Corpus Christie and San Antonio, TX

Rode on Saturday morning out of Padre Island back to our RV spot in Corpus Christie.  Delightful to be on the bike and the back behaved. 

Back in Texas

We were working to put some miles behind deciding that we would drive to the west side of Houston on Monday night.  Met torrential rain, needed to get off of the freeway for David could not see the dividing line thought we would need to bake up from the place we parked but after the rain let up we were able to drive forward.  Then we did not do so well, managed to find a Wal-Mart to park for the night.  Felt like home and delightful and cozy to get into our little Pullman Car and retire in our dry beds.

Leaving Alabama, Misissippi and Louisana

It feels too odd to move through these states that took so much pedal power on the way out and I truly prefer the slower pedaling now that I have the experience.

Leaving Florida

We have acknowledged that we will miss Florida's vegation and state parks and the bit of history we have learned though there is much yet to uncover.

Saying goodbye for now

Sunday morning the three of us returned to St. Augustine.  Our RV spot was across the bridge in Anastasia Island.  We took a few more photographs to complete the story of our arrival to the appointed goal. The three of us visited the fort which was never taken in battle.  It's walls are eighteen inches thick at the base made up of rock which has formed from sea shells and is a marvel. Andrew left us to ride north staying along the coast for a few more days and slowly making his way back to Ft. Collins, CO. One of his sayings is : "What shall I do today?  Oh, I'll ride my bike."  Thank you, Andrew!

David and I ambled a bit, bought some coffee which was not as good as the last coffee we had in Austin, TX. Luckily I was paying attention to the signs and a store owner alerted me to the fact that on St. George Street, one will be fined $100 and the bike taken if one is caught riding the bike along the designated pedestrian path.  We sat for time drinking our coffee when a young man, John, asked about the Felt bike.  We visited about biking for fifteen minutes or more learning that there was a super ride on A-1-A for 60 miles or so, but not this visit.  Besides my lower back had begun to whine.  I rode over the bridge and back to our RV spot to prepare to leave homeward bound.

The last two days of riding and a donation in Plataka, FL

Meeting with Susan again on Wednesday afternoon was a delight. It is specular that she moved to a city on the Adventure Cyclist's Route.  Susan attended the University in Gainesville so she knew she liked the city and had lived in Florida for years previous to moving to New Mexico. Susan bought us a dinner and we also took in a TCYB, hope this does not ruin my discipline for eating well and light.  Mine was delicious because it was chocolate.  We returned to Susan's house and watched some comedians on video, Monty Python's "Argument Clinic" with John Cleese, a piece by Louis CK "Everything is Amazing and Nobody is Happy".  Good friends and a laugh equal great medicine.

Thursday morning we met up with Andrew again to ride together in two days to St. Augustine. I can not emphasize how important it is to have a cycling companion and Andrew is a delight to visit with, he gave us another book, Ivan Doig's "Bucking the Sun".

We met Eugene at the Wal-Mart parking lot in Plataka who used to work for the electric railroad from the Peabody mine to the electric generating plant lake Powell. This gentleman has been interested in gifting to organizations which lend a hand to others.  When Eugene read the magnetic sign on our truck he was hooked.  Eugene gave NUMC-FNB $20.00. Thank you Eugene for your generosity!

Andrew and I were minutes from taking off for the last day of the ride into St. Augustine. The SAG driver had only 26 miles to drive but the cyclists had 47 miles of peddling the southern tier route.We had fair weather except when faced with agriculture land on both sides of the road which allowed the coastal winds to nearly stop us in mid peddle. Forests on either side of the road is what we wished.  On our route a bridge was out, which is one worry for the cyclist, but Andrew with experience thought to ride ahead to check to state of repair.  Gratefully, we were able to ride and walk through the construction and not have to add miles to the day's ride. 

David found a parking place along the square in St. Augustine which made our finding each other easier in this tourist over run historic town.  Andrew and I voted to drive directly to the RV park to shower and eat.  It turned out there was no shower at the PepperTree RV park, this was a disappointment but food was quickly prepared by chef Diana for the famished cyclist.  We decided that early Saturday morning we would return to the city to check it out as tourists.  My favorite is without a doubt the Flagler College built by Henry Flagler, who was a partner with John D. Rockefeller in Standard Oil.  Mr. Flagler built railroads to bring guests to his hotels which he continued building south finally into Key West, and the history goes on. The hotel has been converted into Flagler College.

For my supporters