Pedal 4 Hope

HELLO EVERYONE! I have missed writing on here and I’m glad that I finally have enough time to make a post.

College is a completely new experience and being away from home has been intimidating at times. Pullman, Washington is slightly colder than Manhattan Beach and so far it’s only snowed here a few times. Dorm life is completely different than what I’ve been used to, but I’m glad that I got to experience this. It was really hard to get used to settling in to a new home after this summer’s events. Since Dad and I never stayed in the same place for more than a couple days, it was an unexplainable challenge to get comfortable coming home to the same place every day.

I’ve been trying to get involved in everything I had time for since I first got to Washington State University. In my first month here, our Pedal 4 Hope story was published in the University newspaper and a few people around campus recognized me as “the crazy biker kid”. Unfortunately at a campus of 20,ooo students, this reputation was short lived and I returned to my previous status of low-life freshman. Besides the various clubs that I’ve joined, the biggest thing I’ve become a part of is the Phi Kappa Theta fraternity. I am currently an associate member of the fraternity and am looking forward to becoming an initiated brother next semester. All of the guys in the house are really cool and although dorm life has been an amazing experience, i cant wait to move into the house.

Now that I’m starting to settle in a little more, I hope to be able to write more posts and share my college experience with all those interested in reading. Thanks for all those who’ve followed our journey this far and I hope you look forward to the journey ahead as much as I do!

We got off late this morning around 10am after making calls and packing up all of our gear. When I woke up, my eye was unusually red and we both knew that I had gotten pink eye from rubbing my dirty hands all over my eyes to wipe the sweat from them. With no set destination and dark clouds all around us, we didn’t expect to get very far before having to stop for the night.
Throughout the day, I made several calls to try and get a prescription for eye medicine. It was a difficult process trying to connect between states and continue pedaling down the road so we wouldn’t be wasting time just waiting. Walgreens was very helpful in finding us pharmacies along our route and we ended up staying in lady lake at La Hacienda hotel by the store. Finally, after 6 hours, I was finally able to get the medicine and my eye is already looking a lot better. Thank you to Healthcare Partners for being so understanding of our predicament and for filling out that prescription. We were both able to sleep a lot easier knowing that was taken care of and that I’d be better soon.
In all, it was a pretty uneventful day of riding and we didn’t see too much along the way. One thing that did catch our attention was this trailer with two monster trucks that were completely plastered with mud. Every inch almost was covered and you couldn’t even see the windows.
In the end, we didn’t get as far as we had hoped, but Bart and the people from Lady Lake were all very friendly and welcomed us in.

Monster trucks covered in mud

We got up and had breakfast at the hotel before taking off around 9am. We had no set destination for the day so we pretty much rode until we couldn’t ride anymore. It rained on us about 20 miles in so we stopped at a gas station to try and dry off a little. There we met Jessica and James who had stopped to fill gas on their way north. Thank you so much for your contribution and I hope my posts were able to keep you entertained on the road.
It was nearing the end of the day and the sun was just setting when all of a sudden… Dad got another flat! The first one in a few days! We arrived in Williston after dark and walked across the street from the hotel to get Subway for dinner. Some of the hardest workers we’ve ever seen, the employees were constantly doing something to help out and the whole restaurant was squeaky clean. The raspberry cheesecake cookies were a perfect finish to a great day and we both settled down to rest after showering up.

After a few quick bowls of cereal, we took off down the road towards Perry. It was a very long and uneventful day. Since we left west Texas, all of the cities we’ve gone through have been closer together, but heading into Perry we had a 40 mile stretch of pretty much nothing. Fortunately there were a few gas stations along the way for us to stop in and take a break. The straight, flat road and walls of trees on both sides were entrancing and both of us tried our hardest not to fall asleep on the bike. It’s unbelievable how easy it is to nod off.
We arrived in Perry before the sun set and went to get dinner at the Italian place across the street from our hotel. Thank you to America’s Best Inn for welcoming us in and all of your support.
After dinner we walked down to McDonald’s for an ice-cream cone. All the people working there were really nice and enthusiastic about our ride. Their different comments made us laugh and put smiles on our faces. We went back to the hotel in a good mood and both had a great night of rest after showering up.

