Over the Hill and Far Away……….

I am writing this a little early as the bikes are being collected in a few minutes and our friends from FlyRideUSA want to take us out for a drink and hear about our travels. As we have already had several beers (and bored the pants off anyone we could get to listen to our tales of derring-do) I fully expect to be incapable of stringing a coherent sentence together within the next hour or so.

We started the day by packing up the bikes for the last time and transferring to the hotel where we will spend a few hours before setting off for Redmond Airport in the early hours of Sunday morning. Following that we strolled into Downtown Bend and did some shopping for souvenirs of the trip.

It is very hot here in Bend and after a gruelling trip round the shops we adjourned to our favourite watering hole by the river where we “rehydrated”. We got talking to a chap who said he quite happily lives in Bend on less than $20,000 dollars per year, skiing in the winter, fixing bikes and mountain biking in the summer and generally having a spiffing time. Not exactly what you want to hear just as you’re about to return home and go back to work (in my case at least)! He has volunteered to join us if we ever do a trip north from here across Canada.

It was a time for reflection today, as we thought about the miles we’ve travelled and the places and people we’ve seen. We’ve been fantastically lucky with the weather and the bikes haven’t let us down once. The worst crises we have encountered so far have been me losing a tee shirt and Mark losing a sock. Still we’ve got tonight to get through yet…..

It will be wonderful to get home to our loved ones but it is also hard to leave this amazing land and the feeling of starting up the bikes each morning not knowing what would lie before us each day.

The bikes are being loaded up now so I’ve got to sign off. When I get back home I’ll post a round-up with some further reflections and a few more pictures but this is officially the end of the journey. Thanks for travelling with us by reading this blog and I hope you have been able to share some of the sense of joy and wonder that we have experienced on this amazing journey.