Get cheered on by someone We were at Riverside Canoes where we had just finished our kayak trip down the Platte river and were getting geared up to bike when we started chatting with two young guys who were traveling by bike with a smaller amount of gear. (Surprisingly, we haven’t seen very many cycle tourists at all!) One of them came up to Robert and asked about our trip. He then asked how old Robert was… 64. He then said “wow, I’m only 20, so that gives me hope that I’ll b

Highlights: For so long it has been ride or die. We pass through a lot of cute little towns but we don’t want to look at the shops because we can’t carry more, and we can’t buy food in every town or we’d go broke. So we rarely stop unless they have a nice park for a rest break. Well, we became tourists real quick. Mackinac Island is very commercial, but we loved the energy. We rode the 8.2 mile perimeter trail, stopping to look at the arch and other sites. Just cruising easy

Tent pole breaks Borrow something while camping In Manistique Mi there was rain in the forecast, so at the campground Bliss asked if we could stay under the pavilion. The lady said that would be fine. But the pavilion was in a public parking area. Quite a few people drove up to go to the lake. So we waited to put up the tent. As it started getting dark most people left. There was one guy who parked his huge converted bus in the parking lot to stay the night. As we were puttin

Stats Week 8 miles: 340 Total Miles - 2,216 Total Elevation - 63,963 Highlights: One more state down. We are in Michigan, the UP (Upper Peninsula) to be exact. This week we crossed something off our list that we didn’t even know we had on our list. We were tired and there were no hotels or campgrounds around. We saw a sign pointing down a dirt road to a cemetery. Up at the very top was a little wooded area, where we could keep the tent and bikes a little hidden. We were walki

Bingo Bike repair: Roberts rear wheel was getting pretty wobbly, he had 3 broken spokes. In St. Cloud we got the spokes replaced, but the rim had a lot of cracks. Bliss called a bike shop in Blaine, on our route, to see if they could get a rim ordered in by Wednesday as we would be passing through. We got there right as they opened at 10 am. Spencer had the rim waiting and was able to switch everything out in about 40 minutes. They shared a parking lot with a DQ, so of course

Total Miles to date: 1,875 Weekly miles: 289 Route Overview: We left St. Cloud on bike paths to Clearwater, then Mn 75, 38, and 12 to Dayton. We took county highways through Anoka to Hugo and Scandia, then the horrible US 8 into St, Croix.Goodbye Mn. We rode the Gandy Dancer trail to Centuria, then Co I and side streets to North Lake. After Cumberland we took Co B to Haugen, then several Co roads to Summit Lake Campground. We changed our route a little and took Wi 70 all the

Total Miles to date: 1,586 Weekly miles: 328 Route Overview: We took ND-46, and US-283 into Jamestown. Then paved side roads to Valley City where we picked up I-94 (freeway!!) to Tower City. Continued on I-94 to the Wheatland exit, where we took paved side roads and old Co-10 into Fargo, then meandered to Moorhead Mn. Then old Co-52 to Barnesville, Mn-108 to Pelican Rapids, and Co-3 (Otter Tail road) into Fergus Falls. Picked up the Central Lakes bike path, took that and th

Bingo Update: We forgot one, from way back in Valier Montana. Gas Station Gourmet Meal. We were beat by the end of the day. Robert wanted to go to the store and get a soda or something. Bliss wanted to go straight to the campground. Before we split up Bliss told Robert to get something for dinner because she was not cooking that night. The grocery store had just closed, 5:30. So at the gas station Robert found two taco pouches, garlic bread (which turned out to be super hard)

Stats to date: 📍 Total Miles Ridden: 1,269 ⛰️ Total Elevation Climbed: 41,804 feet Overview: We drove a Uhaul truck from Great Falls, Montana to Dickinson, North Dakota on Monday after taking a few days off due to heat. From Dickinson we rode hwy 10 which became 139 near Hebron all the way to Glen Ullin. We continued on 139, with 12 miles of gravel rd, to Mandan, and then took side rds and bike paths to General Sibley Campground. Took 1804 and moffit rd east, then south on

Week 4 Random bingo player winner: Amoree Farnsworth Let me know if you get BINGO and we will give out gift cards as long as they last! Three roadkill in one day: Finally we can quit scouring the road for dead things. Last Sunday on the rural roads going to Columbia Falls we saw the cutest little spotted deer in the grass on the side of a trail, a squirrel belly up, a flat bird, and an even flatter little snake. Meet someone from another country: Right after we got to a camp

