187 posts from 2007

The tropical colors of Florida

Nov 12, 2007
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There are many oddities between here and there..........

Nov 12, 2007
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A friendly cat outside a shop in New Hope, PA

An alley way full of manicans in New Hope, PA

We were always on the lookout for a library and a post office.......

Nov 12, 2007
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The mailbox outside the Captiva Island Post Office, FL

There is nothing like a good nights rest.......even in the worst of places.

Nov 12, 2007
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Streamline Trailer we stayed in at Carolina Beach, NC

Our tent site in Union CT in the apple orchard

Everywhere there were signs...............

Nov 12, 2007
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Full Circle

Nov 11, 2007

Well we are now back home and our adventure is behind us. Our bikes are still in Ft. Myers and should be shipped by the bike shop this week. We are thankful that we completed this dream without any problems or major mishaps. We have a sense of accomplishment that we have done something that we had talked about and planned for the last few years. When we set out on September 16th we knew we had planned as much as we could. We had hoped everything would follow our plan and for the most part it did. From the first day pedalling to Wells to the last day rolling into Ft. Myers we met so many nice interesting people. There was the guy in York the first morning outside of the Irving station that could not believe what we were setting out to do - his name was Bob, we gave him our website address and he said he was going to follow along. There were two woman at the beginning of the Nashua Rail Trail in New Hampshire. They were walking and we heard them saying as we passed, "Maine to Florida", we stopped and talked with them and gave them one of our cards with our website address. They were amazed and one said her husband would love to do something like that - but she wouldn't. They wished us good luck and off we went. When we stopped at restaurants and parked our bikes outside, many times when we came out, there was one or more people there with questions. One day we were in Rhinebeck NY, we stopped to use a restroom in a restaurant and when we came out, we were met by a group of people. It was a little odd, as Joe was standing with a group of people asking questions about the route and I am standing with a couple of people asking for advise on bike shorts. Sometimes it was hard to get away from the questions. Some of the people we met had never heard of anyone ever doing something like this before. They thought we were the first to attempt such a feat. I found that I enjoyed talking with the ones that were inspired with what we were doing. There was young guy in Surry County, NC who was walking over to the gas station that we had stopped and taken a break at, to fill up his gas tank to mow his lawn. He saw our trailer and asked, "are you really biking from Maine?" I said we sure were, he had so many questions about how we came about doing this, where we got our gear, how long did we expect it to take and so on. We told him about the Warmshowers website and since he is right on the Adventure Cycling Route he said he was going to check it out. Mike said his wife would love to do something like this. Sometimes many times a day we were "God Blessed", especially down south. Again, the morning we were leaving Williamsburg Virgina we passed through a Farmer's Market where there were alot of people, one after another would stop and ask questions. We had our picture taken several times - the young man in Fredricksburg Virginia who stopped to talk to us - he was traveling by car to Florida and had stopped in Fredricksburg to check things out. After passing through the town of Delaware Water Gap we stopped at a rest area and there was a group from Georgia who wanted a picture of Joe and I and all our gear. There were the two couples in Bull's Island State Park in New Jersey, they also have a picture of us. One day we were at a ferry crossing, we were waiting in line to board the ferry and the lady in the car behind us got out and had lots of questions. She gave us each a cold soda out of her cooler and took our picture. In St. Augustine, at the fort, we met Bill and his wife Joanne. They took a video of us to send to a friend recovering from surgery.

We saw so much more on our bicycles traveling at 12 mph than we ever would in a car. The thrill of traveling by bike is being out in the open air for hours. I found that you live in the moment and time does not matter - unless you are running out of daylight and you still have not reached the town you intended. People in cars were always courteous to us, giving us lots of room, however, not often did they slow down. We got "thumbs up" and a friendly honk, from drivers when we passed through some areas. People would go out of their way to stop and ask if we needed anything, as we were stopped on the side of the road sometimes a car would pull up and the person would just say, "You need anything?" or "Is everything alright?". It was always at a time when we did not need anything and everything was alright. However, when we each crashed - nobody stopped and when we were stopped on the side of the road looking at our maps, not able to figure out where we were supposed to go - we did not see that friendly person slowing down. One very hot day, we had stopped at a closed store that had two soda machines out front. We put our money in - only 50 cents - and we did not get anything back. A lady pulled up in her car and asked if we needed anything. We told her that we were trying to get a cold soda but the machine appeared to be broken. She said, "I live just around the corner, let me run home and get you some" she drove off and came right back with a cold ice tea and a cold soda. She gave them to us and before we could thank her, off she went.

