Day 4 Lufkin to Carthage

77.9  miles
5:29 ST
14.2 avg

Never, never, never, NEVER trust an old man who gets out of a big pick-up when he says the road ahead has hills that "aren't too bad". Never.

Don't worry, we didn't. We went out there totally expecting the opposite.

Let me back up. Did I mention that we entered the hill country yesterday? After two days of almost totally flat roads, we started into some gentle ups and downs. Today they turned a little more than gentle.

We got a good early start out of Lufkin, hitting some road construction fairly soon. Some of that was not real fun as we were riding in a two lane with no shoulder, right next to the concrete barriers.

At Nacogdoches it was 73 degrees and 93% humidity It wasn't too long before we saw clouds ahead that didn't look too promising. And lighting to the east.

Yup, rode the next 10-ish  miles soaking wet. But...when we took a break it was at this little taco stand.

It's hard to believe, but I actually ate a taco in the morning! And it was good!

 

 We were pretty glad we had this little break and snack because shortly after is when the bigger hills started. We should have known that heading to Mount Enterprise meant that we were going...up ("Mount"...get it?) There was one hill that about ate my lunch. Let's just say that I was feeling my age.

It was at Mount Enterprise that we met the old man in the pick up. Sigh.

Up and down, up and down, up and down. Up and down. We needed a break. Clayton has a church and a gas station/"convenience" store....with ice cream.

 Necessary to bring our body temps down, you know.

Only twelve more miles to Carthage where we planned to spend the night. Just as we got to the edge of town, another downpour. And we had just dried out (except for the shoes.) So the bike got another cleaning and lube.

 I have a rule at home: no pizza unless we ride 50 miles or more. Today we met the criteria, so... barbecue chicken! Mmmmmmm.

                Presto, chango!!!

I have to tell you that my Gerry is the best tandem captain! The stuff he had to steer us through today....rumble strips, shredded tires, branches...amazing!

Some miscellaneous:

Name of the day: "Beer Belly Road"   (Totally serious. Outside of Mount Enterprise)

Church names of the day: Mount Pleasant Baptist, Pleasant Grove Baptist

Additional observations on east Texas: 

4. They like their antiquing and flea markets.

5. They don't keep their roadsides very clean; LOTS of litter. (And not very many Adopt-a-highway signs.)

6. There are quite a few drive-thru tobacco stores.

Rick, yes, that was Hwy 59 we rode. Many big rigs so it was quite noisy. Decent shoulder, though.

This is for my daughter-in-law, Melissa..

Tomorrow will most likely be a shorter day. It's our grandson's (Jase) first birthday and we're going to celebrate by resting a little. ;o)

Thank you for praying for us today. All those miles in the rain with traffic whizzing by us...

Day 3. Livingston to Lufkin

44.5 miles
3:03 ST
14.8 avg

A couple minor things from yesterday:
We did a good job of hydrating yesterday. I drank almost two Camelbaks (45 oz each) plus a 20 oz bottle of sport drink. Gerry drank about a gallon. Looking back we're pretty sure that my issue of not feeling well on Wednesday was lack of liquids. In the excitement of getting going and riding along the Gulf, I just forgot to drink.

My fortune cookie from last night said, "You will soon be crossing desert sands for a fun vacation." I had to laugh, thinking "if we cross any desert sands, we have taken a wrong turn!"


Today hardly feels like a day of riding. 44.5 miles is just over half of yesterday's distance so it feels kinda wimpy. 

 We left Livingston pretty much knowing we would get some rain at some point.

But because there were no thunderstorms forecast we weren't too worried, knowing that we don't melt in the rain. Sure enough, down the road it started out fairly light and steadily got quite heavy. The next 10 or 11 miles were fairly interesting as we rode in a downpour with many semis whooshing by us. For the most part they tried to pull over into the other lane when they saw us. (Bright yellow Bob, neon green pack covers and a flasher on my back.)

Riding in the rain in Montana is much different than here. In Montana we would be very cold being this wet. Here, it was actually refreshing, especially after yesterday's heat.

We stopped in Diboll for lunch, looking like a couple of drowned rats.  

Gerry had to wear the sweat band to keep the sweaty/sunscreeny water from running into his eyes.

The rain let up while we were eating so it was a little easier riding on into Lufkin. After yesterday's 86 mile ride we decided we didn't need another one this soon, so got a room. Because of how wet everything was, camping was out of the question (besides the rain forecast for tonight). We needed to get dried out.

