Pedaling for Patriots

It’s been one year since we began our ride and Rob and I wanted to take a minute to say thank you to everyone who supported us!  We appreciate all those who donated, prayed, called, wrote and followed us along our journey.  A special thank you goes out to our team (Penny, Barb, Matt and Bill).  We couldn’t have done it without every single one of you!

I’ve had many people asking me when I’m going to “finish” the blog, so I want to sum up our last day and then do another entry with our thoughts about the ride.  There are so many things I want to say and it’s taken me awhile to process everything that went on!

We left the hotel on Wednesday morning and starting riding toward San Diego.  It was a beautiful ride, taking us through Mission Trails Regional Park and up and down some amazing hills.  We reached the water and bought tickets for the ferry which was leaving in about 45 minutes.  It was a quick 15 minute ride, which got us into Coronado earlier than we had planned and we were able to have lunch.  Coronado is a cute little town with a great main street and we enjoyed looking in the windows of the shops as we rode.

As we entered the bike path leading to the Hotel del Coronado, we saw many people cheering for us, along with a couple of TV cameras and newspaper photographers.  We saw Penny, Steve and Barbara standing near our banner and we stopped there to talk with everyone.

It was then that I heard my mother’s distinctive whistle – the one she used to call us home on summer nights when we were young.  I looked over toward the hotel balcony and saw my Mom and Dad, Aunt Rhesa, Uncle Gary and Aunt Phyllis, along with my cousin Doug and his wife Margie, heading our way.  What a surprise!  I had no idea that they would be there!  As we were hugging and crying, someone motioned back over to the balcony and there was Samantha, Rogan and my best friend Kathy!  That was the most amazing gift ever!  Rob had been working behind the scenes (with Penny) to arrange their visit and surprise me at the finish.  Unfortunately, Elias couldn’t get time off from his Marine Corps duties, but it was so wonderful to have two of my children, my very best friend and other members of my family to help us celebrate!

We walked our bikes down to the water and dipped the tires into the ocean.  We did a few interviews for local television and then headed into the hotel hoping that we could shower and change and start to enjoy the fact that we had accomplished our mission.  However, after waiting for over 4 hours for our room we decided to head over to the Marriott instead.  They were able to get us into a room quickly and we began to realize that we really were finished with the ride!  We got a call from Kimberly Dozier at the Associated Press and did an interview sitting on the balcony of our hotel, looking at the water and watching the helicopters from the Navy base.

We met up with everyone at a local restaurant that evening and had a great time telling stories and enjoying the company of friends and family.

Emily Rooney of WGBH radio will interview Kim today around 12:30pm EST.  We will be discussing the ride, our history as Marines and what it is like to be the spouse of a CIA officer.

Here’s the link!

http://www.wgbh.org/programs/episode.cfm?featureid=21730

We made it!!!  We officially dipped our tires into the Pacific Ocean.  What a day!  I will be blogging all about it tomorrow.  But first, we must get some sleep since we will be doing a live interview with Fox National News tomorrow – which will air about 8:40am Pacific Time (11:40am EST).

Thanks to everyone for their support and prayers!  We couldn’t have done it without you!!

We had a great time at the Live Oak Springs Resort last night!  Sara was an amazing bartender/waitress and she brightened up a really difficult day.  And the chef (unfortunately, we didn’t get his name) made us a delicious dinner – and the dessert was incredible!  Thanks to both of you!

When we got up this morning, it was 45º so we got out all the cold weather gear – hats, gloves, knee warmers, jackets, etc.  We had quite a few hills to climb right away, so we were able to shed some of the layers pretty quickly.  There was no real wind today (especially compared to yesterday!), we had bike lanes almost the entire day and most of our ride was downhill.

We stopped in Pine Valley for breakfast at a 50’s style diner and we were really happy to have the chance to warm up.  We were on the Interstate again for just a short bit and passed through another border control station on our way down the mountain.  At one point, Steve got up to 40 mph!

We can already smell the ocean and are ready to end our ride tomorrow.  We are SO excited!!  We should be at the Hotel Del Coronado by 12:30pm!

Stats:

Live Animals:  Horses, Dogs

Dead Animals:  Rabbit

Our day started with a small downhill out of the parking lot of the hotel.  That was the only downhill of the day!  The wind was very strong and we were hoping as the day went on that it would let up.  It didn’t.  By the time we reached Plaster City, CA, the wind was at 30 mph sustained with 40 mph gusts.  (You can see the video here.)  We felt like we were being sand blasted!  After all 3 of us got blown off the road, I made the decision to get into the van and reassess the situation after Rob and Steve rode the 10 miles on I-8.

I think I made a wise choice.  It took them 3 hours to go 10 miles!  Granted, they had to go from 1,900 to 3,200 feet, but it was at the blistering fast pace of 2-3 mph!  The wind was 35mph in their face, with gusts of 50 mph.  They both commented that maybe they should have quit when they saw the 18 wheeler that had been blown off into the canyon – but, of course, they kept on.

We stopped for the night at the very top of the mountain in Live Oak Springs.  There’s only a small climb tomorrow and then we start our descent!

Stats:

Live Animals:  Cows, Horses, Chickens, Sheep, Herons

Dead Animals:  Snake

Penny took us back to Palo Verde early this morning and we watched the sun rise over the mountains.  It was a little chilly (about 55º) but we had quite a few rolling hills right away, which warmed us up quickly.  We saw a bobcat run across the road in front of us, so we stayed away from the shoulder for awhile!

We rode through the Chocolate Mountains where there is an aerial and gunnery practice area for the Navy and Marine Corps.  They also contain gold which is estimated to be worth between $40 to $100 billion!  We also saw a protected area for the desert tortoise (they are listed as a threatened species).  We also passed the Mesquite Gold Mine, one of the largest gold mines in the country.  We climbed for the first 30 miles of the ride and as we started to descend we could see the Imperial Sand Dunes and the town of Glamis.

We stopped in the only restaurant and learned that they are there to support the hundreds of thousands of people who come to ride off-road vehicles in the dunes.  And, I think there were at least a thousand people leaving there today!  After we left the restaurant, we were passed by many of them as they headed home.  The trailers they were hauling were very large and the shoulders weren’t!  Most people were very courteous, though.

(We’d like to say thanks to Steve for taking such great pictures of us these last few days.  It’s nice to have photos of Rob and I together!)

As we entered Brawley, there was no mistaking the smell.  Cows – and lots of them!  Brawley has a significant cattle and feed industry and hosts the annual Cattle Call Rodeo each November.  We had an early dinner at the “Aspen Inn” and headed back to the hotel.  We have a HUGE climb tomorrow so we need to be rested!

Stats:

Live Animals:  Bobcat, Herons, Quail, Cows

Dead Animals:  Coyote, Tarantula