensacola and Mobile were expecting to be right in Sally’s path. We debated about changing our route and starting further north, but that didn’t seem like it would solve the problem because as we headed west, Sally would be heading north and we could still potentially run in to her. After checking the weather multiple times, we decided to continue to Ft Clinch at Fernandina Beach, Florida and take it day by day, knowing we could be sitting still for a few days waiting out the hurricane.
We realized that it was Sunday right before we finally took off around 11:00 AM. Rats! This would have been a great place to catch some real Southern Baptist preaching.
I was excited to drive through Columbus, Georgia and see the town where I was born. I’m pretty sure I haven’t been back since we moved when I was 2. My mom gave us the address of the house where we lived when I was born. I was a little unsure how to go about taking pictures without being a creeper. We were driving an RV for Pete’s sake! Not to worry. Bruce marched right up and rang the doorbell. He told the girl that answered why we were there and she was happy to let us take a few pictures.
We arrived at Ft Clinch around 7:30 PM. Since it was already dark we weren’t able to see much. It is supposed to be on the beach, but our campsite is kinda in the woods. Guess we’ll find out tomorrow.
first lesson learned (oh the adventures!)
So it’s about 10:30 on a sunny Saturday morning. We’re somewhere in Missouri, cruising down a beautiful, back roads, curvy, 2 lane highway with no shoulder. Just as Bruce says, “wow! This gas gauge dropped from 1/2 to almost empty really quick. We better get gas in the next town,” Harvey (the RV) loses power. Trying not to panic but seeing nothing but curves ahead, I immediately begin praying! In God’s awesomeness, He not only provided a little gravel driveway to coast into, but it ended up being a little road that we could drive straight out of and not even have to back out on the highway. Bruce hopped on the cycle and found a gas station barely 2 miles down the road. Being the thrifty guy he is, Bruce wasn’t about to pay $13 a piece for 1 gallon gas cans, so he bought 2 gallon jugs of Fresh Spring Water, filled up a few water bottles for the bikers (motorcycle) hanging outside the Valero and then filled the empty jugs with gas. Ron Neugent would be proud! Twenty minutes later we were gassed up and on our way! Thank you to all our prayer warriors! We can totally feel God’s hand on our journey already! So now we know when the gage says half empty, it’s time to fill up!
**Oopsy – now I’ve been told this is against the law. Do not use water jugs for gas!
*** This is out of order. Should have been inserted between spending the night in Springfield and heading to Memphis.
day 1: Ft Clinch, Florida to Fargo, GA
A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
Chinese Proverb
82.77 miles – 528 ft climb
We decided to explore Ft Clinch on the cycle for a little bit this morning before we left since we got in after dark last night. It’s really pretty. I’m trying to figure out how to post a video. Stay tuned!
Bruce took his bike down to the ocean and dipped his back tire in the Atlantic. I envisioned him riding out of the water and off to the west, but since it’s all sand, that isn’t really the way it works. Anyway, we drove to the front of Fort Clinch and Bruce left from there around 10:30 instead of going over to Fernandino Beach like we had planned.
The guy working the security building was really nice. He came over and insisted on taking a picture of both of us because he said it’s my trip too. We talked for a bit after Bruce rode off and then he let me stay parked on the side of the road for a while so I could let Bruce get a good head start.
I dumped the tanks all by myself for the first time and then I left around noon. I had a guy run up to me as I was leaving who wanted to give me $5 for Parkinson’s because his mom had it. Choked me up. (Yeah, I know it doesn’t take much for that!) But that is what it’s all about. Raising money and awareness for Parkinson’s and MS.
We had a pleasant (for me at least) drive on back state highways through rural Georgia and Florida. I got to Fargo an hour or so before Bruce, so I went to get a case of water at this little convenience store. I didn’t end up buying the water there because the girl at the counter told me it’s a lot cheaper at Dollar General. We visited for awhile and I told them what we were doing. They were pretty excited about it. I got a fountain drink and then went back to Harvey to hang out in the parking lot and use their wi-fi for a while, waiting for Bruce to arrive. We are spending the night at Griffis Fish Camp in Fargo, GA. Bruce should be arriving in about 20 minutes! We are meeting at a church close to the highway and then driving to the fish camp because it’s 18 miles from our route.
Cruising Florida! Or possibly Georgia. We went back and forth between the two a couple times on the highway. Which was funny because since it was a state highway, the number changed depending on which state we were in.
We did however have an interesting conversation with Mr Griffis, who showed us his little museum of old pictures, antiques and stuffed animals. I mean stuffed as in taxidermy. He told us that the fish camp had been in his family for about 100 years. He had so many interesting stories. I wish I had taken notes. Or had my phone with me. Mr Griffis stopped by the RV to collect the $20 rent right as I was finishing preparing dinner. We stepped outside to talk to him and ended up walking over to his little museum. We didn’t get back until over an hour later. Luckily we are ok with cold food.
hurricane Sally aka “watch the weather!”
