Evan is back with the team!  He went ahead last week and did his own thing for awhile, he had a great time but missed us too much.  Welcome back buddy.

Daytona Beach is crap, not at all pretty like St, Augustine.  Just a bunch of junky hotels lining the beach.  We got here in the evening and had a really hard time finding a place to camp.  People in Florida don’t seem to be as charmed by us as in other states.  We got denied left and right for our usually guaranteed backyard camping.  This was a first and put us in a bad situation.  It was dark and we still had no place to put up the tents, hmmm.  We rode around looking for places to hide but we’re stuck in strip mall hell.  It’s unfortunate that Wendy’s doesn’t offer camping with their French fries.  Finally, after deciding to ride out of town (it was 8pm now) we have found a construction site that seems to be safe.

Nothing like sleeping on cold cement!  Cheers to the adventure.

tan lines

Originally uploaded by duzercruzer

I’m very proud of my new tan lines. I’ve never had such defined brown and white legs. The great news is that they’re only gonna get more defined…and uglier.

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We could have used sails today. The wind was at our backs and we were flying down A1A like petals in the wind. Ocean to the left and Alligator infested jungle to the right. We are now in St. Agustine, America’s oldest city! Now you may be thinking that Jamestown is the oldest city, but in fact, St. Agustine gets the award. Why? Because it is the oldest continually inhabited city. It is nice, georgous old Spanish buildings, a big fort near the water and lots of old people. Yes, I’ve always heard that Florida is full of retirees but now I really believe it. There are gangs of old people on every corner, I’m scared.

We are staying at my buddy John’s parents, the Wilkes. (Not related to Wilkes Booth) They are wonderful people, just like John. I’m excited to sleep inside tonight, it is cold out there. I also took a much needed shower today, it had been five full days. Five days of sweat, road grime and fingers stained with Peanut Butter residue.

I’m coming at you tonight from a Taco Bell on Amelia Island in northern Florida. Yes, not only does Taco Bell have great tasting burritos, but they also have free wireless. Eat your heart out Starbucks! (They wanted to charge me $9)

Last night we camped out behind the volunteer fire department in Darien Georgia. It was a cozy spot, but very cold. It seems that a cold front has hit this area, a cool 39 degrees this morning just about froze me. The humid air chills your bones, it’s not like the dry cold in Colorado.

We flew through Georgia today and sadly had to say goodbye to this picturesque state of peaches. I actually never saw a peach, funny. Anyway, Georgia wins for the best and safest bike route. We rode a designated bicycle route (95) from top to bottom. It was heaven, nice shoulder, not many cars and tree lined entire way.

Today’s highlight was lunch, we stopped in a small town at Steffan’s country kitchen. This place is the classic small town diner, locals who know everyone, friendly waitresses and nice homemade decorations on the walls. I stuffed my face, two egg salad sandwiches, one grilled cheese, a bowl of fried Okra and a piece of cheesecake with ice cream and Strawberries on top, yum! They were impressed with out appetites.

Shortly thereafter, we triumphantly crossed into Florida, Hooray! We’ve been dreaming of the warm Florida beaches for a long time, too bad it’s freezing cold. Key West can’t come soon enough.

Think warm thoughts for me tonight as I shiver in my tent. Shouldn’t have sent home all my warm clothes, oops.

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After two amazing days living on a boat in Charleston, we are back on the road. My childhood friend Billy was a great host, he took me to all his favorite spots to eat and even let me sleep on the big bed in the Captain’s quarters. We watched sunsets from the top of the boat, watched dolphins play in the marina and reminisced about the good old days of Boulder. Once again, leaving was tough, it’s hard to leave such a comfortable situation. But, our motivation to get to Key West is getting stronger. Good things the roads are getting flatter and straighter, we can cover a lot more miles now than in the Northeast.

Last night we camped in a cemetery behind an old church. It is not as spooky as you may think, great big field filled with huge old trees covered in Spanish Moss. It was also the coldest night yet, the air is very humid and when the sun goes down, it gets darn chilly. For dinner we made our MRE packages (Army food) that were given to us in Massachusetts by Carl. I had vegetable lasagna, apple sauce, crackers, candy and peanuts. All I had to do was add water to some special chemicals and it created enough heat to cook my food, I was impressed. Especially since Carl said that he had had these MREs since 1997. Thanks for dinner Carl!

We are now in Savannah Georgia, crossed a big scary bridge to get here with traffic flying by. Bridges always scare me, the shoulders are always filled with junk and sharp objects and the sound of the cars is amplified by ten. It’s only 11am so we are not staying here, gotta make some distance. Time to head Head further on into the land of Peaches.

Hi there, we rode 105 miles today to Charleston.   Beautiful day,  sunny skies, roads lined with trees and a great lunch.  What was for lunch you ask? Well, I added a chocolate chip Cliff Bar to my peanut butter tortilla mix and it was amazing!  I’ll never go back to just plain PB and J.  The simple things in life put a smile on my face.

This will be our first night sleeping on a boat.  My great friend Billy lives out here on his little yacht and has offered us his place for a couple nights.  I will be happily rocked to sleep, to the rhythm of the ocean.  I love the south!

The Dirty South

Originally uploaded by duzercruzer

It was hard to say goodbye to North Carolina. It was so good to us, beautiful weather, people, beaches, roads , landscape and food. Thank you N.C., I’ll definitely be back.

We had a nice shoulder to ride on in the entire state, but the minute we crossed into S.C, the shoulder disappeared and was replaced by a 15 mile long, Las Vegas like strip of tacky beach stores, strip clubs and Put- Put golf. This is the area known as Myrtle beach and it didn’t look too enticing. The one thing that did catch my eye was that every restaurant seemed to be an all you can eat buffet, and I like those!

We are now in Garden City, staying with some of Scott’s relatives at their house on the beach.

By the way, Evan lost his phone today so don’t try calling him. It is probably lying on highway 17 somewhere. From now on, you can send him smoke signals if you want to get in touch.

Brett is cool

Originally uploaded by duzercruzer

I’ve thanked many wonderful people who have helped me on this trip. But it has been brought to my attention that I forgot someone. I feel like a schmuck, I forgot to thank my good friend Brett. Sorry Brett, I love you man!

Anyway, I stayed with him in D.C. He took me to swanky laywer parties, a Redskins game where we sat in the owners box (we didn’t watch much of the game, paid more attention to the free drinks and cheesecake.) He also gave me $50 for swimming through a big fountain in Georgetown. He also made really yummy eggs one morning and gave me the best room in the house. Cheers to Brett! You are a good man!

Today we are in Wilmington, didn’t get to far because of flat tires and bricks. Yes, a brick, Evan hit a brick and destroyed his tire. We then had to search for a bike shop which took too long and now we are camped out under the house of a nice guy (Nick) who we met at the bike shop. The beach is 50 meters away, life could be worse.

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This is where we ended up celebrating Halloween, in a very spirited house boat in the marina of little Topsail beach.  It seemed like the entire town was there, this little boat was packed.  Big thanks to the Luthers for allowing three random guys to crash the party!  Southern hospitality is definitley in effect down here.

We stopped at a Dollar store this morning and picked up some half price costumes. Riding down the highway we went, masks and all. We got honked at a lot, but this time, the cars weren’t annoyed with us, they were excited to see our Halloween spirit!

We are now on Topsail beach and it is beautiful. This will be a Halloween to remember.