Bike Tour: Day 1

Hello everyone,

Today is the first day of our Bike Tour. I am going to start from Yesterday because we had to do a lot of preparation in order to leave this morning.

Yesterday, August 16, 2012

The support crew: Dad and Jacob! The Bikers: Tommy and Anna

The four of us went out to eat with our dad’s mom as a sendoff breakfast because we wanted to be able to spend some time with her and say goodbye before we embarked on our adventure. After breakfast the four of us went and did all of the food shopping. We stopped at Dick’s and picked up our fishing licenses and headed to Wal-Mart for sunglasses for Anna and a new Speedometer for Tommy! We got back home and packed the camper with all of the non-perishable food and drinks. We packed the camper with everything we needed and made a list of everything we had. We hoped we wouldn’t forget anything by doing this. Anna made Lasagna so that we could take it with us and eat it for one of the nights. Our mom made potato salad for us to take as well. We all ate dinner together as a family and then went to bed to get a good night sleep.

This morning the crew woke up at 7am and packed everything else that was needed. Then at 8:45 we were on the road heading for the campground! We stopped for gas about half way there and Jacob handed out our first tract. We have 100 tracts so have 99 more seeds we can plant while on the trip! J We brought sandwiches with us and ate them in the car to save time. We arrived at the campsite at 12:30 and met the owner of the campground. We went to our spot M55 and detached the camper. Then we got in the truck and headed for Cape May Lighthouse. Tommy and I(Anna)  started biking during the hottest part of the day, but it was perfect weather. The breeze from the ocean was perfect and we had a great time. We started by putting our feet in at the water's edge and started off on our bikes!

Tommy and I (Anna) went 15 miles and made record time only taking 1hr. and 5 minutes to do it. Then we got in the truck and went over to the Cape May Zoo.  We spent about an hour at the Zoo and then went back to where we stopped and biked another 13 miles. We went 28 miles today because the map had an extra detour and instead we went straight through cutting out 3 unneeded miles. We thought about doing 30 miles and going further, but we were sore and ready to refuel with dinner. We ate at 11:30am and it was already close to 4pm. We were hungry!! There were no hills, it was all pretty flat. However, there were a few bridges we had to climb and cross over! We passed an older gentleman going up and then a guy sped past us on a one speed (He had to do all the work instead of letting the bike to the work for you) It was crazy watching him speed up that bridge. It is worth having the bike do it for you and having a 21 speed… We caught up to him on the way down! J We went back to the camp and started setting up the outside tent we brought with us to keep away the mosquitoes. Unfortunately there are no directions. It was now 7:30 and we sat down inside to eat dinner. I heated up the Lasagna and made a salad and lemonade. It was so good especially after a great first day of hard biking. It was dark by the time we were all done and called home to give the rest of the family an update. While Dad went to get milk for cereal for the morning; Tommy did the dishes, Jacob got things ready for the showers, and I made the beds. We all went and took our showers which were interesting. You have to pay 10 cents or 25 cents depending on how long you want it to be. Mine wouldn’t accept the quarter and so I used the dime. I timed it right and just got finished when the last drops spit out on me. On the other hand, Tommy and Jacob’s shower would only accept a quarter and not a dime. They used one quarter and just took turns. (they were saving money J ) Dad used a quarter and got out and had plenty of time. In fact the water was still running. Next time, I’ll be using a quarter!!!

While Tommy and I biked Jacob and Dad went to the World War II fort and got to know the history of the lookout towers. They brought bikes of their own and biked to the lighthouse but decided it was too expensive to go up the lighthouse. They went to a WWII tower and got to know some NJ history. Then they went to see if they could get some worms for bait to go fishing but the store only had minnows where they went so they got some ice cream instead. Then they met up with us and went to the Zoo. We went on ahead of them and once they caught up handed us some cashews and took a picture! Then they went to the ending spot to wait for us at the Meat Market in Woodbine at 577!

 It was a great first day! We are all so blessed. Tommy and I are heading to bed and Jacob and Dad are enjoying the outdoors. It is so nice outside and hardly any mosquitoes. Thanks for all of your prayers

Not all of the pictures uploaded that I wanted to so I will upload more tomorrow! Hope you enjoy these!

The Support crew!

Jewellee was "helping" Daddy pack!