Perry, Florida to Chiefland, Florida

Bill left the Perry KOA this morning about 7:30. Since it's starting to get light later, he can't leave at 6:30 anymore as it's still dark. I worked around the camper and left a little later and we both followed 19 South for most of the day. A few small towns along the way and relatively quiet road. Bill shot pictures of a flooded campground and I saw it later as I drove by and thought, "I'm sure glad we didn't stay there!" This area received over 12 inches of rain from that tropical storm we waited an extra day for.

If we hadn't waited that extra day, we could have been there in all that water. With the water higher in all the streams, Bill's seen lots of snakes and frogs on the road and even saw an alligator under one of the bridges...needless to say, he didn't stop to get a picture! I dodged a big box turtle in the road and hoped he didn't get clobbered later. After cycling over 50 miles, Bill was ready to call it a day so we drove the few remaining miles to a very nice campground called Breezy Acres R.V. Park.

Reasonable price, friendly people running it, and new washers and dryers! :) Looks like it's laundry day today! So after having a late lunch, working on Facebook and the blog,

and doing the laundry, we walked over to the office and bought an ice cream. A nice finish to a hot day. Thanks for reading.

Ochlocknee, Georgia to Perry, Florida

Today was one busy day! Bill set off in the rain, but only went 10 miles before it stopped. He continued pedaling and I neatened up and got ready to catch up to him. Miss Garmin was supposedly set to the town where I was to make the turn onto 221. She hollered out, "You have arrived!" and directed me to take a right. She lied. Instead of catching up to him, I ended up going parallel on Route 19. I pulled over to check my map and realized my error just as Bill called, out of water, baking in the sun. I found a small side road and drove 7 miles back to 221 and started north to find him. There he was about 10 miles back covered in sweat and not a happy camper. I got some water into him and we packed up and headed for the campground. After a whole lot more to drink, a cool shower, and a nice meal, he was ready to tell me about his day. The first person he met was Todd Pitchford, a canine officer.

During their conversation, he told Bill about a company called American Aluminum. He said they were police-friendly and made some interesting things and that he should stop by there if he could. Bill took his picture and then cycled away. Thank-You Officer Pitchford for the job you do! When we were driving to the campground, we drove right American Aluminum and found it was only a mile away from the Perry KOA where we were going to spend the night. After he recovered a bit, he rode his bike over there and met the Plant Manager, John Louk, who gave him a tour. American Aluminum makes custom tool boxes, K9 carriers, and even personnel carriers or inmate transports, all custom made to fit police vehicles. They also make custom units for animal control. This is a full unit ready for paint.

Here is Marques McGee, or "Mr. Production", applying powder coat to a finished unit.

John and Bill then visited the packing and shipping department

and then on to seeing the custom tool boxes for police vehicles.

I told Bill I need a couple of those for my shop...:) This next picture is of a crated inmate transport piece.

And another of a canine unit designed for the back of a pickup truck.

Raymond Glover is pictured here with animal control units.

I don't know how famous this will make you Raymond, but I have had over 7000 views on my blog! :) Here's a black unit for animal control

and another unit being customized to hold 2 dogs for a K9 unit.

Bill was introduced to Austin Lambert and Ashley Hudson who work in the summers and after school.

He also met the ladies in the executive branch of the toolbox division...Jennifer Arnold, president, Courtney Lundy, and Shelby Gibson.

He even go to meet the "bad_ss" of the group, Dale Ernst. ;)

Very nice company providing a much needed product. Bill was quite impressed by all of the men and women he met there that took such great pride in the products they made and it showed in the quality of their work. He pedaled back to the Perry KOA where we spent a quiet night. Thanks for reading.

If you would like to be part of the journey, please donate at Generosity.com

Chatsworth, Georgia to Ochlocknee, Georgia

Drove into Ochlocknee, Georgia during the beginnings of a tropical storm. Found Sugar Mill R.V. Park and pulled in for the evening. The rain continued to fall all night and we were wondering if Bill would be able to get out in the morning. We kept checking Weather Underground and watched as the storm was headed straight for us. In the morning, the rain was still pouring down and we made the judgement call to spend another night here. The rain stopped for a couple of hours and we went out to get a needed oil change on the truck and a even more needed haircut for Bill! LOL! We tried to find another tire for his bike, but none were available at the local bike shop. We got back to the camper just in time for the skies to open up again. So we cleaned up around the little beach house on wheels and rested. Oh, I forgot to tell you, when we were in a state park a few nights ago, we were told that the showers were nice and new so looked forward to a full shower rather than just a quick one. Well, they were nice, just not clean...:P So I followed my mom's old mantra..."Don't touch anything!" There were a couple of water bugs that really wanted to inspect my toes and I really did not want to let them! So it was wet down, aim the water at the bugs, soap up, water at the bugs again, and rinse off and run out of there! As we watched the weather, it looked like it was going to break up some in the morning so we would make a run for it then. The rain was still coming down in the morning,

but with the promise of clear skies down the road, Bill put on his raincoat and headed out.

