At dinner last night, we had an interesting conversation about politics, more specifically “why are you a democrat” or “why are you a republican,” assuming you have a political party affilitation.  Our answers were interesting, revealing, and thought provoking.  And I especially love that we can have a conversation like that without offending anyone.  Of course, it probably helps that all of us are on the moderate side of our parties – at least I think we are. 🙂

We started the ride at about 7:05 a.m. when the temperature was slightly above the freezing mark, but it quickly warmed up.  We stopped for the first time after about 15 miles or so, and stopped 4 or 5 times after that on our 93 mile ride.  Tim lead most of the way, which was really tough on him.  Mark’s knee was bothering him, and to be honest I was not sure I would be able to complete a 93 mile ride today, so neither of us ever took the lead from Tim.  Here are some photos from our ride today.

Tim at our first stop of the day at Mossy Head, FL on US 90. Notice the Coors Light beer cans duct taped to the orange gas line markers.

Photo of giant pinecones on our 1st stop of the day.

DeFuniak Springs Train station – our 2nd stop of the day.

Downtown Historic DeFuniak Springs.

Near the Choctawhatchee River on US 90.  Apparently it had rained a lot recently.

Picnic area under water at the Choctawhatchee River on US 90.

Ponce de LeonCity Limit sign halfway through the ride, where we took another of our breaks.

Beefcake shot of the day – Mark while shedding layers during our break just outside of Ponce de Leon.

Tim in one of his two Florida biking jerseys – I’m not sure if this is the one Marcia or Matt gave him for Christmas.

To pass the time on the ride, we did lots of trivia.  For example, how many states with 4 letters can you name?  We came up with 6 of them.  Can you guess all of them?

In baseball, how many different ways can you get to first base without getting a base hit?  I think we came up with 6 of these also.

How many U.S. Presidents died on the same date?

How many U.S. Vice Presidents were later elected to President?

What U.S. Presidents later served in the Federal Legislature or the Federal Judiciary branches?

How many British Prime Ministers can you name? How many Canadian and how many Australian Prime Ministers can you name?  After striking out on Autralian Prime Ministers, we didn’t even ask out New Zealand Prime Ministers.

We rode up to the Fairfield Inn at 3:30 p.m. and eventually made our way to Beth’s room for Tim’s daily reading of “Conquering the Borderlands.”  Afterwards we went to a sports bar and had burgers and beers – a great way to end the day! Right now Beth and I are watching the Red Carpet show before the Oscars Ceremony, but I’m signing off now and heading to bed.

On the last part of Friday’s ride, we passed Blue Angel Parkway, which leads into Naval Air Station Pensacola, the home of the National Naval Aviation Museum.  We did not detour to visit it on Friday, but after reading Marcia and Nancy’s comments about how they could not believe Sullivan boys could possibly pass up a museum, I felt I just had to go back and visit it!  Plus my friend Brian Zuchowski from Palmdale highly recommended it to me, so instead of riding today, I decided to take the day off and go to the museum.  I felt rested enough to ride (I had the best night’s sleep in about a month on Friday!), but really wanted to go to the aviation museum, which I had never visited.

I arrived a few minutes after 9 a.m., shortly after it opened, and spent about 2 hours there, which was just about enough time for what I wanted to see – mainly the WWII aircraft.  I hope you like looking at planes, because that’s what most of my blog will be.

Curtiss NC-4 WWI antisubmarine aircraft. The size of this WWI plane was really impressive, and also the mass of the three engines, each of which needed radiators to stay cool.

Side view of a Lockheed L-10 Electra, the same plane Amelia Earhart was flying when she and Frank Noonan were lost in the South Pacific in 1937.  I think this L-10 Electric is in the Naval Aviation Museum because the U.S. Navy spent weeks looking for Earhart after she didn’t make it to her next scheduled stop.

One of the famous Japanese Zero aircraft from WWII.

