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Uh oh! Ce n'est pas bon... October 9, 2008Leave a comment ;)
Uh oh! This is not good. I'd better start using a map again! I wonder if the exact change has to be in Euro's or Francs? What would be today's exchange rate between Euros and US dollars? If the toll was $4.00 US, how many Euros would that be? Many thanks to Eugene, Jada and Piper for hosting me over the past two nights. Last night Eugene was the hero of the evening by helping me recover all of the photos I had deleted from my camera's memory card. I thought that I had transferred all of the photos from the memory card to my computer, but apparently that was not the case. As an IT wizard for the Chickasaw Nation, Eugene had the right tools on his home computer to help me recover data from a formatted memory! I owe you big ones Eugene! Many, many thanks! It was great fun leaving Ada this morning. There were about thirty kids and their teachers from the Chickasaw Nation's Head Start program awaiting my arrival and departure from the tribal headquarters. They gave me and a group of riders from the ECU cycling club a rousing send off. We traveled east out of Ada on Hwy 1 headed toward McAlester. I appreciate the fact that the club took the time to ride out of town with me. Always fun to share the road. Matt, Mike and KC rode quite a distance with me. KC, aka Casey, rode all the way to McAlester, before turning west and heading home. I hope he picked up a ride before the sun went down! It was a very enjoyable ride with the wind slightly off our right quarter which slowed us down just a bit. Windy worked her magic by keeping it off the nose! We're buds, Windy and I! One of the things that I find interesting in riding across the country is that every county has its own idea of what makes a quality road. Most of the roads in OK have had wide shoulders, but the road between Ada and Calvin had some of the nastiest tar and chip surface that I have encountered in the entire journey. Imagine a gravel road with all of the rocks held in place by a tar surface! Yuck! We spent a good portion of the time wandering between the road's main surface and the shoulder when traffic would permit. When Matt and Mike turned around, I joked that the surface of the road would change about ¼ mile east of town! How prophetic that statement was! Sure enough, right when we crossed into Hughes County, the road's surface became smooth as silk! What a treat! And Hughes County is the country where I was born!! Yea!!! The hills of eastern OK provide for some beautiful scenery as the road rolls eastward. Old bridges and railroad trestles have stood for years in this part of the country and have become part of the nostalgic landscape. It brings back memories of the years that I spent here visiting my grandparents in and around Wetumka. The scrub oak is beginning to change color and I expect the trees to put forth an assortment of color as I head into Arkansas and wander through the Ozarks toward Hot Springs, AR. One tree that had some interesting color caught my attention (thanks to KC for pointing it out). I never thought I would actually see a real boot tree, but I have a picture to prove it! If money doesn't grow on trees, I guess footwear does... KC and I rolled into McAlester around 4:30 pm. We wandered through downtown looking for Mexican restaurant to quench my hunger and came across Lupe's on Chickasaw Avenue! How cool is that? Inside we met Emily and Sandra who served up a great meal with lots of smiles. KC decided to head back in the direction of Ada and I realized that McAlester would be my stopping point for the day. I didn't have the time to make it all the way to Wilburton by nightfall, so I found a hotel in George Nigh Parkway and settled in to the Americ Inn for the night! Thanks to Anika at the front desk. Kudos (congratulations) to Ms Medcalf's 7th hour math class of determining this would be my stopping point. As a matter of fact, I determined that my next stop would be Heavener, OK if McAlester was going to be my stopping point for the day last night! Good job! You betcha... More Images: ;)
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2 Comments
Oct 10, 2008 9:06 am - Jim Herrington wrote : Hey Lil Bro! You're making fine time and keeping those math students on their toes with your word problems. Yes, we have great memories around Wetumka of swimming in the cow pond, eating fresh tomatoes in Grandma's garden I liked them, you didn't , and shooting off fireworks on July 4th. Kids, don't throw firecrackers at each other! Ask John why. Travel safe! Love, big bro Add a comment: |
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John, Why not ask the students how long it took you to cover the distance your biking while in orbit aboard Endeavor? I sat right next to JIM when they lit the fuse! Easier way to cover distance, but not as much time to think? Pedal pedal pedal, Dave.