Day 34 (Fri 7/31/09)

FT Knox, Boys and Girls Club & John & James Birthday!!

Yesterday Tomorrow

(This is cool if you like lots of data! It may take a few seconds to load but you can hit play and time compress our ride. )

DAILY REPORT: Weather: Possibly a rainy day. The weatherman was predicting 70% thunderstorms later in the day. Temp was 70 and expected to be in the mid 80's. Also looks like we might have a slight tailwind today.

First off; Happy Birthday John & James!! Not sure if there is a better way to celebrate your Birthday Day than biking across this great nation of ours. If nothing else you will definitely remember what you did on your 17th birthday. For the life of me I couldn't tell you what I did for my birthday when I was 17!! Your Mom & I are very proud of both of you. For what you have done and what you will do in the years to come.

We had a really nice continental breakfast at the Hampton Inn. Probably the best one since we have been on the road. We loaded up the luggage and bikes & Skip drove us out to Whitesville where we were supposed to go yesterday. This would give us an ~ 100 km ride to FT Knox so that we can get in soon enough for our presentation to the Boys and Girls club. For the next two days we will be staying with John Scott my mother's cousin. He has a really nice place on a golf course.

So Skip dropped us off in Whitesville and while we were unloading the bikes a car went by and its front tire fell off!! The rim was still there but the tire itself was bouncing down the road, sparks were flying; it was just like the movies! The car came to a controlled stop and everyone was OK. The kids thought it was way cool!! I was thinking; thank goodness we weren't on the road just then!

The ride was good. We enjoyed the Kentucky rolling hills and farm lands. It was

an easy ride for the most part along the country roads. Several roads were busy w/ truck traffic but only for 10 miles or so. Rt 60 into Ft Knox could use some better shoulders.

I called the Boys and Girls club to confirm our presentation this afternoon and talked with Sandy Hinerman of the Devers Youth Center. They were looking forward to meeting the boys. We were on schedule to talk w/ everyone at 1630.

While we were passing through one of the small towns I notice the bank clock was an hour ahead and then a little later confirmed we were now on Eastern Time zone. Well that ate up some of my "float time" I had factored in for the day. We were biking over to John's house so that we could shower before our presentation.

It was great to see John Scott. He looks great and doing well. It had been several years since I last saw him in Millington TN. He showed us around his place, we showered and were off to the Youth center. When we got to Pass & ID there was a huge line (ie like Bangor), so we left Skip there and John took us over to the youth center.

We met Sandy and some of her staff and then we got a chance to talk w/ the boys and girls. They

had lots of questions and enjoyed talking w/ John & James. Eventually Skip arrived and we took everyone outside to talk about the bikes and have a group picture. The Post newspaper, Turret also conducted interview and took several photos.

Afterwards we took all the bikes over to Outdoor Ventures for a tune-up. The owner Mike Wheeler was kind enough to squeeze us in and take care of our bikes. As a special bonus we found out that he also acted as a Boy Scout shop. Mike is a great supporter of the Scouting ideals and programs. The bikes should be ready tomorrow afternoon. Thanks Mike!!

We headed back to FT Knox for a birthday dinner at the base club. It was a great meal and then we took John's pontoon boat for a nice spin around the lake followed w/ a little birthday cake to close the evening out. All in all just a great day!!

Tomorrow we will be taking a day off as our final rest day of our trip to recharge our batteries and to get caught up on a few errands.

As always, thanks for joining us.....ride safely and keep the wind to your back!!

YOU DON'T SAY:

James - While unloading the bikes and the near accident occurred when the car's tire fell off. "I sure wish I caught that on film; I could have made big money with that!!"

Skip - "If my battery goes dead in my camera do I loose all my pictures?" Yep Skip has been hearing that one from the boys now all day! You got to love Skip & technology.

David - "I think we just crossed another time zone." James replied, "That's not good; I hate loosing an hour."

James - while holding the turtle we found trying to cross the road; "Hey take my picture so it looks like my head is on a turtle!"

DID I REALLY DO THAT?

When we stop at Pass & ID to get our vehicle a pass to get on post, they have a tank that is a great picture shot (see above) of which I take. On the way in, the security guard ask if we were the ones taking the picture of the front gate and guards. I said no I was taking the picture of the display and not the guards. He informed us we weren't allowed to be taking pictures. We said we were sorry and didn't know and wouldn't let it happen again. Hmmm you would think I would know better......While we were at Pass & ID, I saw three other groups taking pictures w/ their families in front of the same display. I think they need to post a no taking picture sign!!

PHOTOS OF THE DAY
So this is what I would look like if I put my head on top of a box turtle!! Yep, this was James.	Mmmmmm......good ice cream on a hot day.
Some of the staff and youth of the Boys and Girls club of Devers Youth Center at Fort Knox. The kids were great and were a lot of fun!!	James & John celebrating their birthday w/ some complimentary birthday deserts. Very tasty!!
Heading out for a nice evening cruise on Doe Run Lake on John's pontoon boat. John Scott and Skip Junis.	James and John blowing out candles on a chocolate fudge birthday cake for their 17th birthday.