Well, today did not start as I had planned. The heat and the humidity of the last two days has taken its toll on my body. I was able to force down about two bites of pancake, looked at Shannon and said "I'll join you in the afternoon." After a couple hours in the RV sleeping, the adults decided I should go to urgent care to make sure all was ok. The Doc said I was mildly dehydrated but not enough to warrant IV's at the ER. I have to take the next few days off to recover. Doc told me not to go back until I feel completely well. I will take off Wed and Thurs, Fri is a scheduled rest day and I will start riding again on Saturday.
Yes, I am bummed and not pleased. But, I guess that is life.
So, I spent the day sleeping a lot and I have nothing more to add.
Jerry said he saw a squashed armadillo being snacked by a vulture.
Meals: Breakfast - pancakes, eggs, bacon; Lunch - Lindy's Cafe, i had fried pork chops...tasty; Dinner - roast beef, green beans, carrots, potatoes, cottage cheese, lettuce salad and ice tea.
Tuesday, April 12, 2011
Monday, April 11
We started earlier today….about 6:45 and were able to ride in cooler temps for an extra hour. We rode today in some stronger breezes most of the morning. I say stronger breezes because the afternoon became windy, and hilly. Those two always seem to go together when I’m on the bike. Add in some good heat and you have a perfect storm to take Shane out early. I road 94 miles today. Kyle ended up finishing solo and he did it like a champion.
Road Kill: 2 critters plus a opossum that wasn’t quite dead yet when we rode by. We thought he was out but then he lifted his head, with those pitiful eyes and whispered, “Help Me.” Then just that quick he was gone.
Well, it is 8pm here and I have been fighting to stay awake for two hours. I think it is time for bed.
Thanks for your support and prayers. Two more days and then our first rest day. Mom flies out on Wednesday morning and she will be missed. There is just something about having your Mom around that makes the pain hurt a little less.
Meals: Breakfast – Eggs, bacon and toast. Lunch – Hot ham and cheese and Jell-o salad. Dinner – Fried chicken, potatoes, gravy and lettuce salad.
Sunday April 10 - the first day on the bike
Our first day on the bike. We left St Augustine at about 8:15ish after some pictures on the beach. Shannon has a really sweet team picture we will get loaded once we have a good Internet connection. Right now we are using Kyle’s Hotspot from Verizon to make some quick updates.
We crossed two high bridges and experienced a lot of heat. The locals say they usually don’t see the low 90’s until August….sweet!!!!! See, we are special. J We had some mild breezes but nothing too bad. The heat and humidity took the greatest toll on us dry weather boys.
Bill and Dad are doing well with our SAG and directions. Mom, Sharon and their chauffeur Jerry are doing an excellent job feeding us and being there at the right time when we need a little something more.
I rode about 99 miles yesterday. I missed out on the last 10 miles as my body said no more.
Shannon and Kyle met someone about 6 miles from the finished and he pulled them in. Guess what, his name was Carl. Once we arrived at First Nazarene Church in Gainesville, this
Road Kill: 1 flat armadillo
Meals: Breakfast – Hotel provided continental breakfast, Lunch – Ham and Swiss and chips, Dinner – Sloppy Joes and baked beans.
Friday, April 8, 2011
April 8 - Florida tooooooo St Augustine
Hello All....Jerry and I made it to the Hampton Inn on Vilano Beach today at about 2PM EDT. We dropped the auto transport trailer at U-Haul on our way to the hotel and are glad we are done with it.
Today was not real exciting. We packed up camp, grabbed some breakfast and I drove the whole 4 hours to St A. We stopped just long enough to get fuel. If you hear Jer complain about not getting lunch don't believe him. He was offered some and declined. We had a huge breakfast and we lost an hour of time as we crossed into the Eastern Time Zone so we weren't really hungry.
Once at the hotel we took the bikes off the Flex and headed back to Jacksonville to pick up Mom and Kyle at the airport...we turned around and drove right back to St A for dinner.
After dinner, Kyle, Jer and I headed to the beach for a few minutes and are now relaxing in the room.
Shannon and Dad did make it on National Network TV this morning. They were behind Al Roker as he gave the weather on Good Morning America. They then went to Central Park and the Empire State Building before heading to the Fox Foundation Banquet tonight. No word from them yet on how the Banquet went. They will arrive in FL tomorrow morning.
Kyle just showed me the completed Travelocity video and he will be posting it on YouTube and our POPs Ride FB page tonight.
Like I said, today was pretty uneventful. We did fix another item on the RV. The lock on one of the compartments wasn't latching and MacGyver Jerry fixed it - no surprise there.
