Sweet home Minnesota

A long plane trip across the ocean and we are once again back in the good ole USA!

We are at a loss on how to word our last post. This trip has been so wonderful and filled with great memories of the places we visited, the amazing beauty that we saw, and the wonderful people and new friends that we met.

Thank you to everyone who has supported us and helped us throughout the summer. To all of those new friends we met throughout our journey, our home is open to you. We would love to have an oportunity to return the hospitality that you shared with us while we were in your country. We hope that someday we can show you the wonders of the United States.

So until our next adventure.............

life is not measured by the

number of breaths we take

but by the number of moments

that take our breath away

Bob & Sherry

Coming home!

It is with mixed emotions that we let you know that we are coming home tomorrow! Tuesday, Sept 28th. Ariving in Minneapolis at 6:17 PM.

We are both very excited to be home with our families and friends, but we will miss this daily adventure.

We took one last swim today in the beautiful Mediterranean Sea. It was a bright, blue sky day here in Nice France and about 70 degrees with a light wind. A perfect last day at the beach.

Then this afternoon we got serious. We had to break the bikes down and box them up. We took them out in front of the hotel and spent about 2 hours with stuff scattered all over. Yup, the hillbilly's are still here in Nice. But we didn't care and hardly noticed people staring at us!! But we got it done! We are all packed up and ready for the taxi at 7:00 AM Nice time tomorrow.

Tonight we are going back into the heart of Nice for a nice fairwell dinner.

See you all soon and thanks for all the support we had back home to make this trip such a wonderful experience for both of us.

Nice!

It's still a little hard to believe that we have made it to Nice. It was certainly not in our plans to get here yesterday but as we have said for the past 3 months "that is why it is called adventure cycling"

Yesterday we had a very lazy morning and didn't even start cycling until 11:00. Before we even made it 2 miles we stopped to change a flat tire, then stopped about a mile later to change another flat tire! But who can complain when you have to stop at such a beautiful place to change a tire.

Our quitet lives along the italian coast came to a horn honking, scooter buzzing, motocycle roaring halt the closer we got to the French border. Monte Carlo and Monaco are without a doubt very beautiful places to see. Our first real view came as we rounded a corner and below was Monte Carlo bay!! It was filled and I mean filled with the most amazing private yachts!!! And not just average yachts. I'm talkin 4 deck tall yachts! Do you think we were a little out of place riding on our bicycles? I am sure they thought we were the Beverly Hillbilly's coming to town.

It was a little stressful maneuvering through all the traffic and pedestrians. We just kept pedaling trying to find a cute little village to stop in.............before we knew it we were in Nice and we came to the realization that quiet and cute were no longer on the ittinery.

So here we are and lucky for us our cycling karma is holding up. We found a lovely little B&B right in the heart of Nice for a decent price and it is on a very quiet street! Last night while walking to dinner we found a box in the trash that will work perfectly for boxing up one of the bikes! So not only have the Beverly Hillbilly's come to Nice but we are already digging through the trash!

Today we are off to explore the area. Check back later for more adventures from the Bobby & Sherry show

The picture above is from our last night in Italy! Thank you Italy for showing us a wonderful time!

Bob & Sherry

Italian Riviera

We are in a little town called Alassio, Italy today not doing any biking. Instead we chose to stay in a little hotel by the sea and swim in the Mediterraen sea and lay in the sun and smoke a cigar and drink cold beer! Did I tell you how good life is lately???

We left the Cinque Terre and biked over to Portofino. It was beautiful and we stayed in the town next to it, Santa Margherita at a great little hotel. The next morning we biked back into Portofino and then headed back down the coast. We met another biker, Alberto from Genoa who rode with us back to Genoa and gave us some history of the area and his love of Genoa. We spent some time in Genoa before moving on down the coast where we stayed in another small cute town on the sea called Verazze and then yesterday into Allassio. The coast is beautiful and the drivers continue to be excellent.

We only have a week left and we are already within 100k of Nice where we will fly home from. Tomorrow we will push closer to France but will probably spend one more night in Italy. Then it will be into Monte Carlo, Monaco and then finally into Nice.

We are taking it very slowly now and enjoying each moment before we are back to reality!!!

See you all soon!

Bob and Sherry

Cinque Terre

The last week has been simply amazing! It was fun and a little goofy seeing the Tower of Pisa. Of course we had to do all the funny tourist pictures like holding up the tower!!! Cycling to the Cinque Terre was a lot of fun as we had over 20miles of nothing but flat roads right along the beach and to make it even better the sun was shinning and the wind was at our backs! Once we got to the mountains it was equally as fun and beautiful. The hills and cliffs remined us a lot of the Pacific Coast but not nearly as rugged.