We stayed in a different place everynight - except for when we spent 3 nights in Disney. Every motel room is the same, but all we wanted every night was a bed, shower and a meal. Our worst nights stay was probably Martha Ann's Motel in Bridgeton, NC. (Day 23 - Oct. 8th). There were a few places that were not much better - the mobile home we stayed in at Happy Acres Campground, the two campgrounds that we tented in, where we had to hang our food because of bears and even a mountain lion. Gladly we did not encounter any at either place. And of course the motel in Flagler Beach. The Bed and Breakfasts that we stayed at were all really nice and hosted by some very nice people. After many nights on the road we would forget where we were and would often try to recite all our nights towns. Luckily we have it all written. Certain people we met along the way made our trip more special: Joe in Woodbine, Maryland - Dianne in Washington, DC - John in Richmond, Virginia - Bill and Birdie in Carolina Beach, NC - Sue in Union, CT - they all opened their homes to us and were so generous and accommodating. And of course John Paul in Fredericksburg, MD who went out of his way to lead us through the city to our motel out on Route 1 at rush hour. These are all people who we never would have met otherwise. To meet up with cyclists who were out doing the same thing we were even added to the experience - Dan and his wife. Betty - who started September 17th from Bar Harbor and he was biking and Betty was driving the "sag" wagon. They completed their journey on October 19th in St. Augustine, FL - Chuck from Pennsylvania, he left Philadelphia on September 29th and was on his way to Key West, Florida - we don't know if he made - haven't heard from him - and Alexa and Anthony, who left at the end of August from Bar Harbor and were pedalling to Nashville - they arrived there the same day we arrived in Ft. Myers - October 28th. It amazed us how strangers would open their doors to us and offer any type of assistance to two other strangers on a bicycle. Although we have done the same for others it is truly a great feeling when it is offered to you.

As we traveled more south we were excited to start to see the changing landscape. The types of trees, shrubbery and crops were very interesting. Our journey took us past crops of corn, tobacco, watermelons, pumpkins, soybeans, cotton, pecans, peanuts and oranges. When we came upon the pecan trees it took both of us a while to figure out what they were, as neither of us knew that pecans grew on trees. We had passed by several areas where people were sitting under the trees with baskets picking through whatever had dropped on the ground. In Virginia we began seeing palm trees and we were surprised to see cactus growing in some yards.

As we settle back into the world of reality - home - work - winter - we hang on to the feeling of being out on the road and what that experience has meant to us. We are already talking about where our wheels will take us next..............

Here are a few pictures of the people we met along the way:

The Pleasure Island Sea Turtel Rescue Team

The Mayor and his wife Birdie - Carolina Beach, NC

Karen, Joe, Betty and Dan - Bar Harbor to St. Augustine

The couple on the left vacation in North Yarmouth!

Anthony and Alexa - Bar Harbor to Nashville

More vacation updates

Nov 7, 2007
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Well I was not going to continue updating this past week, but some of you and "You" know who you are have been reqesting daily updates. So to keep anyone interested in our whereabouts and what we have been doing, here it is.

Sunday November 4th:

Today we went with Mel and Doug for breakfast at the Oasis, where Mel works down here. Once we got back to their house we had to find a bike shop that was open on a sunday, because yesterday Joe had gotten a flat when we were out riding on Sanibel and also had to replace the tire, not just the tube. We had a spare tire with us that we had bought back in Pennsylvania. Well unfortunately it had a twist in it and did not sit right on the rim. So the only bike shop we were able to find open on Sunday was back out on Sanibel. So we drove out there and bought another new tire. Then we were back in business. We drove out to do a short ride over in Lehigh Acres, which is a town near Ft. Myers. Our total miles today was only 11.52 wimpy miles.

Monday November 5th:

Well today was supposed to be a good day. Actually it would have been if the seas had not been rough. Last year when we were down here with Jake, we had gone out on a fishing boat for the day, where they take you 18 miles out and you fish for about 3 hours. Last year we had caught alot of fish and Jake had even won cash for catching the biggest fish. Well that was not to be today. As soon as we started out, both Joe and I realized it was much rougher than it had been last year. We had both taken dramamine medicine before leaving, but unfortunately, it did not work for us. Needless to say it was a looonnngg day on the seas - and - we only caught 5 stinkin' fish. Not sure if we will do that again. We had told Mel and Doug that we would bring our catch home for supper for all of us. We did, along with a pound of salmon we bought at the grocery store on the way home.

