Settling In

San Jose, California

It has now been exactly one month since we pedaled back to our humble abode here in San Jose. The transition back has not been difficult.  Perhaps the long ride back helped.  We were certainly well adjusted to the United States by the time we returned.  We also had the benefit of getting to spend most of our first week with our dear friends, the Pfyffers.  This was the fifth time we’ve met during the trip.  Sharing the last week of their one-year, round-the-world journey, helped stretch out our travels and provide an additional transition period for us.  Meeting number six will have to be on their home turf, in Switzerland.

Since then, there has been plenty to focus on.  The house was in beautiful condition on our return. The yard, however, without anyone here for the last couple months, needed a bit of TLC.  Tending to it and tackling some deferred maintenance projects have kept me plenty busy.  We’ve also enjoyed seeing friends and family, which, hopefully, will continue for a while.

My sister Debbie, De Ann, and niece, Jamie

Meg's big ride friends -- Cousin Elle, Gina, and Pierce

Dex and Kylie, thankfully seem to be taking “proper” schooling in stride.  Actually, they both seem quite happy with the routine. Despite Dex’s concerns and apprehension before starting middle school, he has adjusted well, and, from what I can tell, is actually enjoying it (one week down!).  He and Kylie both feel that they are right in there with the rest of the kids despite our sporadic schooling last year.  My fingers are crossed.

First day of school

When we left in 2016, Kylie’s bike, with 20 inch wheels, was already too small.  I had promised her a new one -- with gears and handbrakes -- upon our return. To my surprise, the shop owner suggested we buy a bike with full sized, 27.5 inch wheels.  Kylie was thrilled -- 21 speeds, front shock.... With a new bike, her's would now dwarf Dex’s old one. Oh well. I think after the hundreds of hours we spent in the saddle this summer, I can easily justify a new bike for each!

In some ways, the biggest surprise is how easy it’s been to slip back into “normal” Silicon Valley life. I have to keep reminding myself how skewed that life really is, not just compared to the rest of the world, but even compared to the rest of the US -- the frantic pace, the persistent drive to succeed, and the crazy cost of housing. 

On the other hand, despite the ease with which we’ve transitioned, I certainly do hope we’ve changed in some way. At a minimum, Meg and I have at least put away our stylish “fanny” packs that were strapped firmly in place for practically the entire 62 weeks.  Passport, credit card, ID, money, camera, Swiss army knife… were never far from reach. But, seriously, I do hope that we have a wider perspective of what life is like around the world. I hope we are more welcoming, tolerant, and understanding of others. We were rarely, if ever, treated poorly. On the contrary, we were often treated with great kindness and generosity, which I am hopeful we will have a chance to repay. Certainly, one of the best parts of the journey was making new friends or meeting up with old friends and family in out of the way places.

To new friends met along the way – Amy and Jeff on the island of Murano (Italy); Peter while eating lunch near his home in Fuhrberg (Germany); Sylvia at the Reinaur Hof Hotel in Manheim (Germany); Thomas and Julie while eating dinner in Frankfurt (Germany); Corinna, Christoph, Anja and Laura while camping in Maribo (Denmark); John, Patsy, and Annie at the Mexican food restaurant in Cape Town (South Africa); Ettiene, Anne, Louis, Arno and Matilde while camping in Namibia; Jess and Grant at Etosha Park (Namibia); Andre and Stephen eating breakfast in Palolem (India); Andy and Charlie in the Kathmandu airport (Nepal); Jeff from San Jose on the Everest Trail; Bec at the guesthouse in Gorakshep (Nepal); Anne and Jean at The Nest restaurant in Chiangmai (Thailand); the entire Gibbon’s experience tour group in the hills near Huay Xia (Laos), David and Shelley on the “slow boat” down the Mekong to Luang Prabang (Laos); Helen, Frederic, Keiran and Amanda on the boat in La Han Bay (Vietnam); Franz and Bruce who patiently taught us Spanish in La Paz (Bolivia); Adam while exploring the Uyuni salt flats (Bolivia); Michael, John and the entire Salkantay hiking group on the way to Machu Picchu; Jon, Jackie, Jos, Christa, Becky, Paula... and the rest of the passengers and crew on the Tip Top II in the Galapagos (Equador); Bob and Bruce braving heat and headwinds in Gackle (ND); Frank riding east in Hazelton (ND); Bobby who instantly became part of our extended family while biking through Idaho and Oregon; Andrew and Emma, newly weds, while riding from the coastal redwoods to San Francisco (CA) – we’re looking forward to meeting again.

