So after some twists and turns, I ended up in Atlanta and was met by one of my cycling buddies from my Fuller Center ride across the USA in 2019. Mark Murphy was there to greet me at the airport and take me back to his wonderful house north of Atlanta
Mark took me to an ‘Irish pub’ where they had a statue of William Wallace?!? With the surname Bruce even I know a few things about Scottish history and I’m pretty sure that even Mel Gibson meant him to be Scottish (even if it was with a strange Australian twang)! Let’s just call it a Celtic Pub and that way everything works! 😁
After a good night’s sleep we then took Moseby, Mark’s lovely dog, for a walk round the lakes and then, with a bite to eat on the way, we headed back to the airport for the final part of my journey to Florida.
Everything was going so well until it came to my turn to scan my boarding pass, only to be told that I was not eligible for the flight. A pang of panic came before they checked again and printed me a new boarding pass. Phew - back on track! Then, as I spent an hour or so on the plane, I started to wonder, ‘was my case on the plane too’?!?. With a great sense of delight I finally saw my case come round on the baggage rack and, yes, I had finally arrived, case and all, in Florida.
Yet again I was met by more friends from the 2019 Bike Ride and we travelled to my hotel to check in, albeit 24hr late! What a rollercoaster of a journey, but I had the chance to meet a few great people on the way, including Sterling from Minnesota in the terminal at Atlanta - all the best with your retirement, sir!
Having checked in and sorted out my bags at the hotel, 6 of us met up for a meal where I tried out Gumbo and ate a few Hushpuppies - as indicated below!!
So good to see (left to right) Gary, Murphy, (me) Wendy, Barbara and Rob - the four of us guys rode the whole way across the USA 🇺🇸 in 2019 and we all feel like brothers together and bonded by that experience. We cycled, prayed, laughed, wept and sang together and even though over two years have since passed, the bond was instant and a real sense of rejoicing in being back together again.
Sooo looking forward to seeing others from that journey and Millard Fuller Legacy Build in 2019 later today at Laguna Beach. Then on Saturday, the cycling begins with more adventures to come. 😁🚲