The end, for now

Right. So she came back. She now says (literally just now) "So the whole biking thing feels like it was kind of a dream." Well, it wasn't. Totally real. Proof: her legs are aching to bike. They don't know what's going on-- why aren't they pedaling?





All told, she rode 1,893 miles. Not too shabby, eh? She was tempted to mosey around Chicago for a while yesterday afternoon to make it an even 1,900, but resisted. Seriously, 1,893 miles is more than the distance across Mongolia the long way (west to east) or across the Sahara or Australia the short way (north to south) or from Juneau to the middle of Hudson Bay; or from San Salvador, El Salvador to Martinique; or from Los Angeles to New Orleans; or from Beijing to Kathmandu; or from Peoria to the Pacific; or from Paris to Moscow. As the crow flies, obviously, as I just used a bit of paper and a wall map (but I did take the Mercator Projection into careful consideration). At any rate, far.





One thing Priscilla said she learned was that she's very proud of being independant, but that you can't really live that way-- that you need to depend on God and that he's going to make you dependant on people, and even if he can drop things from the sky if he wants, usually he uses people. And here are some of the ones he used this time, in order of appearance where convenient:




Ben: bicycle purchaser
Emily: Mrs. bicycle purchaser
Sarah: the helpful sidekick
James: the good buddy
Steven: Mr. helpful sidekick
Mr. Alvarez: hardware hero
Amy: chauffeur #1 & t-shirt designer extraordinaire
Joe: Mr. t-shirt designer extraordinaire
Oscar: t-shirt design muse
Rachel: chauffeur #2
Art: medical advisor
Kathy Forbes: Boston connection
Jamie & David & Elijah Voss: host #1
Paul: host #2
Portland Park District: host #3 (unbeknownst to them)
fox: fodder for a story for future generations, whomever's loins they may spring from
Eddie & Lisa Comeau: host #4
Jennie & Kenny Wade: host #5 and local color
Janet & Gary Ness: host #6
the flatness of Nova Scotia: smooth, easy riding
Mary Comeau & Colin, Nicholas & Lilly MacDonald: host #7
Mervin & Theresa Mooney: host #8
Herb & Myrna: host #9
Lindsay Dickieson: trans-PEI driver
Mrs. Frances Leary: host #10
bridge shuttle driver: comic relief
David, Johnny, Martin, Charles, & Frazer of Sackville: host #11
Harold: friendly fellow biker
Kathy: friendly fellow biker
Donna & David Watson: host #12
Mike & Sue Watson: host #13
Steven, Melissa, Sarah, Kendra, Jake, & Kimberly Thompson: host #14
Beth & Lexie: host #15
Pam, Sharon, Joe & Edith Manley: host #16
Gail Raye: friendly bakery cashier
Mr. Rolf Schmalzer: host #17
Therese, Marcel & Catherine Turgeon: host #18
Claire & Lucien Bolduc: host #19
Isabelle, husband, Raphael, Zacharie & Emeryc Therriens: host #20
Catherine, husband & Maxime Dumouchel: host #21
Jean-Francois: another friendly biker and fountain of information
Julie, Stephane, Olivier & Loic Lemieux-Crete: host #22
John Scorgie: kindly pastor
Joyce & David Lindsay: host #23
lady at info center: provider of hot coffee
bookshop girl: provider of directions to Salvation Army
Linda & Kenny Cassell: host #24
Tim Horton's: delicous muffin dealer
horse arena people: host #25
Chris, Candice, Mackenzie & Madison Walter: host #26
Padraic & Fez: host #27
Neil de Toronto: provider of directions
Millie & John Sauve: host #28
Jojo Chintoh: knight in shining armor
Mark, Lori, Colin & Kathryn Driscoll: host #29 & ride across the border & beloved family...
All the Hicks in Hicksville: host #30
Kandice, Tammy & Jim: host #31
Jon & Paul: Merrillville connection
Angie: host #32
Roxanne: warm welcome home
me: trusty assistant & narrator