First picture is my roommate Hank in the middle, his beautiful wife, Carol on the right (his left) and Karen an excellent rider from Sacramento where she and Hank are in the same riding club.

The second picture is the beginning of our ride from the hotel to Huntington Beach pier where we dipped our rear tire and began the journey

The third picture is of the group that began the ride. Compare to the picture at the end.

The fourth picture is fixing my flat tire. The first flat of the group. Harry, Karen and Alec stopped to assist and each got a puncture that day. (yes, Harry, I can now call it a puncture!)

I have decided to continue this blog until I reach my goal of donations toward the Central Illinois Alzheimers Assn. Having perused the other riders blogs I noticed that the number of pictures posted ranged from none to many. Most of my entries have only one picture as I felt it was a summary or highlight of the day's ride. I took about 400 pictures, many of which are now being converted into a slide show that I will be using when presenting to various groups. I will now attach pictures for each blog entry. Hope you enjoy them. They will be presented in chronological order.

To those who have contributed to the Alzheimers Assn. it is greatly appreciated. To those who are planning to contribute but are procrastinating, remember to indicate it is for Walker's Cross Country bicylce ride. the address is
Central Illinois Alzheimers Association
606 W. Glen
Peoria, Il. 61614
or
www.alz.org/illinoiscentral

The blog continues. My friend Kevin is working on a slide show production of my trip. I am going to share this with groups or individuals interested in seeing it. Five groups have already asked for a presentation.
Donations for the Central Illinois Alzheimers Assn. are still coming in. It is still not to late to contribute. Any amount is appreciated.
On my request to stay a night in the Obama White House Lincoln Bedroom, I have heard rumors it takes a $100,000 contribution to the Democratic party to even be considered. I hope not. I'm sure someone out there in the Obama administration will take pity on a poor retired history teacher who biked across America and wants to share the positive attributes of my experience with the country in this recessionary period. I am a patient person. I await eagerly by the phone (or e-mail) for the invite.