Day 46 - Heading Home

Sunday, July 2, 2017

It was a bittersweet day today as we prepared to take Ritchie, Caroline and Shevaun to the airport.  We started the day with no rain, although it had rained hard all night long.  We had a very enjoyable morning enjoying the views at our new found friends' (Sara & Shawn's) house.

The dog on the right is Jim, a 3 year old Great Dane.  It's his house.  The dog on the left is Roxy, an 8 year old Great Dane.  She is Sara's sisters' dog.  She is visiting for a few days.

This is a picture that none of Lynn's friends would ever believe!  Big dogs scare the crap out of her!

These two dogs were so well behaved and mellow that even Lynn couldn't resist them.

Ritchie spent most of the day boxing his bike, a long process ensuring his $10,000 bike arrived home safe and sound.  He had a problem getting one of the pedals off.  He finally resorted to a mobile bike repair and he couldn't get it off either.  They agreed to take the whole crank assembly off. Problem resolved.

It was finally time to leave.
That's Roxy, Shevaun, Caroline, Ritchie, Shawn, Sara,Alicia, Lynn, myself and Jim.

I really can't say enough about Shawn and Sara.  They opened their home and their hearts to us.  Two of the most amazing Canadians of the many that we have had the privilege of meeting along this amazing journey.  I hope we meet again.  Maybe at a wedding somewhere!😉

On the way to the airport, we made a quick stop at Walmart for more duct tape for the bike boxes and of course an extra piece of luggage to take most of their stuff back.  The rest will be shipped.

We stopped at Montana's for one last meal together and of course the skies opened up again in a torrential downpour.  Why not, it's rained every day we've been in Ontario (3 weeks!)

And then it was time...........  

After living in a tin can together for the last 6 weeks it was time to say good bye.  It has been such a memorable time.  An experience none of us will ever forget.  We're so proud of what Ritchie and Caroline did and the guts and determination it took to achieve it and allowing us to be part of it.

And then it was over.  We headed out of the airport and pointed the RV for home.  

On the way home I diverted to take the Thousand Island Parkway.  My Tromper buddies and I will be cycling the bike trail as part of our annual getaway.  If you check the photos you'll see that it is flat and straight.  My kind of trail where we will be able to burn down the trail at our average speed of 16 kph!!!😀

Another adventure down the road!

Some rambling reflections on our last 9 weeks:

• Ritchie rode the entire distance - 4708 km with almost 27 km of vertical climbing!  He calculates that he made over 1,200,000 revolutions!
• Caroline rode much further than she thought she would, 2514 km with over 12.8 km of vertical climbing!
• I knocked off two items on my Bucket List.  One was the Terry Fox Memorial in Thunder Bay and the other was to get to Lake of the Woods although I didn't get to fish it.
• The RV performed extremely well.  We had issues along the way (Fridge, Batteries, etc), but none were showstoppers and none affected the ride schedule.
• We never hit a bad campground.  Some of the ones that looked sketchy often ended up being some of our favourites.
• Almost every campground was close by a railroad line.  The steel ribbon of rail is still a core of this great country.
• We met so many amazing people along the way.  It will take time to reflect and remember many of them.
• A BIG thanks to all who have followed along.  It was rewarding to see so many page views.
• The Prairies are NOT flat.  Nor are they boring.  I travelled them in 125 km chunks, much slower than the average bear and I was never bored!
• We didn't see anywhere near the wildlife we expected.  Even roadkills, unless you include the billions of tent caterpillars strewn across the Saskatchewan highways.
• Winnipeg had the worst roads to drive on (worse than Hamilton)!
• Ontario had by far the worst highways, especially for cyclists!
• I have discovered a wonderful new way (for me) to travel!  I have wanted to RV for years.  This confirmed all my investigations. 
• We live in the best and most beautiful country in the world!
• A tip of the hat to all our Veterans and First Responders.  Our everyday heroes!

I hope to eventually add one more post with a video of our entire adventure.

And one last thought.
Ritchie had a dream.  It started in Lake Louise so many years ago.  It took this long for it to come to fruition, but he MADE IT HAPPEN!
We all have dreams.  YOU NEED TO FOLLOW YOURS!
One of the main inspirations in my life has been my older brother Bud (now 80).  He has done so many amazing things in his life, BUT, he has wanted to see the Alaskan Highway since he was 5 years old and saw them building it on the NewsReels at the show.  HE IS THERE NOW!
If you want to follow along, go here to Dorsal's Diaries and bookmark it.

Those that know me, know my mantra;  "LIFE IS SHORT"!!
So get out there, follow your dreams and do stuff while you can!

Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn’t do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover. 
Mark Twain

Happy Trails!