WE’RE COMING HOME!

But I guess we’ve mentioned that a couple of times at this point. We want to make it completely official by posting our homecoming plans here on the site so if you live in the area and you’re available, you can come and join us!

We plan to ride into Auburn, Alabama, on Saturday, September 28. “Coming home” is actually a bit ambiguous. We are officially finishing our long journey on the bicycles. Auburn is the last place we called home. To be completely honest, we still don’t know where the next place will be. But we do know Auburn will be the official ending point of this stage of our journey.

Our plan is to ride into TOWN CREEK PARK, the same place where we went for a walk on our first date, where we got engaged, and where we had the reception after our wedding. We actually left our wedding reception on a bicycle-pulled rickshaw. We’ve decided riding in there will be a great way to “close the loop.”

For anyone in the Auburn/Opelika area who wants to join the fun, we have two options for you:

1. Got a bike? Or know of one you can borrow? Come “finish the ride” with us! It’ll be a short distance (about 7 miles) and we don’t ride fast! Remember, we have lots of heavy stuff on our bikes! We plan to ride from Kiesel Park to Town Creek Park. We will meet at Kiesel at 9:30 a.m. for the leisurely (and mostly social) ride.

2. Not interested in cycling? We plan to ride to Town Creek Park around 10:30 a.m. We will hang out there until about noon. If you want to stop by at some point and simply say hello or let us give you a hug, we would love it! After that, we’ll go to lunch somewhere, so you’re welcome to join us for that as well!**

This is not a formal party or event… we just want to celebrate and would love for you to be a part.

We will add this disclaimer to all of these plans: we are still on a bike tour. At the moment, we have some 1,000 miles between us and Auburn, Alabama.  There will be hills, weather, and probably some days of headwinds. Though we are feeling confident that we can make it at this point, we cannot give a 100 percent guarantee! We will update the web site if plans are adjusted at all.

Also, you should know that every day we have finished a major leg of our journey (5 times now), it has rained. And usually not a friendly, light shower. On the day we rode into Istanbul, the temperature dropped significantly and the rain came down—cold and steady—for hours. On the day we rode into Singapore, we literally could not see 10 feet in front of us because of the ridiculous afternoon downpour. So… with our current batting average on that front, we recommend you bring an umbrella if you’re going to come by the park, and a rain jacket if you’re planning to ride! We’ll be riding no matter the weather!

We hope to see you soon! Very soon!

Blessings,

Dave and Bethany

**If you live in the Auburn/Opelika area and are planning to come to the park, we’d ask that you consider being willing to give someone a ride back to their car at Kiesel. We have several people coming from in and out of town who will meet us to ride in from Kiesel, and if you have a bike rack, truck or SUV, it would be great if you could help reconnect them to their vehicles later in the day!