Tony Transporting Joan

Our New Orleans to The Villages Ride was a Joy

"Who says the Journey has to End When you Reach your Destination?" ~ Author Unknown

New Orleans to The Villages bike trip summary

Miles ridden: 663.5

Elevation gain: 9,575

# of States: 4 - Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Florida

# of people who rode with us - 1 Tom Winslow (supported by Sherpa Cindy)

# of flat tires: 2

# of times the chain fell off: 0

# of bicycle light malfunctions: 1 - the strap tore

# of diabetes monitoring device malfunctions: 4 - shipment received of new devices & repairs were made.

# of dogs that came running after us: 4 - We still laugh about the one that stopped to wait for Tom

# of people asking us about the tandem, taking our picture, yelling out positive comments: hundreds

Blessings to be thankful for on this trip:

Tom & Cindy Winslow
The small world we live in and the surprises come from it. (Joy noticing us on the highway)
The oversize loads that moved over.
All the other thousands of motorists that moved over for us.
Porta-Pottys at construction sites.
An insurance company willing to overnight replacement diabetes pump supplies.
Bicycle lanes on bridges.
Bicycle lanes anywhere.
The people that said they would pray for the angels to watch over us.
The thousands of smiles, waves, high-fives, thumbs ups, positive comments from all the great people along the way.
Anne & Dean Morrow for allowing Luna to indulge at their doggie resort.
Marla for making a day trip to water my plants & visit Luna.
Wade for car sitting our car in several different places in Indianapolis.
The faithful readers of this blog that give Tony the incentive to keep doing 1/2 of it even when he wants to go to bed.
Our neighbors Kade, Korban & Kellon who fed the cats and collected our mail.
The City of Sidney personnel that cleaned up the fallen tree from the wind storm blocking our driveway before we arrived home.

Back home in Sidney reflecting on our trip, we are so thankful for all the blessings and joy that we experienced on this trip. The memories created with Tom & Cindy were priceless. We laughed and enjoyed great food all along the way. Tom has now earned more great nicknames for himself on this trip, and Cindy has set some new goals for herself beyond being a Sherpa.

Our prayers now include all of the Hurricane Michael victims. Our awareness of their loss was large for us, but small in comparison to what they truly experienced. The strength of those affected communities is inspirational.

And now, a few final pictures for this trip: