I want to mention everyone who supported my ride and Caritas with their generous donations. Thanks so much to the following people and businesses:
 
Action Pest Control
Deborah Adams
Barry Joel Aidman
Michelle Akers
Myra & Barry Allison
Robert Allman
Arrow Exterminators
Beth & Jeff Atherton
Gilbert & Lorraine Azevedo
B&G Chemicals & Equipment Co., Inc.
Randall Baldwin & Nancy Spring
Jolanta Banaczyk
Ron & Sandy Barclay
Dinah & Barry Barksdale
Barley & Pfeiffer Architects
Katie Barnes
Sylvia Barrios
Ann Bauer
Bayer Environmental Science
Lois & Lester Bayer
Better Business Bureau
Jane Bills
Larry Bloomquist
Ilene Blumberg
Abigail Bobo
Barbara Boehm
Laura Bohls
John Bolanos
Bart Bombay
Jeff & Ann Bomer
Steve & Marilyn Bowers
Todd & Karen Brockwell
David & Beth Brooks
Marisol V.R. Brown
Patricia & Gray Bryant
Philip Buch
Bob Buchanan
Rusty Burnett
Matt Burns
Bury Partners
Suzanna & John Caballero
Chris Calvert
Becky & Donald Calvin
Lucio Calzado
Madalina & Jason Campagna
Dixie & Spencer Carlton
Walter & Barbara Casey
James M. Cavender III
Cindy Chandik
Cintas
Clutch Creative Inc.
Thomas N. Cockburn
Sandra Holub Conlan
Lynn Cook
Heather Courson
Shannon Cox
Harry Crawford
Mac & William Cromwell
Tom Cummins
Sandra Cunningham
Vard Curtis
Sally Daguer
Daughters of Charity
Gerald Daughtery
April Y. Davenport
Jason Davenport
Vanessa Davila
Robert Davis
Jerrol Davis
Adriana de la Fuente
Chris Perez de la Vega
Karen Dean
Lisa Dean
Lisa DeLosso
Kathy Hatfield & Bart Denum
George & Sally Daveney, Jr.
Ronald Devere
Philip & Christine Dial
Lorel Donaghey
Elizabeth Doughtie
Susan Draughn
Amy & David Durham
Michelle Dunnivant
Alain & Nadine Duvallet
E-Design-It
Karen Easterling
Will Eckert
Ehrlich Termite & Pest Control
Robert M. Ehrlich, Jr.
Daniel & De Ann Eisenhauer
El Arroyo Restaurants
Douglas Elenz
Ellis & Salazar
Nancy Ellis
Craig & Kay Enoch
J. Scott & Tonya Esler
Suzanne L. Espe
Barrett Evans
Ferguson Heating & Cooling
Suzy & Chuck Fields
Jeffrey Fields
Debra Fincher
Laurens Fish III
Patrick Flynn
Ron Ford
Dr. Nancy Thorne Foster
Kelvin Foster
Susan Foster
David Fountain
Lynn & Bill Fowler
Ernie Francis
Victor & Julie Fredlund
Daniel Freed
Suzy Freeny
Frost Insurance Agency
Fulbright & Jaworski
Irma Galarza
Cid Galindo
Richard E. Galloway
Charlie Galvin
Brian F. Gaston
Bill & Dusty Gaston
Vera Gerbert
Zachary Gibson
Adriana Gonzalez
Steve Good
Steven Goode
Michelle Goodwin
Linda & Mark Gorzycki
Graves, Dougherty, Hearon & Moody
Johanna Green
Tanya Greenough
Ward & Carla Greenwood
Griffin Pest Solutions
Steven Gullickson
Karen & Daniel Gustafson
Jeffrey & Laurie Hahn
Kerry & Steve Hall
Winifred T. Hall
Tammy Halstead
Don & Jane Hammond
Michelle Hancock
Richard Hansen
Janet Harman
Susan E. Hart
Susan Hartenstein
Brad & Angela Hawley
Fred & Elizabeth Heldenfels
Heritage Title Company
David & Erin Hewlett
Kim Hill
Dave Hime
Carol Holmgreen
Jarrod Horton
Steve & Marian Houser
Glen & Rebecca Hunt
Michael Hutzler
Don Jamison
Brandon & June Janes III
The Jarrott Family
Dennis Jenkins
Jessica Jenkins
N. Rex Jennings
Cathy Johnson
Dione L. Johnson
Karen Johnson
Caroline Jones
Mary Jones
Journeyman Construction
Thomas Jumper
Michael Katz
