belated congrats c. backfire. It must have been quite a challenge to start married and working life at the same time.
You will probably soon wonder how you ever had time to go to work. ;-)

On the summer-front. Today we are having one of those rare beautiful English summer's days. After thunder storms yesterday the sky is blue, the air is fresh, the sun is shining, the mock orange and the roses are blooming and the birds are singing. Any trip to Hawaii must go on hold while I pick beans and peas for the freezer.

Update on DD and her new husband and their cross-country honeymoon-today was day 3, they have been in 3 states-NJ, PA, and MD. Yesterday they rode for 11 hours-8 of it in rain. Today they had good weather, thank goodness. Tomorrow is a scheduled rest day, then on to WV and OH over the next few days. Watch out for them-they are pulling a little trailer with a "Just Married" safety flag!

cc, I'm in southern OH, so I will assist if called upon! I'll bet they are having the time of their lives.

Today's the last day of spring, and a hot 97 here. Happy Midsummer's Eve to everyone tomorrow. I think there were bonfires lit in the early days of Celtic Britain, to celebrate....

After two rest days (Saturday was just rain rain) they pedalled all day on Father's Day-over 100 miles- and landed last night in Bedford, PA-called us last evening-the motel they were headed for doesn't allow check-ins after 10 pm, it was 9:40-would I call the motel and ask them to wait a few minutes, since the riders weren't exactly sure how much farther it was? As I was talking to the very nice man on the phone, he said "They're here! Would you like to talk to them?" and I heard slightly hysterical laughter in the background. The quickie report-first monster hills, one muddy dirt road that didn't match the map, (thank goodness for Garmin) and a stretch of abandoned turnpike complete with unlit, drippy tunnels-the perfect honeymoon!

cece, a hundred miles in one day is amazing . . . and exhausting!

If 20th June is the last day of Spring in the US and the 21st in Mid-Summer's Day, where is the first half of Summer?
I don't think I would last long in a temp of 97F. It almost never reaches the 80's in the UK and today it is in the low 60's and cloudy. And the start of Wimbledon, so it will probably rain soon!

Last night I was sitting outside reading until after 9.30 at night and it didn't get dark until well after 10. In the morning it is getting light soon after 4am.
How long is your longest day/shortest night?

On my calendar the 21st is "The First Day of Summer." The sky was lightening before 5 am today, and the last vestige of evening twilight disappeared around 9:30 last night-but readable light ends around 8:30 for these old eyes.

The cyclists called this morning-they are doing a "short" 70 miles today and tomorrow. Captainbackfire-they should hit OH late tomorrow. Probably really late tomorrow, since they do a bit in WV first-more big hills!

Okay Captain-they will be riding from St. Clairville to Granville tomorrow-wave!

cece, may we have an update on the honeymooners-with-a-difference please? I hope blisters are not causing them too many problems.

And on the blisters theme and because a PC has just this moment dropped though the letter box with an Ulster postmark, I am reminded of a walking holiday a friend and I took in Ireland, many years ago. On the mid-week 'day-off' we went into Dublin and headed to the nearest chemist/drug store to purchase blister relieving substances for our tired feet. The assistant was willing to sell us band aids etc but hesitated over the methylated spirits until we promised not to drink it and only rub it into our heels. How rough we must have looked. ;-(

Here is a link that might be useful: County Wicklow. Where we walked.

Vee, the friends I stayed with in Ireland last year too me to parts of Wicklow, including Glendalough, and it was beautiful.

Here we don't have much of a twilight. In summer it starts getting light about 5am (that's daylight saving time, so 4am sun time) and is completely dark by 9 at the very latest.

This is what my trusty weather page says about daylight here in Texas:

Actual Time Rise: 6:40 AM CDT Set: 9:01 PM CDT
Length Of Visible Light: 15h 19m
Length of Day 14h 21m
Tomorrow will be 0m 25s shorter.

We have long days here in Tejas -it's rather nice but does make winter a pleasant change when it's dark by 6 or so....

We had rain yesterday - wonderful although the cat wasn't too happy when I had to put him out there in the morning.

