Day 21 - Mar 7 - Home again

Out of sheer habit, I suppose, I awoke with the sun and laid there awhile, not wanting to wake the house too early. About 7 a.m., I packed up quietly, trying not to disturb everyone else, as they were still sleeping. I attempted to air out the car (skunk has its own special perfume), but wasn't successful. Once I got everything loaded, I snuck back inside. Bryan was awake, fiddling on his Crackberry, while still lying in his sleeping bag on the floor of the living room. Ryan and Mike were asleep on a fold-out couch. When I whispered to Bryan, the other two woke up. I tried not to belabor my departure. I was already emotional about leaving.

I'm sorry, Ryan and Mike, but I have to tell this story. What happened next was just such a fitting ending to my adventure with you guys. I will miss you so.

I gave Ryan a hug while he still lay in the bed. I then went around to the other side of the bed to give Mike a hug goodbye. He sat up, and the first thing he said, in his typically quiet manner, was, "I just touched Ryan's butt." He announced it like he had just stepped in dog poop. We all burst out laughing. I said, "Wait a minute, you mean his 'honeybuns'?" We laughed again. And so my time with these three super people has ended (for now). I hope I will see them again sometime in the future. I will be forever grateful that I met them and had the opportunity to ride with them, if only for three weeks. Best of luck to you all!

I drove away from Aunt Peggy's house (thanks for everything, Aunt P!) overwhelmed by emotion. Perhaps some coffee would help my disposition. I stopped at McDonald's on my way out of town and had what I hoped would be my last fast-food meal for a long while. Once I hit the road again, the traffic was fairly light, but once I reached Houston, people were out in droves. Houston was a complex maze of interstate interchanges. I was thankful that I made it through without getting off-course. I then began to relive my trip in reverse, passing signs to many of the small towns we had come through in the preceding three weeks. I spent several hours thinking about -- and feeling -- the events of the past 20 days. I began to make a list of things I wanted to post about as sort of an epilogue to my journey.

Hours passed as I played with the seek button on the radio, trying to find music to entertain me. I was covering in hours in a car what had taken me weeks to cover while pedalling a bicycle.

I soon found myself in Louisiana. By the time I reached New Orleans, however, I was tired of driving. The roads in La were sooooo bad. Nola was such a crazy maze of roads that I actually had to talk myself out of having a panic attack in the middle of the city. I congratulated myself when I finally made it through alive. It was truly scary. I'm not sure why. I've driven through a lot of major cities: Miami, Orlando, Atlanta, Charlotte, etc. I guess I was just tired and ready to be home.

Louisiana soon gave way to Mississippi, then Alabama, and finally Florida. Ahh, to be in my home state. I could almost feel the sheets on my bed against my skin. But first, I had to drop off my bike and stuff at home, and then return the rental car to the airport. All told, I drove 620 miles in 9 hours. Not bad. Only 2 stops. But what a long day. My mom picked me up at the airport (where I dropped off the car) and took me to dinner. I had a wonderful salad and cup of soup. Real food. De-lish. Then I got to see my babies. They played coy at first, but soon warmed up to me, rubbing my legs and purring. Then I'd get the stink-eye. Mad. "You left us for a long time, Mommy!"  Then they'd come back. I missed them so.

I jumped into my hot tub, too. Glorious. I laid there a long time. My legs really appreciated it. They got really stiff riding in the car so long after having been conscripted into forced labor for three weeks. They told me they never wanted to pedal a bicycle again. I agreed not to make them. We all get along now.

In tomorrow's post, I will share some thoughts and feelings about my adventure, about ending my adventure early, and about what's next. I hope you will find them interesting and/or entertaining.

I have enjoyed reading everyone's comments and emails. I hope you have enjoyed my blog and my adventure. Stay tuned. There's more to come. I'm not done yet!