6,813 Down, 0 to go

Mile Post Zero, Key West, Florida.

Yesterday afternoon, at about 1pm EST, Jon Natkin and I pulled into Key West, reaching a location on the map that has dominated our thinking for the past 6 months. I'm truly amazed that we made it this far, it seems like only yesterday I was sitting in the parking lot of Wilson Backcountry Sports, hopelessly trying to reassemble my bicycle and attach my front rack (the instructions were ridiculously oversimplified, it essentially said "attach rack" as it's one and only step). Now, some three and a half months past our start date, we are sitting at the southernmost point in the continental US, succesfully raising a smidge over $8,000 for Reach Out and Read.

While I am overjoyed that I have arrived safely, my heart is heavy that my adventure is coming to a close. With horror, it has dawned on me that my daily diet of 3 snickers bars, 2 cokes, and a pound of cheese will probably not fly in the real world (unless I want take on the likeness of a bloated elephant seal), and that my diet that every five year old dreams of will be replaced by one replete with vegetables and whole grains (at least, that's the plan, we''ll see what actually happens).

Throughout the last day, images of past experiences continually have been perculating in my mind. Burned in my soul are the prints of what we witnessed: the desert sky, ablaze with fiery and intense tones of indigo and gold as the encroaching night quarrelled with the setting sun, or the tired eyes of our West Texas hosts as they talked about the way things were.

Tomorrow I'll be home, in the loving embrace of my sweetheart. The trip is over for me. But it will live forever in my heart as one of the most important experiences of my life.