The+Tandemonium+Concludes

The following was originally published August 27, 2008 at http://travelingsimply.blogspot.com/2008/08/tandemonium-concludes.html At 5:27 pm Tuesday August 26, 2008, we rolled through the finish line in my sister's San Diego driveway (literally, they had a finish line streamer to break through!) with balloons and streamers waving, a welcome banner, music playing, and sister Amy, brother-in-law Karl, & neice Alexi cheering. Noah and Dana were presented with gold medals for "long distance tandem bicycling," we were handed cups of cold water (which was wonderful, it had been a hot and hilly afternoon of riding), and looked at the cycle computer: 1485 miles pedaled. Yahoo!

After a day's bicycling adventure, with something new around every bend, we have our routines. The park ranger tells us whether we'll be paying $3 or $4 per person for the hiker/biker campsite (and whether Noah and Dana count as people, sometimes there's no charge for them), and the kids alternate setting up the tent or the stove. Showers are assessed for cleanliness and minutes of hot water per quarter (the range: no quarters needed to 2 quarters for 3 minutes). We roam to the beach to check out, as Dana says, "any special features." And we're in the tent at dark most nights, reading or looking at the maps of tomorrow's route or chatting about the day. It is a bit strange to stop all of that.

We have had an amazing adventure in family fun (Noah and Dana are impressive athletes and great people, Tom was patient that I can't charge up the hills as fast as he can), wildlife experiences (male elephant seals have a loud throaty sound, hundreds of pelicans close overhead, Tom and Dana's tandem nearly running over a sleeping rattlesnake), history appreciation (Point Reyes earthquake exhibits after a day riding the San Andreas fault, El Camino Real and the missions - we went to restorations in Lompoc, Santa Barbara and San Juan Capistrano), and lately, fruit smoothies everyday.

Oh wait, it is just the pedal journey that is finished. We'll enjoy a week of transition here at my sister's and get ready for our next adventure in Mexico. We taxed our bodies these last six weeks, and next we'll stretch our minds with studying Spanish in Guanajuato. The tandemonium concludes, but the adventures continue.