Many of you have expressed concern about Hurricane Sally and our trip. She is definitely wreaking havoc on my well made schedule. But we are aware of it and are figuring out what to do. We talked to people in the first four places that we are scheduled to stay and they all said that they are not worried because the Hurricane is not supposed to effect them, besides rain. Obviously the path can change and we plan to stay on top of that. But as of now we plan to stay on our original route through Wednesday. We are most likely not going to Defuniak Springs, Pensacola or Mobile which will probably affect the rest of the route for the first 2 weeks. Some of the rangers we have talked with here say that it may still be possible for us to continue on our route if we stay an extra day in Tallahassee or Chatahoochee. We will probably be deciding day by day. Right now Bruce is riding from Madison, FL to Monticello in light rain. He says it doesn’t bother him too much because it’s warm. Thanks for the concern. Definitely keep us in your prayers!
In case you’re wondering about “watch the weather”, here’s the scoop. When our daughter, Caroline, was little, she hated rain and bad weather. On stormy nights after we had tucked her in, we’d be sitting out watching TV and we’d hear her little voice say, “watch the weather!”
**update 8PM We have been told that the weather west of Tallahassee is very windy and stormy and not conducive to biking OR driving an RV so we have decided to stay at least 1 extra night here in Monticello. Bruce needs a break after 2 days anyway, right?
day 2: Fargo, GA to Monticello, FL
Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding. In ALL your ways acknowledge Him and He will make your paths straight.
Proverbs 3: 4-5
79.48 miles – 1,598 ft climb
Wow! This has definitely been one of those days! One of those bad news/good news kind of days. Let me just give you a few examples:
Since we didn’t have cell service or wifi last night, we were still finishing the details of our route this morning after we had driven back into town. We then had some other directional challenges, causing Bruce to get started 2 hours later than planned, BUT he still made it to our destination by 4:30
We got confused at an intersection where the highway split and had to ask a guy for directions, BUT he was super nice and we talked to him for quite a while and then he ended up giving us a big donation for MS in honor of his Brother-in-law.
While riding along the highway, Bruce got attacked by a pitbull, BUT as it lunged (hard enough to knock his foot off the pedal that it was clipped into) it didn’t knock him over and only bit his foot which was protected by his bike shoe, and not his calf. He was able to keep on going.
It rained off and on most of the day, BUT it was a warm rain and Bruce just rode through it.
The bike path Bruce was supposed to ride on to our campsite was total mud and he wasn’t able to ride it, BUT it was right by a Fire station where he asked for alternate directions, BUT they gave him wrong directions and he headed out a few miles in the wrong direction, BUT I happened to pass him and honked and he came and got in the RV (this is allowed because A. he was only going off route to the campsite and B. he had already biked this street going the wrong direction) and rode to the campsite with me.
We got set up at our campsite and realized that although they advertised wifi, we had none, BUT Bruce went and talked to the manager and she moved us to a better site.
There was a SNAKE in our electric box at the 2nd site, BUT thankfully Bruce was hooking up the electric that time around and not me AND he didn’t get bit AND he killed it with my kitchen knife (yuk! I may have to use the whole bottle of Dawn and LOTS of scalding hot water to feel confident using that knife again … or possibly accidentally leave it at this campsite)
Hurricane Sally is really messing up our plans. I am not OCD, but I do like a good schedule. BUT God is in control and we can stay a few days at this campsite and wait out the storm. We have wifi and a swimming pool. What else do we need?
does the RV follow Bruce?
Since it’s raining and we are hunkering down here I figured I may as well just keep posting indefinitely! HAHA just kidding. Seriously, several people have asked if I am just following along behind Bruce as he rides the whole time. Well the truth is, he is SO FAST I can barely keep up with him!! HeeHee, I am hilarious tonight! The actual plan is for him to leave our campsite around 6:30 or 7:00 each morning. I will stay and have coffee with Jesus, tidy things up, unplug everything from the campsite and then take off around 9:00. I am also planning to walk a 5k each day so that as Bruce bikes across the country, I will be “walking across the country”. Since I’m so slow, this will add a couple hours onto my morning before I leave. I will most likely catch up to him in 30-45 minutes. We’ll stop and he’ll get more water, a snack, dry clothes etc. Then we’ll both take off again and I will continue to our next site and get everything set up. He’ll come rolling in a few hours later. But that hasn’t happened yet for various reasons. The only time I will actually be following Bruce is if he is riding a particularly narrow or dangerous stretch and I’m riding behind him as his bodyguard.
want to join us?