Bob Kay
Dan & Peggy Keelin
Tracy & Eliza May Kelly
Laura Kelly
Michael & Sha Klatt
Aimee Klich
Mary Kordek
Gilbert & Pamela Koss
William & Karen Kraham
Alex Kramer
Matt & Rita Kreisle
Ellen B. Kreitler
LAZ Parking
Ralph & Patricia Ladd
Billy & Martha Langford
Judith Latimer
Robert Lederer
Klee Lee
Arless Lenz
Richard & Kendall Levy
Wayne E. Lindsley
Jeanne & Lew Little
Lone Star FoodService
Robert & Janie Long
Nivea Lopez
Loyal Termite & Pest Control
Gay & Lori MacNeil
Marathon Data Systems
Chris Marchbanks
Mr. & Mrs. Ray Marshall
Janis K. Martin
Bill & Jane Martinez
R. Earl Maxwell
Linda Mayfield
Michael & Nancy McAllister
Mike McCauley
Lois McChristian
Randall McEachern
Tom & Kay McHorse
Gerald & Maureen McReynolds
Angela-Jo Medina
Peg Meek
Richard & Madeline C. Sutherland-Meier
Velda Melendez
Myrtle & Tony Melli
Julie & Dean Metzger
Tory & Karen Meyer, M.D.
Alyson Miles
Lionell Ann Miller, Sr.
Ricky & Donna Minks
Jack & Dolores Minor
Joann E. Moerbe
Ghassan Mohialdeen
Rob & Rhoda Montgomery
Myron Moodie
Kathleen & Dan Moreland
Merriman Morton
McQueary Henry Bowles Troy, LLP
Dean Murray
Patrick Mushenye
Ken Myers
Jack & Janna Nash
National Pest Management Association
Janet L. Neal
Kennedy C. Neff
Network for Good
Mike & Melissa Nicholson
David Nolen
Cynthia Noly
OPC Pest Control
Tommy & Rita Oliphant
PCT Magazine
Curtis Page
Caroline Page
Grace Palma
Mr. & Mrs. William H.D. Pardue
Molly Patton
Mr. & Mrs. Padusseau
Justin M. & Paige E. Britt Pehoski
Jason Perez
Joseph Pestana
Tessa Peters
G. Alfred Peterson, Jr.
Ann Pieratt
Mike & Ruth Podolin
Leslie F. Pohl
Pointserve
James Price
Peter Price
Jo Kathryn Quinn
RSH Consulting
Herminia Ramirez
Hilary & Jaime Ramirez, M.D.
Mat & Eliseo Ramos
Scott Raper
Rare-Prints.com
Janis Reed
Richard G. Reeves
Nick Reeneker
Jayne & Larry Richardson
Janice & Michael Riepen
Ray Robbins
Steve & Marilyn Rogers
Bob Rosenberg
Rottler Pest & Lawn Solutions
B.M. Russell
Tonio Sala
Ginny Sanders
Tom Sands
Scotty & Julie Sayers
Tim Scallon
Jennifer Scariano
Justin Schmidt
Robert & Jill Scrima
Seawright & Associates
Sarah Seifert
 Seton Family of Hospitals
Cynthia Shaw
Monica & David Sheldon
Amy Shields
Loretta Shindler
Maureen Shiver
Carole & Charles Sikes
Jeff & Melissa Simpler
Molly Sipe
Neal Skinner
Hector Sloss
Lanette & Wallace Smith
Ryan & Stepanie Sorrell
Berry & Laura Spears
Cisse Spragins
Sprague Pest
Derek Springer
Robert Stewart
Suzanne Stewart
Dominique Stumpf
Gail & Rodney Susholtz|
Syngenta Home Care Professional Products & Garden
Brett & Erika Tabke
Thomas & Colleen Terkel
Termindoor
Andy & Judy Tewell
Texas Capital Bank
Texas Fleet Fuel
Texas Univar
Alfie Than
Carol Thomas
Thomas Graphics/Check
Ray L. Thompson
Ed & Katrina Thompson
David Thompson
Anthony Tilford
Lee Tilford Agency
Ray Tonjes Builder, Inc.
Carol & Joe Toohey
Zoe Torres
Jeffrey Tucker
Velocity Credit Union
Virtual CFO
Andrew Vissman
Kirsten Voinis
John & Candice Volz
Fred & Beth Vorhees
Nancy Wade
Alix Warner
Ann Whiting
Charles & Jacquelyn Whiting
Tim & Diane Williams
Linda & Mark Williams
Greg Willis
Adelita Winchester
Howard & Margaret Wolf
Paul Workman
Leroy J. Wormley, Jr.
Musarrat Yusufali
Becca Zwerling

