Missy and Shane's All Around US Tour.

Tonight we're camping out at the Big Lagoon State Park just outside of Pensacola. We're on our way to Alabama! Tomorrow we'll start skirting the Mobile Bay and will stay out on Dauphin island. Today was our first day of riding in the rain in a long time and it is still coming down. We got into camp, changed into dry clothes, made some hot cocoa, and crawled into the tent to listen to This American Life (and the rain falling on the tent). It's also been pretty chilly recently, dipping into the low 30's at night. Last night we had a special treat when the campground owner offered us the back of his house to stay in.
We should be in New Orleans in just a few days, where we'll take our first rest day since starting in Fernandina Beach (that will make it two weeks straight...pretty good for us). We've been pretty impressed with our timing these days, we're making much longer stretches without a break which makes the days of riding seem much shorter and our time in camp longer.
A reminder to all that there are links on the right to previous pictures (plus other semi-interesting things) and down below that a survey if you're so inclined. We'll put up some new photos soon... wanted to at least finish Florida first.
Be well, we are.

We're still rolling right along in the Florida Panhandle. We are about three days away from Alabama. We've been having some great camp spots, reasonably priced and good facilities. The temperatures have been dipping into the 30's the last couple nights and it has stayed pretty cool during the day. Today was the nicest day with sunshine the whole day of riding and the temperature actually reaching the mid-60's. We've actually come into some rolling hills and last night we were about 45 miles from the highest point in Florida (345 feet). We stayed last night at the Falling Waters State Park, the location of Florida's highest waterfall (75 feet). Tonight is a little less interesting but much better connected... an RV park outside of DeFuniak Springs.
The following bit was something I wrote to submit to The Sun magazine (which I highly recommend reading). Each month they pick a theme and readers write in on that theme, I never did submit this one. It's called The Bedroom. It's not as edited as it would be if I actually submitted it but it's 'good enough'.

Our bedroom holds our mattresses, two pillows, our covers, my glasses next to an alarm clock (that we rarely use), a couple of lights, and our clothes (mostly crumpled at the foot of the bed). That's it. It's where we have slept almost every night for the past nine months, since we first started to ride our bikes around the country. Sometimes we're blessed by a stranger inviting us into their home or we're in a town that we have family or friends, or once in a great while we treat ourselves to a hotel room. Mostly though we tuck ourselves in by zipping the tent closed, checking for bugs, and then like any other night in any other bed, snuggling up close and falling asleep together.
Every day we move that bedroom. After coffee, breakfast, and a little NPR (if we are lucky enough to get reception) Missy crawls back in, rolls up the mattresses, and tidies up. We break it down, roll it up, and stuff it into it's little bag that will ride atop my bicycle for the rest of the day. We'll ride 40-60 miles to the next campground. We've ridden as few as 10 and as many as 120. We've stayed in remote wilderness campgrounds with minimal services, trailer parks surrounded by huge RVs, luxury campgrounds with tent platforms, wi-fi, hot tubs, and electricity, city parks in the middle of small towns, behind the bushes at a church, and random 'trail-side' spots. Each one becomes home for the night. Our tarp over the picnic table becomes the living room and kitchen. The far tree or, when things are good, the building down the path is the bathroom. But the comforting constant is when Missy rolls out the tent, sets it up, fluffs up our pillows, and makes the bed (blue sleeping bag up for warmer nights, purple up for colder ones). After a day of new discoveries, changing weather, hard climbs, amazing sights, or whatever adventure the day held, once we crawl into that tent and into our bedroom, we are home again.

Alright, we are back on the road!! After a couple days of sore butts, sore muscles, and getting back into the groove we are both feeling really great and glad to be rolling again. We eased our way back into it with a cheap hotel the first night, a very nice Warm Showers stay the second (Thanks Barry!), and then a very nice campground at the Suwannee River State Park for the third. We actually met a fellow bike tourer heading West who just started 4 days ago from St. Augustine, he's traveling about twice as fast as us so we probably wont be seeing him again but it was nice to see there are some other folks still on the road. Last night we had a classic stay with a KOA campground with our tent a few hundred feet from an interstate freeway, but at least they served cake at night and free coffee and breakfast in the morning!

It feels wonderful to be back on the road heading west. It felt natural once we got back to Florida. Repacking our bags it seemed like we had just unpacked them and gotten off the road a few days ago and besides the initial bit of worrying and soreness it all came right back and the flow of being back on the road had us both feeling like this southern tier might just fly by.
We've just arrived in Tallahassee and are staying at another Warm Shower spot. We've got a load of laundry in, are freshly showered and are looking forward to getting to know some more wonderful strangers. Life is good.