We caught up with them in Central Ohio over the weekend-treated them to a really nice hotel and several substantial meals! The timing wasn't the greatest, as they had just had another pamper while overnighting with a college friend, but that's okay. Today they should be passing into another state-Indiana. They are following route 40 for the most part all the way to St. Louis, if that passes near anyone.
No blisters, but the knees are acting up a bit. They are learning to work together and have patience with each other's foibles in a way that most newly-married couples need years to achieve. I really really hope the knees and the bike hold up and they make it.

Today's leg of the trip-Indianapolis to Terre Haute. Anyone out there in Indiana or Illinois?

Into Ferguson, MO tomorrow, just north of St. Louis.

CC, I was too far south to wave to the young'uns, but I actually do get up that way when we go to visit my f-i-l. Hope they are doing well, and having the time of their lives!

They are-she told me when she called in on the 4th (moms' orders to the pair of them: phone home once a day and just say "we are in a hotel, we are fine.....") that they are getting "a little odd." They sing a lot (neither should do that out loud) and make up jingles for companies that they pass by or whose vehicles pass them-one time they were laughing so hard they had to stop, as they couldn't pedal. It bodes well for their marriage, I think, that they are not snarling at each other after 3+ weeks of constant togetherness, not in exactly luxury-hotel conditions. (Pedaling up and down hills in pouring rain for 6 straight hours comes to mind....)
today St. Louis for a short stay with friends, then due west through Kansas to Colorado.
They have been interviewed for a couple newspapers...we're hoping People magazine or Oprah gets wind of them....hahahahahaha!

thought someone might like to see the article. if you click on the printer icon, you should be able to scroll down and see a photo.

Here is a link that might be useful: the pedaling honeymooners

What a nice article, Cece, and what memories they are making.

Very interesting cece. I have 'looked up' Effingham in my ancient US atlas and notice that in 1950 it had a population of 6892. The original Effingham, a village in Surrey, England was the home to my DH's family.
We learn something new every day. ;-)

Here is a link that might be useful: Effingham Surrey

cece, very interesting article. From the photo, they look quite contented!

They did the Katy Trail across a big part of Missouri, spent last night in Clinton MO, and today should be hitting dreaded Kansas (it looks flat, but is actually a steady slight incline going west toward the Rockies-and it is just so darn wide!) and somewhere in Kansas picking up the TransAmerica Cycle route.

Middle of Kansas-heard the tornado sirens for the first time. (things a mother doesn't want to know #387.)

Still in Kansas-had a broken spoke, were driven by a good samaritan to a bike shop that was ahead of them on their route-so tomorrow they are backtracking in order to ride it all. Colorado on Sunday, maybe.

They are in Denver!

Still happily wedded bliss? (j/k!!) They'll really test their love in the mountains!

Good luck to them, and to Mom!

cece, do you have any more photos please?

They are still good-I asked tongue in cheek if they were still talking after a dreadful day-dirt trail or 6 lane highway only two choices of route, 4 flat tires, 105 temp-and the answer was "oh, we're fine....not sure we won't bond to kill the bike, though." But if they survived the eastern mountains, they have been told by other trans-continental cyclists that the Rockies are actually easier, because the angle of incline is less steep.

Best place to see photos is on their photostream. They haven't uploaded in a while--can't imagine why! But you can see the photos from the Eastern PA. mountains- I would have turned back at the first one.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cece's daughter's epic honeymoon ride!

Today Wyoming! They took almost a week in Denver to have a through overhaul of the bike, spend time with close college friends, and acclimate to the altitude-although experts say two weeks is needed, they are hoping that the fact that they are going gradually, not driving to the heights and then trying to play something like soccer, will be in their favor. They both sounded great last night after a 96 mile day.

In Grand Teton National Forest. Just Idaho and Oregon left. Today they were at elevations up to 9500 feet. They would have done that within three hours of setting out, then the rest of the day would be decreasing elevations-I'm hoping that means most of the day was spent coasting down!

They must be in terrific shape by now! I am very envious, even of the more challenging days.

Perhaps this thread should have been headed "Sumer is a wash-ed out" as we have just had the wettest July on record, though not the heavy downpours Carolyn described that swamped her library. So far no rain today; but then it is only 9.30 am. ;-)

cece, the 'trip' is still fascinating to me. Does the route they are taking follow any of the old pioneer Go West Young Man tracks (in a very general sense) or are they just cycling the shortest . . . and I do realise that it is anything but 'short' . . . distance possible?

