We are home.
As you well know by now, we are masters of the Last Minute Switcheroo--so when we got into the sweltering midnight heat of Philadelphia last week we decided to head home by car instead of bicycling. We were so close, and a million tiny things were beckoning us home so we hopped in the car and had an emotion-filled drive back to the green hills from whence we left so many months ago....
Driving that 5 hour (what would have been 5 days on the bike) stretch home was torment. A HUGE part of me was/is not ready for this trip to be over, who would ever be? I was hoping we would be able to ride around New England through the Autumn and experience home-turf through the lens of bicycle touring, easing slowly back into the real world, blogging and taking pictures all the way. I loved bike touring so much more than I ever thought I would. As we drove I went through all the stages of anger and grief and sadness that one goes through when you lose anything, especially abruptly. By the time we were home and I was hugging familiar bodies and exchanging tears and kisses I'd come to some sort of peace with the decision to end our trip. Not a jumping for joy kind of peace, but an accepting kind of peace. Sometimes you just need to adapt, so adapt we are.
An ending is a beginning, and new adventures await.