We would love for you to join us at one of our stops. You can drive along with us or you could ride with me in the RV or bike with Bruce (if you can keep up). A lot of the campgrounds have spaces for tent camping and little cabins to rent. Plus most of the towns have hotels. You will have to figure out your own logistics and transportation and it will be a little dicey since we will be constantly moving, but the invitation is there! Check our schedule.
day 3: still in Monticello
Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will stand.
Psalm 19:21
It’s been a pretty chill day here at the Tallahassee East Campground. I went for a little jog/walk while Bruce swam laps this morning. I took a shower in the park bathroom this morning and was shocked to see how nice it was. I took a video that you might be able to see on my instagram (brucepamc2c) but I’m kinda struggling with that part of the social media. Point of clarification: I did NOT take the video while I was taking a shower. I took the video fully clothed before I entered the shower.
We took the cycle in to Monticello to explore a bit and found a Mexican restaurant for lunch. It started raining on our way back home and has been raining ever since. I got the laundry all done and now we are just hanging out in the lodge community room. I’m about to start working on my Swahili. I have to be able to practice with Carmilla when we stay with her in Dallas. 🙂 We aren’t sure yet as to whether we will have to stay another day here or will be able to move on tomorrow. Chatahoochee is under a tropical storm warning right now but may be fine tomorrow. We just talked to a lady who’s brother lives in Pensacola and she said they were pretty hammered. Lots of flooding. I will need to call the Florida Dept of Transportation and see what they say. We will not put ourselves in any danger. This is not a race.
comments? yes, please!
We would love to hear from you! I set up a comment & blessing page, but that only goes directly to our email. I’m still working on setting up a page just for comments but for now you can comment on this home page. If you are viewing on your cell phone, the “leave a comment” option should be in very small letters at the end of each post. If you are viewing on a computer, it should be in colored letters but very small print on the left side of the screen. If someone has already left a comment, it will say “2 comments” or whatever. You just click on that and it should open a place for you to leave a comment. I’m sorry it’s so hard to find. This is a pre-made layout and I don’t have much ability to change the setup.
day 4: Monticello to Marrianna, FL
Do not withhold good from those who deserve it, when it is in your power to act.
Proverbs 3:27
95.51 miles – 3,389 ft climb
Today was pretty uneventful, which was a good thing. Bruce left around 8:15 and I followed around 10:00. The drive was pretty with tall trees on both sides, when we weren’t going through small towns. Since the park we were originally planning to stay at was still closed due to flooding, we stayed in Marrianna, FL (20 miles further – sorry honey–you can do it!) at Florida Caverns RV Resort. I have not seen any caverns and forgot to ask. Hopefully we are not missing an amazing natural wonder. This park is kinda pretty, next to a pond/lake. There is an alligator in said pond as of right now. Apparently he was “displaced during the storm”. I’m not totally sure what that means, but somehow it brings to my mind the picture of gators surfing the storm surges from their local swamps to various RV park ponds. A ranger has been called to capture the gator and return him back home. I’m not sure how they know where “home” is, so I guess they just take him to the closest alligator infested swamp.
I talked to a man out walking his dog, and the subject of the hurricane came up. He said that they got 11 inches of rain here. When I commented that I was surprised that there is not more flooding and standing water, he told me that the land is on limestone “like swiss cheese” and although they may get flash flooding, once the rain stops it doesn’t take long for all the water to soak into the ground. Interesting. I am learning so much from the locals!
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For lunch today we ate at a little BBQ joint along Hwy 90 between Tallahassee and Chatahoochee. Recently opened by father & son, Steve & Nathon. By the time I got there lunch was on the table ready to go. And Bruce was out back helping the driver of a huge beer truck that was stuck in the mud. Always the good samaritan.
I love that as my husband is rolling along, he calls me and says, “hey babe, there’s a little BBQ place at the side of the road and the guy’s out smoking meat. Want to stop?” Or yesterday he called and said, “hey, there’s a peanut factory on the left. Maybe you can stop and see if they have any fresh peanuts.” (which I did. That’s a whole nother story. OK, OK I’ll tell it. I stopped and went in and it was NOT a store front to sell peanuts, but only a peanut warehouse. The guy said he supposed that he could give me some peanuts. We rode out on a golf cart to this big warehouse. When he opened the giant sliding door, it looked pitch black and empty in there and I started wondering if this was really a good idea. So we walked back to the back corner and there was a giant pile, maybe 15 feet tall by 20 feet wide of something. He walked up and scooped up a bunch and low and behold it was peanuts. So fresh that they still had stems on them.)
I called the RV parks in both DeFuniak Springs and Pensacola and both are open and unflooded. We will check the roads with FL Dept of Trans. If everything looks good, we will be able to follow our original schedule. Thank you all so much for the prayers. It is amazing to see how God is working everything out.
day 5: Marianna to DeFuniak Springs, FL
The Faithful love of the Lord never ends! His mercies never cease. Great is His faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.