        Gerry is wringing the water out of his socks.

            This is how we dry our shoes.

After a shower and spreading everything out to dry, we took a nap! We woke up about 5 o'clock then walked over to Walmart to replenish our food supply. Gerry made dinner while I cleaned the road grit off the bike and relubed it.

 This is our typical dinner of pasta/chicken or tuna/mashed potatoes. Believe it or not, after a day of riding this tastes pretty good.

 We see a LOT of churches down here, so the "Church Name of the Day" for today is: The Spirit of Integrity Pentecostal Church.

 Some observations so far of eastern Texas:

1. Texan drivers, for the most part, are quite courteous toward us. 90% of the big rigs pull over into the other lane when they pass us.

2. Many Texans like BIG front yards.

3. Texans like their pick-ups. And they like them big, shiny and loud. :o)

Answers to some questions we've been getting:

Do you ride in the rain?

Yes, though it's not preferable. If there's lightning we don't ride.

Do you camp?

As much as we can. Unless it's raining, or there's no campground, or we need a break from the heat. Unfortunately, we haven't been able to camp yet. It will be interesting to see how long until we get to do so. With the lows at night forecast to be in the 70s next week, we'll see....

Do you have your route planned out?

No. We look at a very general route then go a day or two at a time. We plan according to distance, traffic volume, road condition, weather and topography.

What do you eat?

Breakfast: oatmeal, banana

Lunch: bagels and peanut butter

Snacks: gorp, granola bars

Dinner: Pasta and potatoes for carbs, tuna or chicken for protein, chocolate for fun.

What do you wear?

We each have: two biking jerseys, two pairs of biking shorts, two pairs of socks, a pair of zip-off lightweight pants, two lightweight shirts, shoes, a long sleeve shirt, undies, swimsuits. (Additional bike gear: leggings, arm warmers, gloves, jackets.

My brother-in-law, Tom, texted today that it's the hard spots that make the trip rewarding. He's right. Riding 86 miles in the heat, riding in a downpour, or whatever comes next, all give a sense of achievement. But even more than that, they all give great opportunity to rest in and trust our loving God. He is so worthy of praise no matter what the process or outcome. 

"I will extoll the LORD at all times; his praise will always be on my lips."  Psalm 34:1

Tomorrow will be a longer day as we head northeast-ish.

A prayer request:

I'm having a lot of trouble with my hearing (see my post from last week) and today has been worse.

Again, thank you so much for your prayer, interest and concern, and your comments. We read them all and so appreciate them.

Drying out,

P@

BTW, Bob is in trouble. He tossed off of one of our American flags today (we carry two small ones on the back). He is really testing my patience these first few days

Day 2 Winnie to Livingston (No, not MT!)

86.7 miles
6 hrs 8 min saddle time (st)
14.1 avg

Well, isn't that special- a flat tire. Yup, before we even thought about getting on the bike. We found a piece of wire on the inside of the tire. Must've picked it up when we rode to the store last night.

Yikes, it was hot today! 88 degrees. Not exactly the type of weather you'd normally choose to ride in for that long.  But, we kinda didn't choose...

We miscalculated. Based on weather predictions for today, we changed our route yesterday to try to avoid rain. Instead of heading northeast, we decided to go more northwest-ish. We were about 17 miles into it when we realized that Livingston was 10-12 miles farther than we thought. At that point we were committed.

Those first 17 miles on the farm road were nice and cool as we rode through a pretty thick fog.

Once that burned off, it warmed up quickly. 

Farm road vs state road...
Farm road has little traffic so is fairly quiet....but has no shoulder. State road  has lots of traffic (including logging and other big rigs)....but has an 8' shoulder. It's toss-up.

We stopped at the church at Batson to eat our lunch in the shade and use the restroom. What a blessing as we talked with the pastor then prayed with him! Tom Muirhead actually lived and ministered in Billings some years ago.

After leaving Batson we rode through many miles of what we might describe as.... um..... uhhh....rough.There was a very different feel to this area. People that just looked at us, dogs chasing us, abandoned buildings, one "convenience" store didn't even have potable water. We were glad to finally reach Livingston.

Having been soaking wet all day with sweat, you can't believe how good a cool shower feels! And how good it feels to scrub the road grit off.

Gerry wanted Chinese buffet for dinner, I wanted pizza delivered. Chinese won because we really needed lots of protein for rebuilding. Plus, the 1-1/2 mile walk was good for us. But, next time we eat out...pizza!

