My waitress, a statue of Buddha, and I at the Chinese Happiness Restaurant in D'Iberville, MS, just north of Biloxi. This was just after enjoying an all-you-can-eat tasty buffet. I practiced my basic Chinese with her. Tonight, I am staying at the firehouse in D'Iberville. The firemen are taking a course on Haz-mats, and they put me up in the trailer. They also gave me access to the internet, which I am using right now to update this blog. Lots of activity tonight in town including a billboard on fire, a motorcycle accident, and a seventy-year man who may have overdosed on his medication. I plan to roll through Biloxi tomorrow, cruise along 90, which runs along the Gulf Coast towards New Orleans, and see much of the damage of Katrina that is still very evident.

Melanie, co-worker, and I at the Indian Head Motel in Ocean Springs, Mississippi, on the Gulf Coast near Biloxi. Melanie put me up for the night--thank you so much. Her motel is just getting up and running--stop in if you are ever in the area!

Hanging out with some folks at Mobile--folks with lots of character and lots of adventure stories, lots of knowledge of Mobile, and interest in my trip.

Me at Mobile Bay.

Cute, adorable, faithful and amazing Blue Heeler puppy. This little girl followed me from her house to my campsite over a mile away, spent the night with me, and followed me down the road all the way back to her house. I told her owner the story, left, and then she followed me another four miles down the road to the point of nearly throwing up (when I ran a 10K race across the Chesapeake Bay Bridge, I threw up. Biking is way easier than running). I almost put her in my backpack and took her along for the trip, but thought better of it, and had someone at the corner store take her back home. Blue Heelers are cow dogs, similar to Australian Sheepdogs. They are smart, they heard, but unlike sheepdogs, which block the sheep or cows from the front, the blue heeler nips at the heels of the cattle, hearding it from the back.

The Broken Arrow Cafe in Uriah, AL, just South of Monroeville. The community gathering place and watering hole. All know all, and the community never forgets. Native American owners--the Creek reservation near Atmore is nearby, as well as another tribe reservation.

Tina and Chrystal make the Broken Arrow Cafe an attractive, homey community base.

George and Martha of Uriah, AL. They work at the Broken Arrow Cafe, where I stopped to put the rain cover on my saddle and ended up staying in the community overnight due to its great spirit. George and Martha have a home-made home made of antique salvaged materials and artifacts. One of their couches is made from an old horse carriage, and some of their walls are made from a log cabin 115 years old. Other antiques are integrated into their furniture and walls.

Striking sunrise one chilly morning Southwest of Montgomery. Everyday is a new beginning.

Pecan trees are prevalent throughout Southern Alabama and Mississipi. People gather them and sell them for up to $8.50/lb. Here was a Pecan processing plant in Fort Deposit, AL.

Tricia Crowley and I. Tricia was my mother away from home, preparing meals and food for the road, providing conversation and guidance with routes, and attending Mass with me at St. Bede's. She introduced me to some teaching assistants of hers at the Catholic High School where she teaches French part-time. One of those was Mary, who went to Yale, teaches English, Literature, and Religion. She is part of a two-year Masters of Education program that involves classroom teaching during the school year and three summers of classes.

Joe Crowley and I. Crowley is a Professor Emeritus of Auburn University. He currently works part-time for a half-way house in Montgomery. He was an excellent tour guide of Montgomery for me, showing me such landmarks as the Civil Rights Monument and the Dexter Baptist Church of Dr. Martin Luther King.

Best Pictures From Western Georgia to Mobile, Alabama

Colombian family, Camp Hill, AL. They make me spell Colombia with two "o's".

Message from me to you.

One of my jacked legs.

Preparing lunch on the road.


Entering Alabama!

Lizard on outcropping, Western GA.

Western Georgia

Monroeville

Hi all. I am in Monroeville, AL, visiting the courthouse featured in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. Lee grew up in Monroeville and the novel is based on characters and places in Monroeville.
I ate at Sweet Tooth Bakery and Restaurant, and the nice lady/owner of the restaurant comped my meal. Thank you Sweet Tooth!
This afternoon, I will head down towards Mobile and camp out near Uriah or Chrysler, or perhaps somebody will put me up!
See the article in the Mongomery Advertiser to the left!

This man makes my trip look like a piece of cake!

www.vancouvertovancouver.com (copy and paste) or click link to left. This man, Tim Harvey, is finishing up a two year trek around the world without fossil fuels--zero emissions. He envisions a future where all of us use less fossil fuels.

Montgomery

I have arrived here in Montgomery after a 57 mile day from Penton, Alabama. I am staying with the Crowleys, friends of the Cooler-Stiths who I met through the bike coop in Mt Rainier. Very happy to be staying with the Crowleys.

Camp Hill

Hoy, yo anduve en bicicleta doce millas, y paré para beber agua y comer un poco, y escuché un hombre, Ricardo, hablando por telefono en español, y me presenté. El me invitó para comer algo en la casa. Entré y conocí la esposa y los hijos. La comida fue deliciosa. Ahora no puedo esperar llegar a Colombia!

Camp Hill

I am writing from the house of a couple of Colombians who just moved to Camp Hill, Alabama. I met them as I stopped on the side of a country road to drink some water. The husband, Ricardo, was talking on his phone outside, and when I heard he was talking spanish, I introduced myself. He invited me in for lunch and I met his wife and kids, and his grandfather. I heard about where they live in Colombia, that the wife's sister married a man from Switzerland, and now lives there. The lunch was delicious and I cannot wait to arrive in Colombia!