Meg with Jon and Jackie in the Galapagos

Bobby and Dex in Marshall, Oregon

To all those who have hosted and helped us along the way -- Wendell in Port Orchard (WA); Bob and Angie in Milwaukee (WI); Glen and Terry in Sudbury (MA); Geraldine and Jed in Milton (MA); Jaume and Moni in Lloret De Mar (Spain); Julien in Lausanne (Switzerland); Michael and Ruth in Solothurn (Switzerland); Axel and Marion in Endingen (Germany); Björn and Annica in Bjärred (Sweden); Bertil and Annika in Södra Finnö (Sweden); Kerstin and Åke in Stockholm (Sweden); Cam and Jan in Vinterbro (Norway); Sally and Rob in the field below Heath Cottage (England); David and Margaret in Beadlam (England); Phillipa and Andre in Stanton (South Africa); Amy and Jeff at their temporary home in Bali (Indonesia), Helen and Shane in Chapman (Australia); Cam, Peter, and Juliet in the hills above Thirroul (Australia); Sharon and Steve in Auckland (New Zealand); Geraldine and Jed, again, in Milton (MA); Glenn and Terry, again, in Sudbury (MA); Sara and John in Shutesbury (MA), John and Karen in North Adams (MA); Dan and Anita in Schenectady (NY); Anita, Dave, and Larry in Rome (NY); Andy and Wendy in Liverpool (NY); Anne at the farm in Lyons (NY); Jackie, Jeff, Hillary and Marie in Scottsville (NY); Michael and Jessica in Ancaster (Ontario); Ned and Cary in Camalachie (Ontario); Ben and Lydia in Grand Haven (MI); Bob and Angie, again, in White Fish Bay (WI); Anne and Rick in Waukesha (WI); Aunt Ruth in Lake Delton (WI); Don, Joan, and De Ann in Lakeville (MN); Jason and Ginny at the Honey Hub hostel in Gackle (ND); Margaret and Pat at the Rock Roof Inn in Glen Ulin (ND); Sandy and Joe for the lift between Jordan and Mosby (MT); Delores and family at the Hill Ranch Oasis B&B in Mosby (MT); Arlen and Shawn in Missoula (MT); Patrick and Jalet at the Spoke'n Hostel in Mitchell (OR); April in Eugene (OR); and Simon and Mary in Bandon (OR) – thank you for your generosity and making us feel at home.  

Geraldine, Cole, Jed, and David in Boston

Terry and Glenn at there home in Sudbury, Massachusetts

To those who modified their plans and went out of their way to meet up with us -- Gary and Terri in Venice (Italy); Fede and Isabel in Asti (Italy); Mike, Ely and Cole in London and Paris; Craig and Kevin on the Everest trail (Nepal); Isabel and Maria in Chaigmai (Thailand); Mike Y in Hong Kong; the Pyffer family in Cambodia, Australia, New Zealand and California; my big sister, De Ann, on the South Island of New Zealand; Zoe and Isabella in Quenca (Ecuador); Nemo, Bob and Jerry biking between Milwaukee and Lake Delton (WI); my brother Don between Lakeville and Fergus Falls (MN); April, Kevin, Kirk and Sue from Missoula (MT) to Eugene (OR); Craig and Sharyl at Smith Rocks (OR); Don, Joan, and De Ann near Fort Bragg (CA) -- thank you for making it possible.   

Mike, Ely, and Cole visiting us in London

De Ann, meeting us in New Zealand

With the huge number of places we've been, we've been asked multiple times if we were ever scared during our trip, and I’ve struggled to come up with much. Meg and I have started watching Homeland, and that certainly would convince you that most people outside the country are out to get you. Most people, I suspect, worry about crime or disease, and that really never turned out to be an issue. The few times we were scared, had to do mostly with our physical environment: hiking down a steep, boulder strewn pass in Nepal for Meg, crossing a high suspension bridge or being bounced 20 ft in the air for Kylie, getting too close to a Cape Buffalo in S. Africa for Dex, or, for me, having to ride the white line along a busy, windy roads in the US with heavy trucks racing by.