Route Overview: Sunday July 5th we took a detour to REI, Walmart, and Dickey’s BBQ Pit, which were all conveniently located near each other. We left Kalispell by way of quiet side roads and paved trails into Columbia Falls where we followed US 2 all the way into Browning. From there we took 89 and 44 to Valier (Sadly, we opted not to take Molly’s Nipple Rd). We rode a long way on dirt farm rds to Choteau. Took Mt 221 to Dutton, then the frontage rd, then 20 more miles of grav

Route Overview: We sadly had to leave Katy, Ethan and Teddy in Spokane Valley. We rode the Centennial trail through Post Falls Id and connected with the bike path that follows US 95 N to Athol. We took Glagstone Rd Nw, meandering along the Pend Orelle river to Sandpoint. We took ID 200 to Hope where we stayed with WS hosts Tim and Debbie. At Clark Fork we got on the US Cycle rte 10. Headed N on Bull River rd (Mt 56) to US 2 and headed east to Kalispell. Highlights: We arriv

One of the most entertaining parts of this adventure has been our Hope Across the USA Bingo Challenge. We never know what each day will bring, but it almost always helps us check off another square! Weekly random winner: Kathy Hall 🎯 Want to Play Along? You can join the fun! Simply donate $25 or more to either Habitat for Humanity or Tabitha's Way Food Pantry, and we'll send you your own Bingo card. Follow our journey across America, mark off the squares as they happen, and

🚴‍♀️ Hope Across the USA 🚴‍♂️ Ride Stats | Days 13–16 🏁 Trip Totals 🚲 765 miles ⛰️ 28,111 feet of elevation climbed 📍 Day 13 Route: Hope, ID → Dor Skeels Campground, MT 🚲 Distance: 48.2 miles ⛰️ Elevation Gain: 1,991 ft ⚡ Average Speed: 10.5 mph 📍 Day 14 Route: Dor Skeels Campground → Pleasant Valley Campground 🚲 Distance: 61.2 miles ⛰️ Elevation Gain: 2,493 ft ⚡ Average Speed: 10.3 mph 🌡️ High Temperature: 83°F 📍 Day 15 Route: Pleasant Valley Campground → Kalispell

In the first 9 days we have biked 462 miles with 18,005 feet of climbing. Almost to Idaho! We rode from Bellingham to Arlington, to North Bend, through Snoqualmie pass to Easton Lake, through Cle Elum up Wa 970, 66 miles and over 4000ft of Climbing to Peshastin, through East Wenatchee to Quincy, to Moses Lake, to Ritzville (not very Ritzy), to Fishtrap Lake, and now we are resting in Spokane. Highlights The first few days were a mix of side roads, paved and gravel trails.

A lot happened this week! If you don’t have your bingo card yet- simply donate at least $25 to one of the charities or venmo @blisssawyer and we will send your individual bingo card. Week 2 gift card winner - Naomi McClure NOTE: Each week we will pick a random gift card winner from everyone playing bingo. We were given quite a few gift cards so we will also give out gift cards (until we run out) to anyone that gets a 5 in a row bingo. Just send a message once you have

Yesterday we were on farm roads in Eastern Washington with NOTHING for miles. We came to a corner where there was a large farming operation with quite a few attached houses and other buildings. A man had stopped his truck in the middle of the road and was waiting for us. He asked what we were doing and if we wanted a few cherries - his truck was full of them. But then he said "follow me - I want to give you something". So of course we did. Edward Stahl is the head of the Hutt

Day 1 stats. Bellingham to Lakewood, WA. 60 miles with 3,415 feet elevation gain. Headwind most of the day but quite a bit of paved path so that kinda made up for it. Day 2 stats - 66.7 miles. 1116 feet of climbing.. but I that that was incorrect since map my ride said it should be more and it felt like more. But we will go with what my wahoo says Over 35 miles of gravel path - wonderful since we weren't on a road and the scenery was amazing. Tough because 100% of our trai

Not a paid advertisment. I just want to share something cool with ya'll. Some training rides are about miles. Others are about survival. And yes, I can be dramatic. Heat can become the real opponent Preparing for a cross-country ride means getting ready for more than just long days on the bike. It also means thinking ahead about what happens when the route runs straight into serious summer weather. Cooling Cloth The idea is simple with Frogg Toggs. You wet the cloth, and i

We need a “RIDE-OFF” SONG to kick off our adventure on the right note. Pun totally intended. And YOU get to help choose it! Drop your best RIDE-OFF song ideas on the contact page. On June 20th, our adventure begins! We’ll be surrounded by the people who mean the most — our 4 kids, 4 grandkids, and my parents — in Bellingham, WA. We’ll dip our back tires into the Pacific Ocean and then start pedaling across the country on our journey of a lifetime. But we need one more thing…