4/27
We have reached the end of this journey. However there will be many more in our future. This was truly a trip of a lifetime. Hope you enjoyed following us!
4/25
So bittersweet saying goodbye to all my Coast2coast family. We are still in Saint Augustine today playing tourist today with family who surprised me at the end of the ride. We will begin our journey home tomorrow.
4/23
A 55 mile day to Palatka. 15 miles were on a fabulous paved bike path through a wooded area. We are in a hotel tonight and overlooking the Saint Johns River. I was feeling really good about not having any flat tires, however I got my first today. Oh well let's just hope for none tomorrow.
4/22
A lovely ride on back roads today. 83 miles to Gainesville. We stopped for lunch in High Springs at a great restaurant and then found a wonderful ice cream shop. They were having a festival in town with many craft vendors so we walked around a little before finishing the last 20 miles.
4/21
A 78 mile day today to Live Oak. Some flat and some rolling hills. We went through Greenville--home of the great Ray Charles. There was a mix up with our indoor camping so the tents are back for one more night.
4/20
Sorry for a "no photo day"! Long, hot 84 miles AND we lost an hour because we re-entered the Eastern time zone. Thankfully we are chillin in the air conditioned hotel room tonight. It was quite a nice ride with some rolling hills.
4/19
68 miles from Defuniak Springs to Marianna. Nice ride but getting hot. Temperature currently 88. Glad we are done riding. I forgot to post miles for yesterday--55 miles.
4/18
What a nice peaceful ride today. We rode Rt. 90 all day but traffic was fairly light. The starting temperature was in the low 60s and it was 83 at the end. We are staying at a campground again tonight. The residents here are actually preparing our dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow giving Chef An...
4/17
Shortest ride of the tour today. 32 miles to Milton from Pensacola. We all waited to start until at least 9 to try to avoid rush hour traffic. The ride was more urban than rural as we were departing Pensacola. We also have left the gulf coast and are headed inland once again. We are at a KOA camping...
Easter Sunday
We left Dauphin Island on the 8 am ferry. Ferry ride was smooth and easy. We got off in the Fort Morgan area. We were on a very narrow peninsula for several miles before hitting some busy beach area riding. Headwind all day made it a long 56 miles but we have now reached Florida!
4/15
Having a great day off on Dauphin Island. Saw the sunrise and going to check out the island today.
4/14
A long 84 mile day today. Good roads and enjoyable ride. The last 8 miles were quite tough as we hit the causeway and bridge to get onto Dauphin Island. The campground is beautiful. We are having our final rest day tomorrow which is really hard to believe!!
4/13
A beautiful day on back roads in MS. We rode part of the day near a national forest. There was very little traffic and there was a beautiful section through some small lakes. We rode 72 miles.
4/12
Lovely route on backroads today. Left Louisiana and hit Mississippi. Andrew caught a nail in his tire today. First flat--nice that Coach is always just a phone call away! Some loose dogs again. Staying indoors at a National Guard Armory tonight. Rode 46 miles.
4/11
No photos today. It was a nice ride but not really much to be picture worthy. We rode 87 miles and are spending our last night in LA. Tomorrow we are on to MS. We have a short day tomorrow. Only 45. We are camping indoors tonight and for the next 2 nights.
4/10
A day off from riding today but we rode 13 miles. We wanted to go check out the Rosedown Plantation and historic downtown of St. Francisville. Nice day and we have the afternoon to relax. Heading to Franklinton, LA tomorrow.
4/9
Rode through the Atchafalaya Swamp today on a traffic free 6 mile road. We also rode by the False River in New Roads. It was beautiful. Staying at a Girl Scout Camp in St. Francisville today. Rode 68 miles.
4/8
Nice winding portions of the ride today through crawfish and rice fields. Long day of 91 miles today. We stopped at a famous spot today to hear some Cajun music--Fred's Lounge.
4/7
After 19 days in TX we have arrived in LA. Another great ride day with temp in the 70s and low humidity. Many log trucks passed us today. It is a huge industry down here for paper mills.
4/6
A 60 mile ride into Silsbee today. The ride was as flat as a pancake. Temps were 48 in am. Made for a tough exit from my sleeping bag!! Temps quickly warmed and we had a lovely ride. Tree lined roads with not a lot to see but the low humidity was great!!
4/5
Chilly start to the day but a pretty ride. We rode through part of the San Houston Eilderness Area today. We rode to Shepherd--64 miles. We only have 1.5 days of riding left in TX.
4/4
Day off today. Went on a hayride and taking it easy. Wonderful breeze keeping us comfortable.
