How is it even possible that today is the last day of this incredible journey.  This whole thing started out as crazy talk around tents somewhere in Illinois last June where we met Jackie, Jim, Bill, and Mel.  Now, we are about to complete a cross-country bicycle ride...WOW!  Of course Patrick was there to capture our last start: 

We crossed the bridge over the St John's River and turned onto a bicycle path.  I wasn't sure how far the path was going to take us since on the map it changed from a solid line to a nonexistent line to a dotted line, but I was hopeful.  After yesterday's added 4 miles, the others were a bit skeptical and kept asking me if we were going the right way.  I just kept saying that all was good and we continued up the bicycle trail.

Almost 20 miles later we arrived at the trailhead where there were picnic tables and restrooms.  How great that two-thirds of today's ride was on a bicycle path.  We continued on Highway 207 and pretty much followed the signs to St Augustine Beach.  It was arranged that we would see Patrick and Mary's fiancé Steve, on 11th street which ended at the beach.  We made the left turn onto 11th and was was surprised to see Steve, his parents, and his sister holding up a "FINISH" sign.  What an incredible surprise.  Then, to top it off, Steve sprayed us down with champagne as we each rode under the sign.

We removed shoes and carried our bicycles on the sandy path that lead to the beach.  Patrick jumped in the ocean with his camera around his neck and took the much awaited photo of us dipping the front tire of our bicycles in the Atlantic Ocean.  WOOHOO!

The dipping of the tires was followed by celebratory champagne, courtesy of Jackie's sister Kathy.

Some of us then celebrated by jumping into the Atlantic Ocean.

After the beach celebration we went across the street for some lunch and then headed to the RV park to get some of the packing done.  Afterwards, we checked into our AirBnB and went of for our celebration dinner to Columbia Restaurant (very good).  Of course we all wore our custom shirts that Jim and Jackie's daughter designed for us.  What a great time.

After dinner Tim and I stopped off at a brewery that happened to be on the way home, or sort of on the way home.  This is Ancient City Brewery in St Augustine where we got the obligatory flight of beer.

Tomorrow is a zero day...haha.  We will be hanging out in St Augustine for one more day before people fly home on Friday.  There should be at least more more blog post before I close this out with final thoughts and a collection of my favorite photos from the trip.  Until then...

There was a bright street light above the tent.  Whenever I woke up in the middle of the night I thought the sun was up and my alarm didn't go off.  Crazy night.  When it was morning we were surprised to find the tent was completely dry.  We quickly got up and took the tent down before dew or rain got it wet.  Last night was the last night we are sleeping in the tent, so when we put it away today we won't see it till we pick it up in Ohio in May.

As planned, we left at 9 AM and Patrick was there to capture the moment:

When we left we knew it will eventually rain on us and 8 miles in, it finally did.

The rain continued on and off for the entire day, but since it wasn't too cold, the rain wasn't too bad.  I think at this point we can all pretty much deal with and be happy with any conditions since we only have one more day after today to ride.  As a matter of fact, I missed a turn adding 4 miles to the ride today and everyone took it pretty good.

All day we knew, and looked forward to the 25 miles of bicycle trail we get to ride on today.  The trail did not disappoint.  Within the first mile of the trail we saw a gopher tortoise.  

Check out these amazing photos from the trail:

All was good until we hit the the end of the trail with no warning.  Oh well...it was nice while it lasted.

The last 5 miles to the hotel was good, which was good for me since we should have been done with the by now if I didn't miss the turn earlier.

Everyone checked into their room, showered, and met at the Beef O'Brady's which happen to be attached to the hotel.  It was a great dinner which included Mary's fiancé's Steve's parents and sister.

Tomorrow is the day.  We only have 30 miles to the Atlantic Ocean.  It is hard to believe!

It was a pretty noisy  night.  It seem that people were coming and gong all night from this small RV park…weird.  As usual, I woke up before the alarm went off wishing I can fall asleep for another 15 minutes, but my bladder had other plans.  It was agreed upon to leave around 8:45 AM, but Patrick decided that he wanted to get a bicycle ride in and go to the CVS in town, so Mel and Bill joined him at 8:15 AM, and about 30 minutes later we met them on the side of the road in Perry.  Five miles down, only 75 to go.​

There was a head wind most of the day, but the road surface was great and we were able to maintain around a 15 mile per hour average.  Our first stop was 23 miles in, so by the time we got there, we already had a pretty good start.  During the first break, I looked at the map and noticed there was a bicycle path coming up that ran along the road we were supposed to ride on.  Before mile 23 we jumped on the path and was able to ride all the way to our next stop in the town of Mayo, 10 miles away.  It was a nice break from riding along the shoulder worrying if the car behind was going to hit us.  Plus, the trees along the trail blocked some of the cross wind making it easier to ride.

