The last day of our adventure did not disappoint, both with joy and challenge.
We woke up to more rain and then a large thunderstorm moved through with some lightening striking very close to our tent sites! As Crys and I tried our best to hide from the reality of packing and cycling in the rain and thunder, the kids started to deflate and pack.
Spurred on by their enthusiasm, we crawled out and started preparing as well. Everything was very wet from the intense rain but knowing we were finished was a comfort.
Lots of lasts (for now) today - last breakfast on trail (Cinnabon’s from the camp store), last time breaking camp, last time heading off. Thankfully the rain dissipated as we headed out and the fog and clouds stuck on the Tetons was an incredible sight as we rode out.
Turns out there is a bike path loop all the way back to Jackson. We did it per the Adventure Cycling route, counterclockwise, which brought us through an amazing environment of swamps, fields and great views!
The road turned to dirt and with all the rain, we were shortly covered from head to toe in mud! But the beauty and excited only made the mud fun as we laughed and rode. Then we started to get closer to town and buildings appear as the bike path guided us in. Just as we got to the Main Street there was a bike shop with a hose and we stopped and asked if we could clean off. They were very kind and we sprayed down our bikes and each other in the rain, laughing and happy to not show up as mud men at the hotel.
And then we came to the town, took photos by the town sign, came to our hotel, and just like that, the trip is over. One last round of laundry in our rain suits (since we have very little clothes and all of it needs to be washed), setting out things to dry, unpacking, and getting ready to be tourists for a few days. We still need to collect the bike boxes from the bike shop we shipped them to, box them up and ship them off, but we will do that later after we spend a few days exploring Jackson on our bikes.
Thanks for following our 5 week, 900 mile biking adventure! It’s been an amazing trip for everyone in the family and we all are stronger for it. There was a lot of fun, a good amount of struggle, and amazing experiences. Writing the journal is a labor of love, and takes a good amount of effort, but I hope it lets our families, friends and even ourselves be able to share the experience and relive it in the future.
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