You don't really hate it ... you just have an adventure that's speaking a little louder right now. ;)

I'll enjoy following your journey. Any chance you'll pass through Baton Rouge?

(Hugs), Caroline!

I, too, am frustrated (not to mention skeptical) of those "New and improved, just send money" sites. I've long cherished your tales of cycling adventures. Please keep us updated as you find time.

~Ana

natal you are right I don't hate the gardening just the expense that has failed to yield as much permanent garden as I had hoped. I can't justify spending anymore on plants , at least for now. And YES we will be passing through BR ! If you like you can email me through GW and we can see as the mid March time we will be in the are draws near and see if we could meet. What a treat that would be.

solana...thank you too for such a supportive response. I will indeed keep updating as I travel. I hope to see lots of beautiful gardens and take many pics. c

Thanks for letting us know of your trip, Caroline.
I'll look forward to your updates.
Awesome that the food bank will benifit from the ride!
I have to say that I really do NOT do enough to help our local f.b. and will be glad to make a donation.

Best wishes for a safe and pleasant journey.
Patti

Caroline, I can't tell you the amount of times I've been discouraged and fed up with my own garden. I bet you'll be back at it with a new enthusiasm once you return from your trip. I will gladly make a donation to our food bank in your name, will it be a group making this trip?
Looking forward to following you on your journey, have no flats, a safe trip and above all have a great time. Lots of pics please.

Annette

Sounds like an amazing adventure! Travel safely!

Patti ..THANK YOU ! I have been volunteering at our local Community Grocery for many years. The food comes from our food bank and the "customers" can come in and pick 40# of their choice of foods, no meat though, once a month. They also get a prefilled bag that has select items in it that includes at least one meat item...sometimes it is a whole frozen chicken and others a whole boneless 10# ham and then others it is a pack of 1 # of sliced bologna. You never ever know what will come down the line from the groceries that donate out of date or damaged food. They get produce and bread too and that is also extra.

The folks I work with are the "Brown Bag" and are elderly indigent for the most part. We are seeing more and more younger people also though. They go through a process of screening to show their income and their bills and dependents to make sure they qualify.

Annette: THANK YOU !! I bet you are right. It will be Spring when I return and I will have a "spring" in my step I am sure :) No flat tires and tubes should take care of the tires ! We will be camping many nights and others will be in inexpensive motels. So far there is one other 60 yr old woman and one man but I believe we will have one more man and one more woman. All have done lots of these adventures , I am the only newbie. I will be pulling my trailer with all my worldly goods...like a turtle with her shell.

Thank you Blueberry Hill.

Here is a link that might be useful: East Alabama Food Bank

Trail, you are making me smile! You remind me of a friend, she is a gardener. Then she stopped for two years to ride with her hubby. Now she's back to gardening again :) In the mean time her garden grew and flourished and is just beautiful now.
Maybe it just needs some time, and so do you!
How wonderful what you are doing! I hope you have a great time!

Oh GGG I am so glad to hear that. I was thinking myself that with all this rain we are having maybe the roots are soakin' it all up and they will really come into their own in the Spring. Maybe they need time away from me :)

Thank you !!! c

hey, trailrunner, I know i posted here, but I must have done something wrong 'cuz it isn't here. Anyway, I hear you on the $$$ and little to show for it. Very frustrating. Our four legged fools have not only trampled all the (or almost all-the rest that they missed will probably go this coming spring)new plants I put in last spring/summer. Even the metal tags I used to label the hosta look like they have been chewed and they are all bent or torn up. It's hopeless.

I do hope your ride is absolutely wonderful and restorative. I hope you will have a chance to keep us posted as you go. I hope you return to a garden that retains some of the promise you poured into it.

Cynthia

WOW! Raising my glass and toasting to your great adventure. I hope you keep us posted along your stops. How exciting!!!!

Edna (who hasn't gardened in many, many, many moons)

cyn: I am sorry to hear that yours is due to your "pals". No way to keep them out ???? I sure would figure out something... I am my own worst enemy...at least besides the drought. Thank you for your good wishes and I will definitely post my progress.

Edna: I had no idea that you weren't gardening ??? I think you have such a wonderful space. I will for sure keep up with posts...and a toast to you too !!!

