Laura's new bike has her faster than ever. I bet she is in the lead most of this trip. Their bags are all very heavy though and will slow them all down. I'm not sure about Katie and TJ, but Laura and Chris are carrying 47 pounds each and Roger is carrying about the same.

Let the adventure begin and I will see you all in Washington in about 8 weeks.

They are loaded up, ready to go and about to hit the road. We wish you all a safe ride, a great time and awesome memories.

Well this was a big day for our group, they are in New Orleans!!! I was so excited for them I forgot to ask how many miles they did today. I guess we will find out tomorrow.

It is still 100 miles (about) to Venice, LA where they hope to dip their tires. I guess they are having a problem w/ places to stay on that last part. I'll find out more tomorrow.

I hope it all works out for them.

Stay tuned.

Our group made it about 90 miles today and landed in New Roads, LA. They are tired and may not have internet.

Their day would have been somewhat uneventful if not for the flat tireS. Yup, 4 today.

Roger had his 1st, Katie had her 1st and Laura had 2 today, so her total is 3 so far.

Chuck had the 1st flat in Elroy (WI) the 1st day out, but no others.

Chris is the Master of the Tire Issues, 3 flats of tubes and the only one to also wreck a tire, bend up a rim and have a different rim go defective on him.

They just made it to a Walmart w/ a minute to spare, for some more tubes. They would only allow 1 person in so Chris bought the much needed tubes, then they headed to supper and I assume bed after that.

Hi All,
Our gang is in Greenville, MS tonight and absolutely exhausted. They did 95 miles today. The temperature was a balmy 95 degrees with the heat indices at about 110. Adding to that, the humidity was really up there. The road temps were 100 to 104. Ya, they're cooked.

Chris limped into town with his back rim barely holding his tire. This is not the bent rim either, that is shot. Thankfully, there is a bike shop there and is supposed to have the correct rim for him. He's still missing a brake too, but Roger wasn't sure if he was going to get that fixed or not. I guess the shop person has to really know his stuff to fix the brake.

This is for yesterday, July 14th....................
Our group only did 20 to 25 miles and went from West Helena, AK across the Mississippi River to Helena, MS. This was because of more storms.

They stayed at the Isle of Capri Cassino & Hotel. This gave Katie some special treatment by SECURITY!!! To cross the casino floor to get to the buffet, she was required to be escorted by Security. They sure don't trust minors!!!
Also, anyone with her was not allowed to so much as touch a machine. I suggested to Roger that he keep Chuck away from Miss Katie. He does enjoy playing Black Jack, and they just didn't need any problems. I wonder if Chuck even considered a few hands???

Our group had a short day today, mileage wise. They did 36 miles. They are in Granite City, IL tonight, with no internet. They visited a lock & dam today and hoped to see the Louis & Clark Museum, but missed it by 20 minutes.

Their excitement includes Chris getting a second flat tire, and something about Roger going to dip his tire in the Mississippi River (oops - up to his knees). I hope Chris got a picture of that.

Tomorrow they will most likely enter St. Louis, MO. Their plans to visit any sites will depend on traffic conditions and their safety. I hope they have internet tomorrow, so they can post their adventure. If not, I'll be back with a recap from our nightly phone call.

Till then group, have fun and stay safe.

The group had a very long day today. They did 80 to 85 miles today and made it into Grafton, IL rather late.

The only other thing I know is they had to take a ferry to cross a river at some point.

Chris did add a day 11 blog. It is pretty good. Nice throwing Katie. Hope you all enjoy it.

they rested.

Our group finally treated their bodies to a well deserved day off, so they remain in Barry, IL for another day. Sadly they have no internet, so no posts from them. They may have worked on updating posts with pics and general catch up blogging, then would have saved it all till when they have internet access. So please check back, we may have plenty to see and read in the next day or two, I hope.

Not a whole lot to tell tonight. The group did about 44 miles today and made it to Barry, IL. They sound pretty tired.

I asked Roger when they were planning to give their bodies a rest for a whole day. He said they are talking about taking tomorrow off. I hope they do. I think they could all use a rest day.

They weren't very talkative, so that's about it.. Chris did add some more pics to day 5. Check them out. They look good.

We may be having unusually cool weather in Wisconsin, right now, but the temperature for tomorrow in the St. Louis area will be about 89. They aren't all that far from that area.

We wish then a good R & R day tomorrow.