Hope this day goes well, thanks for reading.

Vonore, TN to Chatsworth, Georgia

It was forecast to be hot again today so we were up early and Bill started cycling at 7:00. The sun was just coming up over the lake so I got a nice shot of it.

Once I was ready, I drove to Walmart to pick up a couple of things that I forgot the other day. It was the strangest setup. There was no way to enter from my side of the highway. I ended up circling through a neighborhood to get in and getting out was almost as complicated. But I prevailed! LOL! Route 411 was a nice 4 lane with wide shoulders so I was surprised when Bill Called. After about 50 miles, the 4 lane had turned into a narrow 2 lane with no shoulders. This is also a truck route into Atlanta so was getting a little wild. He had 54 miles in so I drove to pick him up at the Marathon Station. From there, we drove to Chatsworth, Georgia just a few miles away. We were hoping to connect with Chief Baxter again. He was the chief that ran the F.L.A.M.E.S. school when we came through here in the spring. When we arrived, we saw that the police station was right next door. Officer Harrison came out to meet us and we told him what we were doing. He went inside to get us a patch and we walked next door to see the firefighters. We met 4 of them, one of them Chief Baxter's son.

Doug Brown, Brigam Young, Mike Baxter Jr., Omer Williams, and Bill!  The Chief wasn't there so we shared our story with those 4 young men and checked out their patch board. We could smell their lunch cooking so traded patches

and took a quick picture and followed Officer Harrison back to the police station to get a picture of him with Bill in front of their patch board......which was bigger! LOL!

We talked together, traded patches, took our picture and were on our way. We drove 7 miles up a mountain to Fort Mountain State Park to spend the night. It's woodsy and quiet and a good place to rest. Oh, and guess what...it's my birthday! Celebrated with a fudge-filled chocolate cupcake and we'll cook a nice dinner tomorrow. Thanks for reading.

Newport, TN to Vonore, TN

This morning started as any other morning with the prayer, farewell and me getting ready to go. I was inspired, so wrote in my journal for awhile then hopped in for a quick shower. While I’m soaping up, I hear the phone ring…4 times in a row. Its Bill’s ring, something must be up. I finished up, threw on a towel and called him right away. He had 30 miles in and his shift cable snapped; so he was on the side of the road. I packed up quickly, tied a bandana around my head, said, “No make-up today!”, and was off. While I was driving, he called again. He was at “Floyd’s Market” and it had a helicopter on the roof!

I should be able to spot that! LOL! It took a little longer to get there than I thought it would. I even had to squeak through a very crowded small town. But I arrived at last and we drove to the nearest bicycle shop about 15 miles away. Cycology Bicycles was the name of the place

and we went in and talked to a very nice young man named Brady. He directed us to the repair area where Ernie gave us the bad news. It was indeed a broken cable

and once he checked out the bike,

the rear sprocket and the chain were pretty worn out too. So instead of waiting for the whole thing to fail in the middle of a busy intersection somewhere ahead, we opted to have these things replaced. It was a bit pricey, but God has been in control of our funds for quite a while now and we have people who have come alongside of us in this way. The bike mechanic said it might take a day or two, so we walked around the shop digesting that news.

We took a couple of pictures outside

and went to have some lunch at a local sub shop. The price was reasonable and the subs were delicious! While we were eating, Ernie called and said the bike was finished! So we left the sandwich shop and drove back to pick it up. We added some dog repellent to the list and paid the bill. A few more miles down the road, we got a frantic call that we had left the dog repellant at the store. We turned around, which is no small feat when you’re pulling a camper, and stopped back at the shop and picked it up. By then, it was getting later in the afternoon and the temperature was close to 100 degrees. We drove to Vonore TN where we found the Toqua Campground. It looks like a nice quiet place and there’s even a lake nearby. So we did one of our favorite things…we took a nap! LOL! We had a light supper, well I had a light supper, Bill was scarfing everything in sight! LOL! Then we settled in for the night. Thanks for reading

Greeneville, TN to Newport, TN

Left the Walmart parking lot today headed for Newport, Tennessee.

Yesterday was spent saying Thank-You to several law enforcement agencies in the local area.The first one was the Johnson City Police Department. He met the Deputy Chief and exchanged patches and coins.

He shot a picture of them all together

and was on his way. His friend, Dwight treated Bill to lunch and has been moved by what we are doing. After lunch, he stopped by Standard Printing, the good folks who made all the shirts that Bill wears when he's cycling. They were excited to see Bill and pleased that their shirts have held up so well. They all talked and Bill got a picture of them.

