REFLECTIONS

I've been home now for three days. My friends and co-workers ask me about my trip, some comment that we must have been crazy, some stated that there is no way that they could accomplish what we did. Well... sometimes I wonder how we did it and then it comes to me. We started as a group of individuals that some knew each other and others were complete strangers with one goal in mind, to bring awareness to the public about Special Olympics, that much we had in common. Once we started our trip, and survived the Dalton Highway, something started to happen. The group of strangers started to get closer, we started to look after each other like brothers and sister do. If someone was late checking inn, we would all start to worry. By the time we got to Memphis it was obvious that we had change and that we had definitely become a family. Chuck, Carl and I came home for the 4th of July while the rest of the group went to Atlanta. While working on my bike I felt like I was missing something and all of the sudden I realized that it was the group that I have been attached for the last two weeks. It was a good feeling. When we arrived in Key West on Saturday, we knew that we've finished our adventure and although we were happy to be in Key West, I sensed a hint of sadness among several of the riders. my guess was that we all knew that the trip was over and that come Sunday morning several of us will be heading out with out knowing when we would see each other again. Later on that evening during the Awards Banquet, my guess from earlier that day came true. Between the joking, story telling and celebrating I saw grown man and women saying goodbye to each other, hugging and with tears in their eyes. We've accomplished what we set out to do, but somewhere between Alaska and Key West a new family had started and I was proud to say that I'm part of it. This has truly been the adventure of a life time. Thanks to my new Brothers and Sister.

Sunday July 8th. Key West Fl to St. Augustine Fl.

It was time to say goodbye to all our new Brothers and Sisters. It sure was hard to leave. We left Key west with the idea that we will travel as far as we felt and spend the night somewhere along the road. We encounter storms with heavy rains from North Miami all the way to Vero Beach. We stopped at a small Spanish restaurant in Vero Baech, the food was tremendous, soon we realized that the small restaurant was a gold mine. Me being Puerto Rican got to enjoy some foods that I haven't had in a very long time. At 150 miles South from Daytona we decided that we were going home. It rained a couple more times, but it finally cleared up and it was a great ride home. 11 and half hours latter we were home and glad to be there.

Saturday July 7th, Homestead Fl to Key West Fl. 158 Miles, Temp

Our final leg, the trip is about to come to an end. We had to be in Key West by 11:30 am, and because the road to Key West is two lanes it will take us a good three hours to get there. We left the hotel at approximately 6:30 am. The nice thing about living so early is being able to see the sun coming up as we ride by the ocean. We took a small break in Marathon and moved on. We arrived in Key west at 11:00 am. We checked into our hotel and get picked up by Key west PD at 12:00 to do our last ride as a group, we ride to the most Southern point in the US, mile marker 0 (90 miles from Cuba)This marks the official end of our journey. Some of our guys jumped in the ocean. Later that evening we had a banquet, were each rider received an award for completing the ride. Carl also received an award for being the oldest rider in our group, it was needless to say that Chuck and I were not the only ones that were proud of him. As awards were passed out and stories were told we all came to realize that we've become a family, that we all had new brothers and sisters and that it was going to be hard to say goodbye the next day. After the banquet we all got together and visited some of the most famous establishments of Key West, it was funny but everywhere we went people seem to recognize us and wanted to talk to us about our trip. We finished the night by saying goodbye to some of the groups that were leaving early in the morning, we decided to leave around 9:00 am after a long night. We were ready to come home.

Friday July 6th, St. Augustine Fl. to Homestead Fl. 384 miles, Temp 89

With the group from Atlanta here we departed St. Augustine around 9:15 in the morning, with an escort from the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office we got on I-95 heading South. We stoped at Destination Daytona Harley-Davidson, I met with the General Manager, Larry, he donated a t-shirt with their logo and signed by their employees for the quilt. The weather was great all the way till we got outside Miami, then the typical Florida afternoon storms started. We got wet but by the time we got to Homestead we were all in great spirits.

Tuesday July 3rd, Memphis Tn. to St. Augustine Fl., 743, Temp 86

We've been invited to go to Atlanta and spend the 4th of July there with our new friends, but after a quick meeting we decided that we wanted to spend 4th of July at home. It's 743 miles from Memphis to St. Augustine, we talked about riding as far as we could spend the night on the road and be home for the 4th activities. We had dinner close to Live Oak, while having dinner Chuck and I joked with Carl about once home he was not going to finish the trip, but he was all about to prove us wrong. After 17 and half hours we made it home in a straight haul. We encounter rain on I-10 just East of Tallahassee all the way till 40 miles East of Jacksonville. As we crossed the Buckman Bridge, I watched Chuck pulled away to his exit and I thought of what we have accomplished not only today but through out this trip. It felt good to be back home.

Monday July 2nd, Springdale Ar. to Memphis Tn. 368 miles. Temp 75

After a great evening of Arkansas hospitality, we departed Springdale around 9:00 am heading to Memphis Tn. We were escorted by Fayetville Police Dpt. motor officer, their own Police Chief and 2 other cars. We travel South in pretty much all interstate road. We arrived in Memphis around 4:00 pm we were escorted by the Sheriff's Office through downtown ending at the ball park were we wrere greeted by athletes, law enforcement, Special Olympics officials and civilian personnel that were happy and excited by our arrival. The mayor of Memphis read a proclamation making Monday July 2nd "Special Olympics Day". Special Olympics Athletes made signs with each riders name and nickname, what a welcome!!!. As I looked around at my fellow riders I dind't see any of them with dry eyes, this by far was a very touching experience for all of us. Lisa, Special Olympics coordinator for Tn., did a great job in making us confortable and welcome to Memphis. That evening a special dinner for all the riders, with great entertainment and even a special appereance by "Elvis" who also happend to be a 42 year old Special Olympics Athlete took place.

Sunday July 1st, 2007. Lincoln Ne. to Spring Dale Ar. 526 miles. Temp 60.

As we left Nebraska into Arkansas the weather changed on us completely. We had rain into Springdale Arkansas 80 to 90 percent of the time. We were able to so see several rods, farms and even some homes flooded from all the rain that they had for several days. The ride was difficult, so much rain on the roads made the visibility very poor and every time a big tractor trailer went by we had zero visibility. We arrived in Springdale around 4:30 in the afternoon. Chuck took us trough some back roads that offered some great scenery, even with the weather being bad we were able to enjoy riding through some beautiful country side. In Springdale we meet up with Patricia, Chamber of Commerce and Special Olympics coordinator, she was great she had several things waiting for us, we massages waiting at the hotel, a great dinner and a rodeo (a first for me!) Special thanks to Carrol and the the ladies on her team for staying so long giving massages to all the riders, it sure felt good and relaxing after a full day of cold and rain. We also celebrated Ed's birthday. All in all it was a very nice afternoon and evening. Tomorrow Memphis.