Lamentations 3:22-23
76.75 miles – 2,126 ft climb
Tonight we are staying at a wonderful RV “Resort” but sadly the internet is very slow and I can not upload the pictures right now because it’s taking forever and I am seriously about to fall asleep. I mean come on, watching Bruce ride 75 miles is enough to wear me out.
We were pleased to be able to make it to DeFuniak Springs today. Apparently the flooding is receding pretty quickly. We will be able to make it all the way to Pensacola tomorrow and then on to Mobile on Sunday. We did see more flooding along the side of the roads today than before. Maybe because we passed over several rivers.
One exciting fact about today’s ride. We crossed our first time zone. We started in Eastern time zone and are now in Central. Bruce is going strong. At the end of the day I always ask him, “How are you doing?” and expect some answer like, “whew! I am SO tired!” But instead I always get something like, “great! It was a good day!” or “I killed it today. I had a big tail wind.”
My favorite thing about this trip is all of the genuinely nice people that we have met. In parking lots, on walks and in all the RV parks we have met the best people. And this park is no exception. I wish we were staying here longer because I’d love to have the chance to get to know them better. On the ride to DeFuniak Springs today, Bruce ran in to (no, not literally!) a man who had biked to Houston to see his mom and was now on his way back home. He had just a regular ol’ bike that was pretty old and loaded with stuff. Bruce thought he said he had been riding since June. He had no biking gear (I personally can’t imagine biking that far without padded pants – owie!) and wore Army fatigues and lace up boots. They chatted a bit and Bruce bought him lunch. Then they both headed off in their opposite directions.
As I’m sure you weather watchers are aware, there is another tropical storm in the Gulf that may be heading to Texas or Louisiana in the next few days. We will be watching that as well.
Since this was a short day, only 75 miles, we were able to meet for lunch in DeFuniak Springs. We stopped in a cute little shop called Nooks & Crannies and bought a few things before lunch. Unfortunately the places we were looking at for lunch had either gone out of business due to being forced to close for Covid or they were too high end for a biker wearing spandex. We ended up getting a great pizza at Hungry Howies, a place recommended by a kid we talked to on the street.
I can’t wait to show you the pictures from this place. It really is beautiful. I put some videos on instagram brucepamc2c. I promise I will figure out how to add videos here and load some soon. Maybe in Mobile because I am counting on good internet at the Marriott.
When we were sitting in the RV, we kept hearing these clunks above us. It wasn’t raining. I thought maybe it was in the pipes (do RVs have pipes?) or air conditioning or something. Then the light bulb went off in my brain. I remembered that we were parked under a tree. It was squirrels dropping nuts on the roof.
day 6: DeFuniak Springs to Pensacola
Show me the right path, O Lord; point out the road for me to follow.
Psalm 25:4
70.37 miles – 1,253 ft climb
Well, we made it to Pensacola! A few days ago we didn’t know if this would be possible. We didn’t see too much flooding along the way which was surprising. Bruce was having a little bike issue (the rear skewer wasn’t tight – if that means anything to you –no? me neither) and so we had to drive towards the coast to find a bike shop. Shout out to Bike More Bike Shop for quickly finding and fixing the problem! Anyway, on the way there we saw quite a bit of limbs etc that had come down. But this city is efficient. They were already chopped into neat little bundles at the side of the road just waiting to be picked up. The biggest problem in Pensacola is the lack of power. Most of the restaurants and businesses have been without power since Wednesday. A few got it back just this afternoon. There were electric trucks all over the place. We were lucky that our RV park has power, many still don’t. But sadly, their wifi is down so my pictures may not be able to upload until tomorrow.
This morning Bruce took off around 8 AM. When I found out that the highest point in Florida was close, I decided to head over to see it. I didn’t know Highest Points were even a thing until a few weeks ago. Thank you to Ryan and Pam Lemon for enlightening me. I think Florida’s was the perfect one to start with. It’s only 345 feet. I basically pulled off the side of the road and ran over to the sign in my flip flops. No hiking involved.
My next stop was a little produce market at the side of the road. Among other things I bought some Boiled Peanuts. I had seen signs for them and assumed it was just another way of cooking them to end up with the salty, crunchy snack I know and love. WRONG! The kind lady who owned the shop opened this hot crock and spooned out some mushy peanuts still in the mushy shell for me to sample. Not exactly eye appealing. I kinda smooshed it open and pulled out the peanuts. They were salty and kinda reminded me of a pinto bean. She said they eat them as a snack, but I can’t imagine choosing that as a snack over … anything. But since it’s a popular southern thing I bought a bag. I think I’ll try serving them as a side, like a bean full of protein. I gave one to Bruce when we met for lunch and he was not impressed. I think they have to grow on you.