The family lived in Cali, Valle, Colombia. This city is about two hours from the Pacific Coast, and it lies on the Pan American Highway--perhaps I will pass through it! They recommend taking the boat from Panama to Cartagena, though, and visiting Guajira--a beautiful city on the Atlantic coast.

I showed them a site, renewus.org, where their landlord can purchase clean energy, and where any of their friends living along the road can purchase it, too. In Alabama, it costs just six bucks per month to guarantee that the energy you pay goes to adding clean energy to the power grid.

The family asked about what they could do to reduce global warming, besides supporting the bill (Climate Stewardship Act). I told them the most important thing an individual can do is to live close to where they work so that their daily commute is short--perhaps walkable or bikable--but at least not a very long daily car ride. Another is to purchase green, clean electricity at renewus.org. Another is to have a car (if any at all) that gets high gas mileage.

The primary sources of greenhouse gas emissions are the way we make electricity and the way we transport ourselves. In both areas, we have technology to make them cleaner, and the Climate Stewardship Act would provide motivation to use that technology.

In Franklin, onto Montgomery

Digital coffee shop "Perk" in Glenwood Park, East Atlanta.

Sister Sarah, fiance Andrew, and basset hound Griffy raising his hand in allegiance to the Constitution.


The house I stayed in in West Georgia two nights ago. A very nice family--Mark Woods, Brett and family--put me up in one the new rental houses they are now selling, gave me night snacks and breakfast the next morning. Thank you Mark and Brett!

Store to Door Pizza, Franklin, GA.

Me and the owners of Store to Door.

Me and Cynthia, who used to work at Store to Door.

Chatahoochie River.
Hi All,

I arrived in Franklin, GA, last night, camped out on the Chatahoochie (sp?) River, and this morning I will embark towards Montgomery. A great little restaurant called Store to Door Pizza fed me Baked Ziti and salad, and I met some cool people there at the restaurant.

I am in East Atlanta as I write, just about to head out towards Roanoke, Alabama, which is midway to Montgomery. I will be entering the central time zone, and really moving into the Deep South. Some friends of friends are waiting for me in Montgomery.
It has been a pleasant stay here in Atlanta, spending lots of time with my sister, her fiance Andrew, Andrew's brother Jon, friends in Jon's community (Terra, Chris and Lori), Ashley and Amanda, Jay, Warren, Molly and others at the Sopo Bike Coop.
Arriving Tuesday night, after getting slightly lost and 88 miles on the day, I spent the first few days with Sarah and Andrew.
We went to Piedmont Park, saw the man with pet pig, played soccer, and cooked good meals at Sarah and Andrew's place near the Park. I visited the Carter Center where Sarah works, went to the Mediterranean Grill with Andrew, and played some more soccer at a park with some Mexicans.
Midway through my stay, friends Leah and Tim came into town to debut Leah's documentary Seeing Red about the moral divide in the US. See link to the left.
I moved over to Jon's place in East Atlanta. Jon lives in a new community built and designed to be walkable with green building construction. Good stuff. There I visited the Sopo (South of Ponce) Bike Coop to tune up my bike and see how they run their coop so I could relay feedback to the Mount Rainier Bike Coop I helped start in my hometown. Met some great folks there including Warren, who had biked from Atlanta to Irving, California. I ate dinner with Warren, and he told me about a biker who was going from California to Louisiana on a BMX! He had a frame pack strapped to the front of the bike, and some waterbottles strapped to a board on the back of the bike. Nothing on his back, and he was doing it--amazing. Shows me how much I am roughing it with my Koga Miyata World Traveller and Ortlieb panniers.
On the way to Atlanta, I met a Muslim car mechanic who signed the petition and had lots to say about our country and God, etc. He told me people in other countries often know more about the United States than Americans themselves. When the US was formed, countries began studying the US because it was such a hopeful new model. Now, they clearly see, that things are not going as they originally were set out. Recently, he said, money is making all the decisions, and Americans are asleep. The solution: wake Americans up to what is going on, and have them participate in the operation of the country. He said only five or six individuals were making all the decisions for his county of three to four hundred thousand people. The others just don't participate.
He spoke about God and religion. "You are on this Earth for two reasons," he told me. "One, to serve the Lord Almighty, your Creator. The Lord is the Infinite, the Absolute of Love, Knowledge, Power, Everything. Muslims bow to the Lord and touch their forehead to the ground because humans are less than the specks of dirt compared to the Lord. The second reason you are here on Earth," he said, "is to love, serve, and care for all of God's creation. Everything around you--people, animals, the plants, water, land, sky--this is your duty. This and other things we know," he said, "and we know about global warming, and we care about it...I'll sign your petition." I said, "This is part of the waking up of people to participate you are talking about." And of course he agreed.
Now for some photos.


Devin Myers of University of Georgia and I. Devin biked from Seattle to San Francisco, and he does time-lapse photography. He saw me biking around the UGA campus, enthusiasticly asked about my trip, and offered to put me up for a couple nights.

Devin's dorm room in Rutherford, part of the Franklin Residential Community (FRC). Thank you to Devin, his roommate Danny, all those I met in his dorm, and FRC.

Me at Jon's place in Atlanta. Jon is the brother of my sister's fiance. Big Thanks to Jon, my sister Sarah, her fiance Andrew Katz, and those I spent time with in Atlanta, including Ashley and Amanda, Terra, Chris and Joli.

Ike, Jon's basset hound.

Georgia countryside, on the way to Atanta.

People waiting outside for the Athens Public Library to open up at 2pm on a Sunday.