Touchdown YVR

Dee clutched my hand tightly as we made a rough landing on a wet night at Vancouver's International Airport.  I made light of it thinking back to the close calls on our bicycles, buses, and hikes we've had.




It was fitting that we arrived back in Canada as we left it nine months earlier with only fifty pounds of gear and a bicycle each.  21,000km:  some by pedal, by air, by rickety bus, and a few by blister footed hiking as we filled our 'bucket' with so many experiences.

Leaving South America we returned to the US and our home away from home at Ellen and Don's in Las Vegas.  We found Ellen as we left her in November, fit as a fiddle, busy with work and prompting her memoir www.ellenliveslifetothefull.com.  She has been featured in the news, online, and most recently in the triathlon magazine 3/GO http://www.3gomagazine.com/ who featured her incredible comeback from heart surgery to completing the 2010 Ironman Arizona in just 8 months.  Inspiring is an understatement.

We got reacquainted over bike rides, coffee, and more than a little wine, our first quality drink in some 4 months - hard done by I know! -.  Our power couple is moving to Chicago with the Donald getting a coveted GM position at what we are sure will become the city's hottest hotel.  Ellen moves July 1 with Dude the dog and we already made tentative plans to meet this summer or fall.   We drove up to Mount Charleston north of Las Vegas one sunny morning and enjoyed two pleasant hikes once we found the very difficult to find trailheads.

We ran into our first dose of 'Canuck Fever' as we readied for our flight to Vancouver on the last night in May.  Against the neon backdrop of The Strip we jostled into a terminal bar filled with the unmistakeable blue/green jerseys.  A late goal sealed the game 1 victory for the Canucks and perhaps the promise of a Stanley Cup parade in two weeks.  We'll see

Dee and I were pretty quiet during the three hours home.  For both of us the range of emotions - excitement, sadness, nervousness, apprehension, was both invigorating and exhausting.  While we have certainly 'lived for the moment' this last 12 months, we also understood the reality that we are about to embark on a new - but old - life here on the West Coast.  Where we'll be and what we'll do remains to be  seen but together we have a way of landing on our feet.  As our good friend Claire was fond of saying 'Watch this space'