The Cinque Terre is certainly beautiful and we have taken a few days off of the bikes to really explore the area. It is a bit more touristy and busy than we expected but we have managed to make an adventure of it. We spent our first night in the village of Monterosa and woke to heavy rains! The room we were in was only available for the one night so we had to vacate it and adventure out into the elements. A train which runs right through all of the towns along the cinque terre made it a little easier for us to stay somewhat dry. A mad dash to the train station and we were on to the village of Levanto.

This was an excellent find for us! We found a great little hotel to stay in that is right in the heart of the village and we are just a short walk from the train station. For about 5£ a day you can ride the trains between each of the towns along the cinque terre as often as you want. By the afternoon the rain had slowed enough that we took the train to Riomaggiore (a 20min ride) and hiked the Cinque Terre trail from there to Carniglia which is the 3rd village. It was very beautiful and peaceful. The views are absolutely amazing and once again the pictures just do not do it justice!

There are several american couples who are staying in the same hotel and we have made lots of new friends. It is fun to hear other peoples adventures and get tips on the different places to see and things to do. Tonight we are all meeting on the hotel balcony to share wine and more stories!

The rain continued today and the forecast looks the same for tomorrow but we need to get going since our departure date is getting closer and closer each day. We think we are about 275miles from Nice and we have a lot to see between here and there!

Bob has a knee that is giving him some problems. Getting on and off the trains with the bikes is always an adventure and usually envolves carrying them up and down stairs. We think he probably hurt it doing just that. Hopefully the days rest today will help and he'll be back in tip top sherpa shape by tomorrow!

Happy Birthday to my dad, Tom and to My daughter-in-law Chauncey!

Sherry & Bob

Florence

The cycling from Castelnuovo to Florence was one of the most beautiful and fun days of cycling that we have had on this trip. Lots of long gradual hills which of course are then followed by long gradual desents. For a long stretch we were cycling on the same route as a sanctioned cycling race. Thankfully they were riding in the oposite direction. But it was very excitting to see the pro's cycle by. They were very excitted to see us also and gave us lots of thumbs up and yelled "Allez, Allez" which we think is a good thing.

The Tuscan country side is much more varried than you would see in Napa. It is covered with a mix of vines, olive groves, sunflowers, and cypress trees. And the houses themselves are just as beautiful as the surroundings. The roads throughout Italy have been ideal for cycling! The drivers continue to be very courteous and even on the busy streets they slow down and move over to alow us plenty of room.

Our first view of Florence came as we cycled around a corner and were greeted with the HUGE statue of "DAVID" and there was beautiful Florence stretched out in the valley below. Absolutely amazing, it litterally took our breath away!

We spent much of the day in Florence exploring its wonders but because it is so big we chose not to stay there. We spent a few hours trying to find our way out of the city. If you believe that St. Paul was designed by a drunk Irishman well that is nothing compared to roads we encountered trying to get out of Florence. They must have been designed by a large group of very drunk italians! We were treated to lovely views of the city dump and a few shanty towns as we wove our way up down around and through the maze. It never ceases to amaze me how good Bob's navigational skills are. Just when I am sure we are lost and feeeling very much like a little white mouse in a maze who will never find its way out, wala! we are suddenly on the road we want to be on and headed in the right direction.

Last night we stopped in a small town about 50miles from Pisa. We found a room in a small hotel just as the rain began to POUR down! This morning we are greeted with beautiful clear blue skies and should have no problem making it to Pisa!!

More pictures are downloaded!!!

Bob & Sherry

Under the Tuscan Sun

This is what bike touring is all about!! Seeing something new everyday and so often being just simply blown away by the beauty this world has to offer.

These last several days have been such a treat for us. We usually don't know what roads we are going to take until we start! We have a general feel for the direction but then we just go with the flow. Usually we ask someone for their advice on what towns are pretty and then just start cycling. Last night we stayed in Cortona which is where ¨Under the Tuscan Sun¨ was filmed. Our hotel was built starting in 300 BC!! It of course was at the top of a HUGE hill but it was worth it! Today we cycled thru the Tuscany hills and are in a small B and B in a small town that is so relaxing you just want to stay here forever. This original part of this home was started in 1200.

The Italian people have been as wonderful as the scenery. The drivers are curtious and the people are extremely helpful everywhere we go. The other bicyclers all wave, even the constuction people cheer us on. And they all seem happy and it is contagious.

Right this very moment we are enjoying fresh bread, local cheese that is to die for, local wine that is to die for, and fixing a homecooked meal with fresh local pasta and enjoying the Tuscany country side.

Okay, have I mentioned that we are happy!!!

Hope all of you have a weekend that is both relaxing and fullfilling.

Bob and Sherry