Wandering Retirees

End of the Line

On the 28th we rode long and hard to get to Beaver Falls, PA, just northeast of Pittsburgh. Then on the 29th we ground out the entire PA Turnpike to home. We’re sort of sorry to say we didn’t stop to see much. On the other hand, we’re not too sorry. After 8 weeks we were eager to get home, sleep in our bed, and have no need to keep track of our stuff that has to be repacked each morning. So on Monday the 29th, we hustled until we pulled into our driveway, parked, and fell off the bike in exhaustion.

Well, not really. There was no falling, though we were hot and exhausted. So we scrambled to empty the bike, get into the A/C and take long, cool showers. And start the laundry, especially the bed linens. And pick up the yard after the last storm. In a word, we were glad to resume our normal, everyday lives.

We are so grateful we had the wherewithal and opportunity to take another magnificent trip across the continent. And we’re so blessed to have a nice home to return to.

Over the next couple of days, we got the house in order, changed our road weary duds into clean clothes, slept in beyond hotel checkout, washed the bike (OMG – 2 months of accumulated bug carcasses!), lounged and took naps. Busy few days. Yup.

It’s now a week later and I’m finally around to closing the blog. Thanks for your patience, gentle reader. We’re back on track in the grandparental role, ready to welcome a new grandson into the world (Ben and Aabha) and spend some time with granddaughter, Cora (Tim and Anna). We’re in touch with our volunteer groups and are almost acclimated again (not) with Delaware Valley summer heat. So the beat goes on.

Just a few random thoughts and impressions that have been rattling around my brain pan that haven’t made the blog until now.

Remembering Crater Lake in Oregon is a recurring pleasure. The stunningly blue waters of the lake we saw on June 23rd and 24th are as vivid a memory as any we’ve had. This 1949 foot deep body of water is contained in the caldera/crater of a volcano that will become active again. So below the waters is a cavern of superheated magma that will one day boil the lake away. Sitting on top of such immense fires, the lake and its environs suffer under temps as low as -40* F, and receive up to 44 feet of snow every winter. Let that sink in for a second. Forty-four feet equals 528 inches. That’s as tall as a four-story building. Spring, summer and fall last all of 5 months from min-May to mid-September, and the rest is winter. Shall we all now complain about our winters? That would be, no.

Tolls. As in $56.50 from the western terminus of the PA Turnpike to the Rt. 1 interchange. Really? That represents almost 5 hours of gross income at the PA minimum wage of $12/hour. Long trips by car are affordable to fewer and fewer people. I know I couldn’t have afforded such a toll structure in my early years. Yet the cost of maintenance and upkeep is significant and rests largely on the States. There’s been some talk about a federal infrastructure program. Hoping.

We have mentioned meeting some exceptional people during our travels. There are a lot of wonderful folks in all areas of the US and Canada who hail from all backgrounds of religion, politics, socio-economic status, so forth. Those things don’t matter so much when you meet someone face to face, shake their hand and listen with an open mind and speak with kindness and humility. We realized we were guests in each town we rolled into and tried to act that way. Of course there were some crumb-bums along the way who had a problem with a stranger. (Mark would say there’s no one stranger than we are. But I digress.) Not unlike the crumb-bums who live on the streets in our towns who are our neighbors. We need to get over the inevitable fact that we are different in many ways, but have much more in common.

For our part, we are constantly amazed at the doors that people open into their homes and hearts because we see persons instead of caricatures. It is our choice how we decide to see our neighbor. Just saying.

It has truly been a pleasure and an honor to share our story with you. It’s a little humbling to think you all actually wanted to follow along on our journey. Your interest and kind comments have added so much to our pleasure.

From the bottom of our hearts, thank you, and so long!