Day 14 - [part 2] Geneva to Orlando / Final Thoughts
With this entry I'll wrap up the final day of the 2011 Mission POSSIBLE Tour, and give a few final thoughts on the past 2 weeks.
The First Baptist Geneva pavilion we stayed in is at the edge of a huge field of several acres, with a volleyball court, basketball court, and even a soccer field. Earline took this picture of 3 crosses also in that field.
Pastor Mike and Timothy stopped by to say goodbye. Thanks Pastor Mike, and thanks to First Baptist Church of Geneva. We appreciate you!
As we headed south, I "felt" that we needed to get off of the shorter Geneva Drive to Oviedo, and take the longer Snow Hill Road route. [Geneva Drive has no shoulder and MUCH traffic.] And after a mile on Snow Hill Road, we saw this sign:
Does anyone know who this sign is referring to?
Not only was Snow Hill Road a pretty road with much less traffic, but when we got to Chuluota and Hwy 419, the wind was behind us and we had a nice 4 foot shoulder!
And then....oh, oh.....I forgot about this bridge, too. Over the Econ River.....at least this one was flat!
Eventually we got thru Oviedo and to the start of the South Seminole trail....last time we were here there was simply a sign that said, "End of Trail." But now, as you can see, they are building a bike trail bridge over Red Bug Lake Road.....looks great!
The trail was a nice change after fighting all the traffic from the past 2 weeks.
And then....lookie, here....yet one MORE bridge. [Guess I forgot about this one, too!] This is the bike trail bridge over Semoran Boulevard, between Aloma and University.
A little bit of a steep pitch to this one, but Earline couldn't stop, because a couple young kids were zooming up it beside her on their bikes. That would be embarrassing!
Couldn't help but feel secure on this bridge, though....the only traffic was under it, and much fencing meant you had a web of protection.
The Cady Way Trail is one of the oldest trails in the city....I used to ride it when the Navy Base officers golf course was right beside it. As we got closer to Fashion Square Mall, the clouds started looking menacing....what happened to the 0% chance of rain?!!?
We started feeling drops, so we covered up our side bags, and by the time we got to the Colonial Plaza area, it was started to become a nasty drizzle.
No rain to ride in for 2 weeks, and now, 5 miles from home, we start getting wet??!!? What??!! Well, it turns out, that maybe there was a reason.
We snapped a quick picture of the "Jesus Car" of pro caddie Fred LeVeque. Interesting!
Earline suggested we duck into TooJay's for a quick soup and sandwich to wait out the rain. Lot of older folks eating there [which is ALWAYS a sign I look for], and huge menu, AND.... our hostess knew sign language! Why?
Because not only was her son hard-of-hearing, and getting pretty good in ASL, but her fiance was hard-of-hearing, his siblings were Deaf, and their parents were Deaf! Wow....thanks, Lord, for making it possible to establish more contacts, and help fulfill a need.
We also met Miss Gail, whose daughter and son-in-law own a bike shop in Orlando, Retro Cycle....gonna have to stop by and say hi!
By now it was dark, but we just turned on all our lights, and headed down Livingston Street, which has a bike lane all the way into downtown.
Down Orange Avenue to Church Street, with a quick stop for a Christmas photo at the same place we did a promo shot before our 2010 Mission POSSIBLE Tour.
A special thank-you to ALL of you who contributed food and lodging, to help make our 2011 Mission POSSIBLE Tour POSSIBLE!
A couple things we learned about triking in Florida....this time of the year was a GREAT time to go if you like cool weather and dry conditions. And we also quickly noticed that bugs don't seem to like this time of the year....which was absolutely fine with us!
Road-wise....we quickly realized that Florida just does not have many roads....at least not all the small, country roads that we noticed and used a lot last summer. Looking on a map, there is a reason that here are a lot of "blank" places on the map....Florida has lot of swamps!
So when triking or "biking" in Florida, you will have to get used to riding alongside lots of busy roads, with much traffic. [So, Earline, what will our NEXT trip be?? Do I hear Key West, anyone?]
Our burden for the Deaf increased even more, at least from my standpoint. So many of the seniors at FSDB that we talked to had no clue what what they would be doing next year. That has to change!
Skills need to be taught and encouraged....needs of OTHERS need to brought to their attention, and personalities and passions need to be examined and nurtured so that these kids can not only feel fulfilled, but know that they are called to be active and needed members of the body of Christ.
Our Show and Tell Mission Tour to Dallas this year taught us that. [See Ephesians 4:16]
The need is great and the laborers are few...please continue to pray for the people and circumstances that I have mentioned in this blog. YOUR prayers do make a difference.
We saw them at work the past 2 weeks. Thanks again, everybody....we love you!
And especially, thank you, Heavenly Father, for your guidance, your strength, and your love.