That's A cold not THE cold. When we first arrived it was in the upper 70's with a lot of sunshine. We would have loved to have left in that sunshine, but the day we were leaving Mexico I could feel this cold hitting me and knew that with all the flights and connections we had I was doomed. With no possibility of good rest and no vitamin C on the horizon by the time we got into Jacksonville I could already feel the congestion take over and the next day it was clearly becoming a full blown cold. So we've been sitting it out here at Tom & Carolyn's (as the weather has turned for the worse), our bags all packed, our plans for the first week made (route, campsites, warm showers, etc.), and the bikes all tuned-up. Mentally we're both ready to be riding again, but also with some of the usual trepidation that comes when we've been off the road for awhile.
I'm feeling much better today and it's not as windy and rainy as yesterday so it looks like a late morning start will finally get us on that road today!

We've just returned from a great family vacation (minus the Alaskan Rhodes) in Cozumel. Missy and I were in Mexico over a year ago for our honeymoon and my parents have been diving in Cozumel for years (they introduced me to it just a couple of years ago) and it was great to be back there with them to spend a little more than a week. Kristin and Matt came for just under a week and though they aren't divers they had a great time just hanging on the beach and relaxing. We had a really wonderful time all together.

A really big hurricane hit the Yucatan at the end of 2005 (after our Honeymoon) and though the town and resorts have mostly rebuilt the reef still shows signs of damage. The water was less clear and their was a little less 'life' down there than before. It's still a very amazing place with a lot of incredible sea life. We loved the coral formations and swim-throughs and saw an abundance of very cool animals (turtles, eels, rays, sharks, and a lot of colorful tropical fish in general).

Now we are back in Florida and are spending a day or two in Fernandina Beach repacking and organizing for heading West on the Southern Tier! It feels strange to be getting back on the road after more than a month of not riding. It was a really great break (visiting family, relaxing, skiing, celebrating Christmas and New Years, Diving...how could it not be great) but now it feels like we are getting back to our "real life". It's funny that traveling around the country on our bikes is our real life but it really is. Being home for the holidays made us both miss it again and having my little sister in the process of buying a house in Portland had us both ready to find a home and settle back down ourselves. But the road called us back and our desire to see the South, finish our Pacific route, and to close our loop brought us back more ready than ever.

We put some shots up of the holidays at home and the Mexico trip. You can see them HERE. Wish us luck on the start of the southern tier, it promises to be yet another grand adventure.

It seems funny to be doing a blog update when we're not actually out on the road pedaling but it also felt strange to not write one for so long so I decided to do a quick little note to give an update to those who care, something to read for those totally bored, or a fix for the real hard core All Around US junkies out there.
We have had a really wonderful break! It's actually been a pretty busy few weeks. We figured out that between leaving Florida on Dec. 11th and arriving back there on Jan. 14th we will have packed & unpacked or at least moved from house to house (or hotel) at least 15 times! It's so worth it though, we've been able to visit Mom & Larry in Bend; Gma & Gpa Rhodes, Dad, and Wayne & Kelly in Eugene; Kristin & Matt in Portland (who are in the process of buying a house- yahoo); and finally, Jennifer, Justin, India, & Fiona, plus Linda & Richard in Sunriver. We also made a little visit to Gma & Gpa's cabin near Willamette Pass (where I spent a lot of weekends as a kid) with the Medaris clan to find a Yule Tree. We've travelled more miles by car than I ever like to, but again it has been so worth it to see everyone that we miss so much when we are out on the road. We bought a Terrapass when we flew back home to help offset the horrible emissions of the plane ride and I feel like we should do another for all the driving we've been doing!

It has been great to be home for Christmas, where we made the traditional Christmas breads that my Grandma Allen started baking in 1951 and also our traditional cookies and a couple amazing meals cooked by Missy & I one night and Mom & Kristin another (with great support by Larry).
We've eaten a lot and exercised very little (besides the two trips up to the mountain to ski) so getting back on the bike should be interesting. It sure is great to have a steady supply of good food though... we're stocking up on good tastes to live off of for the Southern Tier.
We leave in a couple days for our dive trip in Cozumel where we both plan to do a little bit of 'getting back in shape' along with the diving and relaxing on the beach. We're also looking forward to sleeping in the same bed for 9 whole nights in a row!

Check out the survey feature installed down on the right side-bar---->

Finally got some pictures posted and you can see them HERE.

