Friends and Family along the way

Our arrival in Berea was yesterday was met with quite the greeting party!  It made the arduous and confusing trip into town worth all the circles Arch and I drove around in, trying to follow the route Skip took.  Skip beat us into Berea and even had time to bike into town for some ice cream before we finally found our way out of the woods.  

It was exceptionally exciting when we arrived because, not only were we going to see Cindy, Skip's mom soon, but Dave and Sue were there to greet us.  Dave is one of Arch's old friends, and a PATCO brother.  After we all got settled in our hotel rooms, and cleaned up, Dave and Sue kind enough to treat us all to dinner in downtown Berea.  We had a great time, good food, good friends, what an amazing way to end a day.  

This has made me reminisce on all the other friends that have taken the time out of there busy lives' to make it out to see on on our adventure.  I must admit, it has been hard to keep everyone abreast of where we will be, and when we will be there!  But through internet, constantly checking how many bars we have along the way we've had success!  Jim Pettus was there to pick Arch up at the train station in Astoria.  Rudy Verner came out to bike up the Hoosier pass with Skip, Stephanie and her daughter Elizabeth came out to see us in Missouri, where we had another great dinner with them. 

Thanks again to everyone, you guys have all been such tremendous support, we couldn't do it without it! 

A fellow Trans-Amer

While cycling along the SR140 from Marion, KY on his way to Falls of Rough, KY, Skip stopped in at a small dairy bar for one of his favorites, a chocolate malt.  While enjoying his well deserved snack, Skip had the chance to meet Dick Nehrine.  Dick is a fellow cyclist who is also traveling from coast to coast.

Dick started in Astoria, OR and is also headed to Yorktown, VI.  After enjoying they're snack break, Dick and Skip cycled on together.  Skip really enjoyed his time with Dick, and hopes to keep in touch with him since they both enjoy cycling quite a bit!  Skip also sends his best to Dick's grandson, Nick Reed, who just joined the Seattle Seahawks!  We will be looking forward to watching him play.

This afternoon, Skip arrived in Bardstown, Kentucky this afternoon, he actually made it there minutes before Arch and I did!  Quite the feat considering he covered the 100 miles on a bicycle.  

We are crossing through real rolling hill landscape, blanketed in trees, flowers, fields and livestock of all different kinds.  Bardstown is nestled in history with that beautiful landscape as a backdrop.  We've had the opportunity to travel the back roads of the US, the see the towns and people outside of the big cities, and travel on anything but a highway.  It's hard to describe the experience other than something amazing, something you wish all your friends and family could be a with you along the the way.  

Tomorrow we ill be headed onto Berea, KY.  Cindy, Skips mom has been able to organize a a little trip down from Ohio to meet up with us.  Since she will not be able to be with us at the finish line, we are very excited to spend some time together, and have her along for a part of this great adventure. 

Popeye the Sailor Man

I wasn’t sure how to start; it’s been an eventful couple of days!  (And I was worried I wouldn’t have anything to write about…) I guess chronological order is the way it’s going to have to be!

We left you guys in Farmington, Missouri, and since then, we’ve made it over the Mississippi River into Illinois, and by the end of today will be in Marion, Kentucky, now you can see where things can sometimes get a little confusing. 

         We crossed the bridge over the Mississippi River where we also crossed the state line into Illinois. The first town in Illinois we came too happen to be Popeye the Sailor Man’s hometown!  I was wondering why I suddenly had the incredible urge for a spinach salad...

Who else can say they have physical evidence of there father-in-law to be posing like Popeye, it’s really too bad I didn’t have a pipe on hand as a prop…  We can only hope there are many more photo opportunities such as this one. Oh wait... Here's another!  (P.S. if you look back to some of the previous post of us in Yellowstone, I do believe there is a photo of Arch and Skip pretending to be Lewis and Clark!) L-E and I got in on the action too!

Although it was difficult to get L-E to pose as well as Arch did!

Early this morning, very early this morning, Mother Nature gave us quite the wake up call.  At 5:15 AM Skip and I were startled awake by one of the biggest thunderclaps I have heard in a long time.  I believe Mother Nature had something in mind for us because it wasn’t long before we were both up and on our way to find our coffee fix.  Skip needs quite a bit of caffeine to bike 100 miles a day. At a local Kroger's Doria was there to help us!

  Well it turns out that Doria is also a teacher at Head Start, a not-for-profit membership organization that is dedicated to helping low-income families and their children off to the best start possible.  Doria has been with the Head Start program for 21 years, her daughter also teaches, and her son is in finishing up his education.  Doria is a single mom, and a great person; she even made sure we didn’t go back to the hotel empty handed since Arch and L-E were still in bed. 

