Thursday April 29

It was Donna's birthday so we celebrated with cake in the morning and Barb played happy birthday on her pipes. Before we could begin our planned day of hiking at the visitor center we had to overcome an obstacle. The car that Barb was driving would not start. We had the ranger come and jump start the car. Barb took it for a drive to charge the battery. Jim, Clara and I went for out hike in the Cyprus swamp. We encountered a snake at which time we all screamed like girls in succession. The snake merely rattled in the brush as I walked by but then crossed Jim's path as he followed behind Clara. We met the group at the halfway point of the route and changed drivers. We rode 33 hard miles. The wind was in our face and we rode for 11 miles on the freeway. Bob and Gary rode over sixty miles. When we arrived at the Port O Plymouth Motel I did a misstep on my bike and gouged the back of my leg with the sprocket. There is a series of seven gouges on the back of my right leg. We ate at the local Mexican restaurant. At the restaurant they brought her fried ice cream and a large ornate sombrero. The remainder of the evening we played games in the lobby.

Friday April 30

Today we all rode a hard 34.8 miles. It seemed that we always rode against the wind. I could hear Clara behind me every time we turned a corner and the wind hit us "Oh My god". We changed the route as we went because of issues with the google route, which has been a problem to one extent or other most of the week. It was hotter today than the other days and we were parched most of the day. I went through a considerable amount of water. We arrived at the Days Inn in Washington at about 2PM. Paul presented all the ladies on the ride with a rose. This was a very pleasant end to our riding. We all packed up our cars and headed for home. The Herndons and we went to Virginia Beach from here and walked the boardwalk. Clara and I felt that we deserved a great dinner on the Boardwalk and we got it. We ate at the Rock Fish. Bob and I had surf and turf. Clara got her long awaited steak and Gary had flounder stuffed with crab.

Here I am again behind in my blog

Barb piped us onto the ferry at Cedar Island. The local paper happened to have someone there who is writing a story in the local paper in a week or so. She will be including some information about our club and the trip we are taking.

We are having too much fun. Sunday Barb Clara Gary and I were able to ride the whole day and Bob drove the car. We started from our motel on Cedar Island and took the ferry to Ocracoke. The ferry ride was about 2 and a half hours long. We played games on the boat to pass the time. The four of us separated from the main group and skipped lunch to ride. We had about a 20 mile an hour tail wind the whole day. After about 13 miles we caught another ferry to Hateras which took only 30 minutes. There were dunes and beach on either side of us during this ride. We saw some heron within twenty feet of us as well as in a river. Here were lots of wind and kite surfers at the beach. The tail wind was awesome until we overshot our destination and had to turn around in it to fight our way back.

Monday we girls drove in the morning. We went to the Cape Hatteras lighthouse and walked up the 200 plus stairs to the top. The balcony at the top was temporarily closed due to the high winds and slippery conditions. We spent so much time talking to the ranger that they temporarily opened the balcony since winds had died slightly and the fog lifted and was not so treacherous. As we were climbing down it was announced that the balcony was again closed due to winds. We met up with the group at lunch and began our ride. Gary drove and Bob led his girls.The beginning of the ride started with a mile long bridge with heavy winds. All I could think of was the Yugo flying off the Mackinaw bridge. The winds were bad and it was a crosswind. Toward the very end of the ride it became a head wind. I noticed that we all are riding stronger as the days go on. Bob did stop to play on the beach. We have been handed off over the days. First Gary then Bob and today Jim. We plan to drive all day today so we can go to the Kitty Hawk museum and do some sight seeing. Jim is driving the fourth car so he will be hanging with us. I am missing my grand-baby and grand-dog and of course my children. We hope to stop at Virginia beach and Williamsburg on the way home in a few days.

What a beautiful corner of the world

So sorry I am behind in this blog but we have been having lots of fun. We arrived at about 8 on Thursday and had a wonderful dinner at the Mexican resturaunt at the Days Inn. It was a long trip down but pleasant company made it go by fast. Friday Clara Barb. Gary and I drove the cars to lunch and then the end. We rode about 30 miles that day. The azaleas are magnificent. They are large bushes the size of trees. Sat. Barb Clara and I drove three of the cars. We were only able to ride 12 miles. We rode out to the ocean and walked on the beach briefly and dipped our bikes in the ocean. Gary did the full mileage today with Bob and the rest of the group. They have been threatening rain the last several days. Hope it doesn't come tomorrow.

Away We Go April 22, 4 AM

This morning we were up bright and early (3:30) to begin our trip to the outer banks North Carolina. We managed to pack everything in the car for four people. We have four bikes and two tents on top. I shall be sending photos as we go along. We picked up Clara and Gary about 5 and we were on the road by 5:30.

Just a few more weeks and we will be heading for the Outer Banks in North Carolina. We also signed up for a ride in Xenia Ohio July 15th. Bob is going to be doing another self supported ride in May This is going to be our biking year I think. Our boat is going into the water on Friday the 16th of April. We have lots to do on the boat before it goes in the water. We charged the batteries today and took the canvas off the boat. We took photos and notes of the canvas in order to make some changes later to make it more efficient. Spring has come upon us and we are taking advantage of it. Today we went to Port Sanilac for the open house at the marina. We looked through some boats. We also participated in a knot tying seminar and sail shape seminar. It is nice to dream of bigger boats and calm seas with quick breezes.
I have been working on invitations for the wedding and shower. It has been a lot of fun. I have a new toy to play with, a cricut. We needed it for a component of the shower invitation. More technology to learn.

Spring fun

We have had a great week mostly because of the weather. What a wonderful way to start April. Wee went to the Zoo again with Liesl and did some bike riding. Bob, Clara, Gary and I are trying to get our bodies in shape for the bike ride we are planning at the end of the month with the Slow Spokes. We will be riding in North Carolina at the Outer Banks. Bob will most likely be doing the entire route whereas Clara Gary and I will play it by ear on how far we go. So far we have been out three of the last five days on our bike. We had Bob pull the bugger with Liesl in it in order to try to slow him down. It hasn't worked as much as we hoped. Slowly our seats are getting into condition to be able to get on the bike every day. The legs are getting there too. I rode up our hill to the house a couple of days ago. I didn't do that the first day.
We had a great Easter. We had nothing planned but Scott and Melisa came by in the afternoon and Ingrid, Jim and the baby came a little later. We and the Tierneys went to Canterbury Village hoping to walk around and have dinner but it was closed. We then went to Rainforest Cafe and had dinner. Later we colored eggs and I hid them from Liesl on Monday when we had an Easter egg hunt. With a few gestures and winks from Shannon, Liesl was able to find all ten Easter eggs.
Tuesday we brought out the finger paints and Liesl loved smearing her hands in the paint and then on paper. To top it off we put lots of foot and hand prints on the paper. Of course a bath was in order and carefully carrying Liesl up the stairs. What fun on a rainy day.