The other big news today is that most of the gas stations around here don’t have gas or else don’t have power for the pumps to work to get the gas into your car. We saw this on the news yesterday and so decided to fill up in DeFuniak Springs. But the gas station there was out of gas already! We ended up finding a little gas station in Mossy Grove that had gas and no line. I wasn’t even all that low, but the thought of not being able to get gas made me a little nervous. I’m not sure how Bruce would have liked riding the rest of the way across the country with me on his handlebars.
I finally caught up with Bruce in Milton, FL 50 miles from DeFuniak Springs. Did I mention that my husband is one FAST biker! As I pulled into town, I got stuck in traffic at a traffic light that was out from the storm. But up ahead to the right I could see this biker with a yellow helmet and a green kit (that’s biker speak for uniform/outfit/top & shirt) zipping along in the bike lane passing everyone up. Did I mention that my husband is FAST! He pulled over in a parking lot a little farther up to wait for me. Coincidentally (or maybe NOT) there was a little craft brewery right next door. It was called Beardless Brewhaus, which was a funny name since the owner, who makes the beer, HAS a beard. After his pb&j lunch and a few tweaks on his bike chain, Bruce headed over to get a sample … and a Crowler. A new word I learned today. A Crowler is a Growler in a can.
Just in case you think it’s all fun and games I feel like I need to tell you the rest of the story. I could drive forever on those back country roads. I absolutely love them. But unfortunately those darn cities keep getting in the way. Mom and Harriett, you should probably stop reading right here. In Pensacola Hwy 90 split into 90 and Alt 90. I would like to know why they couldn’t come up with a different number for Alt 90. Really? How about Hwy 437? Well I turned on the wrong one and too late realized it still had lots of trees down and crews working. So I turned off on the first street to go around the block. But unfortunately it was a narrow neighborhood street with more trees down and crew trucks. I couldn’t go through. I sat there for a little bit debating which I would hate worse, trying to back out onto the highway or trying to turn around. Both seemed impossible and scary. I opted to turn around. I pulled into the first neighbor’s driveway and then backed out onto the narrow street and tried to turn sharp enough to actually BE in the street. All I could see in my backup camera was a giant Rose of Sharon bush coming closer and closer in the neighbors yard behind me across the street. I finally managed to get backed out without too many bush branches stuck in my bumper and only minor RV tracks in the manicured lawn.
By this time I was getting calls from Bruce to come pick him up to take him to the bike shop. As I headed to find him, somehow the highway split again and I ended up on the wrong part AGAIN. I whipped (as much as you can “whip” in an RV) into a parking lot to reassess. What I hadn’t thought through was that now I had to cross 4 lanes of busy traffic with no stoplight, to go left. When I finally made it across, my lane immediately ended and cars were zipping by me like they were on a race track. I just sat there crying until it cleared up. Uggh! I hate cars buzzing around my RV. I guess I could just take the stance that I’m bigger and badder and they best just watch out for ME. But that will most likely never happen unless I morph into one of my daughters on this trip. So I finally picked up Bruce on Brewster street – an appropriate place for him- and we headed to the bike shop. On a side note: highway 90 was also called Caroline street part of the way today. We also drove by Dad’s street and Bruce street. Tomorrow maybe we’ll see Josh and Annie streets.
We had a delicious dinner of grilled Salmon, roasted green beans and Josh’s sweet potato jumble. Now we are just hanging in the RV hoping it quits raining soon. It is supposed to rain through the night and all day tomorrow. It’s not raining hard but it still complicates things immensely for Bruce. So please pray that it STOPS raining. We don’t want to miss any more days even though it’s NOT A RACE. We are looking forward to getting to Mobile tomorrow and hopefully finding some sunshine some where soon. Bruce is looking ahead longingly to Scotsdale where it was 102 degrees today.
day 7: Pensacola to Mobile, AL
For God has not given us a spirit of fear and timidity. but of power, love and a sound mind.
2 Timothy 1:7
47.7 miles – 1542 ft climb – 6 inches rain
Well, today was interesting. We saw LOTS of trees just knocked right out of the ground. Hopefully I can post pictures tonight because we are at a hotel. Yay! I was again reminded how different Bruce and I are. Today was exhausting! For me mentally, for Bruce physically. It rained the whole way from Pensacola to Mobile. More on that later. So we get to the hotel and I’m ready to crash and call it a night. Bruce comes out with a little piece of paper and says, “I got this great little seafood place called MudBugs that the locals love where we can go for dinner.” What? We are going out in the cold again? I was just getting settled! But since we ARE in Mobile, AL and we ARE experiencing the country I will rally and I will be happy that I rallied. I’m so thankful that God gave me an energetic husband with a major zest for LIFE to gently push me out of my box.