Now that we’re home, we’re certainly much more comfortable leaving the kids at home. They’ve earned some extra independence. I'm also pretty sure they are much more comfortable with that freedom and also with interacting with adults. On the food front, Meg and I are trying to up our game. There's no substitute for fresh wholesome ingredients, and we were often impressed with the local street markets, fresh squeezed juices, fresh bread, good coffee, inexpensive wine....

The most common question we are asked is, what was our favorite country. I always sigh when I hear that.  There were great times everywhere.  Even harder, are the countries we didn’t like.  For the final blog (I promise!), I'll take a stab at rating, summarizing, and quantifying this big, crazy adventure -- how far we traveled, what we liked and didn't, what we spent, and whether we'd do it again.

Home At Last!

To San Jose, California --  56.2 miles, 11.4 mph, 1450 ft.

WE… ARE… HOME!!!

Our 2017 summer bike vacation -- 4092 miles over 12 weeks, 75 riding days, 137,500 ft of climbing, ten states and one province -- is done!

And, of course, so is the whole crazy, fabulous 14 plus month, around-the-world adventure -- 28 countries, 6 continents, 40 planes, 28 trains, 35 buses, 140 taxis (or what passes as one in some places), and of course friends and memories for a lifetime.

High point in the Alps -- Great Saint Bernard Pass, Switzerland

Diwali, Festival of Lights -- Jaipur, India

View of Ama Dablam -- Everest trail, Nepal

New Years Day swim -- Koh Rong, Cambodia

Unreal Patagonia backdrop -- Fitz Roy Range, Argentina

Jumping high at 12,000 ft -- Salar de Uyuni, Bolivia

Above the clouds -- Machu Picchu, Peru

Almost home on highway 71 -- near Cambridge, Idaho

We are incredibly fortunate to have been able to make this journey. We live in a place and time where we have the freedom and means to literally travel around the world. We also, of course, are lucky to have the financial wherewithal to do so. Finally, I am very lucky to have a wonderful spouse and children willing to put up with the more difficult, uncomfortable and boring bits of what are an inevitable part of such an undertaking. Of course, those parts also make for the best stories!

Our final day started early. We left the Royal Pacific Motor Inn at the crack of dawn. In fact, my 6 a.m. alarm went off as we were pedaling along the Embarcadero and past the Ferry Building. I had emailed some old work buddies on Thursday letting them know I planned to stop by at lunch. Since there are usually a fair number of people eating out on the patio, I knew it would be a good way to see some familiar faces.

Ready for the final ride

San Francisco Ferry Building -- 6AM

Google considerately routed us along the flat, eastern part of the peninsula, mostly near the El Camino Real and the Caltrain tracks, which conveniently end up right at my old work office in Sunnyvale. We, of course, were fairly motivated, so there weren't many stops. There was no doubt that we were back in the Bay Area as there was a clear increase in the number of Priuses, Porsches and Tesla's. The heat wave we had heard about the week before had mercifully disappeared, and instead, we were treated to beautifully sunny and cool weather as we rolled past increasingly expensive houses, culminating with three and four million dollar homes on the tree lined streets of Palo Alto.

At 11:30, we pedaled up to the office buildings of Intuitive Surgical. It was odd to turn into the parking lot as I had done thousands of times before. Eventually, a few people recognized us and slowly, I think, began to understand that we were actually still on our trip, albeit at the extreme tail end. David Bailey kindly bought us lunch at the cafeteria, so we could lounge outside with many of the people I had worked closely with for years.

A little after 1:00, we started on the last seven miles home. During the bike ride this summer, whenever I had noticed that we were only seven miles from our destination, I would breath a sigh of relief knowing it was no more than a simple commute ride to the end of the day. The familiar ride down Lawrence Expressway, turned out to be against a surprisingly strong and unusual headwind. No worries, nothing was going to stop us now, two lowly overpasses would finish the climbing for our weary legs.

Meg and I were both struck by how rundown the expressway was looking. The shoulders were covered in rocks and debris and tall, dry weeds were growing up in the medians and along the sides of the road. Soon we were almost there and unconsciously sped up the last few blocks. As we turned down Fallbrook Avenue, we saw a few hardly soles -- neighbors Jane, Kyra, Judy, and Kelly -- standing in front of the house with a Welcome Home sign. We had made it at last!

Judy, Kyra, and Meg

Dex and Jane

Fantastic spread and dear friends

Inside, the house looked fantastic and exactly as we had left it -- clean, tidy, and unusually devoid of all clutter. Undoubtedly, it would not take us long to fix that. Dex and Kylie quickly found some long forgotten toys and were soon immersed in play while Meg and I relaxed for a few minutes with our thoughtful neighbors.