German Me-262 jet aircraft, which the Germans deployed near the end of WWII. I’m not sure there is really any connection between this aircraft and naval aviation, but it is a very famous aircraft nonetheless.

Corsair aircraft used by both Navy and Marine pilots during WWII. Pappy Boyington and his Black Sheep aviators used this plane in WWII.

Grumman F4F Hellcat, which was famous for its service in the Battle of Midway.

If you’re still with me, the next two photos have a family connection.  During WWII, my uncle Paul Gallagher served at NAS Pensacola, and was an instructor teaching Navy pilots how to fly the North American Aviation SNJ aircraft.  I took two photos of the SNJ.

SNJ – WWII trainer aircraft, which my Uncle Paul flew at NAS Pensacola.

Another photo of the SNJ. North American Aviation made the same plane for the Army Air Corps, which they called the AT-6. My Dad flew the AT-6 as an instructor in 1945 at Newburgh Field, NY.

Battle flag of the USS Enterprise aircraft carrier, the same carrier that Jim Doolittle’s raiders used to take off from when they bombed Tokyo in April 1942. Beth and I toured the USS Enterprise, which is now located in NYC.

After visiting the museum, I returned to our hotel and picked up Beth.  We had a nice lunch at a nearby Panera Bread and then went to a Barnes and Noble bookstore, since I was nearly done reading one of the two books I brought on this trip.  By the time we made it to the Holiday Inn Express in Crestview, Mark and Tim were already there relaxing in the pool’s hot tub.  We all relaxed in the afternoon, and then Tim and I went to Saturday night mass at Our Lady of Victory Church in Crestview.  Our proof of admission is a photo their church bulletin (see below).

Church bulletin from Our Lady of Victory Catholic Church, Crestview, FL.

Tim and I returned to the hotel after Mass, picked up Beth and Mark, and then went to an excellent dinner at the Wild Onion in Crestview.

My chicken parmesan entree – it was just OK, but the desets were outstanding!

Tomorrow’s ride is all the way to Marianna, FL, which is about 92 miles from our hotel.  Wish me luck!

Yesterday we all arrive in Mobile in the afternoon, drove to downtown Mobile to pick up Beth (who had been there since Wednesday afternoon), and then made the 45 minite drive to Dauphin Islnad.  We all got busy assembling our bikes, but as usual I received some help from Mark and Tim to finish assembling it.  I was glad to have the help!

It was pretty cold when we started out on Friday morning at 7:30 a.m. – definitely not the coldest day we have ever ridden, but pretty chilly nonetheless.  We rode 2 miles or so to the Ferry that would take us and our bikes over to Fort Morgan.  It’s about a 30 minute Ferry ride, and it’s nice to be able to sit in a car for a sea journey like that, but since we all had our bikes, we braved the elements and stayed outside on the ferry, not that we had any choice in the matter.  Here are some pictures of us waiting for and then on the ferry.

Waiting at the Dauphin Islnad to Fort Morgan Ferry.

Onboad the Ferry from Dauphin Island to Fort Morgan, AL.

Mark finding something in Tim’s napsack on the Fort Morgan Ferry.

Once we landed in Fort Morgan, we rode the short distance over to the fort, but we all thought it was just too cold to play the role of tourists at the fort.  So we headed back and started the ride to Gulf Shores and Pensacola.  Here are some pictures I took during the ride.

The beach at Gulf Shores Alabama. We were about 25 miles into the ride at this point, with another 36 miles to go.

The beach at Gulf Shores Alabama. The dark blurry image on the left is the cyclone fence put up to keep everyone on the bridge.  It really is true that the sand is very white.

A little later we entered our final state on the Southern Tier ride, namely Florida.

Tim checking his email on his phone under the Welcome to Florida sign.

We rode about another 25 miles or so (it was 61 miles by my bike’s odometer) to the Residence Inn in Pensacola, FL, where we stopped for the day.

