A Wayward Journey

“Do you realize this is our last riding day in the USA?” John mentioned as we pedaled southward.

It seems unreal that we are actually at our crossing point – after following the Rio Grande for weeks we’re finally at the place we’ll cross.  We’ve cycled through our second country – two of the largest ones we’ll pass through.

Today, in contrast to yesterday, was actually almost cold.  Yesterday we were all stripped down to the point where the removal of any more layers would land us an indecency charge, but today we didn’t take our winter jackets off all day.  What a fickle lady Mother Nature is!

But the best part of today was the reception the people of McAllen have given us!  As we cycled into town, we had so many honks and waves and thumbs up.  Many people shouted out their car windows – “Way to go!”  “Good job!”  It was like the whole town was populated by cyclists cheering us on.

It wasn’t until later that we discovered we were on the news last night – they had been alerted that we were coming and had taken some pictures off our website.  That explained all the honks!!

Eric, the Executive Director of Los Caminos del Rio and author of Bicycling Mexico
 has graciously offered us “plenty of floor space and a shower” while we’re here, so we plan to enjoy a few days of down time before we head south.

Kilometers today:  90

Kilometers to date:  9669

“Hey Mommy,” Daryl asked, “do you remember that lake I jumped in up in the Arctic tundra?”

“You mean the one with ice still floating in it?” I questioned.

“Yeah – that one.  I wouldn’t mind jumping into that lake right now.  I’m hot!”

Our bodies are sorely unprepared for this head and humidity – and we’re struggling big time.  The kids, after one of their Coke-bottle soccer games at a rest area, were dripping with sweat.  It seems so odd – so foreign after months of cool, dry weather.

After a long, hot day, the sun eventually began its descent toward the horizon and it cooled off a bit.

“Ahhhh…” I thought as we pulled into Roma, “finally!  It’s actually quite pleasant!”

But then I saw the bank sign flashing ahead of me.  5:22  85°

85 degrees?  And that was the cool, pleasant temps?  I don’t even want to know how hot it got today.

Kilometers today:  69

Kilometers to date:  9579

One of my favorite games on my Gameboy Advance is Kirby Mirror Adventure.  Kirby’s powers are tornado, UFO, comet, sword, cutter, ice blow, fire blow, umbrella, fighter, beam, bomber, crash, angle, magic, looking pot, stone, spark, wheel, sleep, hammer, throw, laser, and missile.

Today I rode Davy’s stinking bike for 7 miles.  I hate his bike almost as much as I hate doing journals.  Why do I hate riding his bike?  I haven’t quite figured that out yet.

Rachel, over at Pilgrim’s Progress, said it much more eloquently than I ever could.  Rachel managed to capture the essence of traveling with kids – to encapsulate in words how her kids are benefitting from their journey in so many ways.

I often talk about how much Davy and Daryl are learning from our journey, but it’s hard to actually explain what they’re learning.

Yes – they are learning all the “school stuff” – reading, writing, math, science, social studies…  But, more importantly, they are learning valuable life lessons that will get them through life beyond Argentina.

They’re learning that life isn’t necessarily a bowl of cherries.  There are some days that are rainy…

…or cold…

…or windy…

There are times when we have to grind our way up hills that seem like they’ll never end…

But they’re also learning the thrill of victory.  They’re learning they can reach the top of those proverbial hills…

They can cross countries one pedal stroke at a time…

And they’ve learned that people are good.  Humankind of basically kind and generous and giving and welcoming – not like one would believe from watching the nightly news.

That’s all stuff that can’t be learned in a classroom.

I think John said it best:  The world is our classroom and our journey is our textbook.

Kilometers today:  34

Kilometers to date:  9510