Meg back in her kitchen

Ah, Hex Bugs!

As I started unpacking the various items we’d been traveling with for months, it was odd how almost immediately, their value and meaning changed for me. Suddenly, knowing that there was no longer a need to hit the highway each morning and pedal along sixty miles of roadway, the things we had relied on from day to day were now much less important. The precious Cliff bars and CoolAid packets, which provided convenient and critical energy, could now easily be replaced by something else sitting in the refrigerator; the valuable, oversized tube of Chamonix Butter, thankful relief from saddle sores, would rarely if ever be touched again; and our trusty four man tent was no longer critical shelter now that we were safely in our own home.  

Travel gear for four: clothes, sleeping bags, food, notebooks....

Soon afterwards, our good friend, Tom Nixon, stopped by to celebrate our return. He offered to cook us dinner and keep the kids over night, and Dex and Kylie could think of nothing better. Even after 437 days away from home, they apparently could stand to spend one more night away before sleeping in their own beds.

Tom manning the grill

Kylie, Cooper, and Dex in the Nixon's pool

Welcome home ice cream!

In the twenty four hours since we returned, we have just begun to unload many of the boxes packed while we were away. Despite substantial purging before we left, we've all been dismayed at how much stuff we each have. Having lived with three shirts and a single pair of pants, it seemed incredibly excessive and unnecessary to now have eight pair of pants and dozens of shirts. I'm convinced, if we hadn't opened half of the boxes, we would never have remembered nor cared about the extra stuff -- more dishes, games, books, papers, toys, clothes, back packs etc. If I muttered it once, I muttered it a dozen times… too much stuff!

Although I suspect much of this will soon seem normal, I do hope just a little bit continues to strike us as excessive and unnecessary. In the meantime, we have tons to organize and dozens of dearly missed friends and family to see. Above all else though, at the end of the day, it really is awfully nice... to be home again.

The Golden Gate

To San Francisco, California -- 59.1 miles, 11.1 mph, 2625 ft.

Last night was our last stay in our snug little tent.  It was a damp morning, so at some point we’ll be unpacking and drying it out. A couple delicious peanut butter tortillas and we were on our way.

Our soon-to-be-unnecessary food supplies

Mr Monster, the entire way, with a front row seat

Given the hilly terrain yesterday, my legs were really feeling it this morning along Tomales Bay. The low grassy hills and blue water of the shallow bay was beautiful in the early morning light, but, man, those short little hills were steep. Seventeen miles into the ride we coasted down into Point Reyes Station and found a hopping breakfast spot. If the elevation profile was right -- which is a big assumption given our past experience that some of the lines were drawn with an oversized crayon -- the rest of the day's climbing would be much more gentle.  

Tomales Bay

It was at this cafe that for the first time we felt like we were back in the Bay Area. This was also the last of our Highway 1 riding. Of all the roads we’ve been on, despite the beautiful scenery, it's clearly one of the worst for bikers.  There are just too many huge sections where there is no where to ride except on the roadway.  And, unfortunately, the windy road isn't enough to discourage semis and travel trailers.

The other clue that we were in the Bay Area was the explosion of bike riders. We got a fair amount of attention and encouragement as we rode into Sausalito and then, after a quick snack, negotiated the stream of biking tourists up the last steep climb to the bridge.

I had to laugh as we crossed the bridge; the wind was now gusting, the temperature had dropped by fifteen degrees, and the upper two thirds of the bridge towers were totally obscured by fog. It was still a hoot as we dodged the other cyclists on the eight foot wide walkway and rounded each bridge tower to a blast of wind, one of which took my sunglasses right over the edge... won't be needing those for a while anyway.

Once on solid ground again, the sun was out, and we let Google guide us into North Beach and to the Royal Pacific Motor Inn on the border of Chinatown. Good job everyone; our last stop of the trip!

We knew that Andrew and Emma, our British friends from a couple nights ago, had made it to the city earlier in the day, so we made plans to meet for drinks at an Italian Restaurant, Fino. The adults shared a bottle of wine and Dex and Kylie had Emma's ear the entire time. We learned that Emma is the introvert of the two. Despite that, she did great with us. I am so grateful we had a chance to meet them and wish them a safe and enjoyable journey on the next phase of their trip, Sri Lanka. For us, one day more.