Sunday, May 15, 2005
Atlantic Arrival
The twenty-two women who set out from San Diego on March 18th completed their coast-to-coast journey this morning in St. Augustine, Florida. The last 5 miles turned into a mini- parade through the small town: an impressive police escort followed by the riders in matching jerseys waving to bystanders, and trailed by a caravan of friends’ vehicles. Betsy was the lead rider and sported a festive chicken hat with streamers dancing in the wind.
Leave it to the young one to cause unnecessary drama. Sarene had to drop out of the team ride with a tire explosion 2 miles before the finish. She dismounted and quickly pushed her bike and body into into a surprised UW van in the caravan line-up (thanks, Jill!!!) to keep up with the riders to the finish. She sported only the minimum requirements for the Wheel Dipping ceremony. Generation X slacking again…
Friends and relatives joined up for a picnic at the beach, and the group later met up for a nice dinner. Jim put together a slide show from everyone’s pics, and is making a keepsake DVD.
Wednesday, May 04, 2005
The Final State Line
We were unable to take the ferry off of Dauphin Island… there was so much damage from Hurricane Ivan last September that the landing dock was destroyed. Woman Tours shuttled us all the land route (100miles?) with the help of the van, the sag, and a few friends. We were dropped at the former ferry landing, so that we'd still get the usual 70 miles in for the day.
Strong headwinds tried their best to deter us, but we still managed to make it into Florida. Whuhoo!
Talked to some locals selling boiled peanuts on the roadside, both of whom are still waiting to make it back into their homes since the storm damage last year.
Tuesday, May 03, 2005
Into Alabama, Rest Day, Great Food
Our second day in Mississippi was gorgeous, and the third day led us into Alabama. We stopped at an alligator farm just before crossing the state line. We were able to see some gators, though the usual tours were not available with the water being so high. One little girl was telling us how the gators hop the fence and end up in the parking lot when the place floods. Sounds lovely.
We are currently enjoying a day off in Dauphin Island, a great place to relax for the day! Like most days off, we spend the time doing laundry, fixing and cleaning the bikes, and trying to get caught up with correspondence and such. Here we’re also spending the time swimming in the ocean and in the condo-side pool.
