Day 64 – Sunday 8/1/22

Olympia, Washington to Indianapolis, Indiana – Flying

With Ishmael at the bike shop and the bags sent home through UPS, there wasn’t a lot to pack today. The handlebar bag I was now using as luggage was all that was left of the rig I’d pedaled across the country, and I was fine with that. It was time to go home.

As promised, the shuttle driver arrived at 4:30 AM to streets that looked like this:

I wasn’t the only passenger, as three others were leaving from Sea-Tac that morning. One was from Winter Park, Florida, and had just completed a backpacking route around Mount Ranier over the course of a week. We had a lot to talk about. The shuttle arrived on time and soon I was going through the routine of getting ready to fly.

I’d bought the cheapest ticket I could find on Southwest, and the schedule showed it. No direct flight for me, as we flew from Seattle to Phoenix, then on to Las Vegas. Weather delays turned a 13-hour journey into a 15-hour one. I did see some familiar landmarks along the way.

Landing in Indianapolis when other people are getting up to go to work wasn’t ideal, but I was home. I knew that life in one place would be different from what I’d become used to, but it was time to turn the page and move on. The transcontinental had been a success and it was over.