On the way back east we visited again with my brother his family in San Diego, Tina's family in West Texas, my parents in southwest Texas, friends in Austin, and friends in Springfield, MO -- picking up all manner of vehicles and gear that we'd left behind like giant breadcrumbs when we "migrated" westward back in the spring!
Along the way we also had the pleasure of getting to meet and help out a delightful young Chinese couple, Hongwu and his wife Liping, who were in the process of moving from Oklahoma to Toronto when their car was totaled in an accident between Joplin and Springfield. They had to abandon the car but still had to get to Toronto and so we were able to help out by giving them a ride to the airport at St Louis. As further evidence that it's a small world, it turned out that Liping's post-doc advisor in Oklahoma knew my father from regional forage research meetings they both used to attend! In any case, it was a pleasure for us both getting to know this brave young couple and we wish them all the best in their new life in Toronto.
Getting on to the actual "wrapping up" ..
The actual adventure, in outline: The main comment we get about this blog is that people have enjoyed the pictures but the questions mainly indicate a need for us summarize what the trip actually wound up being. Here that is:
1. On April 23rd Tina started hiking north along the PCT from the Mexican border. A bit more than a week later I joined her as I rode the tandem bike and trailer solo in and around her position, meeting her as I could.
2. On June 30th Tina summited Mount Whitney and exited the Sierras at Whitney Portal on July 1, having hiked some 800 miles while I'd cycled around 1100. Due to the dangerous water crossings present in the Sierras at that time, we decided to proceed north together on bike.
3. On July 6th we started biking northward together from Ridgecrest, CA.
4. On August 16th, our 31st anniversary, we crossed briefly into Canada at Sumas, WA.
5. That very same day, August 16th, we rode back into the US, loaded the bike into a small U-Haul truck, and started driving back south, retracing our full cycling path and making some side trips that we'd missed on the bike.
6. On August 25th, after having snagged the truck and Tina's hiking equipment back from my brother Carl in San Diego and visiting our son Keith in Monterey, Tina relaunched on the PCT at Horseshoe Meadows near Lone Pine, CA.
7. On the morning of September 18th Tina reached Sonora Pass on the PCT where I picked her up with the truck. That wrapped the trip with over 1018 miles of of hiking and 2800 miles of cycling.
8. Later on September 18th we blasted our way back down to San Diego, picked up everything left stored there, and started our eastward migration!
And that's it! :)
Now we're in Winchester, VA tending to administrative items, sorting through storage, and working on what "next" might be. We'll be here through Thanksgiving but after then .. ? :)
Thanks for all the support and for following along, David & Tina