Thank you for your prayer for today- protection, strength and no rain were all gracious gifts our Father chose to bless us with in answer to your petitions.


We're definitely ready for a good night's sleep before heading out again in the morning. 

Thankful for His care,
P@

Oh yes, this type of roadkill (armadillo) is not something we see in Montana. (If you're squeamish, you might not want to look at this picture. But at least we didn't take pictures of the dead snakes we saw!)

Also, I like to post some of my favorite names that I see along the way. Yesterday's: "It'll Do Motel" and "Swamp Donkey Dirt".

Day 1 Amazing start! Galveston to Winnie

54 miles
15.5 avg
3:27 ST

What an amazing start to our trip! We saw God working and blessing us with His favor all day.

 First, we would like to say thank you so much to Gerry's cousin Nancy and Howard for letting us stay at their house last night and feeding us dinner and breakfast this morning.

"OUR GOD IS AN AWESOME GOD.."

 We were awakened in the night by one of the most tremendous thunder and lightning storms I think I have ever seen. It was constant for at least an hour and it rained like crazy. 

 The rain had cleared in Houston by the time we left at 6:40 this morning but we caught up to it as we drove on down to Galveston. There were many people praying during this time for it to clear by the time we got there. 

"HE REIGNS FROM HEAVEN ABOVE..."

 As we parked and got out of the van, blue sky appeared above us and the sun came out and shown on the water! 

                

It took a while to get everything set up and when it was all ready, we took the bike down to the water, as close as we could anyhow. 

    Back tire in the Gulf, feet buried in seaweed.

 We took off for the ferry with Bill and Sandy driving alongside taking pictures.

Then they left us, heading for San Antonio, and we went to the ferry. As they drove away, they prayed that it would rain only while we were on the ferry. 

 The ferry runs every hour and we had no idea what time it was, but were able to just roll the bike on as the last passengers. And the rain was moving in fast!

 It was a downpour for the 20 minutes we were on the ferry. But even in that, we were able to watch dolphins playing in the water alongside us.

 As we reached the Bolivar Penninsula, the rain let up and stopped! As we mounted the bike at 10:07, the sun broke through again. Amazing.

 How can you beat the next 30 miles on flat road, sea level (muchas oxygen), very little traffic and Gulf breezes? 

BOB must not have been as impressed because he threw off his flag and lost a piece of the pole! Little bugger. Temper tantrums won't get him anywhere cuz that flag is going back on tomorrow...with duct tape!

We had our first bagel lunch at High Island then headed north.

 On the high bridge over the Gulf Intercoastal Waterway I saw a VERY sickly little kitty but because we were climbing we were unable to stop. About 50 yards farther, going down, I saw another one!  I still feel badly that we didn't stop, even though I seriously doubt that anything could have been done for them.

"WITH WISDOM, POWER AND LOVE..."

At about mile 42, we took a break as I was feeling fairly spent and a little light-headed (three days sitting in the van, doing nothing, was taking its toll). After about 15 minutes, we took off again only to make another unplanned stop at about mile 44. Flat tire. Really? Oh well. You just fix it and keep riding.

 When we reached Winnie, we found a motel because the clouds were quickly and darkly moving in again. Looking at the weather site, we realized why we were so beat: it was 84 degrees with VERY high humidity. Quite a change from Montana for our bodies.

So, we have cleaned the bike, eaten our pasta/tuna/potato dinner with dark chocolate for dessert and are ready for bed and another day tomorrow.

 If you are looking at the weather for the U.S. at all, you will see that there is a storm system swirling around down in this area. The forecast is for rain and severe thunderstorms again tomorrow and Friday and Saturday where we are riding. Please pray. 

"OUR GOD IS AN AWESOME GOD."

Resting in Him,
P@

I promise that most posts will not be this long. 

Busy week

Wow, talk about a busy week!

 I didn't know we could pack so much into five days. Babysitting, teaching, two radio interviews, two TV interviews, a school bike-a-thon, a staff bbq. Plus, taking care of the yard and getting everything packed and ready to go.

                                                  Bike-a-thon

                                              All of this...

                                       ....fits into this.
Proof! Before we knew it, Sunday was here and we were off.

We left town with Bill and Sandy after church about 11:30 and reached my brother and sister-in-law's in Colorado at 10:30. They were so gracious to give us beds and feed us early in the morning before we hit the road again.

                                     Rog and Jo
 Monday was a long day on the road as we headed down through Colorado, New Mexico, and into Texas where we stopped for the night at Wichita Falls in northern Texas.

