Day 16- The Finish Line!

When mom woke up this morning at 5:20 it was raining. It was too dark to leave within the hour. She looked at the weather and figured we would ride out of the tropical depression if we started around 8. So everyone got to sleep in a little bit. Todays breakfast was in the camper cafe after mom and grandma went to Winn Dixie. They got 2 dozen eggs. Lil and Grandma made amazing whipped egg sandwiches but we couldn’t even eat them all. Jenna says David didn’t eat his fair share. Probably because we hadn’t ridden at all yet. 

After breakfast we left at 8:15 and rode in the rain for less than a half hour, although the roads were wet for 1.5 hours. So we got pretty dirty. Jenna and Ellie and Emily decided to sing all the songs they could think of about sunshine so the sun would come out. It worked. If you want our playlist text us. We were riding on 301. Lots of stoplights. Some rough shoulders - amazing we didn’t have any flat tires today! We must have gotten them all out of our system yesterday. Ladina was the only one who didn’t get a flat on this trip. Well, Emily too, but that doesn’t really count. We had a REALLY nice tailwind! At one point we were cruising along at 15 mph up a hill with little effort. In fact, we made it 30 miles before the coop caught up to us. They pulled off at a church on the left so we could refill our water bottles. When we turned in Grandpa turned in front of a car for a close call but no contact. Thank you Lord!!! And thank you to everyone who has been praying for our safety on this trip. We are sure your prayers have protected us many times, and that includes today! 

We made it to Deitweilers Fruit Farm by 1:15. We ate ice cream and drank orange juice and got our pictures taken and sat around and took a picture of a monster Beetle Bug. Then we ALL rode the last 3 miles to Aunt Janie’s house. It was Grandpa, Grandma, Aunt Janie, Lil, Dad, Mom, Emily, David, Jenna, and Ellie. We rode into Pinecraft at 2:15. We then had a photo shoot that lasted longer than David wanted and shorter than Grandma wanted. It was really nice that Grandpa’s friend Ivan was here to take videos of the bikers coming down the home stretch. 

After setting up the motor home and getting cleaned up, we all went out to eat at Ford’s Garage, a past favorite. Great burgers and interesting bathrooms. 

We are sitting around now guessing how many pounds of bananas, bags of ice, and gallons of water were purchased on this trip! There will be prizes! 

…Aaaannnd the results are in! 55 gallons of water, Mom guessed 57. (If 55 seems low, that is because bikers sometimes stopped and bought their own water, and filled up at restaurants.) 30 bags of ice, and David guessed 32. Ellie was right on the money for bananas, guessing the correct answer of 25lbs. Jenna won closest guesses overall. 

Stats:

64 miles

41 roadkill

Average of 14.6 for first 50 miles. 13.8 overall. 

1240 total miles for the trip. 

I’m sure Lil is happy she didn’t have to hear another campground employee’s incredulous “You have NINE people in ONE RV?!?!” for the umpteenth time!! She will be leaving tomorrow, which we are sad about, but her husband will be glad. We are excited that uncle Doug and cousin Avi are flying down to join us tonight! 

Quote of the day was Lil’s last poster: “It’s not how you start, it’s how you finish.” 

Written by everyone

A rainy start.

Nearing the finish! 

The monster Beatle Bug.

No cups? Oh well!

WE DID IT!!!

Ford’s Garage restaurant to celebrate!

Some interesting bathrooms. :)

Aunt Janie’s beautiful house!