Day 45--America, You Just Got Dilleyed

I got a VERY late start today.  I stopped at 3 gas stations before I found one that would let me get water.  I then went to the bike shop to top my tires off--2 miles out of the way---and they only had, well they didn't have the kind of pump I needed.  Next, I went to a little cafe and got a quick breakfast but it took them 40 min to get the food out.  All of that combined equaled me not really getting going until 11.
I was pretty sure I wasn't going to make it to the end because of all of that and a head wind.  Well, it died off after 10 miles and the hills eased up and I knocked out 80 miles in about 5 hours.  Had I rode like I did today, I would have been done in 20 days.  I was cruising.  My goal was to get to the beach by sundown for some pictures.  I kept looking back to see where the sun was and as it got lower I kept going faster and faster.  It was a real motivator.
I made it with minutes to spare.  I anticipated (even though I knew it wouldn't be like this) a big crowd cheering me on and clapping.  Nothing like that.  There was luckily a little family there to help me take a couple of victory pictures.  Other than that, kind of anti-climatic.  In my head it was a different story.  Fireworks and back flips and such.
After that I got a taxi to the hotel.
(Now the next day)  I got my bike packed up and shipped off and I am now with only one of my front bags.  Nothing else.  I guess getting on the airplane will be easy--no checked baggage.
A friend of mine posted on my Facebook page about "post-adventure blues".  Not sure if that is exactly how he worded it, but I know what he means now.  Everyday for the last 6 weeks I knew what I was going to be doing.  Ride.  At first it was all goal orientated.  Get to the Atlantic!  That went away after awhile because you just start to think about only the next day; not the ultimate destination.  Well, now that I am done, my bike is in the mail, and I am soon to be home, I don't know what to do with myself!  No more daily adventure.  I will have to fill the void somehow.
All in all, bicycle touring is legit awesome sauce.  Anyone can do it and it is much less expensive then you would think.  It is not all unicorns and rainbows....there were days I was ready to club a baby seal.  But over all--super fun and a great adventure..  I cant wait to do my next one!  Soon, I will post one last entry on lessons learned and recommend gear ect. other than that, unless something crazy happens on my return trip, thank you for your support and following and the donations for the cause!  If you have enjoyed reading about my trip, and have not already, please take a few minutes and break out your plastic and drop a few dollars towards the WWP.  Thank you and Happy Holidays!

Day 44--Bare Bones

Well, I mailed back the majority of my things this morning.  I only have my front bags now.  It felt like a big waste, but I threw away my rear bags.  Ten miles after that I cursed at myself because they were still repairable with a little duct tape.  Oh well.  Next tour I am getting a different kind anyhow. (waterproof)
I figured I would be able to fly after getting rid of all of that weight, but I had headwind and hills all day, but still averaged about 14 miles per hour.  I didn't get as far as I had hoped.  I wanted to be only about 50 miles away from the coast for a nice easy ride in to the end, but I still have about 80 or so to go.  I should be fine, just need to get an early start.
I cant say there was really any big events today.  The last 5 days has pretty much beat me down.  I have knocked out nearly 400 miles in 5 days.  300 in 3 days almost.  It has caught up with me and it is hard to go fast for long periods of time.  Still loving it though!
I guess all I have tonight is prepare yourselves for some good victory pictures!  I have some good ones in mind assuming I can get someone to help me with a photo shoot.