Also have a numbers update for our trip so far:
Miles ridden: 7325
Average Miles Daily: 50
Average MPH: 12
Total Elevation Gain: 191,500 feet
Days on the Road: 220
Days camping: 131
Days in homes (friends/family/strangers): 54
Days in hotels: 35

Numer of flats: 2 for Missy, 5 for Shane

Replaced/Repaired gear: lantern glass (broke, replaced). Kelty tent (leaking, replaced for free, working great), Xtracycle frame (cracked, rewelded), MSR Stove (sent in for cleaning), Wheels (one new one for Shane's rear), Spokes (about 5 replaced on Shane's new rear wheel), iPod (Missy's sent in & repaired), clothes (some very worn gear but only one shirt, two bras, two pairs of socks, and one pair of shoes finished their life on the road so far).
Number of photos taken: 4,500

Live roadside animals:
Moose: 1
Cows: thousands
Interesting birds: a lot but not enough
Armadillo: 2
Blue Heron: 1-5 in almost every state we've been in.
Number of road kills seen: too many

Wanted to do a little catch up on the Florida leg of the trip. Before we caught the space shuttle launch we spent a couple days touring (without the pedaling) the southern part of Florida. We made it the first night down to Key Largo, with a little stop in Miami to enjoy some great Cuban food. The next morning we made it all the way down to Key West. The highlights of that part of the trip were the drive and the stop at the Key Deer Refuge. The view going over the 7-mile bridge and between all the islands of the Keys was very impressive; the turquoise water, the people fishing off of separate bridges, beautiful little mangrove islands, and birds all around. We made a stop at the Key Deer Refuge on the Big Pine Key and as soon as we pulled into the visitors center we caught a glimpse of one of the estimated 600-800 Key Deer that exist. They are tiny deer, growing to a "massive" 24-32 inches full grown and are found only in that area of the Keys. We drove out a little farther to do a hike and see if we could get a better view of one and as soon as we got out of the car one came out of the trees to pay us a visit. It was very friendly and acted as if it expected a little of our lunch (we didn't share).
A few more bridges and we were out at Key West. There wasn't a lot to see out there and it was a little touristy but it's two major redeeming qualities to us were that there were wild chickens roaming free on the island and that bikes seemed to be a major form of transport (mostly beach cruisers).
We left the Keys and spent the night in the Everglades. We camped in the southern region, at Flamingo campground. The next day we did a boat tour in that area and a very short walk near the entrance to the park. We saw crocodiles (more than 10), alligators (about 50), possibly a manatee, turtles (several types), a diamondback snake (in the road), hawks (marsh & red shouldered), kingfishers, coots, cormorants, egrets (great & snowy), osprey, ibis, pelicans, gulls, pipers, gulls, terns, herons (blue, green, night), wood storks (the only kind of storks in the US), and other various birds and wildlife. It was really amazing, the Everglades are certainly on our list of "places we would go back to" so we could see more of it, maybe via canoe.
After the keys it was a quick visit to St. Augustine (the oldest continuously occupied, European settled city in what is now the United States- founded by the Spaniards). It had a pretty touristic spot, including a few block long pedestrian mall where most of the old buildings are turned into stores and restaurants. We ran across an interesting bike shop that imports Dutch Bicycles including city bikes and even a really nice cargo bike I got to ride (with Missy in the front). It's very similar to my Long Haul. I had a somewhat one sided conversation with the owner (heard a lot about his bikes but didn't really talk much about my ten years of experience with work-bikes and the cargo bike industry... to bad, we could have shared some good info).
Next it was back to Fernandina Beach to repack, store the bikes, and spend another night with Tom & Carolyn who, once again, fed us a great dinner.

We're back "home" in Oregon for a few weeks, taking a break from the road and spending time with family in Bend, Sunriver, Eugene, & Portland. It won't really be a lot of 'down time' or relaxation as there is a lot of visiting and activities to keep us busy but we are both really looking forward to being with family and spending several nights in a row in just one bed. We spent just one day in Bend and are now visiting the Rhodes clan in Eugene where we'll be celebrating my Grandpa's 88th and my Dad's 58th birthdays on Sunday. We'll pay a visit to my sister (and her boyfriend, Matt) in Portland over the weekend as well. Then we'll work our way back to Bend and Sunriver for Christmas time.
Our next post we'll put up a numbers update and a link to some more photos so stay tuned....

