A Wrap up - In Retrospect

As Paul C's post says, we made it!  Now that we're safely back in Idaho, it's fun to think back on what we saw, what we accomplished, and what we'll remember for the rest of our lives.

Here's some of our favorites.  First, the people we met,

Jim & Carol, apple orchard owners from Williamson, NY....

Kiere & Mark, tandem cyclists from Canada......

Art & Pam, part-time residents of Gilmanten, NH and France, avid cyclists.....

and lastly, Gayle's family in Spooner, WI.

Second, the beautiful sights we saw,

All of the passes in the North Cascades...

Glacier Park, from Going to the Sun Highway.....

The open prairies and abandoned houses of eastern Montana....

The floating island near Vergas, MN....

The rail trails we found and rode on....

Niagara Falls....

The Erie Canal....

The amazing New England fall colors...

and lastly, the Atlantic Ocean.

Third, the machines and structures we saw...

trains....

wind turbines...

the old barns...

the old cars...

the bridges...

and lastly, the wacky things we happened upon.

Overall, it was a really fun trip.  We all got along well and had similar interests.  From a rain standpoint, we did really well, only having a few days with drenching rain.  The winds were a different story.  From central Montana all the way to New England, it seemed like we were fighting headwinds every day.  We ended up finding all sorts of stuff, perhaps the most interesting being the tools category.

The total included, a chalk line, several pairs of gloves, a roll of tape, a window scraper, ten box wrenches, three screwdrivers, ten sockets, four sets of pliers, a nut driver, a paintbrush, two snips, and a hose squirter.   We lost count of the money we found, probably close to $20 in coins.
Mechanically we did very well.  Paul C. had several flats at the beginning, but things improved when he replaced the rear tire in Medora, ND.  I didn't have any flats at all, but I did wear out two tires.  Probably the most serious incident was when Paul C. broke his chain, running the rear deraillier into his spokes and bending the dropout.  Fortunately, Gayle had her bike and offered to let Paul finish the ride with it.  The sag method worked nicely, except when we lost cell phone contact.  Gayle did a great job keeping up with us, packing up the gear, finding accommodations, and generally encouraging us as the trip proceeded.  The latest smart phone bike computer apps were useful, providing us detailed maps both during the ride and then at the end of the day.  For the most part, the Adventure Cycling routes worked for us.  We did take a few shortcuts from the route which mostly worked out for us.  The nicest thing about the A-C guides were the lists of motels, campgrounds, restaurants, and grocery stores, although many of the businesses listed were no longer in business.
So we now go back to our normal retired life, with lots of fun memories, discussions, and pictures to reflect on.  Thanks to each of you who have read this and participated in our adventure.  We hope you've enjoyed reading our blog as much as we have enjoyed writing it.