Hi Caroline
what a great adventure for a good cause. You go girl!!Stay safe and keep us posted. Wish I was able to go with ya! Knees aren't what they used to be.
Barb

Caroline - I don't mean to get all biblical on you, but to everything there is a season, and a time under heaven. Now is your time to bike ride - how I wish I could go with you. I just need to lose 60 lbs and get me knees in shape. All to say, go while the going is good. Gardens are very patient things. They have been know to sleep for decades, awaiting their prince or princess!!

Happy New Year, Nancy.

Nancy, I'm willing to bet you'd lose that 60 lbs on the ride-lol! The knees on the other hand...no cure there. Mine are way past the point of biking even in the neighborhood at this point. Oh well.

It will be a grand adventure, Caroline!

YOU GO GIRL! WOW -- and, for two wonderful causes -- yourself and the food bank.

Cameron

you ladies are just simply the BEST !

barb...it is indicative of my slothful gardening that your seeds lie fallow in their envelope. Oh how I wish you could ALL go with me...but then you will...everytime I see a garden or interesting plant and I snap a pic you will all be there ,

oh Nancy, what a wonderful sentiment...you are right...I move through phases in my life and this is one more. We all have "seasons" . Thank you for such a heartwarming note.

cyn: you really don't need good knees...that is why so many old runners take up cycling. All of you look at the Woman Tours site...they have some great pics and I can assure you these ladies are NOT thinnie minnies or all young chicks. This is doable by anyone. As I learned when I did ultra runs for so many years...you can only run one step at a time....the journey begins with that 1st step.

Whoa cameron ! You need to come join us !! I am a good cause , aren't I ??? I need to remind myself...thank you, c

I am proud of you for deciding what you want to do and then doing it! Hey, that garden will be waiting for you when and if you decide to work in it again.

That is a great New Year's Resolution for all of us:

Start doing what makes you happiest!

Let the rest of it slide.

Glenda

thank you Glenda for adding your lovely thoughts that remind me again why this is such a positive approach to living. It will all be here...or not...my crystal ball is a little foggy :) I will follow through and keep moving forward. c

Garden when you are too old to do anything else! You go girl!

Thank you frogview! I hope I am never too old :)

Just don't keep so fit that you outlive your money!

What part of South Texas? I hope near me. I'll send you my phone #, so I can cheer for you.

hahafrog...I'll just "out-ride/run" it !!

Kathy need to check the route for sure but I believe we are pssin through ElPaso for sure so think anything in a line with that to SanDIego....will finalize in Feb. Would LOVE to see you. c

Well, that's a breath of fresh air! I can sympathize. Johnny claimed he would rip out the front garden and replant grass in the Spring, just to get a reaction out of me. My reaction was "can I rev up the tiller?" Not what he expected to hear. We'll see. If I were a wealthy man, I'd hire a garden designer and a crew in a heartbeat. I love the plants, and I do enjoy fiddling about (and holes...I love digging holes, heaven help me), but being out in the humidity, plucking spiders off myself and feeding them to the hens (who are meanwhile tearing up the plants, having evaded the hen-proofing again) while I'm attempting to kill off weeds or aggressive plants AGAIN...no thanks.

I'm at the "why not plant mint and be done?" stage. Plume poppies. Bamboo. Anything that will once and for all just take over, and not in a patchy way.

The garden needs ripping out and re-imagining, in a big way. But, I'll still hate being out in the humidity.

Your adventure sounds delightful! It's great to hear you doing something for more than one cause. I know I'm hardly here any more, but I hope to peek in and see posts from you.

kent

Hey Kent...I wish my garden was even pretty enough to bother tilling it !! Waste of gas. Not really I guess but mostly it is an unrealized disappointment. I have no vision or design sense for plants. Most things I have planted have either not grown at all, grown really well but look terrible or done fine but I don't have enough of it or it isn't in the right place.

I look at books, and believe me I have a ton of wonderful garden books. I look at the plans and none of them seem to apply to my garden.

I hate sounding like a whiner. I am just gonna go do something else and get back here the end of April or the first of May and see what is what.

I am completely with you on hiring someone. If I had done that originally it would have been better cause I have no problem maintaining this . My DH says goahead and hire someone to come in and just do it but there are NO good design people here at all. When you see a wonderful garden in the paper or on the garden tours they are ALWAYS completely done by the owner ...so there you go.

I will keep posting from afar and let you know how I am doing. THANK YOU for being so sweet and interested....say HEY to the chickens for me . c

I went back and read your original post again. You will be going through North TX and Southern NM.
El Paso is 555 miles from me!

k