4/3
Today was our 2nd longest day so far--89 miles. We had a great tailwind which made the ride that much sweeter! Lots of longhorns and wildflowers today. We are staying at a working ranch tonight and tomorrow night. We have a rest day tomorrow.
4/2
Another day of trying to beat the rain. We had a few showers before and during breakfast. We made it to the lunch spot under a pavilion before the front pushed through. We stayed for over an hour to let the storm pass. Once it did pass the weather turned gorgeous again. Traffic was very light today...
4/1
We were worried about rain today so we left early and rode hard and fast. It Spritzed us briefly. We rode 60 miles today. Another backroads day through the hill country. Very pretty. We had our first sighting of a longhorn steer today. Also more blue bonnet sightings today. We are staying in another...
3/31
WOW!!! BUBBA really outdid himself with the route today! We spent the majority of the day on one lane out of the way roads with wonderful scenery. Hills were demanding on the second half. To answer a question for Mrs. Erickson's class: chip and seal roads are roads where they pour on gooey tar an...
3/30
WE ARE OFFICIALLY PAST THE HALFWAY MARK--YAHOO!!! We had a gorgeous ride today through the hill country of Texas. Tonight we are camping along the Guadalupe River. We rode 73 miles today. The weather was perfect!
3/29
Wild thunderstorm last night but we are in cabins!!!! We are at a beautiful location with a lazy winding river. Today is a true day of rest and will be greatly enjoyed.
3/28
We rode to Concan today. It was an overcast misty day which actually felt pretty good since we have hit humidity after the desert. Long 74 mile day. The chip and seal roads take a toll on the body and slow us down a bit. We have a day to relax tomorrow.
3/27
Our 74 mile ride brought us to Bracketville, TX today. It was the first day since March 5 that we started riding with cloudy conditions. It was a nice temperature and the clouds were gone by noon. The sun is out and it is hot! We officially left the desert today. We have grass and wildflowers on...
3/26
Long ride today. 82 miles. Hilly to boot. Staying at Seminole State Park which is quite pretty. The park superintendent was a guest speaker for us and gave us lots of information
3/25
A 55 mile ride brought us from Marathon to Sanderson , TX. IT was 38 degrees this morning making it difficult to exit my sleeping bag. We dressed warmly to start, but were quickly able to shed clothes as we progressed. It was a pretty ride with lots of downhill and no headwind!! We are staying indo...
For Dakota
Thanks for all the comments. The horse hotel was closed up. Actually much of western Texas seems to be boarded up. We can ride for miles and miles without seeing anything. I wish I had sat on the steps of the fake Prada with my bike shoes featured. We passed a fake Target today that was the size o...
3/23
A day of halves! First half was a glorious ride. Second half was a grit your teeth headwind. We rode from Marfa to Marathon--57 miles. The scenery was very pretty again. We saw a roadrunner today. And some "critters" out in the distance but we could not tell what they were. The Prada Store was not...
3/22 continued
We rode from Van Horn to Marfa. We had just crossed into the Central time zone before Van Horn, so the sun did not rise until almost 8 am today. That felt strange!! We continue to have a wonderful time and our group is truly like a large family.
3/22
Wow. Toughest day by far today. It was a 73 mile day with a slight incline almost the whole way with a headwind and crosswind. That does not allow for any coasting whatsoever! It was a grind with little scenery. The tumbleweed was blowing all over. I had to stop at one point to pull some out of my...
3/21
Another great ride today. Incredible weather stretch we have had. We rode 73 miles today to Van Horn. We are in tents tonight after 6 nights of hotels and indoor camping. Our ride was scenic with farmlands and goat farms to start. Then mountains and several trains again. The temperature is approach...
3/20
Happy Spring!!!!! Feels more like late summer here! We traveled 63 miles today from El Paso to Fort Hancock. We have gotten into more agriculture. Major crops seem to be alfalfa and pecan trees. We also saw many bee hives and honey farms while riding. Also back along train tracks. It is about 92 d...
3/19
We have completed another state and are now in Texas. We had a nice ride, but very desolate again. We finished on the early side as we wanted to beat the 92 degree high of the day!!
Day off in Marathon
When we get a day off it is really just a day off from riding. So today was a trip to Big Bend National Park. It was beautiful. Many different land forms, rocks, vegetation. The park is the size of Rhode Island. I posted some pictures from the day.
3/18
We had a day off today from riding. We are staying at the Columbus Elementary School. They made us dinner last night and breakfast this morning. They are also preparing dinner tonight and breakfast tomorrow. We took a tour of the Poncho Villa State Park where we also had a historical presentation....
3/17 again
In case you did not realize it, if you click on individual photos there is a description of that photo.