Leaving Wyoming!
No, the route is not the shortest possible-I asked the same question when they were planning! It is a combination of getting to friends' houses in the east and then Denver, recommended routes from the Adventure Cycling organization, advice they got along the way from other cyclists they met, places they really wanted to see, and some pragmatism. They have to reluctantly give Montana a pass, unfortunately, because the school year starts soon and her husband has to be back to teach. She needs to find a job as well....so today they will head for Idaho Falls instead of up through Yellowstone. But they have loved seeing the Grand Tetons.
Their blog is far behind them, but you can see their backstory, their route so far, and 1550 photos by going to their website. Click on the "Our Story" and "Explanation" links to the left to get the backstory. click on any photo in any blog entry to get to the photo site, and then click on the "photostream" link on the right to access all the photos so far.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cece's daughter's amazing honeymoon

last night Pocatello, ID. Now on toward Boise in a couple stages. Anyone live in southern Idaho or southern Oregon?

Last night, after a long trip complete with two flat tires, they stayed in Bliss, ID.

How could they not on their honeymoon?

CC - spent a while reading the blog - lots of interesting pictures and funny comments esp when you read both blogs and get a different perspective.

Kudos to these guys for doing such an adventure - surely something they will remember for the rest of their lives, if only in a precautionary way. :-)

I'm so glad you went to their blog-they will be excited.

What a wonderful story! I enjoyed the blog and the photos too. One of my colleagues at work did a sort of bike ride across the U.S. last summer; he is very interested in the updates as well.

It is strange to think of summer coming to an end already!

Yesterday was a scary one-at least for us here at home-DD called at about 2 pm Mountain Time and asked me to look up bike shops in the Boise, Idaho, as they were stranded. Literally in the middle of nowhere, with a tire that repeatedly flatted. The patches they had (Walmart....) just would not hold. They made many calls, one of which was to the Idaho AAA....we are AAA members, and they are piloting a bicycle roadside assistance service in Idaho and Oregon. However, since we are not members of the Idaho AAA, they wouldn't come. I sent off a very unhappy email. How could they refuse to help two stranded cyclists out in the desert!
Anyway-they found a bike shop owner about 20 miles away that would come out to help them, but he works alone so not until he closed the shop at 6 pm.
They resigned themselves to sitting under a bridge in 94 degree heat with 20% humidity-where they are in Idaho is high altitude desert-they did have water, and there was a creek about a 1/4 mile away so they could at least go sit in the creek if it got bad.
Needless to say, DH and I were next door to frantic. However, angels are everywhere. As they waited, a passing motorist stopped and asked if they needed help. They explained, and she drove them to the bike shop, drove them back to her home, fed them dinner, took them to see some sights that they would have missed, visited friends of hers that have an organic farm-they gave the kids a gigantic cataloupe for today-she hosted them overnight, cooked them breakfast and filled their waterbottles. I will be calling her and sending her a big Lancaster County gift basket.
What was even harder than hearing that they were stranded was hearing them say for the first time ..."if we can't get this fixed, we might not make it in time." Broke my heart. The difference in their voices when they called to tell us about the angel was wonderful.
Today they called at one of their rest stops (it is 96 degrees and 15% humidity...they ate the whole cantaloupe, drank 2 20oz. powerade drinks, and about 4 liters of water by 3 pm.) They were so much more positive and happy-said they knew we'd be worried so they were checking in. So light candles and cross your fingers that the new tires hold up.
We will be there late Thursday night, so could ride out in the rental car Friday and haul the trailer for them...they will let us if it gets desperate again, but they really want to finish this on their own.
If all goes as hoped, they will cross into Oregon tomorrow. Gives me goosebumps.

cece, thank goodness for the kindness of strangers and I understand there are fewer of them about these days what with the fear of cranks/weidos etc.
How will the two of them ever settle down to regular 9-5 jobs on their return? ;-)

good question-although teaching high school is a daily adventure of its own, so S-I-L is covered!
I do wonder if they have become so used to the physical effort that they will have to come down off the constant adrenelin rush.

