Monday, May 21, 2007

Fulton, MS and a major milestone

On Saturday, we had a great time with our Huntsville friends, and then on Sunday, we bade good-bye to Steve and Bonnie and continued to travel with Jim and Mary Beth, as we had planned. We've had two really good days together, last night staying in Aberdeen, MS, and tonight staying in Fulton, MS. We are at about the 400-mile point in the UGRR route now, and have ridden over 450 miles total.






Riding yesterday was the fastest paced day we'd had yet. We had smooth roads, few hills, and a tail wind that enabled us to cruise most of the way. We enjoyed seeing an historic cemetery and some very impressive 19th century homes around Aberdeen. Today was a bit hotter, longer and harder, but still a very good day. We had great roads leaving Aberdeen, but had to endure a not-so-fun heavily traveled road for about 6 miles until we got to the town of Amory. In Amory, we stopped for an early lunch at "Bills Hamburgers", which apparently has been a town institution since 1929. Then, about 9 miles further down the road, we stopped in the town of Smithville at a pharmacy / soda fountain for milk shakes and root beer floats, and had some delightful conversation with the employees there. Fun experiences, and really enjoyable doing this with our friends!





The big milestone accomplished is that Joan and I have reached the end of our first map segment! The Mobile, AL - Fulton, MS map segment is the first of the 5 map segments for the UGRR route. So, starting tomorrow, we will be officially traveling on the 2nd map segment. Sometimes, you just have to celebrate the little things!





We expect to be staying in the Tishomingo State Park tomorrow night, and possibly longer, so we may again be out of touch for a few days. Will add more when we once again have internet access. Thanks again to everyone for their interest and notes of support!

4 comments:

Tony said...

Mike & Joan,
I've been staring longingly at my touring bike ever since I started reading your posts. Enjoy the good days, but remember, the memories of the challenges you overcome will one day be your favorite.

With you in spirit,

Tony from the bike shop

Debbie and Adam said...

you guys need to post some pictures. i want to see how buff you're getting.

Mike said...

Hi Tony! Uh-oh, sounds like you are getting the bug again! :) Thanks for the encouragement, and thanks again for all your help in getting us here!

Mike said...

Hi Deb,
I'd love to post a few pictures, but our problem is that we have only limited time on the computers we are using, and they are SLOW! So it has been hard to find the ability to upload pics. Will try though.