We sat on the porch overlooking the lake and drank lemonade and ate lemon squares. (Don't worry Macie, your secret's safe with me.) After all the congratulations on the engagement and such it was time to ask me questions about the trip and that's when I discovered that I hadn't really given much thought to things like my favorite or least favorite of anything. Damn, I should have done that! I don't even know how many states I went through (it's 24 plus DC and one Canadian Province). I have a lot of work to do. I was also acutely aware for the first time that I was very close to being home and it felt strange.
We said our goodbyes and left the cabin to go get an ice cream cone. I was really happy to be having ice cream with Mandy again because it reminded me of our time in New York. What a treat!
After the ice cream we made our way over Stevens Pass and down the hill toward home. Everything was going smoothly until just before Gold Bar and the traffic was nearly stopped. It was a tossup whether it was the result of an accident or just the normal Sunday traffic on Highway 2 so we stopped in the shade on the side of the road and waited to see if it would clear up. It did, and then it got worse, so we decided to backtrack a bit and try a backroad I'd found on the map.
We went back several miles to the town of Index and meandered our way through the woods and into Gold Bar. I'm fairly certain that it didn't buy us any time at all, but we were moving the whole time and the woods were beautiful. I could tell that I was back in Waashington because of the moss covered cedars! I was extremely grateful to be with Mandy for this portion of the trip because she is not the type to get bent out of shape about a little delay like that, and if she, or I for that matter, was it would have made an already hot and uncomfortable afternoon absolutely miserable.
From Gold Bar I tried a few other back roads but didn't make much progress and decided to stay on US 2 and just slog through the rest of it. Other than a few times riding on the shoulder just to keep moving and not die of heat stroke things went along just fine and we made it back to town in time for a cheeseburger before the last meeting of the trip.
On the way to then meeting I was getting really excited about going to a meeting that I knew. I didn't have to look anything up, I didn't have to look at a map to get there, I didn't have to drive around for 20 minutes to find it, none of that, I just went. What a relief.
When we pulled up to the meeting I started seeing people that I knew and I couldn't get my gear off fast enough to start hugging people. The trip was wonderful, and there is no way that I would take it back, but I was now back in a place where I could look around and name 80% of the people in the room and I was peaceful.
It was also at this point that the insanity of my trip came into perspective in a new way. I had left home 60 days before and ridden 12,000 miles, half the circumference of the earth, to arrive at a meeting a little over 3 miles from my house. I'm completely crazy.
The discussion for the evening wavered between talking about what this program has done for us and how we arrive at the ability to forgive ourselves and others. It was a wonderful meeting and I was extraordinarily happy to be with people that I know and love. Thank you all for being there to welcome me home whether you knew you were or not. It means the world to me!
After the meeting we stayed with people and talked for a long time. We were both excited to share the news with some of our friends and I got the chance to catch up with people.
When we left the meeting I couldn't stop talking about how weird it felt to be driving on streets that I knew and going to our house. After all that time on the road it seemed very odd to know where I was going to stay and how to get there.
The house was pretty much how I'd left it except Mandy did a ton of work to make the yard beautiful and inviting and the inside was more like home than ever before. The cats punished me and hid under beds because I had abandoned them, and aside from forgetting which drawer had my underwear in it, and which cupboard had glasses in it, it was as if I'd never left. It's good to be home.
Oh yeah, Paddintgon and Pooh also got to have their most gourmet breakfast of the trip today. Each one got their favorite...