A very questionable "selfie"

                         Gerry-working on his memory verses

Yesterday, we went through some Texas rain. Though these pictures aren't real clear, you can get an idea of the beauty of the rain clouds.

When we got up this morning the sun was shining but we weren't fooled because we have been watching the forecast for the Galveston area. Sure enough, after about a couple hours we hit the rain and drove in the rain (hard rain) almost the rest of the way to Houston.
                                    
Continuing to check the forecast, we see that it doesn't look great for our start tomorrow. They are already having flooding issues in Galveston and thunderstorms are still forecast for tomorrow and the following days. I guess we will check later tonight and make our decision for tomorrow on whether we go or not. We can ride in the rain, as long as the roads are open, but are pretty hesitant to ride in thunder and lightning. Right now as I am writing this, in Houston, it is not raining. We have many people praying for clearing skies (or at least no rain) for us.

We are staying the night with Gerry's cousin (Thank you, Howard and Nancy!) and hopefully hit the road for Galveston very early in the morning. Bill and Sandy will see us off, then they will head west to see grandkids and then take our van home.

We would so appreciate it if you would pray for us to be able to start riding tomorrow. Also wisdom for our route as we leave here.

In His hands,
P@

Please bear with me as I get back into blog posting.

Some Prayer Needs

We do have a couple specific prayer needs...

When I was in WA a couple weeks ago, I went to the shooting range with J. Even though my aim was deplorable, I enjoyed it a lot. But....my hearing protection wasn't adequate and I am still having pretty severe hearing issues, especially in my right ear.  Would you please pray for a complete healing? Being able to hear while out on the road is quite important for our communication and safe riding.

We still have much to do in the remaining few days and need clarity of thought, good time management and some extra energy to accomplish it all.

Thanks for standing with us,
P@

PS
Don't forget to sign up on the "follow by email" to the right in order to be notified when we post new entries.

Also, we really do appreciate your comments; they're the other side of our communication.

Reality Check and TV

Usually when we ride we try to ride as light and streamlined as possible. "Light and streamlined" is relative. Typically, when you think of travel and camping, you think of a camper or tent and all that goes with that. What we'll be hauling this summer is definitely light and streamlined compared to most camping trips.

Knowing that time is short, we had to bite the bullet and get a taste of what our "light and streamlined" will be. So, yesterday we hooked up our trailer (hereafter known as Bob), threw on a 40-lb bag of salt pellets - about 10 pounds less than all our gear will be - and....whoaaa, REALITY CHECK!!

It didn't take too long, though, before muscle memory kicked in and we were 'in the groove'. It actually felt good as we remembered quickly how to accommodate the extra weight, the difference in balance and the extra slowing/stopping time needed. 

Then today, one of the local tv stations wanted to do a short story about the ride, so I quickly (VERY quickly) threw almost all of this into Bob and we were off to the school for the interview.

If you're remotely interested in seeing that, you can find it at:

http://www.abcfoxmontana.com/story/25569760/couple-rides-2800-miles-to-raise-money-for-students 

   

We'll have to unload the whole thing and repack it correctly on Saturday to accommodate the remaining items.

Only four more days before we leave on Sunday after church....wow, it's becoming more real every day!

We SO appreciate your prayer as we continue to finish all that needs to be done before Sunday.

Looking forward to what He has,

P@

Training Takes All Forms....

I have escaped to Washington this past week to visit our grandkids (and their parents ;o) ). While I have been enjoying the greenery and beautiful blossoms (and a good amount of rain),

 Gerry has been enduring winds, and cold and this at home.... (notice how bare the trees still are?)

With just a little over two weeks until we leave, all of this makes it more challenging to get in the training that we need right now. 

Gerry has managed to get in a couple of rides and some treadmill while I've been gone. We take whatever we can get that will get our legs moving and our hearts pumping.

Some rides along the river this past week with P and J have been enjoyable. It's a lot of weight to pull with J in the trailer and P on the hitchhiker, although she does help quite a bit when she's pedaling.

I think that even jumping on the trampoline should count toward training, don't you? Well...my legs are moving and my heart is pumping!

One more day before I have to leave my little sweeties  :o(
Then it's back home to concentrate in earnest on our final preparations.

We so appreciate your support and especially your prayer as we get ready to go. We will especially desire your prayer as we hit the road to drive down to Galveston and get started.

Check back to see how our packing and prep is going in the next couple weeks!

In His loving hands,
P@