The big news today is that we are completely changing our route to Texas. Although tropical storm Beta won’t directly affect us, she is causing lots of rain and there is more possibility of flooding and flash flooding in southern Louisiana. We are VERY sad to miss out on Biloxi and southern Louisiana and visiting our friends Bob & Evelyn in Baton Rouge. Bruce has promised me that we can take a road trip to Louisiana next year. But NOT during prime hurricane season. I will try to get our schedule updated and posted on the Our Schedule page tonight or tomorrow. Basically we will be heading northwest from here. We will go through Hattiesburg, MS and Natchez, MS and then cut over through Coushetta, LA and in to Carthage, TX where we will rejoin our original route. (haha – that makes me laugh. This route has evolved so many times it’s hard to remember what the “original” route actually was.)
**update — Unfortunately Mud Bugs closed at 6 PM. I know. Weird! So we found another place to eat that was probably twice as expensive but delicious. Bruce had Shrimp & Cheese Grits and I had Red Snapper with a yummy sauce. Seafood twice in one week. We are not big fish people, so that’s saying something! After dinner we went on a quest for ice cream because Bruce was starting to get the shakes (he is a bonafide ice cream addict). After Yelp led us on a wild goose chase looking for a local ice cream shop, we stopped at a MickeyD’s and then a Burger King – both who told us their ice cream machines were not working. By this time we were just ready to get back to our hotel. I love Harvey, but I must say it is nice to be in a hotel. (I miss my emojis – I need to figure out how to add them on this.)
There were a lot of huge trees knocked over, broken in half or uprooted. But these amazing crew guys already have the debris off the road. Unfortunately it is still on the bike path, so Bruce had to ride in the street most of the time today. Fortunately no flooding.
As we left Pensacola this morning it was actually dry and just starting to sprinkle. It wasn’t long before it began raining harder. We made a pit stop so Bruce could add his helmet rain cover and shoe covers. We decided that I would just go 10 miles past him and then wait for him in case he needed anything or just wanted to towel off. This worked pretty well the first few times. You should have seen my amazing backing skills when I thought I was pulling into a church parking lot, but actually pulled in to a little drive that went no where BUT it was paved and had a little brick building and an off shoot to back into and turn around. I was awesome. Wish someone could have seen me back this baby!
Though we were still following Hwy 90, in one spot it took a weird left turn that looked like you were turning on a side country road, so needless to say, I missed it. After I turned around I decided that I should wait for Bruce because I was afraid he would miss it too. Unfortunately his phone was whack today and I couldn’t find him on Find Friends and whenever I tried to call it went right to voice mail. I sent him several texts which he did not respond to, so basically we were living like back in the 90’s when you just had to hope and pray things would work out. I waited for him there for a while, getting a little worried that he hadn’t showed up. After a while I thought he either missed the turn and I didn’t see him do it or he made the turn and I didn’t see him do it. I decided to go ahead and drive towards Mobile, knowing that if I didn’t see him I could always turn around and come back. The drive to Mobile was awful. Lots of traffic, rain, leaves and tree branches making the bike lane unusable and no Bruce in sight. Finally when I was passing across what I later found out was called the Causeway, I got a call from Bruce. He had flatted out and was at a restaurant about a mile further down the Causeway. Times like this are when I am reminded that a LEGION of angels are accompanying us on this trip. Bruce could have flatted out anywhere along the treacherous ride to Mobile, but it happened in front of a restaurant with a big covered deck where he could change the flat and a huge parking lot where I could wait. AND he was in front of me and not behind me. Thank you all for your prayers. They matter!! He fixed his flat and headed off … and then flatted again. Two flats in the rain are enough to make you decide to go ahead and ride in the RV to the hotel. Once we got to the hotel, he went back out and worked on his tire in the RV. It ended up having a little shard of something in it. Now it should be good as new.
day 8: Mobile, Al to Hattiesburg, MS
Wait patiently for the Lord. Be brave and courageous. Yes, wait patiently for the Lord.
Psalm 27:14
83.1 miles – 2,760 ft climb
Today was a good day. We were a little bummed this morning when we checked the weather and saw chances of rain ALL DAY in both Mobile and Hattiesburg, causing us to assume that it would be raining the whole way in between. After we checked out of the hotel, we hung out in Harvey until around 11:00 waiting for it to quit raining. Bruce replaced his inner tube again because it had flatted again and he thought it might be a bad tube (he was right). I finished adding pictures to the last several days’ blogs. Finally he couldn’t take it any longer and prepared to ride in the rain. But amazingly it stopped raining right as he headed out and barely sprinkled all day. A huge answer to prayer!
Bruce was planning to just ride to New Augusta, but was still feeling pretty strong, so ended up riding 20 more miles to an RV park I found in Hattiesburg. It’s not actually an RV park. It looks like a huge fair grounds with RV overnight parking. It’s pretty empty except for us and maybe 5 other RVs who look like they possibly stay here long term.