Come out and Party With A Purpose tomorrow at Pluckers on S. Lamar with ABC, Caritas, & KGSR. There will be live music, food, and drinks to enjoy. Thanks again everyone for your support!

Last entry, Home at last!!!!

Well, we are all now home and trying to get back into the swing of running our businesses. We actually arrived here on Saturday night. Mom and I came to Austin from Dallas, and Raleigh went on to Houston, and of course Dennis stayed in Dallas. My daughter Jessica and my new son-in-law J. came in from Dallas to pick mom and me up from the Austin airport. Jan and both Chelsea and Bo are over in Italy where Chelsea has been doing study abroad for the first part of the summer. Jan and Bo went over to bring Chels home and do some sight seeing. It was great to see Jess and J., and I really appreciate them picking us up and being there at the airport.

As I look back on the trip, it really was just about everything I had hopped it would be. I knew from past experience that there would be some ups and downs and that there would be several challenging days along the way. I really feel we could not have had better conditions than we did. Wind and cold seem to be pretty good all of a sudden when you get back to Texas and see 106+. We really did get to see so much of the country side along the way. The other thing that stands out in my mind is how many people were interested in what we were doing and how many people donated to our charities. We had so many people give us $5, $10, or $20 all along the way. It shows just how generous folks are when they are given the oppotunity.

I know Raleigh and Dennis are pretty darn glad the trip is over. I am very grateful to both of them for agreeing to make this journey. They didn’t know what they were getting into, and I’m proud of them for sticking with the trip and finishing it in grand style. Of course mom was fantastic on the trip. She kept a very positive attitude and was very supportive at all times. This really was an extremely unique experience to have three brothers and their mom do something this far off the wall. We will all have great memories that we will be able to look back on forever.

Well I am hopeful that the second half of 2009 might be a bit less eventful. From moving into our new office here at ABC, to having my first child get married, to this incredible bike journey, this has been quite a six months. With Jessica and J. on their own, and Chelsea going to A&M for summer school in July, and Bo going to be a counselor at Camp LaJunta, Jan and I will get to spend some quality time together here in Austin and I am really looking forward to just being at home. I hope that all of you who have followed our trip are enjoying your summers, and I look forward to seeing or hearing from you soon.

Take care, Bobby J

Welcome to Calgary

What a great day!!!!! We have arrived here in Calgary and we are all very excited to have finished the trip. We left Nanton extra early this morning in hopes of avoiding the wind. We had a quick breakfast at a local diner and hit the road with lots of determination and energy. The morning was very pleasant and the wind was much less than yesterday. We figured we were about 45 miles from Calgary so we did a turn of about 24 miles and then took our first break of the morning. By this time the wind was out of the west and didn’t slow us up at all. As with the past couple of days, we had lots of sunshine. After about 40 miles we were suddenly at the top of a hill and all of a sudden we could see downtown Calgary in the not very far distance. This was a great photo opportunity so took a couple of pictures.

Once we got back on the bikes, we were all really pumped about being this close to our destination. After about another 10 miles or so, we all of a sudden hit the Calgary city limits sign and our goal was achieved!!!!! By this time traffic on the hwy was getting pretty busy so we pulled off to the side and took lots of pictures of the city limits sign. We shared high fives and hugs and tears of joy. We were all pretty excited about finally getting off the bikes and thinking about heading home to our families.

After all the pictures, we headed to our hotel which is near the Calgary airport. We stopped and had lunch at a local bistro and enjoyed the Calgary sunshine. After checking into the hotel, we did our usual hot tub relaxing and then got changed and went to dinner. We are now getting repacked and planning our exit for tomorrow morning. We have a 2:10 flight to Dallas and then mom and I head to Austin and Raleigh goes to Houston.