3/17
Our longest ride of the tour was today--95 miles. It was 43 degrees at the start and about 85 when we finished. It was 6 hours and 21 minutes of riding time. It was extremely desolate. We are staying in Columbus for a day off tomorrow. There are actually some activities planned for us for tomorrow...
The real 3/16
What a great day! A 59 mile day on a peaceful country rode. Prairies all around with horses and grazing cattle. A tail wind for a good part of the day added to the delight. Oh by the way. I am having a hard time keeping track of days and dates!!
3/16
Today is Wed. We left Tombstone this morning to head to Douglas. We had quite a climb to get up to the Continental Divide which is the highest elevation we will reach on our tour. It was 6,030 feet of elevation. The descent was great!! We stopped in Bisbee, a tourist town which was fun to explore....
3/15
3800 feet of climb today. Climbed up to the top of a mesa. Got to go down a little but still at over 4000 feet in Tombstone. We rode 75 miles today and are staying in a hotel. Yippee!!! I am relaxing outside while you guys are having a blizzard!
Tucson
More wildlife today. A road runner. Lots of rabbits and "chipmunk-like critters. Lots of cacti again as well.
3/14. Day 9 ride
SUPER SWEET RIDE TODAY!!! We rode on bike paths the whole way around Tucson--40 miles worth. Only 5 to do on the road.
Day off #3
Ok kids. We try to park our bikes in the shade in this climate. It has nothing to do with the seat or handlebars. Why do you think we do it?
Day off continued
Our first day of riding was 42 miles, second day was 32, third day was 63, fourth day was66, fifth day was 70, next was 52 but we made a wrong turn and added 3 miles. The next day was 74 and then 69. Make me some word problems.
First day off
Holy cow it got cold last night and right now it is high 80s. Andrew and I went for a hike. There are tons of hiking trails in this park. We chose a relatively flat loop trail. It was beautiful. Now we are resting in the shade. Everyone needed this day off. Last night there were coyotes all around...
3/12. Day 8
Day 8 was a 69 mile day from Casa Grande to Catalina Foothills. We had a bit of a headwind for awhile and then it got HOT. We are staying in the Catalina State Park and tomorrow is a rest day. My plan is to post tomorrow with some information for the students to create some word problems.
3/11 page 2
I had to go to dinner so to continue: we are in the Sonoran Desert and today was the first of the Saguaro cacti. We had a guest speaker last night who shared much information about the land and geography of Arizona. Even though we are in the desert there is much agriculture. We passed 2 dairy farms...
3/11 Day 7 ride
Oh another great day. What an adventure!! We travelled from Gila Bend to Casa Grande today. We were in the desert and will be for many more days to come
Day 8 page 2
We rode 55 miles today. 3 more than we were supposed to. Oops we missed a turn. We are provided great turn by turn directions with mileage notes. We just missed the street sign. We are enjoying getting to know the others on the tour.
3/8 Day 8 of riding
A desert day today!! We could still see the mountains but further off in the distance today. It was a chilly night last night. When we went to bed it was warm but I had to put a sweatshirt on during the night. We always put our riding clothes for the next day in the bottom of our sleeping bag so th...
3/7 Day 5 of riding
A great day of riding!! We rode from Yuma to Dateland, AZ. The first part of the ride was through beautiful agricultural areas known as the lettuce capital. Then we hit the desert and ended in the "date" (fruit) capital. We rode 70 miles today.
3/6 Day 3 ride
A balmy 34 degrees when we exited our tent this morning. It hit 44 at the start of the ride and we were dressed very warmly to start. After a long descent we were able to go to shorts and short sleeves. We covered 63 miles through mountains and desert and ended in Calexico, CA. We are staying in a...
3/5 Day 2 ride
Day 2 is complete. Very cold today with a little rain and a lot of wind!!! Only a 32 mile ride but the majority was once again uphill making it a challenge
3/4 Day 1
What a great day! We started in San Diego and rode just beyond Alpine! A 20 mile climb at the end.
3/4 the start
And the day has finally arrived. Shortly we will walk down to the Pacific Ocean as a group (25 riders + 12 staff members) and dip our rear wheels in. Our destination today is Alpine,CA.
3/2
We arrived safely in San Diego on 3/1 and really enjoyed my birthday today exploring by bicycle. So nice to be riding outside once again!
2/27
The car portion of our trip is complete. Spending tomorrow in Columbia before flying to San Diego on Wednesday.
2/22/17
Thanks for all of the encouragement. Getting psyched!!!
2/15/17
SHIPPING DAY!!!Bikes and additional supplies are on their way to San Diego!
Coast2coast Preparation
packing and repacking to get everything in!
Coast2coast
getting excited as we get close to the date!!!
2/26
Car trip to Alexandria, VA