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The theme of today’s ride was ‘family’. My daughter has watched every episode of every season of ‘Survivor’ and is encouraging me to become a contestant. She says that they are struggling to find ‘older’ contestants and thinks that I would be the perfect candidate but also would be the perfect individual to vote off the island early as a threat. For now, I’ll focus on the remaining days in our 48-day adventure across the country.
I did, however, feel like I’d won a challenge on ‘Survivor’ and was getting the opportunity to see my family. My husband arranged to fly to Minneapolis and pick up my daughter, who lives there, and drive to Austin, Minnesota today to spend the afternoon and evening together. My husband will need to leave early in the morning because he has to fly to Philadelphia for a corporate golf tournament on Thursday. I am so very grateful that they were both able to come and put up with a less than exciting me given the tiredness and also the chaos of the afternoon and evening. My husband, in particular, put up with me telling him it was lights out just after 8 pm. What an exciting bunch we are.
We spent the afternoon in the hotel pool together visiting and then made our way out for a coffee – of which decent coffee has been few and far between. We also did a run to the grocery store to pick up a few items. While it was mundane type activities, I appreciated the company and their time.
We had a lovely dinner with the group I usually ride with, and I was keen to have them meet each other. Of course, dinner is the usual feed trough type activity that starts at 5:30 pm. We’ve become the senior special diners eating at that hour. We are usually fairly ravenous and also tired from the day and want to head to bed early without a belly full of food. My daughter and husband were able to witness the consumption of copious amounts of food and the fact that we do pretty much try almost every appetizer on the menu. It was a wonderful opportunity to break bread together with my family and what has quickly become almost an extended family through this trip. At the very least, a wonderful group of new and amazing friends.
The ride was 80 miles of corn, rolling hills and flat, and little to no wind. It’s never truly boring as we are blessed to be outside and seeing the amazing countryside roll by before our very eyes. We smell every smell of every pig farm, feel the wind across our faces, and the warmth of the sun on our bare arms and legs. It is a reminder of the beauty of being alive. Today, I tried to stay in the moment and enjoy the gift of the ride before me, but I was also excited about seeing my daughter and my husband and struggled between being present and counting down the miles until we arrived in Austin, Minnesota.
In the end, it was a blissful day – both because of the beautiful ride and also the prize of part of my family being at the finish of the ride today.
Tomorrow, I will be sad to see them off early in the morning, but I know I will be grateful to have seen them and spent even the very short time we were able to see one another. It is a reminder of the importance of staying connected with those that we love and the gratitude we feel for the moments we have together.
