Getting Home

A long train ride

Although reaching Mexico was the culmination of the bike trip, it was in no way the end of the road for us.  When we got back to the United States, we rode 11 miles to Coronado Island to stay with friends for the weekend.  Saturday we enjoyed some R&R in San Diego Bay on kayaks and a paddle board.  We did laundry, went grocery shopping and packed to get ready for the next part of our journey.

When we talked to Amtrak a week ago, we found out that there was track maintenance this weekend.  If we wanted to go all the way to Seattle on the train, we either had to leave on Friday morning or Monday morning.  We didn't finish our ride until Friday evening, so Monday was the best option.

On Sunday we rode our bikes to church, then continued on bike to the Amtrack Station in San Diego to drop off our luggage.  We had to dismantle the bikes and put them in boxes to load on the train.  We removed the wheels and handle off each bike trailer, and they were checked as suitcases.  Our friend Sue picked us up at the station to take us back to her home.

At 5am Monday morning, we were back in the car heading to the Amtrak Station.  By 6:30 we were on the train, and then the waiting began.  It was fun to pass some of the campsites that we stayed at our last few days on the ride.  We were on the train all day Monday, slept in our seats Monday night, then stayed on the train all day Tuesday.  The boys decided that train travel is far better than airplane.  It takes longer (obviously), but it's more comfortable, you can walk around whenever you want and you never have to wear a seat belt.  At 8:45pm on Tuesday, we rolled into the Seattle Amtrak station.  Sigh...that leg of the journey complete.

We retrieved and reassembled our bikes, then rode a couple blocks to the light rail station.  We boarded another train and headed for SeaTac airport, then rode 1 mile to our hotel.  Ahh...a bed! In the morning Stephen took a shuttle to the airport, then another shuttle to the rental car lot to rent a car.  He picked us up at the hotel and we drove 2 hours north to the border where we left our van before starting this whole adventure.  We had to jump the battery on the van and transfer all of our bike tour belongings from the rental car trunk.  2 more hours south to drop off the rental car and pick up the bikes that we left at the hotel.

Currently, we are traveling south at 70 mph.  We finally feel like this journey is complete and we are heading in the direction of home.  In 3 days time we will be sleeping in our own beds.  It will be nice to have fluffy towels, a refrigerator and the ability to do laundry whenever we please.