Tim and I was in front of the group and noticed a bicycle trail around mile 11. We hopped on thinking it was only going to last a short time.  We were able to take it all the way to our first stop at mile 14.  After that, everyone got on the trail and it continued on till mile 22.  What a treat to be a bicycle trail for 11 miles.​

Yesterday I mentioned that there was an oyster bar on the route today.  At the first stop everyone said they were interested in stopping there, so at mile 24 we stopped at Ouzts' Too Oyster Bar and Grill in Crawfordville.  The chef was at the bar preparing horseradish for the oysters and I asked him how they were.  He said they were delicious and offered us each a sample oyster.  They were delicious.  Mary and Jackie shared a dozen and Tim ate his own dozen. ​

While we were there, a guy at the bar came over and said that he owns a bar in Perry, close to where we were staying.  He gave us a business card and told us that if we stop there we can each get a free beer…my favorite kind of beer.  Thanks!  It was great food and a great time stopping there.  After the oyster bar, the next stop wss scheduled for mile 38.  When we arrived there it was closed…bummer.  At this point we only had 20 miles left.  10 miles later we stopped for a quick breather on the side of the road, and 10 miles later we made it to Rocky’s RV Campground.​

After some relaxing and snacking, everyone took showers after which we figured we should cash in on the free beer.  We all piled into Patrick’s truck and drove the 3 miles to The Wheel House.  When we saw the menu we decided to make it our dinner as well.  The french fries were great.

Woke up around 8 AM, stayed in tent until 9:45 AM, ate breakfast in RV, walked to the liquor store with Mary and bought some beer, returned to the RV park, sat outside behind the RV staring at the water for most of the afternoon, played cribbage against Bill (he won 2 matches to 1), ate lunch while the others played Rummycub, walked  to the gas station for boiled peanuts and more beer with Mary, took a kayak out for a spin, ate dinner (shrimp and tofu stir fry), ate dessert (special chocolate concoction that Jackie made for my birthday a couple of days late), and am now doing laundry.​

Tomorrow is around 60 miles and the plan is to get out by 9 AM.  It looks like it is going to be a nice ride.

Slept in till 7:30 AM, staying in bed working on reservation for the next few weeks, finished airline reservations for our future UK trip, ate leftover pasta from dinner last night, got pizza for lunch, went to the beach with the others, returned to the AirBnB, showered, went out to dinner with Mel and Bill, returned to the AirBnB, caught up blog, and now going to sleep.  

​Tomorrow is under 70 miles and should be an interesting ride through Hurricane Michael hit area.  It should be interesting. 

Happy 49th birthday to me!! Today should be a great day.  We get to ride through some beautiful areas; Okaloosa Island, old 98 in Destin, 30A, and into Panama City Beach.  Out plan was to leave at 9 AM, and that is exactly when we left.

We rode 10 miles and was able to meet up with our great friend Dave.  He left class and met us on the side of the road.  It was great seeing him, even if it was for only 10 minutes.

We road about 6 more miles and took a break at Beasley Park on Okaloosa Island, one of my favorite beaches in the area.

Next stop...Destin, Florida.  

Since I have ridden my bicycle in this area, I knew a route that runs parallel to US 98 so we could avoid the crazy traffic riding through Destin.  This was going to be the safer way to go.  That is until a garbage pail jumped out in front of me and i ran into it.  Luckily I only wound up with a few abrasions on my right hand, left knee, and left elbow, but it really shook me up.  Luckily Mel had bandages and ointment to fix me up.  We got back on the bicycles and continued riding.  After a few miles we were passing a Wallgreen's so I decided to go in and pick up some Aleve to help with the pain and swelling.

Needless to say, the accident was the end of my picture taking for the day.  I can tell you that the ride on 30A was really nice until we hit Seaside (the town that The Truman Show was filmed in).  All of a sudden, the roads and bicycle trail because crazy busy with teenage kids riding bicycles in all directions.  We took some back road to avoid the center of Seaside, but the craziness continued on the other side of the town.  It took us a while to navigate through the mess, but we finally made it to the end of 30A, continued on US 98, and then down to the beach road into Panama City Beach.  When we were about 3 miles from the AirBnB we stopped at Shucker's for a drink which I really needed to help soothe some of my pain.

We checked into the AirBnB and Bill and I walked to the liquor store on the corner for some more "medication".  I had heard about Four Loko and figured this was a good time to try it out since it is 12% alcohol by volume.  

We tried to go to the Shrimp Basket for dinner, but there was a 1.5 hour wait so we winded up at Carrabba's.  It was OK, but they were nice enough to proved me an ice cream desert for my birthday.

We went back to the AirBnB somewhere around 9:30 PM.  It wasn't long until we were all asleep.  I'm actually writing this blog the next night and it is 10:30 PM so I am ready for bed.  I guess that is all for now.

At this point, everyone has put up with me and all the stops and were ready to get to the RV park.  We were just over 3 miles from there and after crossing our last bridge number six, we were in Navarre and pulled into the RV park by 4:30 PM.

I was able to get in touch with Lookout and Towney and they agreed to stop by for a few beers, so we set up camp, jumped in the shower, and helped prepare dinner.  Just after 6:30 PM Lookout and Towney arrived and we had a great time hanging out, drinking a few beers, and catching up.  I sure miss spending time with my motorcycle club brothers.​

After they left, we got in the tent around 9:30 PM.  Wow…it’s a late night!  It is now 10:30 PM as I finish typing up this blog entry, so I’m going to end it here and get some sleep.  Tomorrow we have just over 70 miles and it will be another beautiful day riding along some beach roads.  It will be great.