I have attached a link to the Head Start website for anyone who is interested in finding out more about this great program.

This will be a short stay in Illinois, since today we will be taking the ferry over to Kentucky! Our next stop for the night will be in Marion, and hopefully our directions today will be much clearer than the ones that tried to navigate us into the ever elusive Canondale.  

Arrival in Farmington Missouri

We arrived in Farmington this afternoon after quite a few ups and downs.  By ups and downs I mean hills of course!  It's still a surprise to Skip at how much more challenging this roller coaster is to crossing the Continental Divide 8 times...  So when skip pulled in, it was a fast shower and quickly over to the closest restaurant for some sustenance.  

Skip burns an average of 7000 calories  day, so you can imagine how much he needs to eat, or at least tries too!  Sometimes, you just can't sit down and consume that many at one time, so he stops at least twice a day in small towns along the way.  We also make sure we always have fruit or some other type of snack Skip can grab when we catch up to him during the day.  Arch and I also have a cooler of ice and drinks available.  We also use the ice on Skip, trying to keep him in working order all the way to the finish line.

The finish line is creeping up on us, we are still thinking we will be arriving close around the 18th of September in Yorktown Virginia.  That's two weeks!  We will keep you all posted on how we are doing, and should plans change, (in which they constantly seem to be doing), you guys will be the first to know!  So if you or someone you know is still thinking about getting involved in the fight to find a cure for Parkinson's disease, pleas do.  It's never too late to make a donation, or spread the word of Skip's great journey across the country!  If you'd like to become a part of the welcoming party in Yorktown, please e-mail me at coasttocoastforpd@hotmail.com, or if you have any other questions!  Hope to hear from you soon! 

Change of Plans

The plan was to make it to Ellington, MO from Marshfield,  about a 130 mile trek.  Skip has been able to cover 160 miles in a day, so setting this goal didn't seem out of reach.  Unfortunately the terrain made it seem impossible!  We have entered a landscape I would like to refer to as Rollercoaster Roads, where it seemed that the ups lasted a lot longer than the downs. 

 Skip has had so much fun biking here, the mountains were a great challenge, and the scenery was amazing, but the beauty of the rolling hills and constant challenge of making that big 11% climb, only to find another right around the bend, gives him a new sense of satisfation at the end of the day.  So when plans were made the night before, no one really knew what the challenge would be.  Arch and I caught up with Skip in Summersville.  I decided to hop on the spare bike and join Skip, knowing it would be quite the ride, but liking the idea of finding out how strong I really was!  20 miles, and three or four of the biggest hills I had ever climbed, we arrived in Eminence, MO.  Wow, and Skip had been doing this all day!  I have to admit, it was a great feeling getting to the top, realizing you mad it,and then having the reward of being able to sometime reach 40 miles an hour on a bike, on the way back down the other side.  

After a stop at the local grocery store to refuel and rehydrate, we pressed on... Arch had come back with the car to check on us after he had scouted out our original destination.  He came bearing some bad news.  The one hotel in town didn't take dogs!  We were only about 4 miles outside of Eminence, and had about 20 more to go, into a town where L-E would be sleeping in the car.  It was getting late, by Skip's calculation, if he continued on his own, he still wouldn't make it in till about 7PM, and his knee was acting up on him, which might slow him down even more.  We decided to make the 4 mile journey back to Eminence where L-E was welcome and we would be able to have a good meal before the restaurants closed.  

I think we were all thankful for the change of plans.  It was awesome to able to bike down a couple of the hills I had biked up, and find myself amazed that I had actually done that!  I have always had an unmeasurable amount of respect for what Skip is doing, and it grows everyday.  

A day off in Marshfield, Missourri

Skip icing his knee

After a few thousand miles on a bike there are bound to be a few bumps and bruises.  All in all, Skip has been in good shape, knock on wood!!  All the prayer's and well wishes must be getting through.  We make sure Skip gets ice on his knee as soon as he gets in off the bike.  He also takes arnicare orally, and we also apply a topical arnicare cream on his sore muscles.  

Since we were taking a day off, we took a drive down to Springfield, Missouri so Skip could get his bike in for a little tune up.  Not just Skip taking a little beating!  

 We were lucky to find Alan, who took the time to make sure everything was in working order.  We'd like to thank you all again for your professional and expert advice.  

P.S we looked up SAG Team, click HERE to find out too!

 A&B Cycle