Tuesday November 6th

Last week when we had stayed at the Kona Kai on Sanibel we decided to make a reservation to come back out for an overnight tonight. We were lucky to be able to check-in when we got out here around 10. We parked the mini-van and biked to the beach where we hung out for the afternoon. We biked to The Island Cow for supper, a neat little restaurant on the island - they serve "Frickles" - fried pickles. We did not get them, but we have other times we have gone there. There not bad, but they give you way to many. When we left here it was dark - we biked back to the Kona Kai and dropped our bikes off. On Sanibel you can not ride your bikes after dark unless you have a light on them. Later we walked to a couple of the shops nearby.

Wednesday November 7th

This morning we biked down to Captiva for breakfast at our favorite restaurant R.C. Otters - Do you think we like to eat? There is a small bridge that takes you across from Sanibel to Captiva. Captiva is very small with many large expensive homes on it. There is a place right after the bridge called 'Tween Waters Inn, there is a webcam there that we sometimes will tune into from home on snowy days. It looks right on to the beach and you can see the palm trees waving in the breeze. So we got the cell phone out and called Jake. We waved to him and he could see us standing there waving away. So that was exciting for us - and I am sure for him.

Well as far as updates that is all for now. I don't think you are going to get anymore until we return home. Both Joe and I are really ready to go home. We are actually looking forward to going back to work. This island life is rough!

When we get home and settled, I will update this blog with a recap of our trip, I have alot of thoughts and information that I want to take the time to share. I will also have time to post more pictures

So stay tuned..............................................

Vacation update

Nov 3, 2007
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A few of you have emailed us and asked if we were going to keeping updating our website with our vacation adventures. I was not going to but then decided that we would better remember what we have done if I did update. So this is what we have been up to:

Monday: October 29th

Since we arrived yesterday in Ft. Myers we got up monday morning and did what we had been doing for the last 6 weeks every day - we got into our bike clothes and hopped on our bikes. We thought that the ride from Mel and Dougs was 15 miles to Sanibel. However, we were a little off as it turned out to be 26. We had made a few side stops and by the time we arrived out on Sanibel we had ridden 36 miles. We had planned on riding back but once we got out here it was after 2:00 and the headwind going back would have been really strong. So we got a motel room out on Sanibel and spent the night. We hung out at the beaches, ate and biked around the island. We added another 9 miles for the day.

Tuesday: October 30th

We got up fairly early and biked to a local restaurant that we like on Sanibel. We then went back to the beaches and just goofed off until around 12:30 when we headed back off the island for the ride back to Ft. Myers. We stopped at Sun Harvest - an big orange juice place - on the way back and had lunch at Ruby Tuesday's! As we were biking across the Sanibel Bridge the wind was fairly strong, I looked over to my right and at shoulder level I was biking along with a pelican flying with me. That was pretty cool. Once we got back we realized that if we wanted to continue to go other places we really needed to get a rental car. So I called a few places and reserved one to pick up Wednesday morning. Total miles ridden today 38.79

Wednesday: October 31st Halloween

Our rental car was ready for 8 am. We biked down to the rental place about 6 miles. We put the bikes in the mini van and we now had motorized wheels. The wind was really strong today and more than we wanted to fight riding. So we drove down to Ft. Myers Beach and went to Lover's Key State Park. The walk on the beach and back to the parking is probably around 4 miles. We collected some shells. We wanted to avoid going back to Mel and Dougs until later in the evening because the neighborhood is BIG on halloween and we did not want to have to buy any candy. So we went to Walmart and took our memory cards from our cameras and had all our pictures put on CD. We have about 1000 pictures. What a slideshow!

Thursday: November 1st

Yesterday when we got the mini van we went to a bike shop to find out about shipping our bikes home next week. They had a map of bike routes. So we decided to ride one of them today. We found the start of the trail and ended up doing a 60.75 mile loop. We stopped in Ft. Myers Beach and had lunch and then found our way back to where we had parked.

Friday: November 2nd

No biking today!! How bizarre. Instead, we drove down to check out Marco Island. We were not very impressed, although it is a very ritzy area with large homes. We arrived back in the afternoon to await Melanie and Doug's arrival. We were looking forward to seeing them and visiting. They arrived about 5:00, we had supper ready for them - spaghetti, salad and bread. We stayed up until 11-ish talking about our trip. It is the first time we have really had anyone ask us questions about our adventure and it was fun to talk about it.

Saturday: November 3rd.

We have driven out to Sanibel and are going to bike down to Captiva, hang out at the beach and probably have lunch. It is fun riding on Sanibel and Captiva because it is a very biking friendly place. Sanibel has bike paths that cover the whole island and when you get to a road crossing cars have to stop and they actually do! It is fun to ride in a familar area too.