I think we made the right decision changing our route. Tomorrow he will be on a Rails to Trails paved bike path for 40 miles and then around 40 miles on roads. The highway today did not have a bike lane which made me pretty nervous, but he said that almost all of the cars and trucks got over in the other lane when they passed him. So I guess I’m at least thankful it had 2 lanes each direction.
One interesting fact about today. I only spoke with 2 people all day besides Bruce — a lady who held the door open for me leaving the hotel and a Mississippi sanitation worker who stopped to make sure I was ok when he saw me stopped at the side of the road waiting for Bruce. But don’t worry. I talked to myself all day. Haha! I’m a good audience.
Since today was pretty uneventful, I thought I’d tell you how Harvey got his name. My adorably precious granddaughter, Kinsley, “helped” me pack the food and stuff in the RV before our trip. When we were finished and walking back into the house, she turned and waved and said, “bye RV” but in her adorable 2 year old voice it sounded like “bye Harvey” and so he was named. And now that I brought her up, I’m missing that little punkin like crazy!
day 9: Hattiesburg to Brookhaven
The Lord gives His people strength; the Lord blesses His people with peace.
Psalm 29:11
85.6 miles – 2,500 ft climb
Today was a gift! Looking at the weather on my phone it again looked like rain all day, but today we actually saw sunshine! It’s been so long we’ve almost forgotten what it looks like. The only rain we got was a few sprinkles after Bruce had already arrived at the park. He got to ride 40 miles on this beautiful Rails to Trails bike path, called the Longleaf Trail. He loved it! And I loved it because I didn’t have to worry about all the cars zooming by him. In fact, I was so at peace about it that after I had coffee with Jesus, I decided to go ahead and do my 5K in Hattiesburg before I left. And then shower and clean the RV. And then take my time at the grocery store. And then get gas. Bruce ended up beating me to our RV park by 30 minutes! Did I mention he’s fast?
We have sure seen lots of Magnolia trees down here. They aren’t blooming now, but the pod things are scattered all along the ground. Those always remind me of the Magnolia tree that was in my grandparent’s front yard. My brother and I used to like to draw all over the driveway with the pods. I’m not sure my grandpa liked it as much as we did.
Once I arrived in Brookhaven we headed to the laundromat to do laundry. $3.75 per load! Yikes! Bruce took a shower in the RV in the parking lot while I waited for the loads to be done. RVs can sure come in handy! We haven’t seen much of Brookhaven, but some of the parts we did see were a little sad. When we got back to the RV park, I made some yummy little tortilla pizzas. Sorry I have been failing at food photos.
day 10: Brookhaven to Natchez
73.7 miles – 2,900 ft climb
As I write this we are sitting in Harvey in the pouring rain, waiting for a Tornado warning to expire. It has been an interesting day.
Bruce has been in a men’s Bible study group for many years. When Covid hit they decided to start meeting virtually. This is quite convenient if you happen to be riding your bike across the country. This morning Bruce got up early, did his study with the guys and then took off. He had a nice easternly wind and made great time. He finished the last 10 miles on the Natchez Trace. At the end of the Trace he noticed a guy wearing an MS 150 jersey. (I can’t remember if I mentioned that Bruce has been riding in the Kansas City MS 150 for around 15 years and this trip is also raising money for MS, since the MS 150 was canceled this year because of Covid.) As they talked he found out that Bart & his wife, Linda, had just completed riding the Natchez Trace for a week, from Nashville, TN to Natchez, MS.
I did my 5k around the Baseball complex RV park where we stayed last night in Brookhaven, MS. But in this park there was no hidden treasure at the end. I was able to beat Bruce to our RV park in Vidalia, LA by about 30 minutes. This RV park is right on the Mississippi River, right across from Natchez.
We were excited that Bruce finished his ride by 1:30 so we would have the whole afternoon in Natchez. It began to sprinkle pretty much as soon as we got on the cycle. We drove around in the light rain for awhile, trying to find an open restaurant. We started to head to the Under the Hill District, but then realized that our little cycle probably wouldn’t make it back up the hill. She’s big on looks but not so much on power. I didn’t really want to walk back up in the rain so we hooked a u-y (u-ie? UE? Not sure how to spell that?) and headed elsewhere. Bruce may be used to riding in the rain, but I am not. I guess this should have given me more empathy for him. We stopped at a few places that had finished their lunch shift and didn’t open back up until 5. It was 2:30. Finally we stopped at a place that ended up being really good. It was called Fat Momma’s Tamales. Bruce got Tamales. I got a Poboy. I thought these were actually called Poor Boys, but when I asked for a Poor Boy, the waitress was confused. So I pulled out that southern accent (I WAS born in Georgia, remember) and asked for a Poboy. She knew exactly what I wanted. We had a nice visit with the manager, John, who told us that normally this place is packed inside and out, with a huge DIVERSE crowd. He said diversity is alive and well in the south, both here in Natchez and pretty much throughout, according to his friends who live other places in the south. He feels that the race riots are fueled by the media and mainly “in the north” because everybody here is “just the same, dealing with the same stuff, just trying to get by” in the south. I guess I should mention that John is black.