Great place to have work done...thank-you! After that, Bill headed to the Jonesborough Department of Public Safety in Jonesborough, the oldest town in Tennessee. He met Officer Wesley Corder from the police division and  Lt. Chason Freeman from the fire department and they exchanged patches.

They were impressed with what we are doing and they shot a picture of the 3 of them together.

Then it was back to our home where we finished up and got ready to leave in the morning. We decided to make today a short ride, so Bill left about 9:00. Since I was already at Walmart, I did my hair and make-up and went in to buy a few groceries. Yankee thrift always compels me to buy the 36 roll pack of TP...hey, I save a nickel a roll! LOL! But good sense makes me buy the 4 pack as my storage space is limited. I brought the groceries out to the camper and put them away and started out. Route 321 was quiet and after about 45 minutes, I caught up to Bill and we decided which campground in Newport we would head for. The Tena-see Campground was our choice and I gave them a call to make sure they had space. When I told the lady on the other end what we were doing, she was all excited and couldn't wait to meet us. I arrived first to a very nice welcome and the 2 ladies were full of questions. Jenny helped me to my camping spot and a few minutes later, Bill came pedaling up! Since he hadn't stopped by the office, we both walked over where Jenny opened the door and said, "Welcome home Bill!!" with a big hug.

She gave him an ice cold Gatorade which he quickly drank. We talked and laughed with her and the owner and Jenny even gave me one of her homemade Christmas ornaments!

It's beautiful and I can't wait to hang it on our tree back home. The also called the local newspaper and the sheriff's office! A lovely young lady from the Newport Plain Talk newspaper arrived not long after and we talked at length. Then 3 men from the Cocke County Sheriff's Office drove up  and we met Sheriff Armando Fontes, Chief Deputy John Carrell, and Administrative  Captain Derrick Woods. We shared coins and patches

and talked about all the things that are going on in our country right now. Oh, and did I tell you it was pouring rain while they were there?! But it was okay, we all talked around a covered picnic table and became friends.

The ladies in the office couldn't say enough good things about these men and how they have cleaned up Newport. Thank-You gentlemen for what you do! They left soon after and Bill and I enjoyed a late lunch in the little beach house on wheels. Please continue to pray for our law enforcement across this great nation of ours and thanks for reading.

Cumberland Gap to Johnson City, Tennessee

August 1, 2016

Woke up early this morning so decided to get up and start the day. Bill was on his way at 7:00 and I got myself ready. He called around 9 and then it was pack up, unplug and away I went. Bill wanted to ride with Brian tomorrow but it looks like thunderstorms are predicted for most of the day. So we started across 58, cut down to 23 and the hills here are just crazy steep! As I was going through Cumberland Gap, Bill was in Jonesville, Virginia where he met the Sheriff, Gary Parsons.

They traded patches and got pictures

and then Bill was on his way. Thank-You Sheriff for what you do! We met up around Duffield and he wants to go long to Kingsport and then drive home from there. So I am parked right outside of Kingsport at one of those “Lady or the Tiger” choices. Do I go left on 36 South into Kingsport or wait here for Bill because the right turn is to 26 East to Johnson City which is interstate where bicycles are not allowed. I called Bill to ask which way are we going but he was in heavy traffic and said he’d call me back. That was almost a half hour ago, so hope he is doing alright. About 15 minutes later, he called and asked how far I was from Weber City. If I turned around, it was going to be 2.5 miles. So he described a car wash he was near and I started out to find a place to turn around. 5 miles later, I went around a cloverleaf and back on the highway…I hoped. I felt a little turned around and wasn’t sure I had taken the right turn. It had been a long stressful day and traffic was heavy. He called to ask where I was and I sobbed, “I don’t know!” I’m afraid my bad_ssness was wearing thin. He asked me what landmarks I saw and I found him at last. As it turned out, when I was parked at the fork, he was only a mile behind me. By then, I had taken a deep breathe and was able to get out of the truck smiling. He was talking to Michael Delano, a Weber City police officer parked right there at the car wash.

He stayed with Bill until I arrived to make sure I made it okay. Thank-You Officer Delano for what you do and for waiting for me! From there, we packed up and drove to our house. Once there, we brought in a few things for the next couple of days and Bill decided to wash the front of the house! It did need it. While he was doing that, I was going through the mountain of mail we had at the house that Bill’s sister has taken such good care of since we’ve been gone. The camper got a good scrub down, we brought in things we never used, and brought out a few things we had forgotten. After spending a couple of days there, it was our last night. Back on the road tomorrow! Thanks for reading.