April 28, 2011. Palatka to St. Augustine, FL. 45 miles.

The first part of this day's ride was rural. We passed through the countryside at a leisurely pace, knowing it was our last day, and knowing that we only had 40 miles to ride before convening at the fire station for our final ride into St. Augustine. I saw this ghost bike on CR 214 on the last leg of our ride. It's always sad to see them, and I think they remind the drivers on the road (in this case a lot of trucks) that we are out there.

In no time at all we were at the St. John's County fire station. A fireman took our photo as we waited for the leaders to get there to lead us in. I took a photo of Katherine and Marge at the sag car--they shared sag duties with Lisa during this whole trip.Linda and Carol rode in on their bikes with 2 police cars close behind. No, they were not being ticketed for speeding--the police cars were there to escort us to the beach.We rode the last 5 miles in close formation with police cars leading and trailing, lights and sirens engaged. That's quite a thrill! And it was a safety measure as well, in this busy town.We arrived at the beach to the rousing cheers of family and friends, in my case, my husband Bill and my sister Joan and her husband Bobby.
Dianne's sister Jan arrived about 5 minutes after the grand parade. Here she is with Dianne and Bill.

We all carried our bikes to the beach and did the ceremonial wheel dip. There were tears shed by some. The rest of the riders rode their bikes all the way from San Diego, a real feat. I was the wimp of the group, having ridden only 1550 miles (half of the trip).

After dipping our wheels many of us ran into the water and celebrated our arrival, led by lone wolf Victoria (on the far right). We played in the water for a while and then hauled our bikes back up to the parking lot and enjoyed the picnic lunch provided by Woman Tours.Joan and Bobby stayed for the lunch, and we are going to see them this weekend. It's nice to be back together--they moved to St. Augustine last September and this is our first visit. I would bet it won't be the last!