Thanks, Susan. It was special to meet you IRL and to spend the time on the road with you. Thanks for your routing, translating and cat herding!

Loved it all - words, photos and drawings. So glad to have shared part of your adventure. Thanks!

Thanks for following along, Rachael, and glad you liked the drawings.

I missed my buddies who know a lot more French than me. It’s easier with friends around to share the joys and “joys.”

Me too. Secret passages.

What a great tour to had and your drawings were wonderful! As for your comment about feeling stupid about not knowing the local language, you are way ahead of us! The only place we’ve known the language is here in Great Britain!

I love these kind of trails!

I’m jealous that you’re seeing so many storks!

Thanks, Greg.

Yes, that was a little gut punch when I found out that we missed having that moment.

Yes, nothing terrible happened. Just normal annoyances and headaches. The trip was a great experience as far as I’m concerned.

Sure do! I was so proud of myself for finding you along the route. My wife was at SXSW in Austin, and I was just tagging along. I rented a car to take a look at the surrounding countryside, but when I figured out where you two might be that was my secret reason. I loved following along on your rides so it was special to see you on the road.

Great anecdote about how things can go wrong on a bike tour. As disappointed as you felt about getting dissed by your brother in the morning, missing the train, and missing your brother's surprise as a result, just think how disappointed he must have been.

I really enjoyed connecting with you agian via your journal. Thank you.

At least it seems nothing too terribly awful happened on your trip. And I for one would love to do what you did! All is well and you enjoyed some very great riding and, learning and visiting. Here’s to the next one ;’-).

Kathleen, I enjoyed reading your journal and looking at your nice sketches. Do you remember when we met in Texas when we toured on the Southern Tier years ago?

Thanks, Em!

You must be pretty excited about your upcoming trip to see the parents and more. Wishing you an empty seat next to you.

What a great tour this was - friends, family and pretty easy navigation! Other than the train connections and weather at the start, it looks like you had a lot of fun and managed to do it at just the perfect pace for yourself. I absolutely loved all the sketches, you are so talented! And to have a whole row to yourself on the plane home - what a way to top it off! I do the big jump over the Pacific soon and would feel fantastic if just the middle seat is not occupied :-)