Day 43--Houston, We Have a Problem/Hanging By a Thread

Lets see.  I got a late start again!  Slept right through my alarm.  I was pretty wiped out from the day before.  I didn't get going until 9 or so.  When I did get going, I think some little elves snuck in my room and put lead in my legs. Oh so heavy.  It took a good 20 miles to really get  going.  Yesterday I hit 15 to 20 mph all day.  Today, it was more like 10 to 15 mph.
Hills!  Dude, I thought FL was going to be super flat.  Nay.  Erroneous.  All day there were hills.  When I got to Tallahassee--holy shizzzz!  The hills were way worse than the hill country of Texas.  Just monsters.  Rolling monsters.  I still made 80 miles, but it was a gut check of a day.
At the end of "Tally" I almost got a room at a pricey motel.  Because of the price I declined and headed for another 20 miles.  I now somewhat wish I had paid the money.  I am at a real shit hole now.  More on that in a second.
Before I forget: Thanks to MSgt Miranda for her donation today.  Thanks Homie!  And I met two lovely ladies on the road today.  They were headed west for a charity and women's rights.  wwww.againstthegrind.com if you are interested in picking up a new travel blog as mine is about to be over.
So, back to after Tally.  (Tallahassee if you are not picking up what I am putting down).  I maned up and decided to go the extra 20 miles but as soon as I got going I kept hearing something rubbing on my tire.  I stopped and inspected--My left rear bag has almost been ripped off!  It is literally hanging by a thread.  I strapped it on to the bike and finished the day kind of in a limping fashion.
My plan for tomorrow is to mail everything back that is not essential for a two day ride.  I will  pretty much have just a bike and some clothes after tomorrow.  The coast is only 160 miles away so really, I can possibly make it to the Atlantic tomorrow with an empty bike.  I doubt I will push that hard but I will be close after the end of the day tomorrow.
I planned on staying in Monticello Fl (which I am staying).  The name of the hotel is blah blah restaurant AND inn.  The restaurant no longer is open and the room is nasty.  Just gross.  The heater doesn't work (the real reason to stay in a hotel, besides a shower).  The solution by the owner?  Here, here is a portable heater.  (It actually works great).  I said, um, how about I just go to a different disgusting room that has a working heater?  (I left out the disgusting part.)  For various reasons this couldn't happen.  Oh well, whatever.  SO, I am starving!  Food is 2 miles away in town.  Damn!  Further, nothing is open as far as restaurants go.  There was a Dollar General that was open so I bought a bunch of frozen microwave food.  My belly is full, but it is full of crap food.  I will have to get a good breakfast in the morning to counteract this.
Well, that is where I am on my trip.  Almost over and I am glad/sad.  I will be happy to get back home but will miss the adventure.  Everyday on this tour there has been a story.  Sometimes small, sometimes big, but always adventure.  Back home, it is not so much like this.  I hope that I can take this back to my regular life and make everyday an adventure even if I am not riding a bike across the country.  This is one of my lessons learned.

Day 42--Does a Bear Dills Crap in the Woods?

I don't crap in the woods often, but when I do, I prefer the woods of northern Florida.
It was an emergency--it happened--enough on that subject.

Today was a productive day.  Made it 110 miles although about half a mile of that was from me going on a "shortcut" and having to double back.
On the map it looked like I could shave a few miles by taking a certain road.  It ran out of pavement though.  I looked at the dirt and thought I could still ride it.  I could!  For a few feet.  It then turned to beach sand and I almost crashed.  So I had to turn around back to the main route.
There was not much wind today until I had to turn north for about 10 miles and got hammered the whole way.  The road was in pretty good shape to awesome shape all day too.  Just a nice day of riding.
It looks like I have about 230 miles or so left to go.  I plan to try to do close to 100 for two more days and whatever is left on the 3rd day.  This is if everything  goes right though.  From past experiences, I know that things often don't go according to plan on the road.

Day 41--Rest Day

Took one last rest day at my friend's place today.  She had to work all day so I just chilled out around the house most of the day.
When she and the kids got home we all watched movies and talked.  The kids are great and called me "Mr Grassface man" because of my little beard.  The little one fell asleep on me and I wish I got a picture of that.  A very cute girl and the the boy is a cool little dude.  Thanks to *Melissa for putting me up for two nights.
Thanks to Sgt Ramsey and Chief Boggs for their donations today.  They are both in Melissa's chain of command.  Thanks!
Tomorrow, I have a general idea of my route but no idea how far I will make it.  I am anxious to finish this thing so I I hope to cover some serious ground.  I figure I have about 4 more days or so....hopefully no more than that.  We will see what happens!


*A few years after I completed my trip Melissa passed away from cancer.  She fought to the end but now she is in heaven looking down on her beautiful kids.   She was only about 27.  A very sad thing but she did many good things in her short life.

Day 40--No Mas Pantalones

I started the day with a nice ferry ride across the bay to Fort Morgan AL.  During the ride I actually had to put my coat and beanie on because it was pretty chilly.  I assumed it was going to stay that way for the rest of the day--like it had in the past few days.  As soon as I got about a mile down the road though I started noticing that it was much warmer on this side of the bay.  So I took a layer off and kept going.  Within 20 miles I was down to just my shorts and bike shirt and it was still hot.  I had not been this bare in weeks!  It was very sunny and warm and humid.  I could actually feel the weight of the air around me.
There weren't too many big events today.  The Blue Angels were practicing above me for about an hour.  I tried to get a picture, but they were too quick.
I made it to Florida and all the way to near Ft Walton Beach where Hurlburt Field AFB is; my friend is stationed here and I am am staying with her.  It was my 3rd longest ride of the tour at 97 miles.  I was pretty tempted to go ride around the block a few times to get another century but meh...nothing to prove here.