I am happy to have this ride behind me since I was not sure what to expect from me today.  I’ve been sick since the first weekend in February and have not ridden outside since December 12 and only taken a handful of spinning classes since then, with none of them in February.  So I impressed even myself today by being able to finish the ride.  I’ll admit, however, that I am preety tired right now. 🙂

Today was really cold – it was maybe 30 degrees when we left the Holiday Inn Express at just about 8 a.m.  I thought today’s ride was one of the prettiest rides of this whole leg.  We passed about a dozen nurseries, a turf farm, and a couple of cotton fields that looked liked they’d already been planted.  And some of the properties along the roads were absolutely gorgeous!  Sorry I don’t have any photos of our ride (maybe Mark or Matt posted some), but it was just too cold for most of the ride to stop and take photos.  Plus, in general, I think we all just wanted to get to Mobile, which we did by 11:50 a.m.  So we rode 47 miles in just under 4 hours.  We only got chased one by a few dogs in Mississippi, so we were feeling neglected after not getting chased by any dogs in Alabama! 🙂

Riding through Mobile to the downtown section was really nice – the Universities, schools, churches and especially the homes reminded me of other Southern cities I have visited, including New Orleans, Charleston, and Savannah.  Mobile is really nice – in fact the highlight of the trip for me was touring the downtown portion with Beth after having lunch.  So here are some of the photos, once we had made it into Mobile.

Waiting in the lobby of the Hampton Inn and Suites for Beth to arrive from Lucedale, MS.  We actually were happier to have made it to Mobile than this photo makes it seem.

Outside view of Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Mobile, AL. Savannah has a Catholic Cathedral in its historical section also, which is another reason that Mobile reminded me of Savannah.

View of the altar in the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Mobile, AL

Top of the altar in Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception, Mobile, AL

Historical Marker in Cathedral Square, telling the history of the Archdiocese of Mobile, AL

Beth, Courtyard and Portions of Fort Conde, Mobile, AL

Beth, Courtyard and Portions of Fort Conde, Mobile, AL.

Photo of Satchel Paige in the Visitor Center of Fort Conde Historic Park.  Satchel Paige was born in Mobile and although Jackie Robinson was the first black to make it to Major League Baseball, Satchell was the first black elected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

After Beth and I did our walking tour of the historic district of Mobile (we also visited the Museum of Mobile, which was really good!) we went back to our rooms at the Hampton Inn.  I disassembled and packed up my bike (in 72 minutes – another new record for me!) and then took a quick shower before we all met up in the lobby.  Beth and I had made reservations for all 5 of us at the Royal Scam Restaurant, the same place we went to for lunch, just down the street from our hotel.  All our dinners were excellent, and afterward we went back to Beth’s room to drink the rest of the wine and eat the rest of the chocolates we had purchased in one of the many Wal-Marts we visited on this leg.

Chocolate and wine party in Beth’s room after dinner at the Royal Scam Restaurant, Mobile, AL

Tomorrow (Saturday 3/7) we all get up really early (3:45 a.m.) to get to the airport for our 6:00 a.m. flights out of Mobile.

After biking 637 miles on this leg, I feel that we accomplished quite a lot completing a leg of the trip that would have been challenging even if the weather had been nice.  Having Matt along with us was great!  I hope he will be able to join us for some or all of the last leg, and I hope my son Chris will be able to join us also!

The temperature was about 52 degrees when we left Poplarville, plus it was rainy and cold.  After riding about 1.5 miles, we decided to stop in at the Hardee’s fast food restaurant to get out of the cold and rain and also get some real breakfast, since none of had eaten anything substantial in our cabins.  All of the Poplarville locals were extremely friendly to us, asking us where we were from (and then commiserating with us over recent Eagles trades) and where we were headed.  In the Hardee’s I took this picture, the only one I managed to take today.

The guys at the Hardees Restaurant in Poplarville, MS. All of the people in this fast food restaurant were incredibly warm and friendly to us. Maybe they felt sorry for us because of the awful weather we were riding in?