Ok. Sleep well America and we will check back in tomorrow. Until then, say a prayer for your friends and family with PD that tomorrow may be a good day for them. Thanks.
Today was not real exciting. We packed up camp, grabbed some breakfast and I drove the whole 4 hours to St A. We stopped just long enough to get fuel. If you hear Jer complain about not getting lunch don't believe him. He was offered some and declined. We had a huge breakfast and we lost an hour of time as we crossed into the Eastern Time Zone so we weren't really hungry.
Once at the hotel we took the bikes off the Flex and headed back to Jacksonville to pick up Mom and Kyle at the airport...we turned around and drove right back to St A for dinner.
After dinner, Kyle, Jer and I headed to the beach for a few minutes and are now relaxing in the room.
Shannon and Dad did make it on National Network TV this morning. They were behind Al Roker as he gave the weather on Good Morning America. They then went to Central Park and the Empire State Building before heading to the Fox Foundation Banquet tonight. No word from them yet on how the Banquet went. They will arrive in FL tomorrow morning.
Kyle just showed me the completed Travelocity video and he will be posting it on YouTube and our POPs Ride FB page tonight.
Like I said, today was pretty uneventful. We did fix another item on the RV. The lock on one of the compartments wasn't latching and MacGyver Jerry fixed it - no surprise there.
Ok. Sleep well America and we will check back in tomorrow. Until then, say a prayer for your friends and family with PD that tomorrow may be a good day for them. Thanks.
Thursday, April 7, 2011
April 7 - More Texas, Louisiana, Alabama, Mississippi, Florida
Yes, we went from spending all day in one state yesterday to rolling along through five states today. We left Beaumont a little after seven and again had to try a couple of times to find a place for breakfast. Our first stop was in Orange, TX. Jerry took us on a nice tour of Orange where we saw a summer Santa Clause. A local resident was sitting on his front porch wearing a Santa Hat...pretty funny. We were touring Orange because the Boss Hogg didn't want to drive back about a 1/2 mile on the access road to dine at Gary's Cafe. So instead we drove around on local roads for 15 minutes. Its all about the story.
We ended up eating at the Cash Magic Grill. We talked to a couple of local gentlemen and one of them new someone with PD. During our meal we found a candy bar named ZERO and found a bigger one named KING SIZE ZERO. Jer said he loved those growing up.....hmmmm, pretty sure there is a sarcastic comment there but I'll let it go. He worked hard today.
After explaining what we were doing, we started heading east again. Jerry drove all morning and who was I to stop him. He drove through some very narrow construction lanes and heavy traffic. I was glad he was driving as we crossed some pretty large bridges over some bodies of water. At one point, we were on an 18 mile bridge crossing the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge over the Henderson Swamp. Impressive.
We have seen a lot of roadkill so far. Jer also spotted a wild turkey and another deer today. Last night, right before we parked he spotted four deer running across the road. I hope we never find out how they react with a Holiday Rambler!
We wasted about 45 minutes at a fuel stop because the station's fuel system had a catastrophic technical event which cleared the pump of what we had loaded. We stood their while they tried to figure out how to recapture our transaction. We finally explained we needed to roll so they took our information and we will see what happens. As of this point, we have not paid for approximately a 1/2 tank of diesel.
We ate dinner at Sonny's BBQ in Marianna, FL and are spending the night at Arrowhead Campsites in Marianna. Our waitress, Ms. Elaine, was really nice. She asked if we wanted corn bread or garlic toast with our meal. I asked which she suggested, she made a funny face and said the garlic bread. Jer and I laughed then I ordered the toast and he ordered the corn bread.
Jer is talking to Carole again and spinning fish stories about how he backed up the RV and trailer for like a 1/4 of a mile. In reality, it was about 100 feet inside of a KFC parking lot and he did a good job.
Oh yeah, when we were being held hostage at the fuel station I was walking around the trailer and noticed the front right strap on the Flex was laying on the side of the trailer...oops. Guess the bouncing road loosened the strap enough to allow it to fall off.
While I was driving the Safeway Director of Corporate Public Affairs called to interview about the ride. We spoke for about 20-30 minutes while I was dodging traffic. I'm pretty sure someone else was helping me drive and keeping us safe. Check out Safeway.com during the next few weeks and you may see some information about POP's Ride.
While we were parking tonight the cowboy parked next door was spraying off his white truck on the sandy, dirt driveway. As he drove around he stopped at us and asked (in his best southern drawl), "Are you guys BMX racers?" I explained what we were doing about our ride and he said, "You ridin' to San Diego?!. Wait here and I'll be your first donation." He never came back...not even with a beer. Oh well, he may leave an envelope at our door.