I bet they will be happy to not sit in their saddles for a while.... :-)

her's is like a lawn chair, but she will probably be happy not to be pedalling!

We're in Oregon! Keep crossing fingers and lighting candles-Monday at sunset we hope to be on the beach watching them put the front tire in the Pacific Ocean.

get out your atlases for this one. Or just dial up google maps-that's what I do.

Friday night the newlyweds spent in Mitchell, OR. Saturday, they rode to Redmond. We decided that on Sunday, DH and I would drive down from Portland to Sisters and meet them there, because they were planning on climbing the McKenzie Pass-5325 feet-and a lot of tight switchbacks on the way up and even tighter on the way down. The trailer would not only be a weight, but a safety hazard on the tight, steep climb and descent.
Portland to Sisters is about 2.5 hours, the second part mostly through the Willamette State Forest. As DH said, it was a 70 mile calendar shot. Absolutely stunning scenery.
Sisters is an arty little town-reminds me of Cape May, NJ-lots of cute little shops in a cute little town with cute buildings in a pretty setting. (Cynical R Us-but I'd move there in a heartbeat.) We met the kids right outside of town, driving past them one way, then the other, then finally seeing them on the opposite side of the road waving and yelling. (I hadn't had any tea.) We loaded the trailer into the rental SUV, fed them a quick breakfast from the cute little bakery, and off they rode. Although the Appalachians had steeper slopes, and the Rockies were longer sustained climbs resulting in much higher altitudes, this would probably be their most challenging individual climb due to the switchbacks and the lack of shoulder--cyclists (and there are lots of them) ride in the car lane because the roadside edges end in nothingness and a straight shot down. The plan was we would follow in a couple hours and find them on the way up, give them water and food, then continue up and over and wait for them at the bottom.
DH and I perused the cute little town for a while, hit the used book shop (two Elizabethan-era mysteries from a new-to-me author) had lunch, bought the water, gator ade and sandwiches as requested, succumbed to the cute little ice cream shoppe, then set off on our climb up the pass.
It was tough to drive, much less pedal. DH complained that he wasn't seeing any of the scenery because he daren't take his eyes off the road for a second. I was busy watching the road ahead for the kids, with the occasional glance down over the cliffs........
We got to the summit without having seen them. As we pulled into the parking area, I heard "what kept you, you with 4 wheels and a motor?" They had made amazing time without the 70 pounds dragging them down and achieved their goal of beating us to the summit.
There is an observatory at the top which looks out over the scenery, including the lava fields, many mountains with famous names, and a lake. Breathtaking.
After visual appreciation time and a tailgate for the kids, DH and I took off down the mountain ahead of them. it was harder than going up-a route drawn by Zorro. Speed limits of 20 mph that drivers actually respected. No passing. We got to the pull-over at the bottom and pulled over (natch) to...

Wow. What an exciting journey for everyone and what an achievemt for your kids. I bet they remember this for the rest of their lives....

Had a question: What do you mean when you say "natch" towards the end of the entry? I have seen it before, but can't quite figure out its meaning....

Again, congrats to the cyclists. What an accomplishment!

cece, the atlas is open in front of me! I have found the whole 'expedition' most interesting. Say "Congratulations" from an aging old biddy in England. I bet the parents are heaving a sigh of relief!
How many miles will they have peddled?

lemonhead 'natch' is short for 'naturally'

lemon-Vee said it-natch is old slang for naturally.

Vee-just about 3800 miles.
They were interviewed for the TV news this morning before they set off on the ride-I haven't seen it but I hope we can somehow get the video!

Hoping the hurricanes don't mess up our flights home on Thursday!

They Made It!
61 Days across America. They ended at the sand dunes in Florence, Oregon-had to climb over to get to the ocean-climbing back over to get to the car was even harder. Those dunes are TALL.
I turned off my cellphone for the first time in 61 days. I know where they are tonight.

There is a new photo on the ride website-the final moment! I took it, and if I do say so myself, it's a good one!

Here is a link that might be useful: Finish day photo

This is such a grand achievement - many congratulations for setting a goal, sticking to it and getting it accomplished. (Not many people are good at all three of those.)

And - great pic!

Thanks for sharing their story. It's been reading along as they progress through their odyssey.