The main things that happened today were that Mark unintentionally hit a dog on his bike, but somehow managed not to fall off his bike, which was amazing!  The dog came out of nowhere and Mark did not have time to get out of the way.  The dog really looked stunned, but otherwise appeared unhurt.  And I broke another spoke, which Matt again helped me tape off and loosen the adjacent spokes so that I could continue riding.  This happened around mile 20 of a 78 mile day, and we got in too late for me to take the wheel into Mobile for spoke repair.  So I am going to roll the dice and ride tomorrow and hope I don’t break another one before getting to Mobile.  I’m guessing I have another 50 miles to ride before this leg ends, after which I will get the wheel re-spoked at Drexel Hill Cyclery.

But the really best thing that happened today was getting picked up by Beth in Vancleeve! That was the end point of our ride today, and the plan was for Beth to pick us up in Vancleeve for the drive to Lucedale.  After warming up in the New China II restaurant for only about 10 minutes, Beth arrived, we loaded up the bikes, and ordered Won Ton soup for the ride to Lucedale – and boy did that hot soup hit the spot! But the warm ride in the car with Beth was the best part of the day for me!

The temperature dropped throughout the day, ending up a tad over 40 degrees at the end, which felt even colder than that since we were wet from getting rained on.  Tomorrow’s weather should be dry but still on the chilly side.  This is our last night in Mississippi since tomorrow we will get to Mobile, AL.  I am positively impressed by the friendliness of Mississippians, which has been true of people in every state we’ve biked through!

We left just after 8 a.m. this morning and it was already 70 degrees when we left, with a predicted high temperature in the low 80’s.  I used sunscreen on my face and should also have applied it to my arms and legs.  This was our last day of riding in warm weather – both Thursday and Friday will start out at about 30 and end up at about 50 degrees.  It was also humid today, so we were soaked in sweat in no time at all.  Our roads were mostly good, with smooth surfaces and wide shoulders, at least until we got into Mississippi.  There the shoulder on MS 26 disappeared and there was just too much traffic, so we decided on the fly to change our route, which added a few more miles but they were on safe roads.  We ended up riding 74 miles and made it to our destination, the Shallow Fork Lake and Cabins, at around 2:45 p.m., so we averaged just under 11 miles an hour for the day.  There were lots of hills, especially when we were headed east.  But aside from that, the ride was not very remarkable, so here are the photos for today’s ride.

Getting ready to depart from Amite City, LA. We usually meet at the car at 7:45 a.m. and it always takes us at least 15 minutes to depart.

Mark at break on LA 16.

Matt at a break on LA 16

Tim in his Alabama Biking shirt at our break along LA 16

Sign indicating we were entering Pearl River County in Mississippi, just after we had crossed the Pearl River. At first we thought this would be our only notification that we had entered Mississippi, but a few miles down MS 26, we encountered the sign in the next photo.

Welcome to Mississippi sign along MS 26. I certainly didn’t know that Mississippi was the birthplace of America’s music. Do the people in New Orleans know that?

Mapping the alternate route on the way to Poplarville, MS. Once we crossed into MS the shoulder disappeared and so we needed an alternate and safer route.

Logging truck along MS 26. We have been seeing dozens and dozens of these trucks every day once we left Conroe, TX, including today. I never knew that this regions of the country is a big resource for pine lumber.

Pine trees along our alternate route into Poplarville, MS.

Model T car outside of Swallow Fork Lake and Cabins. This was our landmark to finding our lodging for tonight.

Swallow Fork sign along Oak Creek Road, leading us to our cabins.

View from the deck of Beth and Brian’s cabin at Shallow Fork Lake and Cabins.

Swallow Fork Lake

View from the back of Tim, Mark and Matt’s cabin at Shallow Fork Lake and Cabins.

Tomorrow’s ride to Lucedale, MS will be colder and probably wetter, but we will be as safe as we can!

