April 30, part 1

Well, well, well. This was an exciting day. First the good news. I slept well last night and it was overcast all day. The bad news. I overslept and got caught in a thunderstorm. But from the beginning. I woke up at 7 and everyone was already in the parking lot eating breakfast. I quickly got up and brushed my teach and threw my clothes into my suitcase in 2 minutes. (I do that even when I get up on time!) In any case, it was so nice and cool when we started at 7:30 a.m. because of the rain yesterday and because it was overcast. It started out as great ride. Sheila and I were stopping along the way to take lots of pictures. We came to one town and missed a turn. When we didn't see the SAG wagon at 20 miles we got suspicious. So we asked directions to the next town on our cue sheet. They were good directions, but 10 miles longer than if we had found the correct turn. After we had gone 40 miles and were back on the route, we stopped at a gas station for water and glazed donut holes to tide us over. We kept on keeping on and the sky became more and more threatening. When we had finally ridden 55 miles, we found a small plaza with a McDonald's. We went in and ordered, sat down to eat, and it started to pour. So we decided to wait it out. After about 30 minutes, Carolyn came by with the SAG wagon. We had already called her and told her we had been lost and she came back to look for us. We told her we were going to sit out the rain and keep riding. She let us know that there was a bike path somewhere around, but she didn't know where. After Sheila and I were satisfied that the rain had let up, we started out again and, lo and behold, the bike path was right across the street from McDonald's, running parallel to the road we should take. It was wonderful not riding on the street with all the cars and trucks zooming by and splashing the standing water on us. Unfortunately, however, after about 15 miles the bike path turned to dirt at about the same time a thunderstorm came up again. Hum, ride on a major road during a major thunderstorm with vehicles zipping by or stay on a dirt path? We stayed on the dirt path for as long as possible then decided to come out to the edge of the road so that the SAG wagon could find us when it drove back to look for us. We put the bikes by the side of the road so Carolyn could see them and, wouldn't you know it, she was expecting to see us on the other side of the road and she drove right past us. By this time we were soaked to the skin with no let-up in sight. We stood there for about 15 minutes until most of the storm passed over us, then took to the road to finally get into Palatka. About 7 miles out of town Carolyn caught up with us and we told her we were riding the bikes in. We weren't going to wimp out now. The rain was warm, the temperature was fine and there was no perceptible wind. We got into Palatka and first went to Dairy Queen. Then we went across the street to the bike shop, where Sheila asked the owner to hose her and her bike down. We spent some time in the shop and he showed us exactly what parts of the bike path are finished and what is still planned. As we left, it started to thunder and lightning again. But by now we only had 3 more miles to go. I hadn't planned on doing another wash on this trip, but my clothes from yesterday were still wet and everything I had on today was soaked, so when we got into the motel I put everything in the machine while we had supper. It's almost over, guys. I wasn't struck by lightning, I wasn't hit by a truck, we left Pensacola and Crestview before they got flooded out AND I DID NOT HAVE ONE PUNCTURE ON THE ROAD!!!!!!!! I shouldn't say it too loudly because I still have to ride about 50 tomorrow to get to the beach. I'm really satisfied with what I accomplished and can't wait to share pictures and stories with you all. ______________________ Eieiei. Bin spaet aufgestanden, falsch gefahren und vom Donnerwetter erwischt. Trotzdem was es ein schoener Tag. Sheila und ich blieben zusammen und wegen der Irrfahrt haben 10 Meilen zu viel gemacht. Ein Sturm haben wir bei McDonald ausgesetzt, dann aber sind wir von einem zweiten auf dem Fahrradweg erwischt worden. Alles nass von oben bis unten. Als es nachgelassen hat, fuhren wir wieder auf der Strasse bis Palatka. Im Motel musste ich alles von Gestern und Heute nochmals waschen. Nur noch einen Tag. Im allgemein ist alles ueber die 2 Monate gut gelaufen. Ich bin nicht vom Blitz getroffen, nicht von einem LKW angefahren, sind weg von Pensacola and Crestview bevor die Fluten kamen UND HABE KEINE PLATTE AUF DER STRASSE GEHABT!!!!! Aber Morgen gibt's die letzte 50 Meilen. Ich solle es noch nicht so laut sagen. Die Fahrt war wirklich ein Erlebnis. Kann kaum warten, Euch mehr Bilder zu zeigen und Geschichten zu erzaehlen.