Today we replaced the pressure regulator on the inbound water feed and Jer played with the cable connections until he figured out how to get us a good cable picture. Maybe tomorrow I can get him to fix the passenger seat so my feet hit the floor.
Time for bed.
We ended up eating at the Cash Magic Grill. We talked to a couple of local gentlemen and one of them new someone with PD. During our meal we found a candy bar named ZERO and found a bigger one named KING SIZE ZERO. Jer said he loved those growing up.....hmmmm, pretty sure there is a sarcastic comment there but I'll let it go. He worked hard today.
After explaining what we were doing, we started heading east again. Jerry drove all morning and who was I to stop him. He drove through some very narrow construction lanes and heavy traffic. I was glad he was driving as we crossed some pretty large bridges over some bodies of water. At one point, we were on an 18 mile bridge crossing the Atchafalaya Basin Bridge over the Henderson Swamp. Impressive.
We have seen a lot of roadkill so far. Jer also spotted a wild turkey and another deer today. Last night, right before we parked he spotted four deer running across the road. I hope we never find out how they react with a Holiday Rambler!
We wasted about 45 minutes at a fuel stop because the station's fuel system had a catastrophic technical event which cleared the pump of what we had loaded. We stood their while they tried to figure out how to recapture our transaction. We finally explained we needed to roll so they took our information and we will see what happens. As of this point, we have not paid for approximately a 1/2 tank of diesel.
We ate dinner at Sonny's BBQ in Marianna, FL and are spending the night at Arrowhead Campsites in Marianna. Our waitress, Ms. Elaine, was really nice. She asked if we wanted corn bread or garlic toast with our meal. I asked which she suggested, she made a funny face and said the garlic bread. Jer and I laughed then I ordered the toast and he ordered the corn bread.
Jer is talking to Carole again and spinning fish stories about how he backed up the RV and trailer for like a 1/4 of a mile. In reality, it was about 100 feet inside of a KFC parking lot and he did a good job.
Oh yeah, when we were being held hostage at the fuel station I was walking around the trailer and noticed the front right strap on the Flex was laying on the side of the trailer...oops. Guess the bouncing road loosened the strap enough to allow it to fall off.
While I was driving the Safeway Director of Corporate Public Affairs called to interview about the ride. We spoke for about 20-30 minutes while I was dodging traffic. I'm pretty sure someone else was helping me drive and keeping us safe. Check out Safeway.com during the next few weeks and you may see some information about POP's Ride.
While we were parking tonight the cowboy parked next door was spraying off his white truck on the sandy, dirt driveway. As he drove around he stopped at us and asked (in his best southern drawl), "Are you guys BMX racers?" I explained what we were doing about our ride and he said, "You ridin' to San Diego?!. Wait here and I'll be your first donation." He never came back...not even with a beer. Oh well, he may leave an envelope at our door.
Today we replaced the pressure regulator on the inbound water feed and Jer played with the cable connections until he figured out how to get us a good cable picture. Maybe tomorrow I can get him to fix the passenger seat so my feet hit the floor.
Time for bed.
Wednesday, April 6, 2011
April 6 - Texas All Day Long
Today, Jer and I drove across Texas....allllll day long! Yes - 10 hours of driving and we still are in Texas! We made it to Beaumont - our intended target. We are staying at the Hidden Lake RV Park - a really nice place...more on this later.
We had a challenge finding breakfast this morning. We stopped at three different exits hoping to get something to eat and finally found an open cafe. Food was ok. We fueled up and after Chase finally got my credit card flagged that it wasn't stolen - we were on our way.
We stopped and had burgers at Lucille's Cafe for lunch. We had ham and cheese croissants twice yesterday (there was no place to buy dinner) so we splurged today. haha
Today was really windy. The wind was coming from the south and gusty. This made it a challenge to stay between the lines but we did pretty good.
Jer drove through San Antonio (shane found a bypass) and Shane drove through Houston....no bypass available....ugh.
Now, we are at Hidden Lake RV. We pulled in and the sign on the office door said closed, please call for after hours assistance. I called and as the phone started ringing in my ear I heard a phone ringing in person. The park manager was leaving to run an errand just as I was calling so she stopped to help us. She asked what we were doing so we explained about POP's Ride. She was very interested and asked for some brochures and I gave her a poster. She was going to share with everyone about Our Ride at the Lady's Meeting the next day. Once we parked, she stopped by with some menu's from a delivery service and wanted to take some pictures of me and our rig. Then, as Jer and I were prepping the inside of the RV for the night, the Mr RV Park Manager stopped by to let us know there was no charge for tonight. He said once his wife shared what we were doing he told her their contribution would be to not charge us for the night. WAY COOOOOOOL!!!!!!! So, if you are ever in Beaumont, TX for the evening, stop by Hidden Lake RV park and thank them for their support.
