Our Adventures Continue...

Finally I get to not only watch but actually ride in a combine. I've been waiting all year for this moment...

One thing NOT to be grateful for is my sticky shift-key that won't let me do capital letters, but I can live with that. The THING I am grateful for is that my cancer screening biopsy came out clean, whew! that kind of thing could take years off a gals life, oh I guess that would make me MUCH younger then Tony then....I could live with that. I thank my family and friends for all their prayers and thoughts! The other thing I am grateful for is that Autum is again upon us living here in the country is one of the best ways to experience the seasons.

Mike came to Detroit from Chicago for the weekend and he came by the RV for a sleepover. He is so great. I have a CD/DVD drive in my laptop that hasn't worked on the DVD side for 3 years. I could always view/load CDs but not DVD's. With his council I purchased a drive from HP and when he came by he changed out the old drive for the new. What a wonderful guy. We talked alot and had breakfast and off he went on his way back to Chicago.

We are back home and getting organized again. We biked the 20 mile Bay City Trail through beautiful downtown Bay City from Bay City State Recreational Park. We biked along the Saginaw River. I fell and scraped my knee on the cement but other then that it was an interesting and great scenic ride.

Bob Bruttell joined us for the smaller Epic Journey across Michigan.  Tony finished the larger Epic Journey across the USA so this should be a snap.  I am so amazed and delighted over Tony's thinner self and how he is keeping fit.  He is really looking good.  I'm not prejudiced in any way. Bob and he take off at 7:00am on September 6th from Minert State Park in Montague, for their 150 mile ride across the state.  We had great fun that day.  They rode and I SAGed.  Every 20 or 30 miles I would stop, TXT them where I was and they would meet me and refresh themselves for 5 minutes and then be off.  They got stronger as the day went on.

Tony & I are kicking back and getting ready for the ODRAM (One Day Ride Across Michigan) 150 Miles next Saturday. Tony & Bob Bruttell are going to ride their bikes across Michigan and yours truly will be supporting their efforts. I am going to take plenty of pictures from my perch in the RV. View Larger Map

Contratulations Brian and Amanda Campbell The Family continues to increase!

Congratulations Joanna Bruttell Anderson & Ryan Anderson on the first moment of the rest of your lives.

From riding east to riding high My writing is too clumsy to adequately describe the joys of our final days of riding all the way to the coast, and my words are too limited to properly express the gratitude that I feel to so many. Thankfully Katherine's words aren't as clumsy and she already wrote a wonderful post (see www.fullercenterbiketrip.blogspot.com ) for our last day's ride down Victory Drive (that was the real name of the street), so that leaves me with "only" needing to attempt to express the tremendous sense of gratitude I feel towards so many. Here goes...My biggest thanks and "Oyee" goes to each of the riders who boldly responded to the call, including Chris Cosby who was ready to sign up for it even before I was ready to announce that it was happening! Thank you for putting your faith in us and for putting your faith into action. You are the heroes of this trip.But you aren't the only heroes. How could we say thank you enough to each of ...

Can't Stop Singin' (or getting flats) First off, thanks to the Shenks for hosting a great post-goodbye-party goodbye party. Oyee Colin for a delicious meal.For those who did not attend, came late or were preparing food, and especially for Auntie "M", here is the full Savannah version of the O Susanna song.And, by the way, when I got back to the RV my front tire was flat. Anyone have more than 13? O I left my home in Michigan for Californ-i-ay. I was headed to Savannah, gonna make it any day. San Diego, O don’t you cry for me, ‘cuz I made it to Savannah, just my bicycle and me. –repeat after each verse I’m from Chattahoochee Valley, I’m a builder don’t you see. And as well a lifelong cyclist, what a perfect ride for me. Well, we both came down from Jersey, though from vastly different exits; and a person from New Jersey is the only one who gets it. Well, I went out West from Florida, the sunshine was the same. Soon’s I set foot in Savannah I’ll be off to Notre Dame. I’...

Thanks for hanging in there for Tony, he made the Atlantic and dipped his front tire into the water. The bikers were overjoyed to be at the finish line, but this is just the beginning of a lifelong commitment for them to help others and spread the word! Final statistics for Tony’s bike trip across America Total days: 56 Total biking days: 45 Average miles per day: 75 Total miles: 3322 Less truck driving days and breakdowns (broken spokes, etc): 404 Miles biked by Tony: 3017 (probably among the top 3) Total broken spokes by Tony: 5 Total broken spokes by everyone else: 0 Total flats by Tony: about 13 Total flats by everyone else: unknown – one person only had 3 Total money raised to date: $5,088 which means somewhere in the Democratic Republic of the Congo an entire house will be built with the funds raised by my friends and relatives – THANK YOU!

