Homeward Bound

The morning following the Christoff family reunion, I woke to dark skies painted in scattered showers and 100% chance of rain. Knowing that I had to get on the road soon, I woke up Evan who drove me off the dirt road and onto Highway 441. We said our goodbyes under the neon lights of the Kangaroo and parted ways from our journey though I doubt he remembers it, he was half asleep.

I got all my gear ready on the bike while a construction worker grilled me on my journey here. He bought me breakfast so I was good for another couple of hours on the road. As soon as I got to pedaling, the bottom fell out and the rains never stopped. I was sure proud of my waterproof panniers and gear because that day, I put it all to the test. It was weird riding alone down the highway, not having the sound of another bike behind you but it made hearing my flat very easy. Only 19 mile out of Ocala, I blew my last tire of the trip and changed it in the morning rain.

Once you're totally wet, the rain doesn't bother you anymore but it sure makes the people at McDonald's move away from you faster. Smelling like wet dog at 10 am, I stopped for my last time on the bike for my second breakfast north of Mt. Dora.

As I hit the south side of Mt.Dora, I saw in the on coming traffic, mom and dad honking and screaming at me. They had been tracking me on the Spot and met me along the way in to block cars.

It was great to see them again and from there, it was an all out sprint towards home. Once we hit city limits, I road past signs on the road they had put out that morning welcoming me home.

And finally, I crossed the tape into home!

Its good to be home! I thought that'd I'd be sick of the bike by now but I went for a 45 mile ride the next day. Its hard doing this everyday then suddenly nothing at all. You have a lot of energy stored up, its hard to sleep, and you feel like you need to be moving all the time. 

Its been an amazing summer and I'm ready to do it again. Maybe just around Florida for now, we'll see.

Evan and I are going to give our reviews of the gear we used later, hopefully it'll be useful to those looking to tour sometime soon.