Dad brought me a nice breakfast and I ate it in bed while he went down for one last swim in the warm gulf waters. We left around 9am and rode down the coast trying to take everything in as much as possible. We stumbled upon a great road that used to be the old highway before they built a new highway 98 and since it was blocked off to motorized traffic, we had a peaceful ride for at least a few miles. After coming across the strangest roadkill that we had seen, the road ended in a shopping plaza where we had to get back on the highway. Signs through the mall listed the speed limit at a random 17mph and made me wonder why they would ever choose that weird number.
The scenery began to change as we headed farther down the coast and we began to see more trees and forested areas. Along with the forests came the proper warning signs. Apparently this area of Florida is populated by bears and panthers so hopefully we won’t be camping out any time soon.
Just before we entered Carrabelle, we stopped for an icecream and met Pam who was sitting out on the porch. Thank you so much for the push pop! I hadn’t had one of those in years and it brougt back childhood memories. Carrabelle was a nice small town rigt on the river and they were getting ready for the huge fishing competition that they were having that weekend. After a delicious dinner of fresh shrimp and oysters at the Fisherman’s Wife, we checked in at the Moorings inn and relaxed a little by the pool before heading to bed.

The hot sun pounded into the tent and I was already drenched in sweat before even getting out of bed. We packed everything up and left the state park around 9am to look for a good breakfast place. On our way down highway 30A we came across Big Daddy’s bike shop so we stopped in to say hi. Peggy, John, and Kenny were all very nice and Peggy even treated us to breakfast! She directed us towards the Hibiscus Cafe where we had some delicious pancakes and fresh fruit. Thank you Peggy for the amazing meal and for all of your support. When we finished and were getting ready to leave, we met Willie and Breezie who were both amazed by our adventure. Thank you both for your enthusiasm and encouragement. You brought smiles to our faces and brightened the rest of our day.
We headed farther down the road, trying to look at the houses and the beach at the same time because everything was so unbelievable. At Panama City we visited the Ron Jon’s surf shop to see if they’d be interested in welcoming us at their store in Cocoa Beach. Sarah (the manager) was very interested in the ride and said she’d try to help us out. Thank you so much for your support and hopefully we’ll be able to work something out with the store.
We continued down the coast still in awe of the beautiful beaches and homes. The water was so tempting and once we arrived at Mexico Beach, we finally had the chance to swim in it! We got up to our room and looked out at the sunset before heading down to the water. It was surprisingly warmer than expected and we stayed down there a while before rinsing off and heading to dinner. Thank you Jane for booking us the night. Once we got back from dinner it felt relaxing to be in a bed again after the terrible night before.

We stumbled out of the camper, half asleep, and walked next door to get some warm breakfast at Happy Harbor. We met Chris (the manager) after we finished our meal and he was very interested in the ride. We talked with him for a while before heading back to the camper to pack the bikes. He let us fill our waters at the restaurant before we said our goodbyes and headed east.
The ride down the coast was beautiful but very uneventful and didn’t have many memorable moments. We rode through the city of Destin, home of Kolbi Amos who I went to elementary school with. The beaches looked as if they were straight from a travel magazine but she warned me of the bull sharks that live in the waters pretty close to the shore. Thanks for trying to help with camping locations and for your suggestions on places to see in New Orleans.
It started to get dark and trying to find somewhere to stay wasn’t easy. Hotels were upwards from $140 and the camping place wanted to charge us $80 just for a spot to put our tent. We looked at our maps at dinner and decided to travel farther down the road to the state park where we were able to get a tent spot for $24. After setting up the tent and hitting the showers, we got ready for bed and were frustrated to find that we were already dripping sweat without even doing anything. Laying on top of my sleeping bag and trying to think of a colder place, I hoped that I’d be able to get to sleep so I could ride more the next day.

Chris and The staff at Happy Harbor