The desire to experience Natchez was dissolved by the continual rain. So we decided to just head back. It started raining harder. And then to top it off, as we jumped back on the cycle to head back, a tornado siren started going off. I called the park office and she said that their building was a tornado shelter and we were welcome to come there but the warning was supposed to expire in 12 minutes. So here we sit. In Natchez. In the RV. In the pouring rain. Storms have never bothered me. I actually like rain and nighttime thunder when I’m in my house. But I think storms are scarier when you are not at home in your warm cozy house. I guess the good news is that it didn’t start while Bruce was biking and it is forecast to be finished by 10 AM tomorrow. So hopefully it will be dry tomorrow when Bruce rides. Even though the title is Brookhaven to Natchez, we are actually in Vidalia, LA. State number 5!
I just realized WE CROSSED THE MISSISSIPPI! That is a big deal. Bruce has ridden around 700 miles and through 5 states! Wow! If we stopped now that would still be an amazing accomplishment! But we aren’t stopping now. Sunshine tomorrow, I just know it!
Have you noticed that in all these biking pictures Bruce is smiling? I think he’s actually enjoying himself! I never thought of myself as a Debbie-Downer but with this weather and road conditions I start assuming that Bruce is miserable. But then when I catch up to him or he catches up to me, he’s always smiling. I love this guy!
These huge logging trucks kept passing us. They seemed huge next to Harvey, I can’t imagine how they probably felt to Bruce! He pointed out that the smell was pretty amazing as they went by. Like a strong, fresh-cut Christmas tree aroma I imagine.
day 11: Natchez, MS/Vidalia, LA to Winnfield, LA
92 miles – 1,841 ft climb
May God grant you light traffic and wide shoulders.
Old Indian proverb (just kidding, I made it up)
Bruce left our Riverfront RV Park around 9:30 and I left around noon. We were on Hwy 84 almost the whole day. It had great shoulders and not too crowded. The last 20 miles or so had no shoulders, but hardly any traffic.
About an hour down the road Bruce came upon a town called Frogmore. It cracked him up because he had just ridden by a bunch of dead frogs on the shoulder. Apparently they also have a special Ancient Mound in Frogmore. No word as to whether the mound is actually made of the dead frogs. Ughh! Sadly, I missed it all tooling along in Harvey. But truthfully I’m not all that sad about missing dead frogs on the road.
I caught up with Bruce in the town of Jena, LA. We stopped for lunch at the Burger Barn. Bruce had a burger and I had a pulled pork sandwich. After lunch I had to make a quick stop at WalMart because I ran out of creamer this morning. If you’ve ever had coffee with me you know what I’m talking about. There must be a rush on Coconut Creamer because the last 2 WalMarts I stopped at didn’t have it. I had to settle for some kind of caramel creamer.
Also I passed a place called Almost Home Hospice Care. Does that imply that they treat you almost like you’re at home? Or that you are about to die and therefore “almost home”?
We still didn’t have sunshine today, but at least it wasn’t raining. And it was cool. High 60s. Pretty good day for a bike ride. I guess the wind was in his face this time. But he’s from Kansas, so whatever.
There was a great sidewalk all along the side of the Mississippi River. But one section had seen better days. I asked another guy walking about it and he said that the river came up really high last year and when it went back down, it took the ground under the sidewalk with it. Looking at the river made me start contemplating how lucky we are that God gave brilliant minds to engineers to develop these strong, sturdy bridges. Without them it would be nearly impossible to get to the other side. Then I digressed to humming Mississippi Man/Louisiana Woman by Conway & Loretta. I’m still humming it.
I gave Bruce a little drafting boost the last few miles. Since there was hardly any traffic, I put my hazard lights on and drove about 30. I couldn’t believe he was able to keep up at 30 mph. He just told me it’s called pacing. Aren’t you glad this is such an educational blog?
I gotta say, Dollar Generals are alive and well in the south! I think every small town has at least one along highways 90 & 84. I have seen so many of them that I have come to consider them my little friends. Almost like a yellow smiley face emoji. Is this what happens to you when you drive an RV alone across 5 states?
We are at our “RV park” now. I use that term loosely. Bruce washed his bike like he usually does and is now out washing Harvey. Because what better way to wind down after biking 92 miles? Any of our neighbors reading this probably aren’t surprised. 🙂
Annie sent me these pictures of Kinsley facetiming with me. If you look closely in the last picture you can see me reading a book to her on the phone.
our new tentative schedule
Here is our new schedule, changed do to us running away from Tropical Storm Beta. Which ended up being a good decision. We are now 2 days ahead of schedule.