TGG,
jon
The First Baptist Geneva pavilion we stayed in is at the edge of a huge field of several acres, with a volleyball court, basketball court, and even a soccer field. Earline took this picture of 3 crosses also in that field.
Pastor Mike and Timothy stopped by to say goodbye. Thanks Pastor Mike, and thanks to First Baptist Church of Geneva. We appreciate you!
As we headed south, I "felt" that we needed to get off of the shorter Geneva Drive to Oviedo, and take the longer Snow Hill Road route. [Geneva Drive has no shoulder and MUCH traffic.] And after a mile on Snow Hill Road, we saw this sign:
Does anyone know who this sign is referring to?
Not only was Snow Hill Road a pretty road with much less traffic, but when we got to Chuluota and Hwy 419, the wind was behind us and we had a nice 4 foot shoulder!
And then....oh, oh.....I forgot about this bridge, too. Over the Econ River.....at least this one was flat!
Eventually we got thru Oviedo and to the start of the South Seminole trail....last time we were here there was simply a sign that said, "End of Trail." But now, as you can see, they are building a bike trail bridge over Red Bug Lake Road.....looks great!
The trail was a nice change after fighting all the traffic from the past 2 weeks.
And then....lookie, here....yet one MORE bridge. [Guess I forgot about this one, too!] This is the bike trail bridge over Semoran Boulevard, between Aloma and University.
A little bit of a steep pitch to this one, but Earline couldn't stop, because a couple young kids were zooming up it beside her on their bikes. That would be embarrassing!
Couldn't help but feel secure on this bridge, though....the only traffic was under it, and much fencing meant you had a web of protection.
The Cady Way Trail is one of the oldest trails in the city....I used to ride it when the Navy Base officers golf course was right beside it. As we got closer to Fashion Square Mall, the clouds started looking menacing....what happened to the 0% chance of rain?!!?
We started feeling drops, so we covered up our side bags, and by the time we got to the Colonial Plaza area, it was started to become a nasty drizzle.
No rain to ride in for 2 weeks, and now, 5 miles from home, we start getting wet??!!? What??!! Well, it turns out, that maybe there was a reason.
We snapped a quick picture of the "Jesus Car" of pro caddie Fred LeVeque. Interesting!
Earline suggested we duck into TooJay's for a quick soup and sandwich to wait out the rain. Lot of older folks eating there [which is ALWAYS a sign I look for], and huge menu, AND.... our hostess knew sign language! Why?
Because not only was her son hard-of-hearing, and getting pretty good in ASL, but her fiance was hard-of-hearing, his siblings were Deaf, and their parents were Deaf! Wow....thanks, Lord, for making it possible to establish more contacts, and help fulfill a need.
We also met Miss Gail, whose daughter and son-in-law own a bike shop in Orlando, Retro Cycle....gonna have to stop by and say hi!
By now it was dark, but we just turned on all our lights, and headed down Livingston Street, which has a bike lane all the way into downtown.
Down Orange Avenue to Church Street, with a quick stop for a Christmas photo at the same place we did a promo shot before our 2010 Mission POSSIBLE Tour.
A special thank-you to ALL of you who contributed food and lodging, to help make our 2011 Mission POSSIBLE Tour POSSIBLE!
A couple things we learned about triking in Florida....this time of the year was a GREAT time to go if you like cool weather and dry conditions. And we also quickly noticed that bugs don't seem to like this time of the year....which was absolutely fine with us!
Road-wise....we quickly realized that Florida just does not have many roads....at least not all the small, country roads that we noticed and used a lot last summer. Looking on a map, there is a reason that here are a lot of "blank" places on the map....Florida has lot of swamps!
So when triking or "biking" in Florida, you will have to get used to riding alongside lots of busy roads, with much traffic. [So, Earline, what will our NEXT trip be?? Do I hear Key West, anyone?]
Our burden for the Deaf increased even more, at least from my standpoint. So many of the seniors at FSDB that we talked to had no clue what what they would be doing next year. That has to change!
Skills need to be taught and encouraged....needs of OTHERS need to brought to their attention, and personalities and passions need to be examined and nurtured so that these kids can not only feel fulfilled, but know that they are called to be active and needed members of the body of Christ.
Our Show and Tell Mission Tour to Dallas this year taught us that. [See Ephesians 4:16]
The need is great and the laborers are few...please continue to pray for the people and circumstances that I have mentioned in this blog. YOUR prayers do make a difference.
We saw them at work the past 2 weeks. Thanks again, everybody....we love you!
And especially, thank you, Heavenly Father, for your guidance, your strength, and your love.
TGG,
jon
Posted by Jon at 12/5/2011 11:39 PM 
Categories: Evaluations and Reviews, Challenges, Deaf - Concerns and Goals, Blogging from the Ride, Photos
Categories: Evaluations and Reviews, Challenges, Deaf - Concerns and Goals, Blogging from the Ride, Photos
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