We stayed at Richmond Hills, United Methodist Church for the night and they fed us dinner. Great people, showers and air conditioning. It was an 85 mile day but with 3 or 4 rest stops it went fast and the folks were in. Some of Chris' folks came to be with us. We had a presentation and showed our video. Bed early. Up at 7:00am helping Chris cook breakfast. What a great group this is the all chip in and help. They biked 15 miles into Savannah and I brought the trailer in to the First Presbyterian Church. We all went out to dinner at Blue Moon Brewery down by the river. What a feast. It began to rain at 3:00pm and we scurried back to our homes. Tomorrow is the last 15 mile day. Let's ride!

These Bikers have kept me so busy, with their gettings up at 5am and their pool parties and their house renovations, I have not had time to get my thoughts together.  Tony is having the time of his life and enjoying every minute of it. Right now he is zonked out on the RV bed zzzzzzzing! They had a 110 mile day today from Americus Georgia to Hazelhurst. I followed along, they sang, they laughed, they ate and drank gallons of water. In the end they were one happy group when the contact at the United Methodist Church of Hazelhurst packed them all in the church van and took them for showers. We ate at the local Chinese Buffet, yum! and they might have danced the night away but Tony and I (the ole folks) are tucked away for the night in the RV. These kids are awesome. I say kids loosely. One in his 50's one in his 40's, the rest in their 20's or almost and then there is Tony my 61 year old kid. Here are some pictures of the team, 8 biked all the way from San Diego...

Well folks Monday the 28th I will be heading to Georgia driving Bessie to join the bikers. This should be exciting. Tony crossed the Mississippi and is in the home stretch to Savannah and Tybee Island. Thank you all for your support either financially or just by checking in on us from time to time.

Dinner was on Tony, but it was fun being with Mike for the weekend.

Sorry for no updates. It seems that everyone is checking with Tony's ride through the link http://www.fullercenterbiketrip.blogspot.com/ so I had nothing to do so I just skipped over to Chicago and visited son Mike for a while. He is so good, he is taking me to dinner, we are going shopping, he made chocolate chip cookies (my personal favorite) instead of a birthday cake, did I say we went shopping, I got a iPod and he helped me get songs that I like for it, we watch movies and just generally are having the time of our lives. Did I say that Mike is renewing my computer by wiping the hard drive and starting over? Yes and it is purring like a kitten. I kinda hate to leave tomorrow for Michigan, but all good things must come to an end with my gratitude. I have to get home to get ready for the field trip to Georgia to retrieve the biker when he finally decides to come home. Keep in touch I will have pictures shortly as soon as I reload my camera software. Hugs.

Hey these 'Tour' guys are wimps they are only biking 2,212 miles, our guys are going 3,300. And our guys are going for around 42 stages of the Tour de Fuller! But thought you would like to know you are a part of a growing movement, building houses, building lives and building muscle. Check out the tour as of now! The 21 Stages of the Tour de France - Interactive Feature - NYTimes.com

Some interesting statistics on the ride of a lifetime. Hang in there gang only 30 more days to go... Total miles biked: 1,556 Average miles per day: 78 Total feet climbed: 59,230! Most feet climbed in one day: 7,416 - Payson Longest day- mileage: 103 – Buena Vista Longest day – hours: 12+ Taos Longest stretch without a day off: Days 1-12 Days over 100 miles: 2 – back to back Buena Vista and Colorado Springs Fastest downhill speed: 49.87 – Tony – Santa Fe Hottest day: Brawley – 122 degrees Hottest day, runner up: - Surprise – Record temp - 117 Shuttles required to avoid expressways: 2 Shuttles required to avoid lightning: 2 Rain delays: 1 - Taos First flat: Doug Most flats by one person: Doug - 6 Most flats in one day: Doug Least flats: Dani - 0 Worst day for flats: Taos – 2 by Tony; 2 by Chris Total flats remembered: 31 Tires replaced: 5 – 2 by Tony with a third on it’s way. Highest point in the trip – geographical: Wilkerson Pass, 9500 feet Highest point in the trip – spiritually – pr...

One of Tony's big concerns was how it would go through the mountains. It turns out that it was a challenge but now they are on their way down.