We are all really ready to get home to our families and friends. This has been a long almost 5 weeks but it really has been everything we thought it would be . We knew it would be difficult at times and spectacular at other times. The opportunity to be together as brothers with our mom was very special and one we are very grateful for.

The support we have received from family and friends is something that we will always remember. Thanks to everyone who has sent messages of encouragement, they really were inspirational and helped us all along the way.

Of course one of the primary reasons for this adventure was to raise money for three very important charities. To those of you who have made donations we sincerely thank you from the bottom of our hearts. All three of the charities are very special to us and we each have a personal connection to them. We still have a bit to go to hit our overall goal but I’m sure we will soon.

I look forward to seeing everyone when we get home. I hope your summer is going well.

Thanks, Bobby J

Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-Th-That's all folks!

CALGARY! Today we hit the city limits of Calgary, Alberta, Canada! The moment we hit the city limit sign - we were DONE! It ended up only being a 40 mile ride from Nanton after a night in a really old hotel - on really old beds with really old sheets and towels that ripped when I tried to dry my back. It did really have charm though.

We woke and ate at a local diner and hit the road. The Navigation System in the car said that we had 57 miles to go, but that was to the center of downtown Calgary, and we had already decided to get to the city limits and call it DONE! At 40 miles, we hit the sign, just after Mom had seen a sign that said “NO SLOW MOVING VEHICLES”. We knew that we had arrived at the end of our ride. I cannot explain to you the feeling of finishing a ride that started in Austin and ended in Calgary. There have been many rough spots along the way - and many beautiful and wonderful spots. Both will make wonderful memories. I can’t tell you what this has really been like. Averaging 70 or so miles every day for 5 weeks, 40 today seemed like we were cheating. We hugged each other, thanked God for our safety and health and fellowship, took pictures, and headed to the hotel.

I would like to offer a prayer:

Gracious God

Thank you for the gift you have given us in this trip.
Thank you for brothers and mother who have accompanied us along the way.
Thank you for the safety that you gave us and the friendly people we met across two countries.
Thank you for our families at home who love us, support us, and have allowed us to accomplish this ride.
Thank you for all of the people who have followed us along the way and given us support and prayers.
Thank you for helping us to finish this ride and still praise you and still love each other.
Thank you for using our efforts to bring attention to the various causes that we have chosen.
Thank you for the donations that people have given to those causes.

Thank you for being the loving and gracious God that we count on every day.

In your name.
Amen

Grace and Peace
Dennis

Almost there

What a day!!! We got up early as usual and grabbed a quick breakfast at the hotel and hit the road. We all were pretty excited about this being our second to last day on the trip. What was strange about this morning was that we didn’t need to put on layers of clothes. The temperature this morning was about 65 which was something new for us. When we first got on the bikes, the wind seemed to be with us. The first 10 miles or so were just great and then things changed. We were now going straight into the and when I say wind I mean gale force wind. Our speed dropped from about 18 mph down to 8 mph. There were no hills to speak of but we did seem to be climbing a bit. The ride from Lethbridge to Ft. Mcleod was a total of about 22 miles and the last part was a killer.
We then change direction from west to north and so now the wind was a cross wind and for a bit it was actually at our back. With the now 35 mph wind at our back we were screaming across the plains. This lasted for about 15 miles and then we started heading more west and so the wind became our enemy once again.
We stopped in Clairesholm for lunch and were just beat. We took a good break and rested a bit and then hit the road again. We needed to go another 25 miles to get tour destination of Nanton. Once we got here, we all just wanted crash. This had to rank as one of our most taxing days.
We found a unique hotel in what I guess you could call downtown Nanton and got our room for the night. This place was originally built in 1901 and has a pretty cool bar and restaurant. The rooms however leave a bit to be desired. When you walk into your room and see that the bedspreads don’t match you know this isn’t a Holiday Inn.
Tomorrow we head to our final destination which of course is Calgary. We will need to go about 65 miles to get there and we are already saying our prayers for a tail wind for our final ride of the trip. It’s hard to believe we are this close to the end but we are all very excited and ready to head home.

Dennis does his "Happy Dance".

WIND! The Wind today was absolutely, unanimously, the absolutely worst wind we have dealt with yet. The wind was sustained at about 35 mph and gusted to 40-45mph. It was constant and from the West. When we started the ride this morning, we were in Lethbridge, Alberta and began heading West to Fort McLeod. It was about 22 miles headed straight into that wind. At that point, we did get to turn North onto Albeta 2 and the wind was either directly hitting us from the left side, or slightly from the front or, gloriously but only occasionally, slightly from the rear.

