Jerry knows Florida from all his boating around the state. So the last few days he has been researching a good restaurant near Palatka, for our end-of-trip dinner and celebration. This meant numerous stops while riding, to field phone calls or send texts. His efforts paid off and were much appreciated. I hope he has a good data plan for his iPhone!
A while back, Julianne held a drawing where we each blindly chose the name of another rider. This was our Secret Biker. We were given a modest budget for gift(s) that would commemorate the ride and reflect the Secret Biker. Julianne helped with the shopping in some instances.
So after arriving in Palatka, showering, and (sometimes) wrapping our Secret Biker present, we piled into the van and drive several miles west to the restaurant Jerry chose. Rhodri made nice with the alligator at the door (see photo).
The menu had an assortment of seafood and other choices. I had grouper sliders, alligator tail and a Caesar salad. The wine aficionados found a vintage they liked. Bob G was happy because when he asked for a martini, the waitress didn't blink.
Then the real fun began. Linda and I gave an award to the worst stretch of road on the entire ride. There were numerous candidates, as readers of earlier blog posts know well. For example, the west Texas chip seal shoulder of Interstate 10 at one point. But the clear winner, far and away, was the Evan Hewes Highway from Ocatillo to Plaster City, CA.
I also gave Linda a DQ gift card on behalf of the entire group, for her efforts before the ride to create a Word document with all the turns on all 107 maps of our ride (our entire 3200-mile route). No small task! By printing her document, we had more readable instructions. The map fonts are tiny at times and unreadable while riding.
And as a thank-you for raising our donut consciousness, I gave Ken a T- shirt with the "Donut Queen" logo, from a Louisiana donut shop Ken liked.
Between bites of dinner, we then exchanged Secret Santa gifts (see photos of the following four as examples). Bob Pedersen, a true wine connoisseur, got a wine glass shaped like a mason jar (a redneck wine glass). Andre got a fine bottle of wine and (because he was always mailing postcards to his grandchildren) a book of stamps. Terry gave me a custom-made "Master Blogger" T-shirt. Bob G gave Bob Plant a flask of rum (Plant likes rum and Cokes) labelled "Emergency Hydration Only".
Normally that would have been enough. But Julianna raised it to the next level. Somehow she made time to shop for and craft individual medals for each rider. These were made using rear cassette rings and were remarkable. See the photos below:
- Andre: a plane for the Pensacola Naval Air Museum; stamps because he was always posting his wife and grandchildren; a donut because he was one of the "donut crew"; a cassette ring because he kept his chain and gears clean.
- Bob G: a coffee cup because he was an early coffee drinker; marshmallows for s'mores over a campfire; a donut for being one of the "donut crew"; a corkscrew for his enjoyment of fine wine.
- Bob Plant: a cross for worshipping at church when schedules allowed; an 8 ball for his pool expertise; a flag for proudly flying Old Glory on his bike on every ride he has done.
- Linda: a cowgirl boot for sharing her knowledge of Texas (she lived on Houston for a number of years); a donut for being in the "donut crew"; a hat for her ability to always look well-dressed after a long, hot day in the saddle.
- Bob Pedersen: a bike helmet with "100" for the centuries (100 mile rides) he has ridden; a wine bottle rack for his love if fine wine; a crab for his love of seafood.
-Terry: a sailboat for his love of sailing (he has a 43 foot boat); a gear for his awareness of bicycle gear ratios; beer bottles for his enjoyment of beer (Terry's rule was to always put up your tent before having a brew, else the tent might never go up.)
- Jerry: a bicycle built for two for his classic bike; a hand for being a helping hand cooking and cleaning up nearly every evening; and a compass because other riders relied on the compass on his wrist.
- Rhodri: a passport for his Welsh heritage; beer and liquor bottles for his love of brewed and distilled spirits; an alligator for his excitement first seeing them from a canoe with Mitch.
- Carol: a coffee cup for her enjoyment of morning caffeine; a bird for her keen awareness of birds and flowers; a letter for her writing friends.
- Ken: a stein for his love of "regular American beer" (specifically Busch beer); a donut for leading the "donut crew" to bakeries; a pool ball for his cue expertise.
- Flynn: a guitar for his guitar-playing skills (he's a pro); a longhorn skull for crossing the thousand miles of Texas; a rooster for the many mornings he was awakened before dawn by nearby roosters crowing.
- Mitch: a canoe for exploring the lake in Chicot State Park with Rhodri (including a snake nearly falling from a tree branch into their canoe); a bedroll for sleeping tentless; a wagon for bringing various items we needed; a coffee cup for his good cowboy coffee.
- Julianne (made by Jerry): a fairy for her love of fairies; an acrobat for acro yoga; a foot for liking to go barefoot; a mushroom for her consciousness of eating very healthy; a guitar for her singing and playing.
- Bruce: a scroll and pen for blogging; a crab for his seafood enjoyment; a watch for serving dinner early when cooking; travel notes for providing tips on upcoming nearby sights.
It was a fun evening!
Bruce
