Well we are all home again. What a fun adventure. I had a great time. Thank you Katie for pushing for the trip and for your very good navigation. The day our trip started, she gave me the nickname "PAPA Smurf" and put a label on my blue bike. I then knew that this was going to be another good trip. Thank you to Chris and Laura for all of their hard planning to make the trip happen. Thanks to TJ, I am very glad you came on the trip, you helped make the trip more fun. (But I never did get you to carry one of my bags). I could not have asked for a better group to travel with. Everyone helped each other keep their moral up and kept the trip fun. We always said it is about the trip, not about the destination. This old man kept going because of the fun I was having with the group and the sights we were seeing. I did not know if I could make it over the mountains, but I made it with everyone's support. We met many nice people along the way and saw many great sights.

Also thanks to my wife Delores, without her support I would have not even tried to make the trip. I really missed her but I was able to talk to her most nights. It takes someone special to let her husband make a trip like this without complaining. It also takes someone special to make the long trip to pick us up, just to return back home. Eight straight days of driving is not very fun or easy. I am so glad she was with us the final day when we dipped our tires in the Pacific. We were all so happy to see her.

Thanks to my daughter Sheri for her support. We also met her for lunch along the way and she give us additional supplies which really helped.

Thanks to my sister Donna for her many e-mails of support along the way. She would e-mail Delores who would update me when I talked to her. It was nice knowing she and Sammy were following us.

Last, thanks to everyone who followed our adventure. I hoped you enjoyed reading about it.

I am sad that the trip is over, happy that we completed it, and happy to be home.

Roger (Papa Smurf)