Catching up

Okay. We’ve got a lot to catch up on so Holly and I both are writing tonight. We finally had a chance to get some of the photos organized. Here are some pics from the TaTa Tour - what a great event! If you missed it, plan to ride with us next year – this will be a repeat event for sure.

You've already seen some photos from Day 1 posted by the Cruisin' Crew (thanks Cindy). Here are some more pics once we got on the road.

We also have photos from day 2 (including the mind blowing experience of Daytona International Speedway).

We started day 3 thinking about the Florida families who have been affected by the fires currently burning there. We saw some of the devastation pictured here. Our prayers go out to everyone affected including the fire fighters who are out there trying to gain control. The smell of smoke permeated everything for miles. Luckily we made it through the fire zone about 30 minutes before they closed the road and were glad to leave the area behind us.

After the sobering start, the rest of the day turned out to be gorgeous. The weather was great and apart from a brief pit stop for an oil leak, we had a great trip into Miami.

Deli Lane, a local Miami restaurant hosted us for our first event on the road. Thank you Patty and Linda for working so hard and having such a great setup. Cindy Russo, the head coach of Florida International University as well as members of the FIU football and baseball teams joined us. The athletes were enthusiastic and supportive and helped in the fund raising effort with great giveaways. Thanks FIU for your help!

We will be updating more tomorrow so check back in to see pics from Key West, Naples, and Tampa.

Thanks for following along with us!

Holly and Nikki

Rain, rain go away

And here we are pullin out of the lot at Smithbilt only to hit the rain 3 miles down the road.

Check back over the next few days as we play catch-up with the blogging.

~ H & N

Getting Ready Part 3

Getting ready part 2

Getting ready to roll

Thought you would enjoy seeing some photos of what it takes to get us ready to go. Sadly we only made it 3 miles (defintitely the shortest leg of the entire trip) before we had to pull over and put on the rain gear.

Blog Apologies!

We want to give you all our sincerest apology for the technical blog issues that we have faced during the ride! Obviously there was no way to anticipate them, so we want to assure you that we will spend the next few days getting you all caught up!

Once we got out of rainy East Tennessee, the weather has been spectacular! It doesn't get any better than cruisin' through sunny Florida. Please bear with us while we play catch-up, but know that we are going to overload you with ride photos and facts.

Thanks for your support during the past week!

We're still cruisin'!

Holly & Nikki

Test

We have had some rather serious technical difficulties during the ride. This is a test posting to ensure that all systems are go!

Okay. It is LATE and I am tired! Here are some photos from the road today. I will blog more details tomorrow. Suffice it to say that we had an amazing day. Have you ever taken a couple of laps INSIDE the speedway at Daytona? Chad, one of our crew leaders set us up with a quick run - amazing doesn't begin to sum it up... Are these photos awesome or what?!?

Cruisin' Kick-off 2008

WHEW!!!
It is 10:32p.m. in Columbia, SC and the Cruisin' Crew are all in our respective rooms settling down for the night. Tomorrow is officially our longest day on the road so we need our rest. After today, WE HAVE EARNED IT! We left Smithbilt this morning trying to dodge raindrops but didn't have much success. Between a stop for rain gear and a brief pause under a bridge, we somehow made it through a monster storm of rain and wind (don't tell my mom).

It's day one of the ride but really day three of this year's effort. We had a beautiful kick off party , b3 - bikes, basketball & breast cancer, at the home of Eddie Mannis - so wonderfully set up by our committee only to be drenched by late breaking storms. We made due with Eddie's generous hospitality and had a great auction with the music of Jen Foster setting the tone for the evening. Thanks to all who survived with us!

We also unveiled our new one-day ride - the TaTa Tour this year presented by Regal Entertainment Group. We had a great turnout at Wild Wing Cafe on Saturday afternoon and a fantastic ride through East Tennessee. Nkki and I were thrilled to have such a great turnout and are already planning next year's event. Thank you Wild Wing Cafe for welcoming us so graciously!

Tomorrow we will be heading south toward Daytona and we are all looking forward to the smell of the ocean and some sand beneath our boots!

Nikki and I will be posting every day (including photos tomorrow) so check back in for updates.

Good night and Go Cruisin'!

Holly