Day 39--3 States in One Day? Not to Happen

My goal today was to finish Mississippi, cross Alabama, and hit Florida--for bragging rights mostly.  Had I did it, it would have been well over 100 miles.  I think I had enough energy to make it happen but I missed the last ferry which would have let me do it.
I was originally going to go through Mobile down to FL, but at the last second I remembered there was another path via Grand Bay AL.  The town I am in now is actually an island and is called dauphin Island.  It seems super cool and I wish I had the the time to tour around it.  Maybe another time.
I had a headwind all day.  Nothing major, but just enough to let you know you had a headwind.  I still made over 70 miles.
Besides the sun being out all day (big change) there was only one other highlight.  (Besides a lot of bridges.  They are like man made hills BTW. Some of them were pretty steep and hard.)  When I made the turn towards the ferry there were like 10 school buses headed the same way.  There was a series of stop signs and railroads at the same area.  Each bus had to stop at the railroads every time.  So, I passed the buses and was passed by the buses 3 times or so.  I got more cat calls from the girls on the buses than I have ever got in my life.  (Highschoolish).  Not sure how I should feel about that haha.  One offered me her half ate orange.  No thanks little lady.  AND, one little butthole threw out a marker at me and it hit me in the side.  I SO wanted to catch up and whoop an ass.  Still, nice shot.  Props to that.
Lastly, at the gas station on the island, I asked the clerk girl for directions.  Here is what I heard: "Go down a mile and make a right.  It is right behind the whore house."  I wanted to say "You have those here??!"  But I knew I must have heard wrong so I just stared at her for a minute.  "Excuse me?"  Oar house.  Ohhhh!  Thanks.  (I actually ate dinner there and it was as far from a whore house as you can get.  A sausage house is a better description.)
My goal for tomorrow is Fort Walton Beach--or Eglin AFB.  Same same.   It will be one of my longer days on the trip but I have a couch to sleep on at a friend's house so it will be worth the extra effort.  Free "room" and catching up with an old buddy.  Until then.....

Day 38--Boats and Grolf

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I rented a boat--a skiff is the proper term--today and rode it around the harbor for about an hour.  Had to take a test and everything.  It was pretty fun, a fun new thing at least.  The motor died at one point and it took me forever to get it going again.  You may call me Skipper for now on.
After that, I went down to the "grolf course."  Frisbee golf is a mix between golf and Frisbee and is super fun.  Check it out.  The course here on base is meh, but better than no course at all.  I am telling you, this base rocks.  You can rent a boat (they have bigger ones for rent as well), golf, Frisbee golf, and who knows what else all in one day.  I hope one day I end up here.  Oh!  I had to buy a Frisbee to play.  My plan was to give it to a stranger but there was no one around.  So, I hid it in the disk golf park somewhere.  One day I will pick it up.  Happy hunting if you are in this area!  (you wont find it.)
That was the bulk of my adventures for today.

