Tuesday, May 31, 2011

A Doozy of a Day

So the morning began great with an awesome Bible Study lead by Jenna and some breakfast sandwiches that Emily made. And then it became...well........a debacle and doozy of a day.

The directions became the problem of the day. The riders (and Big Bertha) couldn't find a road. The riders rode back and forth trying to find it, paging Big Bertha for help, who couldn't do much in this circumstance. Break came at Piggly Wiggly in Eulonia. Prior to stopping, the group met a guy named Al. Al is walking from Florida to Maine to raise money and awareness about Veterans issues; he is 72. Gordon and Lewie chatted it up pretty well. The riders also found a group of kids trying to raise money for camp by selling lemonade. Oh the good ol' days of innocence. Lewie and Gordon again talked it up, giving them some marketing tips.

Lunch came along and we skyped with Amanda, whom we all LOVE AND ADORE!!!!!! It was hard hearing her sometimes as truckers came along with their rather loud engines.

So we get to Savannah and Big Bertha is out in front, blazing the trail the riders are following. She gets to a road that has a sign "Bicycles Prohibited." Uh oh...So we are forced to reroute. We pull over on the side of the highway and Bryan calls Lewie with directions. Big Bertha gets luck and the next exit is near where the reroute begins. Meanwhile the gang is hanging out at a gas station waiting to proceed as a unit. Bertha looks to find the first road, unable to find it. We run into a nice old man in a pick up, who directs us in that direction. Needless to say, the road was wrong. We hit our first dead end. Emily is sitting with Bryan's computer, hotspot in action (yeah 4G). We can't move. Luckily, we have a guy drive up behind us who has a painting business. They had enough space in their lot for Bertha to maneuver. We move out and find the road we're supposed to be on. Needless to say, we get lost again. Bertha finds the riders and we're all off, on the right path...

...or so we thought...

We follow the directions Google Maps had given Big Bertha. We turn down a "Dead End." Google told us it would turn into a new road. It didn't. We get to the end of the road and I (Bryan) decide to take matters into my own hands. I turn into a driveway and pull in and begin to pull out. I had some difficulty getting Bertha out, but luckily the people whose driveway we invaded didn't care. In fact, he offered us a bedroom if we needed it. His wife wanted to buy an RV, but he had refused on MANY occasions. Eventually, we turn around, with Mark's AMAZING skills at knowing how to turn a trailer.

In the end, we get Mark friend Jack's house. But it was a long day.

The riders rode 95 miles today when it was all said and done.

Needless to say, I (Bryan) am pooped.

Love to you all.

2 comments:

  1. Leave it to google! I never thought of you all getting lost along the way. Hope the road ahead is well-marked. Praying for you.

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  2. ahhhh such challenges! Happy to hear that at least you're all safe, though :) Praying for you all and your cause!

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