Sea-to-Sea Wrap-up The trip home went well, everything was on time, the luggage arrived, the bike boxes followed although I have not opened them up yet. I hope that all riders had the same pleasant experience. Reconnecting with family and friends, although started will take a few weeks. In our case we will finally make it to our home in the Picton area late Tuesday night. Now that the tour is over we will have to get used to many things again; the speed of car travel and the limited visibility and sensibility around us as we travel, for me getting used to a cold toilet seat will take a few days (the luxury of only 2 or 3 seats for 100 men is that the seat is always warm), sleeping on an elevated bed in a room bigger than 7’ square but we had some nice scenes in the morning out of that tent window, not having to scout out a new tent site every day and setting up etc. We have lived outdoors for 2 months, 24 hours a day and being inside will take some getting used to. Our life has had a very narrow focus for 9 weeks – that of riding a bike to the next appointed stop every day – and everything focused on that, eating, sleeping and conversation. It was almost all we knew and had to worry about. Now as we return home all the other issues of normal daily life close in on us and for a while we may seem overwhelmed by them. One adjustment that is more profound is a kind of time warp. I found this after the 2005 trip also; it is like having been in a dream for 9 weeks. When we left the summer was starting and now it is over but you have not been home to experience it. True you have done other things but they were out of the norm and do not count as summer. The trip seems to be classed as something else in your head. True it was hot but it was not ‘summer’ as you have known it your whole life, so now as I sit on the patio it is difficult to convince myself that it is September and not June. What permanent changes will we make in our lives as a result of hearing about and discussing poverty issues for the past 9 weeks? Will we continue to raise the topic in other discussions bringing out a new perspective on the issue? I for one am more aware of what our church is doing in the poor areas of the cities in the USA. I will continue to work for DRS (the disaster response service of the CRC relief committee) as I have prior to the tour but now I may look farther a field for projects that I can help with. Jesus said to his disciples that we would always have the poor with us. Proverbs mentions many times the plight of the fool and loose living people. The bible also tells us to love our neighbour but we are not expected to give everything we have to them so that we become penny-less ourselves (the good Samaritan) but we are to make sure that they are taken care of, that there is justice for all and we can do that on a small scale on our home front or some of us have the opportunity to do it on a larger scale. Thanks for reading this blog. As you know it is not always easy to post and thanks for your encouragement in that respect.