Today Tim’s son Matt joined us after flying into Baton Rouge last night, getting picked up by Tim, and then assembling his bike in all of 20 minutes – what a rookie! 🙂  Seriously, it was great having him with us today, if for nothing else than to listen to him make fun of Tim, starting with his chain saw snoring last night! Who knew?  None of the rest of the Sullivan brothers snore, right Nancy? 🙂 But having Matt along really made me wish my son Chris could be with us also.  Maybe next year, Chris, for part of the ride?

We started out in a heavy fog, and I think that’s the first time that’s ever happened to us on one of our rides.  We were dressed a tad on the heavy side, since the temperature was hovering right around 50 degrees, plus or minus.  But at our first stop, we all started shedding clothes, and we didn’t regret it as it warmed up to slightly over 70 degrees by the end of our 68 mile ride to Amite City.

The only mildly concerning thing that happened today was that one of the spokes on my back wheel broke, but Matt taped it to adjacent spokes and loosened the spokes closest to the broken one, to keep the wheel as true as possible.  And it worked fine to get me the remaining 40 miles into Amite City.  We didn’t have any flats and we made great time today, thanks mostly to Matt, whose young and fresh legs kept us all going at a fast pace.  And it didn’t hurt at all that we had had a rest day yesterday (thanks again, Beth!) , so we were all more rested than normal.  We were able to complete the 68 miles in just over 6 hours, when normally it would have taken us about 7 hours.

And the other thing that made the ride go faster for us was that we sang oldies for a good portion of the ride.  One of the ones Mark, Tim and I all sang (Matt must have thought we were nuts, but so what) was from the Righteous Brothers.  Remember this one?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xEkB-VQviLI

And we sang other oldies also, and at one point Mark pulled up “Unchained Melody,” also from the Righteous Brothers, because I just couldn’t remember their other really big hit.  Of course, many of the songs we sang along the way were from the Beatles, the Beach Boys, and Elvis.  Tim sang one that none of us recognized, but he is slightly older than us, which could explain it.  Curiously, Matt didn’t sing at all.  Hmmm….. guess he was too busy laughing at us. 🙂

We counted 43 Bud Light cans by the side of the road and 8 Dollar General stores along the way.  There may have been more of both, but we just lost count after that.  After we got to the hotel, Mark, Beth and I did laundry, after which I went to a bike store in Hammond, LA named Graycat Cyclewox to get my spoke fixed, my wheel trued, and a new back tire.  I also picked up a bright yellow-green cycling jersey so that when and if I take off my yellow jacket tomorrow, I will still be very visible to drivers.

Ok, enough talk – here are today’s photos.  Hope you enjoy them.

Pool at Butler Greenwood Plantation B&B. The building Beth and I stayed in was right next to this inviting pool, but it was just too cold and rainy to enjoy it.

The boys strip off layers at our first rest stop on LA 10. We stayed on LA 10 for most of today’s ride and it treated us really well! It had a nice wide shoulder and gently rolling hills.

One of the really quaint towns we passed through today was Jackson, LA. This train car was right outside an Antique Store there, and I thought it looked really nice.

Historical marker in Jackson, LA. Tim loves historical markers and reads every one he can find, as Matt pointed out to us (as if Mark and I didn’t already know that!).

Volunteer firehouse in Jackson, LA

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Louisiana Scenic Byways Road Sign along LA 10. We saw about a dozen of these signs today, which were usually accompanied by the sign in the next photo.

Zackary Taylor Parkway sign along LA 10. During the ride Matt asked if any of us knew Zachary Taylor’s nickname. I looked it up on Wikipedia and it is “Old Rough and Ready.” Taylor was the last U.S. President to own slaves. Does anyone know why LA 10 is also named Zachary Taylor Parkway?

Clean laundry on Beth’s bed at our Holiday Inn Express in Amite City, LA.