We were going to write a blog entry about our visit down to the Keys and the Everglades but we just got back from the space shuttle launch and that's really all we can think about so for now we will just write a quick note about that.
We got to this campground across from Cape Canaveral a couple days ago because our hosts in Fernandina Beach, Tom & Carolyn, told us there was going to be a space shuttle launch. We waited for that launch on Thursday but it was too cloudy and bad weather at the emergency landing spots in Europe. The next day we heard they were going to try on Saturday and we debated whether we should stay and try again or go back up north and get ready for our trip home and do some more visiting. We decided to gamble and try and see the launch. We woke up this morning with the news that there was a 70% chance of it being scrubbed because of weather but the sky was totally clear and our hopes were high.
In the late morning the wind picked up and the clouds started to roll in and we again talked about leaving. Then by the late afternoon it cleared up with only a light wind. We kept checking the NASA website and at 6:50 they announced a total switch to 70% chance of a launch. We walked down to the beach (only a few hundred feet from our campsite) with our camera and radio (we were able to hear the communications between the cockpit and ground crew and the countdown). We sat for more than a half hour listening to the updates and with about 10 minutes left they went through the roll-call check and all sections gave the go-ahead (including the weather). Our neighbor gave us a view in his spotting scope and we could see the shuttle on the pad all lit up and ready to go.
With only a minute left we got up and started filming. It was AMAZING! To hear the countdown, hear the first rockets fire, and then to actually see it lift off!! It lit up the sky, the river in front of us, and the crowd on the beach. We were 12 miles away but could see and hear it so well. Missy's jaw dropped wide open and about a minute into it she realized her mouth was open and tried to close it but it felt unnatural. She had to just leave her jaw dropped watching the whole thing with tears and amazement. I could barely hold the camera still and felt like I was floating and was really shaking. As the sonic boom hit, the crowd roared in one loud excited cheer. It was a sight and sound to behold. As we watched the shuttle approach orbit and reach more than 14,000 mph (more than 4,000 miles from the Cape Canaveral) it finally disappeared from view. Just a couple minutes after launch, it was over.
We walked away awestruck and amazed. Missy asked how we got so lucky. I said, I guess it's because we decided to ride our bikes around the country. I don't really know why, but we certainly feel blessed and thankful.

Oh yeah, the Keys and especially the Everglades were totally amazing too. More on that later, as well as a numbers update, photos, and the key to the secret decoder ring.

Another milestone for us! We've completed our Atlantic Coast Route! And now it's time for a break. We got here about 5 days earlier than planned (well...also a month later than planned but I mean our third or fourth plan) so we are going to take advantage of the time and explore the area a little. We found out that there will be a space shuttle launch on Thursday and we are both really excited to see that so we'll be around Cape Canaveral and may even make it down to the Keys.
We had a great last few days of riding. We left Savannah and rode on a lot of peaceful back roads with only a few barking and chasing dogs adding to the excitement. The weather treated us well, even though the forecast was for rain several days we only broke out our rain jackets once and after 5 minutes we packed them away again. We even got so lucky one day that we pulled over to a store to shop and while we were inside it started to dump rain, we ate our lunch under an awning. As we finished and packed up again not only had it stopped raining but the headwind we had fought for the first part of the day had stopped as well, the next 30 miles flew by. It has been very flat and pleasant riding with very little traffic and even a nice shoulder now and again (seems like it's been a long time without shoulders).

We've enjoyed the Georgia country roads, have had a lot of friendly waves and seen some great birds, a couple armadillos, a glimpse of a deer (and several deer hunters), and even an alligator at the Okefenokee National Wildlife Refuge. We camped next to the NWR just the other night and rode the four miles into the park to see what there was to see. It was already late afternoon when we got there so we didn't have time to do a boat tour or even a nature trail hike so we just checked out the visitors center and then walked around outside. As we stepped outside we saw a blue heron and an alligator. At first we thought they were fakes, set up as "nature scene". They were both totally still and even looked like figurines. Missy was about to go over and touch the alligator but then we both just sat there and watched them. Then she saw the heron swallow and then the alligator took a deep breath. We sat and watched them for about 15 minutes and neither moved another muscle. They won the staring contest and we rolled back to camp, seeing an interesting squirrel/racoon type creature we have yet to identify and a whole spread of interesting pine and palm forest.
In one of the comments Larry asked about what area of the ride we've like best so far (and where we would relocate to). We'll talk about that and do some number crunching in a 'review' entry soon... maybe as we sit in front of the fire and watch the snow fall in Oregon when we are back for the holidays. But for now we're off to enjoy Florida's First Coast and beyond.