Day 10, Rest Day Middle of nowhere Louisiana

According to our Inn Keepers we are officially in the middle of no where Louisiana.  I know this to be true as the only restaurant in town is only open on Thursdays, and there is no Verizon service to be found.  I have to admit not having access to my cell phone is both freeing and annoying.  I had some calls i wanted to make but could not get them done.  So what do you do when you cant call, you watch movies and sleep and that is what I did.  It felt really good and I think I am ready for tomorrow. 

Dad "Pops" is going to start the day out with us tomorrow and I am looking forward to that.  He seems to really enjoy it and I know that I like having him with me.  The experience of riding with him during this well it is very special. 

I want to take a quick second and express my appreciation to our team member Rachel B.  our locations for lodging have been great so far.  I know this took a lot of time to do and it has all turned out well.

So tonight I will talk a little bit about the route we choose.  When we decided to actually move forward with the ride our first thought was lets do the Trans America route, this is the main route people take.  The downside to this route is that it is over four thousand miles long.  That would take us way to long so then the search began for one that would work for us.  I knew that I did not have the time or the nohow to pick the safest route so I searched for someone that had done it before.  What i found was a group called Adventure Cycling.  They have mapped out all of the current used routes int he US and provide fantastic maps with directions and useful information, like where to sleep, clean clothes get your bike fixed etc.  They are designed with the self supported rider in mind, split up into 30 mile sections and laid out so when you fold the map it fits easily into a map bag on your bike. 
As I read I found that the Southern Tier would be the shortest and most applicable route for us to follow.  The climate was doable and the finish location was prime.  Now i have to admit going East to West goes against common sense however there is a point and a purpose. The reason this is not the prefered direction is because of the terrain and the winds.  We choose to go this direction for two main reasons.  First Parkinsons is a daily battle much like us riding each day into the wind.  We want people to question why are they going that way and then make the connection.  When we met Tony that is exactly what happened he questioned our choice and then read our message and understood.  Second is that our friends and family could easily make it to San Diego at the end of the trip.  And hey they are the reason we are doing this and they are also the ones who have helped us come this far.

It is crazy to think that all of this came from a text in an airport, with a lot of support and work we are being successful.  Todate we have raised over $22,000 and have touched the lives of a few people on the trip so far.  Shane has been the vocal leader of our goup and Kyle is our pilar of calm.  Thanks guys for keeping this dream alive.