Mark and Bike Store Owner Mike discuss tomorrow’s route to Poplarville, MS

Tomorrow we ride to Poplarville, MS, so tonight is our last night in Louisiana.  After taking 19 days to get across Texas, it’s hard to believe we have biked through Louisiana so quickly!  But Louisiana has been nice to us also and let’s hope tomorrow’s ride goes well for all of us again!

It was cold again at the start of today’s ride – only 34 degrees and it felt it!  It warmed up eventually, but it took a while and the sun was rarely out, which meant it took a lot longer to warm up.  The day’s ride was a mostly flat 78 miles but I thought the wind was tough – it seemed to me that it was in my face most of the ride.  Here are most of the photos I took today.

Pine trees lining LA Route 29. This is what a lot of the scenery looked like today and the last few days.

Bessie at Cattle Ranch along LA 104 in Evangaline Parish, LA. Mark and I named this cow Bessie and promised her that if she would turn to look right at us, we’d give her this individual photo, which she did!

Bessie and her friends at Cattle Range along LA 104 in Evangaline Parish, LA

Church bulletin for Sacred Heart Church, Ville Platte, LA. We did the 78 miles in about 7 hours and 45 minutes, arriving at our hotel at 3:45 p.m. Mass at Sacred Heart Church started at 4 p.m. (see it on the bulletin?) and Tim and I took a quick shower and were a few minutes late, but we made it and said a prayer for Mark and Beth …..

El Charro Mexican Grille, Ville Platte, LA. This is where we all ate dinner after Tim and I got back from church. If for any reason you find yourself in Ville Platte, LA, this is where you want to have a meal – it was excellent!

El Charro Mexican Grille, Ville Platte, LA. Tonight, we are the only ones staying at this Best Western Hotel. It’s nothing special, but it is clean and perfectly fine.

In the hotel room after dinner. Mark is blogging and Beth is diligently helping Tim map tomorrow’s route.

Tomorrow’s ride will be close to 90 miles, most likely, and according to the weather apps on our phones, much of it will be in the rain.  Say a prayer it doesn’t rain too much of the day tomorrow.

Mark wants Tim and me to describe the day’s ride, which I totally understand because we’re all exhausted and really just want to go to sleep.  It was an 84 mile day that took a few minutes longer than yesterday’s 89 miles.  It felt colder than yesterday and the wind was unrelenting.  Plus there were the dogs!  It seemed they were just waiting for us to ride by so they could chase us.

It felt as though the dogs were just waiting for us to ride by so they can could enjoy chasing us!

We got chased 6 or 8 times today. After a while I gave up trying to outrun them – you can’t! According to Mark, a young dog can run 25 mph, which is really hard for us to do, especially riding into the wind.

Mark and Tim at Burger King in Buna, TX, our first rest stop of the day. We each had a breakfast sandwich and a nice, hot coffee!

Hot black coffee! I almost never drink my coffee without at least a little half & half in it. but these last two days in the cold riding weather have made me crave piping hot black coffee!

By noon we had make it to Kirbyville, TX. There we met Jacqueline and Ralph Winter, who are from Ontario, Canada and having been traveling by bike (England, Ireland, New Zealand, Cuba) for the last 14 months!

Mark basking in the windless sun in Kirbyville, TX

Tim savoring the sun at lunch in Kirbyville, TX

Mark having a snack near Bleakwood, TX. We stop about every 10 miles or so, especially in the afternoons when we start to get tired. At every stop we’re eating and drinking, because we really need to nourishment.

Photo of the Sabine River on the border of Texas and Louisiana.

The Brothers at the border of Louisiana. After having ridden in Texas for part of Leg2, all of Legs 3 and 4, and again for part of Leg 5, we finally made it to a new state!

We were about 25 miles from our hotel at this point, and they were very tough miles!  Tomorrow we’re supposed to ride 75 miles to Ville Platte, LA.  I’m betting it turns out to be closer to 80 miles, but maybe it will be warmer – that would really be nice!