When it was slightly from the rear, it allowed us to maintain a faster pace, but still threw us around the highway like rag dolls – especially when big trucks came by. When it was directly from the left side, we were all three leaning to fight it (at one stop, I had my hand on the handlebars, and the wind blew the back end of the bike about 5 inches around). When it was slightly at the front – we were barely moving and fighting every minute.

We stopped in a town called Claresholm for lunch, after going 51 miles. The food was good, but mostly we just stared out at the wind knowing that we still had 25 miles to go to get to Nanton. After lunch, there was nothing to do but get back on the bikes, so away we went. Fighting the wind the entire way, we arrived in Nanton at about 3pm.

We are staying at a very old Nanton hotel called the Auditorium Hotel. It was built in 1902 and has a bar and restaurant inside it that we will probably stay here and not move for dinner and breakfast. The rooms are upstairs, no air conditioning except the window, and the bathroom had no towels, but some were given when asked.

The owner of the hotel is a really cool guy that when he saw our vehicle and cut the room rate in half as a donation to the cause. Let’s just say the athe place has character, and the owners are gracious.

This is the second to the last night of this ride. We are at the finish line! I cannot believe that we are that close to being done, nor that we have actually ridden our bikes to Calgary. I am over 50 lbs lighter than when I started training 14 months ago and I have a beard (for now). It will be one heck of a memory, but I am ready to be back home. We changed our flights so that we will arrive in Calgary tomorrow, and fly home on Saturday! See you all soon!

Grace and Peace

Dennis

"Don't worry, you won't feel a thing....till I jam this down your throat!"

Well, we are in Lethbridge Canada tonight.  We only went about 50 miles today, because I had issues again.  After another 3 hours in a hospital (yes a Canadian Hospital - you know socialized medicine), I was allowed to go and the doctor said that I am OK to finish the ride into Calgary.  Basically I have had blood in my urine and after the first tests, they thought I had a prostate infection.  After my Doctor at home saw the tests, and the blood returned today, he said I needed to be seen again, and now.  Another round of tests and what the doctor here feels is that the blood is just from the exertion that I have been placing on my body.  He said that there is a possibility that I could have other problem, but that those tests could wait until I got home.  We decided to finish the ride, and we changed our flights and will be home this Saturday.

Dennis

First full day in Canada

The day stated out looking like it could be perfect. We woke up to blue skies and temeratures that were mild. Our road out of Milk River was a 4 lane divided hwy that had a 10 ft. shoulder. We had our regular breakfast consisting of oatmeal and toast, and we hit the road. We started out with a cross wind that really didn’t affect our progress. For the first 8 miles, things seemed to be going splendidly. Then the cross wind became a head wind and picked up speed. We were now going into a 20 mph head wind, and when that happens, the fun just goes right out of the ride. We suddenly went from 18 mph down to a difficult 13 mph. We took a break after 24 miles and were pretty worn out. Back on the bike, we pressed on. The good thing was that this hwy was absolutely perfect. It was smooth and just a slight climb. The other thing that was very noticeable was the lack of traffic on this hwy. We really had the hwy to ourselves, as you would only have a car or truck pass about one every minute.

We finally made it to Lethbrige a bit after noon. We found a good pizza place and took a well deserved break from the road and wind. During lunch, Dennis was still having the same problems that he had the other day, so we went to the local hospital and they did some blood tests and finally cleared him to continue on the trip. We had missed the afternoon part of the ride, so we decided to spend the night here in Lethbridge. This is a very neat town. It’s actually much bigger than we had thought. There is a university here, and it seems like a very cool comunity.

The scenery for today’s ride was pretty boring. I was amazed at how flat the area is. Lots of farming in this area and not much else. After we found our Days Inn, we went exploring for dinner. We found a pretty unique place called Hednotic that served pretty good food. As usual, we ate and then headed back to the hotel to prepare for tomorrow’s ride.

Tomorrow and the next day will both be a bit long. We have decided that we are going to get to Calgary by Friday evening, so we have the next two days to cover about 150 miles, which should not be that much of a problem. Having said that, it seems kind of amazing that we are this close to the end of the journey. We’ll try and soak in the last of the miles and really enjoy the country side.