We were honored to leave them our first Thank You Gift.
It is 10:30, Jer is on the phone with Carole talking like newlyweds and I am tired and ready for bed. So, good night and tomorrow will be a "short" day of driving...only about 9 hours. Maybe Jer will let me sleep in 30 minutes longer.....lol.
Shannon and Dad leave for New York City Thursday morning to attend the MJF Foundation Appreciation Banquet. Safe Travels, have a great time in NY and see ya in a few days. Keep an eye out for them on the Today Show on Friday AM, they will be there trying to publicize POP's Ride to the Nation.
Ciao'
We had a challenge finding breakfast this morning. We stopped at three different exits hoping to get something to eat and finally found an open cafe. Food was ok. We fueled up and after Chase finally got my credit card flagged that it wasn't stolen - we were on our way.
We stopped and had burgers at Lucille's Cafe for lunch. We had ham and cheese croissants twice yesterday (there was no place to buy dinner) so we splurged today. haha
Today was really windy. The wind was coming from the south and gusty. This made it a challenge to stay between the lines but we did pretty good.
Jer drove through San Antonio (shane found a bypass) and Shane drove through Houston....no bypass available....ugh.
Now, we are at Hidden Lake RV. We pulled in and the sign on the office door said closed, please call for after hours assistance. I called and as the phone started ringing in my ear I heard a phone ringing in person. The park manager was leaving to run an errand just as I was calling so she stopped to help us. She asked what we were doing so we explained about POP's Ride. She was very interested and asked for some brochures and I gave her a poster. She was going to share with everyone about Our Ride at the Lady's Meeting the next day. Once we parked, she stopped by with some menu's from a delivery service and wanted to take some pictures of me and our rig. Then, as Jer and I were prepping the inside of the RV for the night, the Mr RV Park Manager stopped by to let us know there was no charge for tonight. He said once his wife shared what we were doing he told her their contribution would be to not charge us for the night. WAY COOOOOOOL!!!!!!! So, if you are ever in Beaumont, TX for the evening, stop by Hidden Lake RV park and thank them for their support.
We were honored to leave them our first Thank You Gift.
It is 10:30, Jer is on the phone with Carole talking like newlyweds and I am tired and ready for bed. So, good night and tomorrow will be a "short" day of driving...only about 9 hours. Maybe Jer will let me sleep in 30 minutes longer.....lol.
Shannon and Dad leave for New York City Thursday morning to attend the MJF Foundation Appreciation Banquet. Safe Travels, have a great time in NY and see ya in a few days. Keep an eye out for them on the Today Show on Friday AM, they will be there trying to publicize POP's Ride to the Nation.
Ciao'
April 5 - Eastbound with the Boss Hogg
Well, Jerry Hogg and I left this morning at about 6AM from my place in Peoria, AZ. First trouble, we had no running lights. Jerry "MacGyver" Hogg fiddled with it for a few minutes and by then it was light enough we chose not to worry about the lights. Of course, later that day Jer figured out the problem - a bad ground wire on the trailer - and we had running lights that night.
We each drove for about 5 hours and arrived at the Saddleback RV park in Pecos, TX at about 8PM, CDT. The park was nothing fancy but we didn't care. The RV slept well. We learned on Wednesday morning we had more HOT water than needed. We will not run out as long as there is water to heat.
Shane drove through Phoenix (rush hour), Tucson, Las Cruces and El Paso.....somehow, Jer managed to avoid all city driving.
We do get a few looks as we drive by and were asked once if we were heading to a race. When we explained our journey, the man was impressed and took a couple of flyers to follow us.
A good, safe first day....just what we needed.
We each drove for about 5 hours and arrived at the Saddleback RV park in Pecos, TX at about 8PM, CDT. The park was nothing fancy but we didn't care. The RV slept well. We learned on Wednesday morning we had more HOT water than needed. We will not run out as long as there is water to heat.
Shane drove through Phoenix (rush hour), Tucson, Las Cruces and El Paso.....somehow, Jer managed to avoid all city driving.
We do get a few looks as we drive by and were asked once if we were heading to a race. When we explained our journey, the man was impressed and took a couple of flyers to follow us.
A good, safe first day....just what we needed.
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