Whereas yesterday we cycled the day away with no thought to the time, today we had a deadline: the 2pm ferry across Mobile Bay. It was a little over 55 miles (last 10 a stout headwind) but but we got ‘er done with 45 minutes to spare. We had a Marriott hotel reserved in Pensacola thanks to Annie. Plans were made!
The ferry cuts off 117 miles and it’s just cool to ride a ferry. We rode The Badger over Lake Michigan and another ferry up in Canada on our Northern Tier bike tour. They’re fun!
When they work.
Ten minutes before we arrived Tom checked the ferry’s Facebook page (their preferred communication platform) for updates and learned that a mechanical failure on the ramp rendered the ferry inaccessible.
Although the campground across the street was full, and Dauphin is a small island, Tom was able to score digs for the night at the Gulf Breeze Motel. Cute, quaint and quiet, the motel even has a “real” phone.
It’s unlikely the ferry ramp will be fixed tomorrow so we may have to take the day off. Bright side? It’s not a bad place to take a zero.
Dark side? What if the ferry isn’t fixed for days… that would be 30 miles back to the Mobile alternate start (which includes going back over that long windy causeway) and then 117 more for the alternate route through Mobile and down to Gulf Shores. It’s always an adventure… and there are always cards to play and M&Ms to eat.
Having crossed the Alabama state line we have Florida in our sites!
For the Second Graders
Brody wants to know if you have a friend in every state? Well Brody we have run a marathon in every state and now we want to ride our bike in every state. We are almost finished! Every state we visit we make friends so yes I guess you could say we have a friend in all 50 states.😊
Jackson thinks each of you have one pair of shoes. Is he right? Jackson, that is good thinking on your part because you know how important it is to save room when traveling a long distance on a bike. However, we have two pair of shoes. One pair is for riding and they have special “cleats” on the bottom of them to snap into our bike pedals. This helps us ride better. The other pair of shoes are “camp” shoes and we wear them whenever we are not riding our bike.
Will we will answer your question next time.
Mr. Gardner and I have a question for the second graders: What makes a good friend? Turn and talk to your neighbor (if your teacher says it’s ok).
Click on the link below to view more pics and vids. Yeah you know the song will be…
Keep Calm and Pedal On 
You all are making lemonade out of lemons! Florida here you come!
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Go gettem G’s . No stoppin’us now‼️🎶
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No locals around that, for a price, would take you over? Just a thought
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I don’t think so. It’s a 40 min ferry ride. When the ferry got stranded some people were stranded on Dauphin and trying to figure out how to get back to Gulf Shores. We went ahead and checked out of our motel this morning and are at the ferry now. They are still waiting on the party but we want to be in line when they get it fixed. 👍🏻👍🏻
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These questions from 2nd graders are the best. Really good questions. And great answers.
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They are pretty sharp! And their teachers are the best! 👩🏫👩🏫
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