Conclusions

As it is the last day of August and the day I wanted to end my trip by I thought it would be appropriate to do one last blog conclusive blog post to wrap up some of the details.

After La Jolla I have been spending my time around Southern California enjoying times with friends and family. I went back up to Newport Beach to see my God Family before they moved from out to Utah and kick it with some of the new friends that I had made there. Then I came back south to Poway to spend some time with my Aunt Punky, Uncle Thom & Cousin Garrett.

Last Friday on my way down there I ran into someone opening his car door in Oceanside California. It really banged up my shin (which is still sore) and somehow managed to knock off my back break. My bike is still functional but it was a disheartening incident, I'm just thankful it didn't happen on my actual journey. I was not discouraged and still met up with my cousin for a day filled with attempted spear fishing and body surfing. That night I participated in my first Critical Mass in San Diego. If you are unfamiliar with this it is a massive bike ride through cities all across the world to promote the benefits of cycling from reducing Green House Gasses to lessening congestion. More info can be found at this link. It was the final death rattle of my bike as far as I'm concerned with no back break. There was a good 400 or so of us that took off from Balboa Park and we ended up going over the Coronado Bridge. Seeing as this was illegal the police decided we were not allowed back over it to downtown. The only option was to ride down the strand to Imperial Beach. So I did actually reach Imperial Beach around midnight Friday and it was such an unexpected outcome of the night and my trip in general. My bike is in poor condition with the break and rack piratically falling off of it. We took the trolley back to downtown and I slept very satisfied that night. On saturday my cousin and I joined my aunt and uncle for some horse camping out past Julian, CA. It was very nice country and I enjoyed sleeping outside one more time, no JakPak though.

I have been relaxing here at my relatives house in Poway since then, filling out applications for a number of jobs online, eating lots of tasty veggies grown by my cousin and figuring out how I am going to get back home. I am doing something I said I didn't ever want to do in moving back to my parents in Spokane. Although I hope it is a temporary solution until something else pulls through. I will be taking the train there with in the next week.

Overall reflecting on this summer it has been the adventure of a lifetime and I have absolutely no regrets. I indubitably believe that it was the best way I could have spent my summer and hope to be adventure cycling for the rest of my life. So everybody keep an eye out for the next one, who known when though.

The fund raising effort did not raise as much as much original intent. It was an aspect of the trip that I did not really know how to manage that well but again I thank everyone who did contribute. This money will really help not only my alumni and former peers at Western but some of the endangered poor settlements of Guatemala City. The total raised was $ 1720, again thank you to all who supported and it really is never to late if you haven't. The Western Foundation is always accepting and the donations are totally tax deductible.

I again want to thank all the people who helped me out along the way. From the people who got the word out on the media, to the fellow cyclists who were great friends along the road. All my friends and family that I saw along the way. I could not have done this with out you behind me and for that I am eternally grateful.

I will keep this site active and hopefully be using it as a personal site that I will update with my future endeavors and adventures. Until then.

Sincerely
-TE