Day 37--All the Small Things

Nothing about today really stood out.  It was for the most part a standard day on the road, but all the small things added together made for a great day.
I woke up late, about 9 or so.  My plan was to go by the bike shop and look around and top my tires off.  It took over an hour to find out that there is no longer a bike shop in Slidell.  Also, I had a hell of a time finding my way out of the city center.  Every time I went down a road it was a dead end.  I really didn't get going towards Keesler until noon or so.
When I finally did get on the real road, man, the miles sure added up slowly.  Some days I look down at my computer and cant believe it says, say, 30 miles--they came super fast.  Today it was, really?  It has only been 15 miles?  It kind of went like this all day.  Just a very slow day.
All the small things:
Starting in the swamp and ending on the coast.  (It is the Atlantic pretty much right?  I can say I made it now right?)
I found yet another toilet.  Commode count now 8
The smell of salt air.
A dog, not chasing me, but after birds in the ocean.  He must have chased the birds for 5 miles--His happiness at chasing said birds was greater than most people will ever be.  Or so it seemed.
Boats.  (Sadly, this made for another annoying thing for me.  Every time I saw a boat I thought "Boats and Hoes" like the song from Step Brothers.  Also, I now am trying to beat box--which I have no ability to do and sing like a monk about exactly what I am doing.  For example, "ahhhhhhIIII ammmmm goooooiiinnnng arrrrounnnd a coooooorner." )
A man sleeping on a bench was scared shitless when I passed by him on my hog.  He jumped up as I passed.  I felt bad and almost went back to apologize, but was laughing too hard to sound sincere.
Thumbs up from at least 3 people.
I kind of "bonked" as my friend Tiffany calls it, at about mile 60.  Just ran out of energy.  I didn't eat breakfast or lunch because I thought I had a super short 45 or 50 mile day ahead of me.  Thing was, I put the wrong address in my GPS and actually had an 80 mile day.  20 miles extra is a lot on a bike.  By the time I got to the base I was famished and just wanted to get my room and get some food.  This did not go to plan.
Lodging on Keesler is a little screwy.  The office of the "motel" is about 1/2 a mile from the rooms.  At least the room I got.  I went to the office and paid for the room and got my key and they then said, you cant have your bike in the room.  Um, I am not leaving my bike outside.  It is a $3000 bike. ( I embellished a little.)  This caused a supervisor to be called.  After I talked with this supervisor, her supervisor was called.  This person ended up telling me that the rules are the rules.  And then the speech of "its on you if you choose to bring the bike in the room but we wont be doing room checks to see if the bike is in the room or not". Did I bring the bike in the room? I plead the one, two, three, four, fifttthhh!
Ok, so I get my key and directions to the room and head out.  I get the the room and try the key.  Doesn't work.  Seriously?  There are two room numbers on the key holder.  I go to the other room number.  The key works great.  Problem is, there is a guy in this room.  EFFF!  I ride back to the office (half mile each way folks--still haven't had food today and it is 7 PM)
They fixed the key problem and I go back to my room.  I am expecting the regular bed and bathroom kind of room.  When I open the door my jaw dropped.  I have had apartments that were smaller than this place.  It is huge.  I called the office and confirmed that I was in the right place.  Turns out it is a DV room--all for 40 bucks a night sucka.
I talked to a man who is in training here for QA and he told me there is a Marina on base.  A marina?  On the base?  I am going to check it out tomorrow.  I hope to get to ride on a boat.  There is also a disk golf course on the base so I am going to try and do 18 holes as well.  Yes, I am staying here tomorrow providing I can get the room for another night.  Many of my students have told me this base was a crap hole, but from what I have seen of it, it is an amazing place.  If I can squeeze it in, I want to go run on the beach as well.  If I lived by a beach I think I would run on it everyday.
According to my GPS, there is a little over 400 miles left on my trip.  I am eager to complete the adventure but also am going to miss it.  So, I am probably going to drag my feet just a little for the last little bit.  I still will likely be done by this weekend though.  Then--back to the real world.

*The picture of the trees and water at the bottom is one of the most beautiful things I have ever seen.  I am editing this blog after 7 years of completion and still think of the site.  The picture doesn't do it justice. 

Day 36--Almost to Mississippi

Today I woke up at 4 and got everything ready to go.  I was ready by 5, but waited until the sun came out at around 7 before I took off.  I planned to do about 100 miles if everything went ok.
Everything went great but I only made it 80 miles.  Now that it is flat, I did that amount in great time.  I stopped here in Sidell (I think that is what this place is called) because the next town after it is a good ways away.  I also only plan to go to Kessler AFB tomorrow, which is maybe 60 miles from here.  Should be a pretty easy day.
Highlights:  One dog chase.
Two toilets found. (Commode count = 7 now I think)
One bathtub found.
That is pretty much it though.
Every time I find a toilet, I am like "nooooo wayyyy.  Are you serious?"  The first one was not exactly right on the side of the road, but was visible so I count it.  The next one, which the whole event was probably the best part of the day, was actually in someone's yard and used as a flowerpot.  Yes.  It was used as a decoration for the yard.  "Nooooo Waaaayyyy!"  So here is what happened with this sweet find:  I am rolling along, minding my own business when I see a freaking toilet in someones front yard being used as a flower garden.  "Nooooo Wayyyy" I say to myself.  I happily circle around to go back for the picture.  I take said picture, and, who I assume to be the owner of toilet/flower pot, gets out of the car (I don't know why she was in the car.  It was not on, and had been sitting there for at least a few minutes now). This is what she says to me--no shit: "Hey you.  Whatcha took that picture fer?"  I say, "Because you have a toilet in your front yard. I like it."  Her, "Don't be a takin pictures of my property!"  Ok...I gave her a thumbs up and she gave me, well, a different finger up.  So now I have this life memory forever and ever.  Thank you, Ma'am.
I also kind of stumbled onto a bike/jogging path that went for at least 20 miles.  No traffic and the pavement was very good.  It was a nice change, but I kind of prefer the road because the cars give you something to look at and dodge.  Keeps it entertaining.
Also, I stopped for a coffee in someplace.  I was out by my bike drinking it and a 10 year oldish girl walked by (in Louisianian accent) and said, "Mister, that seat must be some kind of uncomfortable.  It is sooo small."  You have no idea sister.
I kind of realized after that, that either I broke the seat in or the seat broke my butt in because it doesn't really hurt too much anymore.
Well, that is about all for today.  I have about 540 miles to go.  I am thinking I should be done by Sunday or so.