Meridian Mississippi

Sela Ward from CSI NY is from Meridian. She organized a home for abused children called Hope Village - the carousel horse is at the visitor center - smaller ones are for sale in the city and the proceeds go to the children's home.

Ocean City

911 Memorial

More 911 Parade Pictures

220 bikes rode in the parade down the boardwalk - very impressive! Special ceremony held at the Fireman Memorial.

Furnace Town - hot blast furnace used in early 1800's. Bog ore was added to furnace, heated to 3000 degrees and iron was extracted and shipped to large cities.

Rode through some historic areas and beautiful countryside today. Had a large group for the ride. Some of the chapters choose to use red vests rather than black - Canada and some of the eastern US chapters - interesting to meet so many different people.

FYI - after 4 days rain gear leaks and you still get wet! Waves on the beach are strong here - foggy now, hope the sun comes out later.

Spent the night with friends Patty and Tom near Fredrick MD before getting to Ocean City. Patty and I were in Girl Scouts together eons ago - good food, good wine, great company!

Blueridge Parkway

2nd Day

The sun does exist - we saw it for about an hour this morning. Then it left us in the rain for most of the rest of the day! I did extract the camera out of its rain gear for a few pictures. One is a shot at a rest area in Alabama - just before the rain started. The others around Knoxville where we got a little break - we lost an hour going into Eastern time so made just a few more miles than yesterday. Pour the water out of the boots be ready for tomorrow!

First Day to Ocean City

We traveled 450 miles thru Louisiana and Mississippi - not a good day for pictures - I posted one on facebook from the phone. Got wet the last 70 miles. Wind was worse - really strong - I am still walking at an angle - tomorrow will be better! Glad I didn't clean my bike up real good.

Last Day

This area has nice walk ways for people and bicycles - also has special parking for motorcycles.

Will be heading back to the States tomorrow - I have to psych myself up for 9 hours on the plane! Has been a great trip!

hedgerows

England is full of hedgerows - they line the sides of the narrow roads. This shows a town on the other side of this hedge.

Cat

This is Cleo - she is resting from the young kitty named Angel.

telephone

These booths are still everywhere - city, villages and countryside. Most of them still have a phone, though they aren't actually used much.

Doone Valley

Exmoor

The famous English novel Lorna Doone, is set in the moors of Exmoor . We visited the old church where Lorna was shot at her wedding (she survives, for those of you who aren't familiar with the story)

moors

Moors

Went up on the moors today - beautiful country with lots of history - very windy. Some areas are the patchwork green, others dry grass with heather which will bloom in the summer. Took pictures of some of the wild horses - they are rounded up once a year and some of them sold.

Tintagel

King Arthur Arms Pub - located in another small coastal town called Tintagel. Located in the area of Cromwell - whole area has a celtic theme and very unique character.

Barnstaple

This is the clock tower in the center of town and the Friday Market. Market has lots of produce from local farmers and other items - several kinds of cheese.

Barnstaple

Crossing the Taw River looking at the village of Barnstaple.

Port Isaac

Port Isaac is a small fishing town on the coast of Cornwall - windy, cold and misty today - but interesting!

Stairway

Stairway to the top of the dome - training for the next Bearathon! 9 sets of stairs to the top - can take pictures from there (hard to keep the condensation off the lens)

Eden Place

Headed to Cornwall and went to Eden Place. It's a creation that shows how much can be made with plant products instead of animal and fossil fuel. One of the biodomes is rain forest - 80 degrees and VERY humid.

Farm

Went to the farm this afternoon - fields are a beautiful patchwork of green. Cows were in for milking - all the milk goes to make cheese. Harry's head is in front of their house!

Trolly

We rode the trolly up the hill at Linmouth. It is run by water - at the top of the hill the car is filled up with water - as top car comes down it pulls the bottom car ((which has no water)up the hill. First car dumps its water out at the bottom so it will be empty for the ride up.