Made it as far as Bostwick, FL, and with the heavy traffic last night on Hwy. 17, decided to look for a place to tent. Found a GREAT clean loading dock with a roof....yea. On to Green Cove Springs and AC's place...Happy Thanksgiving!Jon's cell phone 407.383.5871www.godshandsagency.comwww.wifipedalers.com [We did it!] << MORE >>

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The word for the day is from Hosea, verse 6 of chapter 12 [I like how the NLT (1) puts it]:  "So now, come back to your God! Act on the principals of love and justice, and always live in confident dependence on your God." << MORE >>

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Just got back from Earline's graduation from the Florida PiP [Partners in Policy-Making]...whoo-whoo! lots of hard work, but she says she learned LOTS! (And made some great new friends!) << MORE >>

Jon here...we'll be doing the BLOG on this trip from a different phone than last year, so we'll see what kind of "improvements" have happened in a year's time. [Hmm!] << MORE >>

We WILL be going on a Mission POSSIBLE Tour this year, and it starts the 20th of November from Mt. Sinai Missionary Baptist Church in Orlando....a 2-week, 400-mile tour in northeast and central Florida. << MORE >>

I just posted a few dozen of the best photos from the summer 2010 Mission POSSIBLE Tour on Flickr. Enjoy! << MORE >>

Earlier this week I already saw my first Christmas decorations in a shopping center in Orlando, and then I remembered that Esther, my next-farm-neighbor growing up, had recently reminded me that I had not yet put a summary up on the blog.

Whoops.

So let's get to it:  

The WiFi Pedalers 2010 Mission POSSIBLE Tour Closing Thoughts

I'll be covering a lot of things in this summary, including:

• The TOP 5 Eating Places that we ran across this past summer.

• The WORST and BEST Bridges we crossed of the 42 bridges we went over (from a TRIKING standpoint!]

• The WORST and BEST Sections of the Mississippi River Trail that we experienced (Remember, there is an MRT on both sides of the river for much of the way south of the Twin Cities, so you may have some different stories to share....we'd love to hear them!)

• GOOD Surprises, BAD Surprises, BEST Views of the Mississippi River, and MORE. Let's get started!

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First, some things I thought we may not really need, but brought anyway, and used a LOT:

• Old pair of tennis shoes

• A pair of jeans

• A big, honking LED light...didn't like the weight, but used the darn thing a LOT

• Waterproof covers for the panniers (MUCH thanks to Terry and his wife 

  from Jannd Mountaineering for their foresight)

• A simple, inexpensive, needle-nosed pliers

• Extra rechargeable batteries and recharger for recharging the cell-phones, 

  GPS, walkie-talkies, etc. when you can't find electricity!

• The hand pump for the air mattress....it was super-bulky, but my arms got 

  exercise, it was much lighter than a battery pak for blowing up the mattress, 

  and the $10 pump lasted almost all summer (I did eventually strip the plastic 

  threads the end of August).

Some essentials things to bring with you (for summer touring):

• LOTS of suncreen. This became part of our morning ritual, and we STILL 

  turned colors [Earline turned PURPLE!]

• Flat Attack tube juice (LOVE that stuff...probably prevented at least a dozen flats)

• A couple vacuum thermoses each (you’ll need and appreciate the ice 

  that lasts more than 2 hours)

• A set of Allen wrenches...do NOT forget this like I did

• Enough tires and tubes for the unexpected (we went through two sets each)

• The ground cloth under the tent (worth the extra effort to protect your tent)

• Bungie cords of a variety of shapes and sizes

• An 50-foot electrical cord with at least a 3-way at the end (it can be 

  small in width/capacity, but you'll need the length)

• A small fan for the tent at night (Earline says it is the best gift I ever gave her)

• Patch kits for repairing the tent, or the air mattress

• A tarp to cover your bike/trike at night

• Batteries for your various devices

• The full-sized SMV (slow moving vehicle) signs were an excellent 

  choice, especially for night riding.

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Both Earline and I are SO grateful to all of you for your prayers, your financial support, your openness to give of your time and share whatever you had to make this whole 2010 Mission Possible Tour a success. Even something as simple as access to the internet, or ice and water for our water bottles meant more to us than you realize, and we thank you ALL! << MORE >>

Okay.....so the alarm went at 2:30...we heard it....we rationalized that we could sleep a few more minutes (why do we DO this to ourselves....HA!). Well, after a few tries, we did get up a few minutes after 3. We both took showers to help us wake up, and I had some good prayer time right here: << MORE >>

Because of the excellent speed of the internet in the church hall where we were staying, I stayed up until 6:30am last night (this morning) getting completely caught up with the blog (whoo-whoo!). << MORE >>

We're here! We made it! Mission accomplished!!! Yea!!!!!!

Update 5 and less than FIVE to go! We're in Venice! Whup-whup!

It's 5:38pm...only 6 miles to Venice, only 10 miles to the end of the MRT! Whoo-whoo!

Only 16 miles to Venice! Only 20 miles to "THE SIGN." Pray for us - these strong southerly winds in our faces are testing even our 3-month-tested leg muscles. Ooooofta! (As they say in Minnesota!) Thanks!

We made it across the Pointe al a Hache ferry to the west side of the Mississippi River, and right now are eating lunch at the FAMOUS Ann's Restaurant in Port Sulpher. Only 35 miles to go!

Good morning!!!..., on this final day of the 2010 Mission Possible Tour down the entire length of the Mississippi River Trail. We left St. Bernard State Park at 5:15 this morning, and we're over halfway to the Pointe al a Hache ferry, where we'll cross over to the west side of the river, and continue to four miles south of Venice, Louisiana. It is there that a sign declares "The southernmost point in the state of Louisiana." Pray us through (some Elijah-running-speed strength for our legs would be good).

Left Canal Boulevard Deaf Baptist Church in New Orleans about 3pm. Accidentally ended up on Bourbon Street, looking for a place to eat. Going thru St. Bernard Parish (county) to the State Park, just a few minutes away. We'll head out around 4am to push through the final 75 miles. Pray us through!